The Zodiac Killer murdered at least five people while they were at large in the 1960s and 1970s, but police suspect this number may be much higher.
The killer was never caught, but there was a long list of men that were suspected of being the Zodiac Killer.
The police only ever named one suspect, but an elite team of investigators decided the killer was someone else entirely.
Here’s everything you need to know.
Arthur Leigh Allen
Arthur Leigh Allen was the only man ever named as a suspect by the police of being the Zodiac killer.
He was a convicted sex offender who was fired from his job after accusations of sexual misconduct with students were made against him in March 1968.
Before he was fired, Arthur worked minutes away from where the Zodiac’s first victim, Darlene Ferrin, was murdered.
Michael Mageau, a survivor of an attack by the killer, named him as the Zodiac in a photo line-up but another witness said that Allen was 100lbs heavier than the killer.
When he died in 1992, a police search was conducted on his home which uncovered a shocking piece of evidence.
Allen’s watch, a Zodiac Sea Wolf wristwatch, bore the same logo seen on the killer’s letters.
Allen was also arrested in 1974, around the time that the killings and letters ended, for “lewdness” with an underage boy.
Gary Francis Poste
A group named The Case Breakers claimed to have solved the case in 2021 and named someone very different to the Police’s prime suspect.
The group, made up of ex-journalists, military intelligence workers, law enforcement officers and academics, claimed that the man responsible for the murders was Gary Francis Poste.
They also claimed to have linked Gary to a sixth killing hundreds of miles away that has never before been connected to the Zodiac.
The Case Breakers said they discovered Poste’s identity after years of digging through new forensic evidence.
In one note, removing the letters of Gary Francis Poste’s full name revealed a hidden message, according to former Army counterintelligence agent Jen Bucholtz.
“So you’ve got to know Gary’s full name in order to decipher these anagrams,” Bucholtz told Fox News.
“I just don’t think there’s any other way anybody would have figured it out.”
They believe this is further proof that Gary was the Zodiac Killer, as well as evidence of Gary having a violent history which included murdering animals.
He died in August 2018 at the age of 80, after being diagnosed with sepsis, dysphagia and vascular dementia.
Earl Van Best Jr
Earl Van Best Jr. was suspected by his own son Gary Stewart and daughter-in-law of being the Zodiac killer.
Gary and his wife Susan Mustafa based the theory on the police sketch of the murderer which bore a striking resemblance to Earl.
Also Earl did have a partial DNA and print match with the killer.
However, private investigator Zach Fechheimer uncovered that Gary had manipulated a police report which said Earl had been in Europe for some of the killings.
Ross Sullivan
Ross Sullivan emerged as a suspect through a possible link between the Zodiac and the murder of Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside.
He was a library assistant at Riverside City College and coworkers were suspicious when he disappeared for several days after Cheri’s death.
Ross also looked extremely similar to sketches of the murderer.
However, there was little else tying Ross to the murders.
The library assistant then moved to Santa Cruz in 1968 and was hospitalized several times for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, before dying in 1977 at the age of 36.
Louis Joseph Myers
In 2001, Louis Joseph Myers reportedly confessed to a friend that he was the killer after finding out he was dying from cirrhosis of the liver.
He told his pal Randy Kenney to go to the police following his death.
However, the cops reportedly wouldn’t take Randy’s claims seriously.
The only evidence linking Louis to the case, outside of the confession, was that no Zodiac letters were received from 1971 until 1973.
During this time, Myers was stationed overseas with the military.
According to Kenney, Myers told him he targeted couples following a bad break up with his girlfriend.
