Zodiac Killer Found? New Book Claims To Reveal Serial Killer’s Identity

The Zodiac Killer has remained one of the biggest mysteries of the last century, but an author now claims that he knows the true identity of the northern California serial killer.

In a new book, a Louisiana man claims that his biological father was the notorious killer, whose identity has remained a mystery for nearly 50 years.

The Zodiac killer first struck in 1968-69, killing five people in Northern California and taunting authorities with coded letters bragging of his murders. The killer claimed to have close to 40 victims in total.

Gary L. Stewart, a vice president of cleaning company Delta Tech Service, said that after searching for his biological father for decades he concluded that the now-deceased man was the true Zodiac killer. His story is featured in the book, The Most Dangerous Animal of All.

From HarperCollins:

Soon after his birthmother contacted him for the first time at the age of thirty-nine, adoptee Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father. His quest would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself and his world.

Written with award-winning author and journalist Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All tells the story of Stewart’s decade-long hunt. While combing through government records and news reports and tracking down relatives and friends, Stewart turns up a host of clues — including forensic evidence — that conclusively identify his father as the Zodiac Killer, one of the most notorious and elusive serial murderers in history.

The man, Earl Van Best Jr., has since died, but investigators said they will still follow the lead.

“It’s an open and active case, so we don’t comment,” San Francisco police spokesman Albie Esparza told CNN. “But (it’s) certainly something our homicide investigators will take a look at.”

But not all those involved are enthusiastic about the Zodiac Killer revelation,including Bryan Hartnell, one of the only victims to survive the killer’s attack.

“I somewhat follow the news, but there has been no time in the last 40+ years when someone was not (stirring) the pot,” Hartnell wrote to CNN in an email.

The Zodiac Killer has remained one of the nation’s greatest criminal mysteries, spawning countless theories and books as well as the 2007 movie Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Mark Ruffalo.