In a development that could reshape decades of investigation into America’s most infamous unsolved murders, amateur investigator Alex Baber claims to have identified the elusive Zodiac Killer. Baber, 50, who leads a small group called the Cold Case Consultants of America (CCCoA), announced his findings late in 2024 from his home in rural West Virginia.

The Zodiac Killer, active in northern California during the late 1960s, is linked to at least five confirmed murders and a series of cryptic letters and ciphers sent to local newspapers. Despite numerous efforts by law enforcement and cryptography experts, many of the Zodiac’s codes remained undeciphered—most notably the so-called Z13 cipher, a 13-character string included in a 1970 letter to the San Francisco Chronicle. Baber said that after months of analysis using a custom artificial intelligence program combined with recently released census data, he managed to crack the long-standing code.

According to Baber, the cipher revealed a name: “Marvin Merrill,” which his team narrowed down as the most likely candidate behind the Zodiac killings. This claim raises significant questions about a case that has resisted resolution for more than 50 years.

Baber’s investigation did not stop there. He also suggested that the same individual could be linked to another high-profile cold case from decades earlier: the murder of Elizabeth Short, known as the “Black Dahlia.” Short was an aspiring actress found brutally murdered in Los Angeles in 1947, a case that has generated extensive media coverage and numerous theories but remains officially unsolved.

The possibility that one person may be responsible for two of the country’s most notorious unsolved murders is a startling development. Baber described his reaction upon reaching the breakthrough as a moment of exhilaration, stating, “I jump up and I’m, like, ‘Holy shit, I think we got him! This has to be the guy.’ Now we’ve got to prove it.”

At this time, law enforcement agencies have not publicly commented on Baber’s claims. The authenticity of the decoded cipher and the proposed suspect’s connection to either case remain subject to verification by official channels. The immense public interest in both the Zodiac Killer and the Black Dahlia murders guarantees that Baber’s assertions will attract scrutiny from experts and authorities alike as efforts to confirm or refute these findings continue.