The mystery surrounding the Zodiac Killer’s true identity has been a veritable magnet for conspiracy theories of just about every kind, with many people (or things) being named as the killer over the years. Now, a former California cop is claiming that the Zodiac Killer is still alive today, and is living in Northern California at the ripe age of 91.
The claim comes from 79-year-old Lyndon Lafferty, a former California Highway Patrol officer who, he says, inherited the “truth” about the Zodiac Killer’s identity. According to him, the true Zodiac Killer is a 91-year-old recovering alcoholic who is currently residing–peacefully, apparently, aside from the “recovering alcoholic” bit–in Fairfield, California.
“This was a story that I inherited. I did not ask for it,” Lafferty told ABC News. “I am the only person who can testify under oath that these things were absolutely true. My satisfaction is telling my story as it happened.”
Indeed, Lafferty is telling the story in a new book, titled the “ The Zodiac Killer Cover-up .” The book promises to shed new light on the identity of the Zodiac Killer, with over “30 years” worth of evidence that was passed down to Lafferty, and now onto you, the potential reader.
The book claims that a group of law enforcement officials–dubbed the “Mandamus Seven”–have actually known the Zodiac Killer’s true identity since as far back as March 15, 1971. The Zodiac Killer’s rage, Lafferty claims, was fueled by jealousy after he discovered that his wife was having an affair.
So the question of the day, then, is why is all of this coming out 40 years after the fact? Well, according to Lafferty, he attempted to take the evidence regarding the Zodiac Killer’s identity to police agencies, but he was ignored and, he claims, repressed by a judge. So, I suppose, the next logical step in Lafferty’s mind was to get it all out in a book.
“The police departments in general were acting under the authority of the Solona County Sheriff, so they were instructed you do not investigate this man until you have permission from the judge,” Lafferty claims. “It’s been very traumatic, and it’s been frustrating beyond belief.”
Lafferty’s comments in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle last year sums up my feelingsv on Lafferty’s claims, as well as the Zodiac Killer case in general: “Look, I know what most people think of Zodiac theories, and there have been so many over the years that if a person walked into the Vallejo Police Department right now and said he was the Zodiac, they’d tell him to get out.”
You can judge the merit of Lafferty’s claims about the Zodiac Killer’s identity for yourself when the book becomes available later this year.
