An independent investigator believes they have cracked the mystery of two of America’s most gruesome murders and claims they are connected.
The two seemingly unrelated stories have been connected due to new findings by investigative consultant Alex Baber.
Unlike other amateur investigators, who claim to have uncovered the identity of serial killers who evaded capture, Baber claims to be vindicated due to law enforcement taking his findings seriously and reviewing them.
Sharing his findings with the Mail Online, Baber, who is the co-founder of Cold Case Consultants of America, claims to have unearthed the identity of the person responsible for the Black Dahlia murder and the identity of the Zodiac killer.
What crimes did the Black Dahlia murder suspect commit?
Black Dahlia refers to the victim of the heinous crime, Elizabeth Short, who was found murdered in the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California.
Advert
Short was a native to Boston, but had moved to California where her father lived and was discovered on the morning of January 15, 1947.
The 22-year-old's naked body had been cleanly cut in two at the waist, and authorities concluded that this mutilation had been done precisely, noting that it was unlikely the work of an amateur. The person had also carved a smile into her cheeks.
Despite the mutilation, little blood was found at the scene, leading investigators to believe that she had been killed and butchered at a different location.
Short was given the name Black Dahlia by the press after her death.
The suspected murderer of Short began corresponding with the local media, first starting with a call to the editor of the Los Angeles Examiner, Jimmy Richardson.
The individual began sending newspaper clipping letters as well as claiming they had belongings of Short that they would send in.
They eventually claimed they would surrender but never did. There were a total of 22 suspects regarding Short's murder, but none were convicted.
What crimes did the Zodiac killer commit?
Decades later, between 1968 and 1969, an unidentified killer known as 'the Zodiac killer' terrorized northern California, murdering at least five people but claiming to have killed several more.
The killer also regularly taunted the media and the police, sending in ciphers to be decoded, as well as sending in information only the killer and police would know.
He also threatened to kill more people and plant bombs if his letters were not printed in newspapers.
In one of the cyphers that he sent in April 1970, known as the Z13 cypher, the Zodiac hinted that it contained his true identity.
The final letter sent to media was in 1974 to the San Francisco Chronicle, and in it, the Zodiac claimed to have killed a total of 37 people.
His murder spree remains one of the most famous unsolved murder cases both in the US and the world.
Investigator Alex Baber’s findings
Baber has concluded that the person responsible for the Zodiac killings and the murder of Short is the same person.
Through years of investigation, reviewing law enforcement files, court documents and court records, Baber claims to have uncovered a significant amount of circumstantial evidence that points to one individual.
His theory has already garnered some support from former law enforcement officials, who have also analyzed his findings.
He concluded the name of the person responsible for the murders is Marvin Margolis.
Baber discovered his name after allegedly cracking the Z13 cypher using AI, newly released census records and classic cryptography.
Marvin Skipton Margolis, who has also gone by Marvin Merrill, was born in Chicago in 1925 and in 1943, joined the Navy. He served with the 1st Marine Division as a corpsman and was stationed overseas for 27 months, taking part in the Okinawa campaign in the South Pacific during World War 2.
It is here that Baber believes Margolis learned both his surgical and marksmanship skills, as he served in the medical corps.
Baber claims that Margolis was also one of the suspects in the murder of Short, having allegedly been in a relationship with her before her death.
As Short’s murder began to get media attention, Margolis left LA and lived in other cities across the US before eventually returning back to California a few years before the first confirmed Zodiac attack.
Before dying of a terminal cancer diagnosis, Margolis reportedly drew a macabre sketch featuring a woman named Elizabeth and what appears to be a hidden word, ‘Zodiac’.
Baber believes this amounts to a confession and told the Mail Online: "It's irrefutable. It's just mathematically impossible for it not to be him.”
“With all the connections, either he's the unluckiest man in the history of the world - in the wrong place at the wrong time, every time - or he's the perpetrator.”
What do authorities and investigators think?
Baber has met twice with the California police departments responsible for the Zodiac case, and they are currently reviewing his findings.
Baber was also invited to present his findings to the interagency group with jurisdiction over the Zodiac crimes - consisting of the SFPD, Napa County Sheriff’s Office, Solano County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.
Members of Baber’s team also met with LAPD Police Chief Jim McDonnell, who prompted some of his officers to look into the findings related to the Black Dahlia murder.
Former Chief US Codemaker and Chief US Codebreaker at the National Security Agency, Ed Giorgio, has claimed that he believes Baber has cracked the cypher.
Retired LAPD homicide detectives Mitzi Roberts and Rick Jackson have also looked at the findings and spoken on podcasts, claiming they have ‘no doubt at all’ that he has identified Margolis as the correct individual.
Topics: Crime, News, US News, True crime
Gerrard Kaonga