Former Pittsburgher Was Researcher In New Bestseller On "Zodiac Killer"
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A new book just out on California's infamous Zodiac Killer is on the New York Times Bestseller List.
The book is titled "The Most Dangerous Animal of All." And a former Pittsburgher, now a forensic document examiner, was involved in an important part of the book's research.
The book's authors are Gary Stewart and Susan Mustafa.
Stewart believes his father, Earl Van Best, Jr., was the Zodiac murderer.
Stewart got a mug shot of his father from San Francisco Police when he learned that his dad had a criminal record there.
There's a remarkable likeness between a composite of Zodiac and a police mug shot of Van Best.
No one has ever been charged or arrested in the Zodiac killings, which mostly occurred around the San Francisco Bay area in the late-60's and early-70's.
Zodiac bragged that he had been involved in more than 30 killings.
For their part, police have said he was responsible about half a dozen.
Zodiac would send cryptic messages during his killing spree, saying things like he would pick off little kiddies on a school bus, and if investigators could dissect one of his cryptograms, they could learn, in advance, where he had hidden a bomb.
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