(NewsNation) — The Zodiac Killer and the Black Dahlia murderer terrorized California decades ago, and now, an investigation argues they were the same man.
A report from The Daily Mail said investigative consultant Alex Baber believes he has finally solved both cases using artificial intelligence, newly released census records and classic cryptography.
The name Baber found was Marvin Margolis, a former U.S. Navy sailor who served in the medical corps.
“It’s irrefutable,” Baber said. “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.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and California police departments are reviewing Baber’s claims.
Separate ciphers linked Marvin Margolis to both incidents
Between 1968 and 1969, the Zodiac Killer murdered at least five victims while claiming to have slaughtered dozens more. He followed by taunting the media and police with letters and ciphers, daring the public to unravel his identity.
During his research, Baber, the co-founder of Cold Case Consultants of America, says the Zodiac Killer hinted that the Z13 cipher he sent in April 1970 contained his real name.
Baber’s solution also linked Margolis as the prime suspect in the Black Dahlia murder two decades earlier, when aspiring Hollywood actress Elizabeth Short, who became known as the “Black Dahlia,” was found dead in Los Angeles. Short’s body had been mutilated and severed clean in half at the waist.
Baber backed up the connection by decrypting the Zodiac’s Z32 cipher. He also said the surgical and marksmanship skills seen in the Zodiac and Black Dahlia crimes matched what Margolis learned while serving in the military.
Who is Marvin Margolis?
Marvin Margolis was a former military member who served the U.S. during World War II.
While fighting in Okinawa, Japan, Margolis was buried alive in a cave and was forced to dig his way out. Following the experience, Margolis was described as resentful and with an affinity for aggression.
After leaving the military, Margolis moved to Los Angeles and enrolled as a medical student at the University of Southern California in 1946. Margolis’ first task at the school was to dissect a human corpse.
Margolis had a brief relationship with Short before her death, which was allegedly volatile. The relationship also attracted Margolis to law enforcement.
Court records from a Los Angeles grand jury investigation into Short’s death around 1950 named Margolis as one of the 22 suspects in her murder.