An Almanac of Infamy

Phillip Powers, of Dixon, CA , believes that his grandfather was the Zodiac Killer and has provided the Solano County Sherriff's Office with photos, writing samples and other items that he hopes can help solve the case. He and his mother have also provided DNA samples. Detective Sgt. Dax West says the items will be shared with the Vallejo police department so they can compare the DNA to samples that they believe belong to the killer. Powers believes his grandfather, Kenneth Lester German, is Zodiac based on a confession German made to his youngest daughter Kay, who took it as a joke. Powers, however, takes the confession seriously and is motivated in part by his own diagnosis of bipolar disorder. “I want to know if I got it from him” Powers says. Sgt. Dax West says that Powers is not the only one who believes that he has the key to the Zodiac Killer's identity. The Solano County Sherriff's Office receives calls every week from people claiming to have solved the case. Me...

A judge ruled today that prosecutors can collect DNA, fingerprints, and body photographs of Joseph James DeAngelo, the Golden State Killer suspect. DeAngelo's attorneys had argued that the search warrant should not be executed because it was issued before DeAngelo's arrest but the judge said there was no basis for stopping the execution of the warrant. Prosecutors had planned to collect the evidence yesterday but were halted by the defense motion. Another hearing is planned for May 14 to determine if the arrest and search warrants should be unsealed and released to the press. Much publicity has been given to the original DNA evidence that was submitted to various genealogy websites in order to catch the GSK. It turns out that Paul Holes, an investigator who spent years tracking down the killer, was inspired by another cold case that was solved using that method. And Holes himself had a previous connection to the case, which involved the brutal murders of women and girls in N...