US politician Ted Cruz has bizarrely been accused of being the Zodiac Killer in a wild conspiracy theory sweeping the internet.

       The bonkers theory began trending after the Case Breakers revealed who they believe to be the true Zodiac Killer.

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       A bizarre theory circulating online accuses Ted Cruz of being the Zodiac Killer Credit: AP:Associated Press 5

       A sketch of the Zodiac Killer, who slayed five people in San Francisco between 1968 and 1969

       Memes accusing Cruz - a Republican senator for Texas since 2013 - of being the notorious serial killer first began in 2015 and have since resurfaced following the Case Breaker's haunting revelation the murderer was Gary Francis Poste.

       One person quipped: "Isn't it strange how we have never seen Gary Francis Poste and Ted Cruz in the same place at once?"

       Another added: "Don’t let them deceive you: Ted Cruz is still the Zodiac Killer."

       A third shared a picture of Spongebob Squarepants edited to mimic Cruz sighing in relief with the caption: "Ted Cruz run after framing Gary Francis Poste as the Zodiac Killer".

       Considering the Zodiac's first known murder was in 1968 and Cruz wasn't born until 1970, people don't actually think he's the killer.

       'THIS IS THE ZODIAC SPEAKING'

       Cruz became the butt of the outlandish theory when he appeared at a Republican conference in 2013.

       The senator was slated to speak at a CPAC seminar when a Twitter user quipped: "#CPAC Alert: Ted Cruz is speaking!! His speech is titled: 'This Is The Zodiac Speaking'."

       NPR wrote that the meme captured "a feeling they have about Cruz: they think he's creepy. And they want to point that out, as clearly as they can".

       One Twitter user who helped circulate the wild meme, Lindsey Martin, told NPR she shared it because it is "so obviously untrue... if there was any way that it could possibly be true I would be scared to joke about it just because of the repercussions".

       Cruz himself even acknowledged the joke in 2018, by posting a cypher like that of the killer's with the text "Happy Halloween".

       ZODIAC KILLER IDENTIFIED

       The Case Breakers, a team of specialists who have worked to crack a number of America's most high-profile unsolved cases claim Poste is responsible for the string of five murders in San Francisco between 1968 and 1969.

       They also claim to have linked Poste, who died in 2018, to a sixth killing hundreds of miles away that has never before been connected to the Zodiac.

       The Zodiac Killer is known to have targeted at least seven victims - three couples and a lone taxi driver. Two of them survived gun and knife ambushes.

       The same killer has been linked to as many as 28 murders -- claiming to have killed 37 people in taunting letters sent to newspapers and police.

       The letters included complex ciphers - some of which haven't been officially solved to this day.

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       Cruz jokingly posted a Halloween greeting in the form of a letter sent by the Zodiac Killer Credit: AP 5

       Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018, has been named as the alleged killer 5

       The Zodiac Killer's victims Paul Stine, Cecilia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell

       Protesters arrested outside Ted Cruz's Texas home after being given multiple warnings to stay back

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