‘True Detective’ Season 1 Spoilers: Who Is The Yellow King? Leaked Clues Potentially Point To Preacher Theriot As Ritualistic Murderer [VIDEO]

“True Detective” is nearly halfway through its first season and we’ve yet to find out who is responsible for the horrific murders of Dora Lange and the other deceased women scattered throughout Louisiana. But here’s what we do know: Reggie Ledoux is not the Yellow King. After a surprise ambush on Ledoux and DeWall at their hidden home in the woods, Hart comes across two imprisoned children. Enraged, Hart killed the handcuffed suspect with a shot to the head -- but not before Ledoux was able to ramble some mysterious things to Cohle.

“It’s time, isn’t it? The black stars rise. I know what happens next. I saw you in a dream. You're in Carcosa now with me. He sees you. You'll do this again. Time is a flat circle,” Ledoux told Cohle. After seeing his partner get shot, DeWall took off running from the two detectives. However, he accidentally set off one of his own rigged explosives and blew himself apart.

Thinking they had caught the Yellow King, Hart and Cohle moved on with their lives and careers. But that all comes to an end when a decade later Cohle discovered from an imprisoned murderer that the Yellow King is still alive. In disbelief Cohle struck the prisoner, astonished that he even knows the phrase seeing that it was never released to the public. Could the Yellow King really still be alive? The robber-turned-murdered explained that Ledoux wasn’t the killer of the missing girls and that the real killer is connected to people high up.

High up? Does that mean the unaccounted killer could be a member of the police, a lawyer or dare we even say minister? Our eyes are on you Preacher Theriot! Seemingly sweet and a man of God, could he be the killer? In the promo for episode 6 of “True Detective” we hear a victim say that the man with scars made her watch. Now, we know the HBO series takes partial place in the ‘90s, but there’s something extremely fishy about Preacher Theriot’s side burns. Could they be fake and perhaps hiding deep marks or burns on his face?

We know Detective Gilbough and Papania have their suspicions about Cohle being the killer but we have our doubts. After hearing the news that the Yellow King is still running rampant, Cohle either quits or gets fired from his job. Maybe he became too obsessed with finding out the truth of the closed case that it took a toll on his renowned interrogation skills.

Which leads us to our next clue: According to Entertainment Weekly, there is a connection between “black stars” and “Yellow King.” Both are descriptions written by author Robert W. Chambers in his collection of short stories called “The King In Yellow.” It was said that anyone who reads Chambers’ work in its entirety would go mad. That could explain Cohles’ lack of relationships, job, and obsession with the case.

Gilbough and Papania have repeatedly spotted the former detective slithering through their crime scenes. Could Cohle be doing his own investigation? We know he can’t re-open the case with officials because then he’ll have to spill the unlawful murder of Ledoux. And we doubt Hart would forgive him if he did that.

Who do you think is the Yellow King? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below and don’t forget to tune into “True Detective” when the HBO series airs Sunday at 9 p.m.