The solution to one of the Zodiac Killer’s cipher, unsolved for 51 years, was cracked by a team of citizen codebreakers earlier this month, with the FBI confirming the decoded message’s authenticity.
The “Z-340” message — coined that as it contained 340 characters, a mix of letters and symbols — was first sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1969, amid of string of ciphers, threatening letters and evidence (swatches of a victim’s shirt) that the Zodiac Killer sent to the newspaper.
While some of the Zodiac Killer’s ciphers were decoded at the time,...
The “Z-340” message — coined that as it contained 340 characters, a mix of letters and symbols — was first sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1969, amid of string of ciphers, threatening letters and evidence (swatches of a victim’s shirt) that the Zodiac Killer sent to the newspaper.
While some of the Zodiac Killer’s ciphers were decoded at the time,...
- 12/12/2020
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
The Zodiac Killer attacked at least eight people in California between 1966 and 1969. He claimed to have killed at least 37 people, although only five of those deaths can be definitively attributed to the killer. While the Zodiac Killer has never been caught, his case is still active, and now one major mystery has been solved: an international team of private citizens and codebreakers have cracked the Zodiac Killer’s mysterious “340 Cipher” 51 years after it landed on the FBI’s desk.
Zodiac had a habit of taunting police by sending letters to the press, and several of those contained intricate codes, some of which he claimed would ultimately reveal his identity. This marks the second coded message to be broken by civilians. In July of 1969, a puzzle sent in pieces to The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Vallejo Times-Herald newspapers in 1969, was cracked by a school teacher from Salinas, Calif.
Zodiac had a habit of taunting police by sending letters to the press, and several of those contained intricate codes, some of which he claimed would ultimately reveal his identity. This marks the second coded message to be broken by civilians. In July of 1969, a puzzle sent in pieces to The San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner, and Vallejo Times-Herald newspapers in 1969, was cracked by a school teacher from Salinas, Calif.
- 12/12/2020
- by Mike Cecchini
- Den of Geek
California’s notorious Zodiac Killer, the subject of numerous films, television series, podcasts and books over the last half-century, has finally had one of his taunting messages decoded.
A letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle was finally cracked by experts, revealing a message in which the serial murderer mocked efforts to find him.
“I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me,” the killer wrote in the coded message, which was sent to the newspaper in 1969. “I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me.”
The letter contained a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols, and has been studied by numerous authors, criminologists and detectives over the years. It still doesn’t reveal the name of the unknown killer, who emerged in Northern California in the 1960s and 1970s.
A letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle was finally cracked by experts, revealing a message in which the serial murderer mocked efforts to find him.
“I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me,” the killer wrote in the coded message, which was sent to the newspaper in 1969. “I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me.”
The letter contained a mixture of letters, numbers and symbols, and has been studied by numerous authors, criminologists and detectives over the years. It still doesn’t reveal the name of the unknown killer, who emerged in Northern California in the 1960s and 1970s.
- 12/12/2020
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
A coded message from the notorious Zodiac Killer appears finally to have been cracked, more than 50 years after the string of murders began in Northern California. The message that was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 had been referred to as the "340 cipher." According to the publication, it was recently solved by a trio of amateur codebreakers: Virginia-based software developer David Oranchak, Belgian computer programmer Jarl Van Eycke and Australian mathematician Sam Blake. Last week, the individuals brought their findings to the FBI, which released a statement to social media on Friday, Dec. 11 to acknowledge the breakthrough. "The FBI is aware that a cipher...
- 12/12/2020
- E! Online
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