As someone with an interest in murder (I write cozies after all) it should be no surprise I had serial killers as a theme for my 2018 A to Z challenge. So it was with much interest I saw an article this week saying another of the Zodiac Killer’s code had been solved.
The Zodiac Killer operated in the late 60’s and early 70’s in California killing at least 5 people – but was never caught. The murderer used to send taunting messages to a local paper using ciphers.
A couple of the ciphers were solved but many weren’t. In fact, it has taken 50 years for a new cipher to be cracked. This week, three private citizens, one an Aussie mathematician, Dr Samuel Blake, were confirmed to have solved the Zodiac’s letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8, 1969.
Below is the cipher the crack cryptologists solved:
Turns out, the 340 characters aren’t meant to be read left to right and from top to bottom, but diagonally. In part, the solution reads:
I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME
THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW
WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME
I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER
BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER
WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE
SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH
I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS
LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH
Dr Blake said:
After 50 years of active research, this cipher has finally been solved. We now understand why it resisted attacks for so long. The reading direction through the cipher was so obscure, that the only way it could be found was with a massive search through many candidates using sophisticated software which can efficiently solve homophonic substitution ciphers. Not only were we lucky enough to find the needle in the haystack, but we were lucky enough to pick the right haystack in order to start searching for the needle.
ABC News
I’m not sure if the Zodiac Killer’s identity will ever be solved, but maybe if they can solve the rest of the ciphers they will have a better chance of finding the culprit.
December 14, 2020 at 11:51 pm
Ooooo this is so interesting! I think your serial killer A to Z was the first one that drew me to your blog – also a cozy is an Australian murder mystery?! LOL wow
December 15, 2020 at 7:44 am
Lol, no, a cozy is a fiction genre in the USA. No-one outside of the writing world in Australia knows what a cozy is. Think Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (and if you are wanting to know more I have info on my FAQs page).
December 15, 2020 at 8:05 am
Ooooo haha okies
December 15, 2020 at 12:47 pm
I heard about this. It’s great that they solved it. Hopefully that’ll make more of the cyphers easier to solve.
December 15, 2020 at 2:31 pm
I believe they think it might make it easier to solve – they won’t want it to take another 50 years. Makes you wonder if the killer is even alive anymore?
December 15, 2020 at 9:18 pm
Amazing that they figured it out at all, considering the author misspelt at least one word and the sentences were confusing. If you start off assuming that the thing will make sense, you might not crack it.
December 17, 2020 at 9:06 pm
I guess that’s why they needed a supercomputer to help them. Does sound like it was a little bit of lucky-to-find needle in a haystack.
December 16, 2020 at 11:10 am
All that talk about it and it’s solution, maybe, doesn’t get anyone one step closer to finding that person. Too bad there is no easy way to check their work, that would be fun.
December 17, 2020 at 9:08 pm
I bet it’s disappointing for them. Until they solve the code they wouldn’t have known if there was a clue to his identity in there (catch-22 I guess). The Zodiac Killer did say his identity was revealed in a code. I guess time will tell if that is so.
December 18, 2020 at 10:36 am
It’s really fascinating, and sort of unbelievable that it took this long to solve!
December 21, 2020 at 8:40 pm
But it is also reassuring to know that they don’t give up trying to solve the case!