A cipher sent in 1969 by the Zodiac Killer has been solved.
What We Know:
- In an email sent to EW Scripps, the Federal Bureau of Investigation validated that three private citizens decoded the cipher. “On Dec. 5, the FBI received the solution to a cipher popularly known as Z340 from a cryptologic researcher and independently verified the decryption,” the FBI mentioned during a statement.
“Cipher Z340 is one of four ciphers associated with the Zodiac Killer. This cipher was first sent to the FBI Laboratory on Nov. 13, 1969, but not fortunately decrypted. Over the past 51 years, CRRU has examined numerous proposed solutions from the public, none of which had merit.”
- Reports from The Associated Press stated that code specialists from Belgium, the United States, and Australia solved it.
- The code was first submitted to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper in 1969 by the Zodiac Killer, who murdered five known people between 1968 and 1969 in the Bay Area. However, the Zodiac claimed it was a total of 37 murders.
- Reports from The Chronicle stated David Oranchak, one of the three to crack the cipher, has worked on Zodiac’s codes since 2006. Oranchak expressed to the newspaper that the cipher entailed phrases such as “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me” and that he wasn’t “afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner”.
- A representative for the FBI’s San Francisco office, Cameron Polan, mentioned to E.W. Scripps via the email that the case of the Zodiac Killer “proceeds as continuing”.
“The Zodiac Killer terrorized multiple communities across Northern California, and even though decades have gone by, we continue to seek justice for the victims of these brutal crimes,” Polan wrote in the email. “Because of the continuous nature of the investigation, and respect for the victims and their families, we will not be providing further comment this time.”
This marks the second Zodiac Killer cipher that has been deciphered, according to the newspaper. Another cipher sent in 1969 was decoded by a Salinas schoolteacher and his wife.
