The Zodiac Killer first struck in December 1968. The infamous serial killer sent his first letters to three papers in 1969. They all included a part of a 408-symbol cryptogram, which was cracked within a week. However, a few months later, papers received another cipher, this time containing 340 characters. It went unsolved for 51 years, and the Zodiac’s identity remains one of true crime’s biggest mysteries. but now it appears at least this Zodiac Killer code has finally been broken.
The Zodiac’s First Code
On August 1, 1969, the Vallejo Times Herald, the San Francisco Chronicle, and The San Francisco Examiner each received a third of a 408-symbol cryptogram.
The instructions that accompanied what would become the Zodiac Killer’s first code demanded each cryptogram be published on the papers’ front pages. If not, he would “cruse [sic] around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend.”
Here’s a newspaper clipping about the first code:
First Zodiac Killer Code Broken by Teacher and His Wife
Even though the first code was sent to a U.S. Navy cryptographer and the FBI was also working on it, it was a high school History and Economics teacher, Donald Harden, and his wife, Bettye, who cracked the Zodiac’s first code.
It read: “I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest…when I die I will be reborn in paradise and all I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves.”
The Z-340 Cipher
Three months after the Harden’s solved the Zodiac Killer’s first code, he mailed another one on November 8, 1969. This one was 340 characters and came to be dubbed the “Z-340” cipher.
The San Francisco Examiner published it on November 12, noting that the code had been broken. It would be over 51 years before someone solved it.
Who broke the Zodiac Killer’s 340 code?
BBC News reported that according to a video posted to YouTube, three men from the U.S., Australia, and Belgium have broken the Zodiac Killer’s code.
The men are David Oranchak, a web-designer from Virginia, Sam Blake, an applied mathematician from Australia, and Jarl Van Eycke, a warehouse manager and code-breaking software engineer from Belgium. They dedicated their efforts to the victims of the Zodiac Killer, their families, and their descendants.
What does the message say?
According to the video posted to David Oranchak’s YouTube channel, the 340 cipher 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
BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME
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
Unsolved Mystery, Ongoing Investigation
The even more exciting thing is that it appears the trio of Zodiac Killer code-breakers isn’t just claiming to have cracked the 340 cipher. They’ve really done it, according to the FBI’s San Francisco division’s Tweet:
#Breaking – Our statement regarding the #Zodiac cipher: pic.twitter.com/cJCtlDEbMw
— FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) December 11, 2020
Check-In
Do you think the Zodiac Killer’s identity will ever be discovered or do you think he’ll remain unknown like Jack the Ripper?
Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, as well as obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of healing, to learn how she channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.
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A criminal investigation like this is fascinating. At the same time, that 340 message is chilling. May the victims rest in peace.
Agreed! I never even knew if they solved any of his ciphers or that there was still one unsolved. This story made me think about the case in a way I never had before. Also, those messages are CRAZY chilling! Eeek!