Zodiac killer’s coded message deciphered after 50 years

ByMarsha Hemmings (World News)

Dec 12, 2020 Zodiac killer's coded message deciphered after 50 years

After more than 50 years a team of detectives have managed to crack a coded message sent from the Zodiac Killer.

Zodiac killer’s coded message deciphered after 50 years: The man, notorious back in the 1960’s for stabbing or shooting 5 victims in California, was dubbed the Zodiac Killer due to him sending coded messages regarding his killing spree to police and news stations. Although five people were killed it is now believed that he may have done away with many more victims.

One of the ciphers, sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in November 1969, has, until now, never been cracked however 3 amateur detectives say that they have managed to work out the code.

The message 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 PARADISE. ALL THE SOONER BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADISE 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 PARADISE DEATH.”

Investigators into the deaths had hoped that the message would reveal the killers name but it did not. In a statement the FBI’s San Francisco branch said “Over the past 51 years we have reviewed numerous proposed solutions from the public – none of which had merit. The cipher was recently solved by a team of three private citizens.” One of the amateur sleuths, David Oranchak from Virginia, said that the find was “exciting” and went on to say “We’ve been sitting on the solution since last Saturday.

When I first started looking at the Zodiac ciphers all those years ago, I thought, ‘Oh, I can just write a computer program and solve it,’ but it’s been kicking my a** all this time. Until now.” This is now the second time a cipher from the killer has been cracked, with the first being solved by a schoolteacher although it only said “I like killing because it is so much fun.” Although 50 years on, the killer has never been caught and the case remains open.