US serial killer’s chilling message decoded after 51 years
- The ‘Zodiac Killer’ – who was never caught – killed five people in the San Francisco Bay Area over the course of about year in 1968 and 1969
- During the murderous spree, Zodiac sent a local newspaper a coded message that became known as the ‘340 cipher’
A team of volunteer codebreakers in the United States has cracked a mysterious cipher sent by a serial killer to a newspaper almost 51 years ago, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said on Friday.
The “Zodiac Killer” – who was never caught – shot or stabbed seven people in the San Francisco Bay Area over the course of about year in 1968 and 1969, killing all but two of them.
During the murderous spree, Zodiac sent a series of terrifying letters to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. Some of the notes were in code, including a particularly complex missive with 340 characters that became known as the “340 cipher”.
The puzzle was last week broken by David Oranchak, Sam Blake and Jarl Van Eycke, a sleuthing team with members in the US, Australia and Belgium.
“I hope you are having lots of fun trying to catch me,” said the cipher, according to a video posted on YouTube by Oranchak. “I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to radice (sic) all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me.”