


One example is even called “The Zodiac Alphabet.” While many of these have some symbols in common with those used by the killer, none matches closely enough to be considered more than inspirational.Įlements of the cipher might even tell us something about the killer’s occupation or place of employment. There have been many ciphers over the centuries that used strange symbols that range from systems intended for kids to alphabets used by occultists. Intriguing Clues: Knowing how Zodiac selected the strange symbols he used to represent his “alphabet” might reveal something about him, such as his education or special interests.
#Cipher 340 code
Harden, with his wife Bettye, broke the Z 408 code very quickly. Inspired by the killer’s obvious craving for attention, Bettye guessed that the message would begin with the word “I.” She also believed the word KILL or KILLING-or even the phrase I LIKE KILLING-would appear somewhere in the message. Cribs are powerful cryptanalytic tools, because once a location or locations can be determined for them, several substitutions can be identified, which can accelerate the unravelling process. Bettye is credited with discovering two cribs, words or phrases suspected to appear in the message.
#Cipher 340 cracked
Who Cracked It: Within about a week North Salinas schoolteacher Donald Harden and his wife Bettye contacted The San Francisco Chronicle with their solution. The killer split it into three pieces of equal length and mailed two to newspapers in San Francisco and one to a paper in nearby Vallejo, demanding they be printed or he would go on a “kill rampage.” The ciphers were published. The first cipher Zodiac created was his longest, 408 characters. The sender threatened to kill again if the ciphers weren’t published. No joke! This is the real deal.The Z 408 cipher was mailed in three parts to three different newspapers on the same day. “Last weekend, a team I’m on solved the 340 and submitted it to the FBI,” Oranchak told the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the regular recipients of Zodiac's letters.“They have confirmed the solution.

According to Oranchak, the trio submitted their results to the FBI and had their interpretation confirmed by experts. They explained their process in a video posted to YouTube. The cipher was solved by Sam Blake of Australia, Jarl Van Eycke of Belgium, and David Oranchak of the United States. LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH" I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE "I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH MEīECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONERīECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME An international trio of codebreakers cracked the infamous "340 cipher," a coded message from the killer whose meaning had eluded experts for 51 years. And while authorities have never apprehended the murderer who claimed to kill as many as 37 people in his letters to the San Francisco press, one mystery around the killings has finally been solved.
#Cipher 340 serial
The Zodiac Killer continues to haunt the Bay Area nearly half a century after the height of the serial killer's murderous spree.
