The FBI has confirmed that a group of citizens from Belgium, the U.S. and Australia have finally deciphered the mysterious last section of the coded message sent by the serial killer. Other parts of the messages in cipher had been previously solved but this last part remained what seemed to be unsolveable even by expert and non-expert code breakers from multiple countries over these many years. The FBI is not providing more comment at this time.
The cipher is known as the 340 cipher because there are 340 characters in it. It was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969. The Zodiac sent many cards letters to newspapers. law enforcement and to individuals such as lawyer Melvin Belli. The letters were written to taunt and play with law enforcement.
The newly decoded cipher reads:
"I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. That wasn't 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."
The Zodiac made other references in his writings about taking slaves with him to paradise. It's always made me wonder if he could have been an adherent to a faith that believes in paradise. I've also speculated that he could have been delusional and this was a schema of his delusion. He also made many references to Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta, The Mikado.
Just in case you are wondering, the letters and stamps have been tested for DNA but the testing did not lead to a complete DNA profile. Other sources from the crime were also tested for DNA and prints and there have been many experts working on this case over the years. The Zodiac killed a cab driver and ripped off part of the driver's bloody shirt and then mailed the fabric. Analysis of the shirt and of the cab's door have not yielded enough material to solve the case. The Zodiac was seen unmasked by living survivors of his attacks and statements from survivors have also not led to a solution of the case. The Zodiac is known to have killed five people but is suspected of killing more.
Update:
The quote for the decryption was pasted from an article online from CBS News. The article is incorrect.
The article is
Zodiac Killer's cipher solved by amateur codebreakers after 51 years
BY CAITLIN YILEK
DECEMBER 12, 2020 / 7:03 AM / CBS NEWS
I don't know how I failed to notice the news article spelling paradise incorrectly. Zodiac always spelled paradise as 'paradice.' The quote from CBS also left off some words the code breakers included. Thanks to Tinkerbell for pointing out the error.
The correct deciphered message is
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
The three men that solved the case are David Oranchak, an American computer programmer, Jarl Van Eycke a Belgian programmer and Sam Blake an Australian applied mathematician. Blake ran 650,000 computer variations to figure the direction to read the characters to solve the cipher. It was run through through the decryption software when one of the men noticed the words "gas chamber" and "the TV show." This was a reference to an AM San Francisco show on KGO-TV in October of 1969. A person calling into the show claimed to be the Zodiac and is quoted as saying "I don't want to go to the gas chamber."
Here's the message the cipher contains. I can't help but think that some relative or acquaintance knew of someone with this particular ideation. I often think that Zodiac would be likely to commit suicide, speeding up his ticket to "paradice" as he calls it.
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
I wanted to also add that I remember that one of the suspects, Arthur Leigh Allen, who was called Lee, was supposedly cleared by a partial DNA match from saliva from one of the stamps. This happened in the early 2000's and this might not be a good enough sample to actually clear him. Law enforcement has not provided details on the issue, but the sample has never been good enough to get a match. Allen died years ago from a heart attack. Another thing I remember is why, even though the Belli letter is in different handwriting, I knew the letter was real. Belli also received a bloody swatch from the cab driver's shirt along with the letter. In the latest deciphering, Zodiac claims it wasn't him that called into the TV show with Belli, but the letter sent to Belli has to be legit because of the swatch from the cab driver. I also remember that Belli's maid answered a called from a guy claiming to be Zodiac. Belli was out of town when the call came. The maid stated that the caller said it was his birthday. This is not like Zodiac to give himself away. The call came on December .. which was Arthur Leigh Allen's birthday.
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