Zodiac Killer’s Cipher Is Solved By Codebreakers After 51 Years

An eerie cipher written by the infamous Zodiac Killer has just been solved by amateur codebreakers.

The FBI reported Friday a  coded note from the 1960s serial killer Zodiac Killer was recently solved by a team of codebreakers from Australia, Belgium, and the United States.

Dave Oranchak a codebreaking expert said the Zodiac Killer’s note sent to the San Fransico Chronicle in 1969 said: “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”.

Unfortunately, the code gave no new details on the identity of the Zodiac Killer.

Over 50 years after the so-called Zodiac Killer first began terrorizing the streets of Northern California, a code-breaking team is believed to have finally cracked one of the killer's mysterious coded messages sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 https://t.co/1QjBv4B2xQ

— CNN (@CNN) December 12, 2020

Chilling 1969 cipher written by Zodiac Killer who claimed he murdered 37 people is finally solved 51 years later https://t.co/jWGJfHnAm5

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) December 11, 2020

'I am not afraid of the gas chamber': Codebreakers solve Zodiac Killer cipher https://t.co/iXrv5NyNyv via @nbcnews

— Jessica Simeone (@JessicaSimeone) December 11, 2020

CBS News covered the story and dropped these details:

Amateur codebreakers have solved a decades long mystery. The FBI confirmed Friday that a group of private citizens deciphered a coded note from the Zodiac Killer, the 1960s serial killer who preyed on his victims in Northern California and has never been caught.

The coded message, known as 340 cipher (named for its 340 characters), was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 and was recently solved by a team of amateur codebreakers from Australia, Belgium and the United States, the newspaper reported.

Codebreaking expert David Oranchak told the newspaper that the text reads, in part: “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 solved cipher was sent to the FBI, which “confirmed the solution,” Oranchak told the newspaper. The code does not solve the identity of the man behind the murders.

#Breaking – Our statement regarding the #Zodiac cipher: pic.twitter.com/cJCtlDEbMw

— FBI SanFrancisco (@FBISanFrancisco) December 11, 2020

One mystery around the killings has finally been solved. https://t.co/LNsnnMP03p

— Complex (@Complex) December 11, 2020

CNN covered the sinister code being boring too:

More than 50 years after the so-called Zodiac Killer first began terrorizing the streets of Northern California, a code-breaking team is believed to have finally cracked one of the killer’s mysterious coded messages sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969.

Dubbed the “340 cipher,” the message was unraveled by a trio of code breakers — David Oranchak, a software developer in Virginia, Jarl Van Eycke, a Belgian computer programmer, and Sam Blake, an Australian mathematician.
Decoding the cipher revealed the following message. It was sent in all capital letters without punctuation and included the misspelling of paradise:

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“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 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 will be an easy one in paradice death.”

The TV show the message refers to is “The Jim Dunbar Show,” a Bay Area television talk show. The cipher was sent two weeks after a person claiming to be the Zodiac Killer called into the show.

Zodiac Killer's encrypted letter deciphered after 51 years: "I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me" pic.twitter.com/HaY10uUqHL

— BNO News (@BNONews) December 11, 2020