Aussie codebreaker helps solve infamous killer's secret text
A coded letter sent to a newspaper by the infamous Zodiac serial killer has been solved after five decades.
The cipher is one of many sent by a killer who referred to himself as Zodiac in letters sent to detectives and the media.
The Zodiac terrorised Northern California communities and killed five people in the Bay Area between 1968 and 1969, capturing national attention and intrigue which remains to this day.
According to code-breaking expert David Oranchak, the cipher’s text includes: “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch 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 San Francisco Bay Chronicle reported.
Mr Oranchak cracked the code with help from Australian mathematician Sam Blake and Belgian programmer Jarl Van Eycke.
The code does not uncover the long-sought identity for the man behind the string of brutal murders.
Mr Oranchak, who has been working on the Zodiac’s codes for years, said in an email to the newspaper that the solved cipher was sent to the FBI.
“They have confirmed the solution. No joke! This is the real deal,” he wrote.
Cameron Polan, spokeswoman for the FBI’s San Francisco office, confirmed Mr Oranchak’s claim Friday (local time).
“The FBI is aware that a cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by private citizens. The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco division and our local law enforcement partners,” she said in a statement.
“Due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, and out of respect for the victims and their families, we will not be providing further comment at this time.”
This is the second time a Zodiac cipher has been cracked. The first, one long cipher sent in pieces to The Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald papers in 1969, was solved by a Salinas schoolteacher and his wife.
It said little beyond: “I like killing because it is so much fun.”
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