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The Zodiac Killer's 340-character cipher has been cracked after 51 years!

WhySoDevious

WhySoDevious

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,466



Here's the original cipher:

Zodiac-340-Blue-1.jpg


And here's the solution:

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

Here's the FBI's statement:

The FBI has a team of cryptanalysis experts that decipher coded messages, symbols, and records from criminals known as the Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit. CRRU regularly works with the cryptologic research community to solve ciphers. On December 5, 2020, the FBI received the solution to a cipher popularly known as Z340 from a cryptologic researcher and independently verified the decryption. Cipher Z340 is one of four ciphers attributed to the Zodiac Killer. This cipher was first submitted to the FBI Laboratory on November 13, 1969, but not successfully decrypted. Over the past 51 years CRRU has reviewed numerous proposed solutions from the public–none of which had merit. The cipher was recently solved by a team of three private citizens. The Zodiac Killer case remains an ongoing investigation for the FBI San Francisco division and our local law enforcement partners. The Zodiac Killer terrorized multiple communities across Northern California and even though decades have gone by, we continue to seek justice for the victims of these brutal crimes. 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.
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Sadly, the solution does not give any clues as to the identity of the Zodiac Killer, so he remains unknown. However, we now know it wasn't him that called in to that TV show.
 

Sandstar

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,748
Look, it's not fuckin' Ted Cruz. The Zodiac killer was active mostly before Cruz was even born, and it's disrespectful to the people the Zodiac killer murdered to make it into a meme so you can mock someone who wasn't even alive at the time.
 
OP
OP
WhySoDevious

WhySoDevious

Member
Oct 31, 2017
8,466
Sandstar said:
Look, it's not fuckin' Ted Cruz. The Zodiac killer was active mostly before Cruz was even born, and it's disrespectful to the people the Zodiac killer murdered to make it into a meme so you can mock someone who wasn't even alive at the time.
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So maybe Ted's dad?

He could have killed JFK and still have been the Zodiac Killer!
 
TrubbleFrog

TrubbleFrog

Member
Feb 23, 2018
929
Sandstar said:
Look, it's not fuckin' Ted Cruz. The Zodiac killer was active mostly before Cruz was even born, and it's disrespectful to the people the Zodiac killer murdered to make it into a meme so you can mock someone who wasn't even alive at the time.
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We know thats you Ted.

On a serious note, of course it's not Ted Cruz.
 
RadzPrower

RadzPrower

One Winged Slayer
Member
Jan 19, 2018
6,052
jelly said:
He can't spell for shit, deliberate for the cipher maybe.
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That actually would be a smart decision to intentionally misspell words in a still understandable manner. It's tracking patterns like known words that help with cracking cipher's, so throwing off established patterns could help with obscuring the message. Throw in some number replacements for letters (i.e. e sometimes becomes 3, etc.) and it could help keep the cipher hidden.
 
Hero_of_the_Day

Hero_of_the_Day

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
17,380
That is crazy. I just watched Zodiac like a week ago. So insane that the killer seemingly up and vanished. Just always wonder if they died an old man surrounded by family... who then found some weird shit when cleaning out his house after.
 
Freddy=Legend

Freddy=Legend

Drive-in Mutant
Member
Oct 29, 2017
5,136
Sandstar said:
Look, it's not fuckin' Ted Cruz. The Zodiac killer was active mostly before Cruz was even born, and it's disrespectful to the people the Zodiac killer murdered to make it into a meme so you can mock someone who wasn't even alive at the time.
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I agree with you. It's like the people who wear shirts with Charles Manson's goofy ass faces on it. Shit isn't funny, it's just glorifying a psychopath for a fun time. Fuck that, these people don't deserve anything like that.
 
Shoe

Shoe

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,188
Hero_of_the_Day said:
That is crazy. I just watched Zodiac like a week ago. So insane that the killer seemingly up and vanished. Just always wonder if they died an old man surrounded by family... who then found some weird shit when cleaning out his house after.
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I think if anyone had concrete proof, they would have come out. The publicity, book deals, etc. would be insane.
 
danmaku

danmaku

Member
Nov 5, 2017
3,234
Does this mean all his messages are solved as well? Or did he use a different cypher for each message? I've seen the movie but it was ages ago.

edit: just read the Wiki entry. Wow, this case was huge.
 
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NPVinny

NPVinny

Member
Dec 13, 2017
792
It's crazy to know how close they were to actually catching him after he murdered the cab driver.
 

Deleted member 83122

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 15, 2020
861
Whatta damaged individual. I notice a similarity with fundamentalist mono-theism, in that they are convinced that the afterlife will be all good no matter the evil they have manifested in their time in this life. Morally repugnant.
<insert Ted Cruz joke>
 
hjort

hjort

Member
Nov 9, 2017
4,096
This is pretty cool, but I'm also kind of sad that there's one less mystery in the world. I mean, if this had brought us closer to knowing the true identity of the killer, and the families of the victims getting some form of closure that would have been another thing.
 
Rhomega

Rhomega

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,657
Arizona
But we already know he believes that killing people will make them his slaves in the afterlife. We spent 50 years decrypting this and it doesn't give us anything new?
 
sangreal

sangreal

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
10,890
Wow, never thought it would happen. I used to play around with it

Pretty useless message, as expected, but interesting video on how it was solved
 
NPVinny

NPVinny

Member
Dec 13, 2017
792
I think the most egregious problem with suggesting Cruz is the Zodiac Killer (however facetiously) is not that the murders began before he was born, but that he would have the intelligence to commit multiple murders, evade the police, and be able to create, let alone fully understand, ciphers.
 
Hero_of_the_Day

Hero_of_the_Day

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
17,380
Shoe said:
I think if anyone had concrete proof, they would have come out. The publicity, book deals, etc. would be insane.
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So would the family scrutiny. But, I don't mean to say they would have found something that made them blatantly think "holy fuck, grandpa was the zodiac!" But, wasn't it reported that the golden state killer took random mementos like cuff links or something? Wonder if any of that shit was found, or if he tossed it all a long time ago.

I mean, if they had family and have died there are only two choices. 1) zodiac got rid of anything relating to their crimes or 2) at some point after their death someone unknowingly handled something related to the crimes. I mean shit, some relative could have grandpas old gun right now and have no clue. Or they pawned that shit off for $50 because grandpa was an asshole, so who gives a fuck about keeping his shit.
 
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