The Zodiac Killer, an unidentified serial killer, is infamous for the murder of 5 known victims, as well as 2 injured. He operated in Northern California during the late 1960s to the late 1970s. Although a lot about him remains unknown, his 340-symbol cipher was recently solved on December 5th of 2020.

The first murders took place on December 20, 1968, and the 2 victims were high school students in Benicia, California. The two were shot at Lake Herman Road while they were in a car. The next murder took place on July 4, 1969, in Vallejo, California. 2 victims were involved, but fortunately one was able to survive. They were shot at Blue Rock Springs Park while in their car.

The Zodiac sent out his first letters to 3 different newspapers, which were received on August 1, 1969. The letters were nearly identical and in them, the writer took credit for both shootings. Each letter included a third of the 408-symbol cryptogram, which was claimed to contain his identity. 

The killer threatened to “cruse [sic] around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend” if the papers did not publish the cryptograms on their front pages. Each part was eventually published and the murders did not happen.

The 408-symbol cipher, including spelling and grammar errors, reads “I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forrest because man is the most dangeroue anamal of all to kill something gives me the most thrilling experence it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it is thae when I die I will be reborn in paradice and the I have killed will become my slaves I will not give you my name because you will try to sloi down or atop my collectiog of slaves for my afterlife ebeorietemethhpiti”.

The San Francisco Chronicle quoted Vallejo Police Chief Jack E. Stiltz next to the code, saying “We’re not satisfied that the letter was written by the murderer.” He requested that the writer send a second letter to prove his identity. On August 7, 1969, The San Francisco Examiner received another letter, in which the writer referred to himself as “the Zodiac”. In the letter, he proved his identity by providing information about the murders that have not been released.

On September 27, 1969, 2 students were picnicking at Lake Berryessa. A man approached them and gave them orders before he ended up stabbing them repeatedly. The killer called the Napa County Sheriff’s office through a payphone and reported his own crime. Detectives were able to lift up a wet palm print, but were unable to match it to a suspect. Both of the victims were found as they were screaming for help, but unfortunately one of them died two days later. 

The next murder took place on October 11, 1969, which was 2 weeks after the previous incident, in San Francisco. The killer entered a cab and requested to be taken to Washington and Maple Streets in Presidio Heights. He then shot the driver in the head, but 3 teenagers witnessed him and called the police. Due to a mix up in descriptions, they were unable to find any suspects.

This would be the final confirmed murder done by the Zodiac, who was able to kill 5 people in one year. The Chronicle would then receive another letter from the Zodiac Killer, which included proof of his previous murder along with a threat to kill schoolchildren on October 20, 1969. 

A few days later, on October 20th, the Oakland Police Department would receive a call from someone claiming to be the Zodiac. They demanded that either F. Lee Bailey or Melvin Belli appear on the talk show A.M. San Francisco. Belli appeared on the show and someone claiming to be the Zodiac called numerous times saying his name was “Sam”.

The Zodiac would soon send out his next cryptogram on November 8, 1969, which contained 340 symbols. For 51 years, the cipher remained unsolved. It was recently solved by an international team of private citizens on December 5, 2020. A program was used to help break the cipher, and one solution was found by sheer luck. This helped lead them to decoding the entire message.

The 340-symbol cipher reads:

“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”.

“Of all the things that stood out was the line ‘that wasn’t me on the TV show’,” says Oranchak, who helped solve the cipher. “At this point I jumped out of my chair because I knew the cipher was received on November 8, 1969, which is about two weeks after someone calling themselves Zodiac called into a TV talk show hosted by Jim Dunbar. While the caller was on the air, he said ‘I need help, I’m sick, I don’t want to go to the gas chamber.'”

To this day, the true identity of the Zodiac Killer remains unknown. The case of the Zodiac murders has remained open since 1969, but there are still many discoveries waiting to be made.