Between 1966 and 1974, the Zodiac killer sent over 20 written messages to the police. His messages were also received by newspapers. Four of his messages (one of which was a 3 part cipher sent to 3 different newspapers) to the authorities were written in the form of ciphers.The newspapers were told to publish the ciphers, or the Zodiac would kill again. A couple of school teachers were actually responsible for deciphering on of the ciphers. Some still remain unsolved. The serial killer was active in Northern California during the late 60’s and early 70’s. The Zodiac claimed responsibility for 37 murders, but only 5 have been confirmed by the police. Though the police had several suspects, the true identity of the Zodiac killer remains a mystery today. In one message, the Zodiac said that if his cipher was broken, it would lead to his capture. The message, having been cracked, merely stated the purpose of his killing spree: to collect slaves for the afterlife. After three years of silence, the Zodiac sent another message to the Chronicle Newspaper stating that the movie The Exorcist was the best satirical comedy he had ever seen. Over the past ten years or so, many people have come forward, claiming someone they know is the Zodiac killer. DNA tests proved all of these false. Who knows if the true identity of the Zodiac killer will ever be known.
I've never heard of this before! It's very interesting, but unsettling at the same time. It's unfortunate that this man was never captured.
ReplyDeleteI actually saw parts of a movie that was about this killer and it really interested me so I looked up his ciphers too. They are insanely complex and I can totally understand how some people have been unable to break these ciphers, even now. It's still kind of creepy.
ReplyDeleteIt shows the disadvantage about codes. Cryptology can benefit country about protecting the national secret but can also be applied by criminal to increase the difficulty to detect case.
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