Crime Zodiac killer code cracked by Australian mathematician Samuel Blake more than 50 years after first murder

Melbourne mathematician Samuel Blake and two fellow cryptologists have been officially recognised by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation for solving a 50-year-old cryptic message written by an as yet unnamed serial killer, known only as the Zodiac.

Dr Blake worked on decoding the message known as the "340 cipher" with two other cryptologists and a University of Melbourne supercomputer called Spartan to eventually reveal its content.

The cipher bears a distinctive circle with a cross through the middle and was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper on November 8, 1969 by a man who called himself "Zodiac".

The correspondent killer sent letters to newspapers over several years up until 1974, including proof he was responsible for the deaths of at least five people in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The official cracking of the 340-character cipher provides insight into the killer's thoughts and actions but does not reveal a name as promised in separate letters sent to newspapers.
Dr Blake told the ABC he had been working on finding a solution to the 340 cipher, considered one of the holy grails of cryptography, since contacting Zodiac cryptologist David Oranchak early in 2020.

Mr Oranchak hosts a website dedicated to cracking the Zodiac ciphers and has posted several YouTube videos detailing the work he has done over 15 years trying to solve them.

In a statement released on social media Dr Blake paid tribute to US-based Mr Oranchak and software programmer Jarl van Eycke, based in Brussels.

"During the year we tested, by trial and error, around 650,000 different reading directions through the cipher. This search turned up — more or less — nothing," he said.

"However, one of these searches uncovered a surprising combination of words: GAS CHAMBER. That such a macabre phase should pop up in a sea of noise warranted further attention.

"From this fragment, David, Jarl van Eycke and I reworked the key and corrected an error Zodiac made in his diagonal enumeration of the second vertical segment of the cipher.

"Jarl's fantastic program, azdecrypt, was essential in this process."

A deciphered section of the code​

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
Dr Blake is a visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne and described how the university's supercomputer, Spartan, solved the cipher after processing 650,000 other possible solutions.

Eventually a solution that drew out a message that included the phrase "GAS CHAMBER" was revealed.

Mr Oranchak sent the proposed solution to the Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit of the FBI and within a day they officially approved the solution.

In a statement released on Friday, US time, the FBI confirmed that the cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by "private citizens."

"After 50 years of active research, this cipher has finally been solved. We now understand why it resisted attacks for so long," Dr Blake wrote on social media.

"The reading direction through the cipher was so obscure, that the only way it could be found was with a massive search through many candidates using sophisticated software which can efficiently solve homophonic substitution ciphers.

"Not only were we lucky enough to find the needle in the haystack, but we were lucky enough to pick the right haystack in order to start searching for the needle."

Dr Blake and his colleagues have dedicated their work to the murder victims and their families.

The Melbourne mathematician now hopes the solution he and his colleagues have revealed will help crack the two remaining unsolved short ciphers: one with 13 symbols and the other with 32.

In correspondence, the killer hinted that these ciphers contain his name.

"I find the Zodiac case intriguing, but I'm far from a Zodiac killer expert," Dr Blake said.

"Perhaps my lack of knowledge of the case helped as it wasn't a distraction.

"It would be fantastic if this helps the investigation in some way, now it's over to the experts in interpreting the meaning of his message."

Australian mathematician helps crack 50-year Zodiac serial killer mystery

Sam Blake, together with two other cryptologists and a supercomputer, is recognised by the FBI as having cracked a code used by the infamous Zodiac killer.

www.abc.net.au

https://archive.is/8YPg5

 

[Not Really Here]

From this fragment, David, Jarl van Eycke and I reworked the key and corrected an error Zodiac made in his diagonal enumeration of the second vertical segment of the cipher.

The killer fucked up his own code.
I'm dying, 50 fucking years 'man this is a hard code to break' and the guy was a retard.

 

[Unassuming Local Guy]

The killer fucked up his own code.
I'm dying, 50 fucking years 'man this is a hard code to break' and the guy was a retard.

No wonder it took so long to decode it. You'd think he'd have at least run it backwards to make sure his "look how smart I am" bullshit actually worked.

And speaking of being a pseud, what's with the misspelling of paradise?

 

[keyboredsm4shthe2nd]

The killer fucked up his own code.
I'm dying, 50 fucking years 'man this is a hard code to break' and the guy was a retard.

Is that surprising? I've heard it was hard to crack because he was a fucking illiterate and constantly misspelled words irl thus too in his code.

 

[Buttigieg2020]

Ted Cruz BTFO

 

[Not Really Here]

Is that surprising? I've heard it was hard to crack because he was a fucking illiterate and constantly misspelled words irl thus too in his code.

It seems like it kind of was surprising to all the people in the last half century who tried to crack it.

 

[Stoneheart]

I'm dying, 50 fucking years 'man this is a hard code to break' and the guy was a retard.

well most member of the senate are...

 

[Not Really Here]

No wonder it took so long to decode it. You'd think he'd have at least run it backwards to make sure his "look how smart I am" bullshit actually worked.

And speaking of being a pseud, what's with the misspelling of paradise?

I assume his code included the misspelling.

 

[OttoWest]

Here’s a vid on how they did it:

It’s possible he misspelled words on purpose to make the code more difficult to crack. A few crypts have used nonsense words in the past to do just that. Guess we’ll never know.

 

[themasterlurker]

No wonder it took so long to decode it. You'd think he'd have at least run it backwards to make sure his "look how smart I am" bullshit actually worked.

And speaking of being a pseud, what's with the misspelling of paradise?

Paradice... pair of dice... think about it... #QANON #WWG1WGA

 

[Android raptor]

This is really interesting shit. Wonder if this will lead to his identity finally being figured out?

 

[ArthuriusMartyrius]

Dr Blake is a visiting fellow at the University of Melbourne and described how the university's supercomputer, Spartan, solved the cipher after processing 650,000 other possible solutions.

So they ran the cipher through a super-computer until they got a hit? And here I thought they used some mega-complex, quadruple-layer polynomial formula or some other mathematics whizz shit to solve it. Turns out they just brute-forced the damn thing.

Also, it's likely this solution is incorrect. It's not unusual for ciphertexts to have several "plaintext solutions" which seemingly make coherent sentences but they usually have some small errors in them which out the "solution" as false. In this case, as Not Really Here pointed out above, they "fixed" the errors to make the solution fit.

 

[pot of sneed]

Demented piece of shit with delusions of grandeur and intelligence hoodwinked the world into being captivated by it's crimes when it was just a retard all along. Maybe people really do get what they deserve.

 

[IAmNotAlpharius]

Here’s a vid on how they did it:

It’s possible he misspelled words on purpose to make the code more difficult to crack. A few crypts have used nonsense words in the past to do just that. Guess we’ll never know.

Could be, but my guess is that he just wasn’t great at spelling.

Demented piece of shit with delusions of grandeur and intelligence hoodwinked the world into being captivated by it's crimes when it was just a retard all along. Maybe people really do get what they deserve.

Reality is often disappointing.

 

[CWCissey]

'Oh fuck! They're breaking my code!'

 

[Disgruntled Pupper]

I never really had what you would call high hopes for the cipher, I certainly never thought it would have his name or some ground-breaking clue that would solve the case. But man, I never expected it to be this fucking gay either.

 

[Tootsie Bear]

I was hoping this was news the Zodiac Killer was arrested or at least identified. Regardless it reminds me to watch the movie at night while I imagine the Zodiac Killer is peeking through my window blinds at night.

 

[Not Really Here]

I never really had what you would call high hopes for the cipher, I certainly never thought it would have his name or some ground-breaking clue that would solve the case. But man, I never expected it to be this fucking gay either.

Bro, you've been a member since '16.
After being here this long you should have been expecting something at least this gay.

 

[CWCissey]

Bro, you've been a member since '16.
After being here this long you should have been expecting something at least this gay.

>TFW a literally big-headed comedian that appealed to drunk students had a better code than that of a notorious serial killer.

 

[Yotsubaaa]

I was hoping this was news the Zodiac Killer was arrested or at least identified. Regardless it reminds me to watch the movie at night while I imagine the Zodiac Killer is peeking through my window blinds at night.

He can't be arrested yet, he still has to hassle the Zucc and the homeless guy who owns Twitter at the senate inquiries.