THEY were a series of murders that terrorised swathes of California 50 to 60 years ago, committed by the so-called “Zodiac Killer”, who has never been caught. Now code-breakers have cracked a cipher the killer sent to The San Francisco Chronicle that has puzzled police for decades.

 

The “Zodiac Killer”?

That's the pseudonym of the serial killer who was active in Northern California from the late 1960s to early 1970s, whose identity remains unknown. The name "Zodiac" stems from a raft of taunting cards and letters sent to the San Francisco Bay Area press, including four ciphers.

 

How many people died?

Although linked to a number of killings in the early 1960s, he is known to have murdered five people in stabbings and shootings, with the first known murder taking place in December 1968 when a man and a woman were shot dead in their car in Benicia, California.

 

After that?

The following July, another couple were shot in their car in Benicia, with the man surviving. Then in September 1969 in Napa County, a couple having a picnic were stabbed next to a lake, with the man again surviving. In October of that year, a taxi driver was shot dead in San Francisco. 

 

He claimed more deaths, though?

They are all definitively linked to Zodiac - the inspiration for 1971's Dirty Harry, starring Clint Eastwood and 2007's Zodiac, starring Robert Downey Jr, Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gyllenhaal - but he at one point claimed to have killed 37 people.

 

When did the letters begin?

In August 1969, three letters from the killer were sent to San Francisco area newspapers, with each including one third of a cipher which the killer said would reveal his identity. The San Francisco Chronicle published its section of the cryptogram and days later, the San Francisco Examiner received a letter saying: "Dear Editor, this is the Zodiac speaking." 

 

Who cracked the first codes?

As experts struggled to solve the codes, Donald and Bettye Harden, a couple from Salinas, California, said they had done so. Their translation included: ”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 [sic] of all.”

 

Now?

Three code-breakers in America, Australia and Belgium have cracked a 340-character cipher, 51 years after it was sent to the Chronicle by the Zodiac. In a video posted on YouTube, web-designer David Oranchak says he cracked the cipher along with Australian mathematician Sam Blake and Belgian code-breaking software engineer Jarl Van Eycke. 

 

What does it say?

Regardless of Zodiac’s earlier claims, it doesn’t refer to his identity, but states: “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 paradice [sic] all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me…”

 

What now?

The FBI confirmed that the cipher was "solved" and said the "case remains an ongoing investigation”, saying they "continue to seek justice for the victims of these brutal crimes”.