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Chilling Cryptic Message by Zodiac Killer Solved 50 Years After His Notorious Killings in California

The message was allegedly sent to The San Francisco Chronicle, by the notorious killer in November 1969.

PUBLISHED NOV 2, 2024

A sketch of the Zodiac Killer (Cover Image Source: Wikimedia Commons/Photo by Wolfman12405)

The Zodiac Killer has been one of the most enduring mysteries in the world of serial killing. The Zodiac Killer began his reign of horror in California, around five decades ago, and since then authorities and crime sleuths have tried but failed to get a hold of him.

The murderer allegedly provided the public and authorities with ciphers (messages in codes), but still, he remained unidentified, LADBible reported. The ciphers are so complex, that deciphering them has also proven to be a challenge. However, experts did not give up, and in 2020 managed to decode one of them.

The Zodiac killer broke his silence November 11th to boast in letters and cryptograms that he has now murdered seven persons. Two letters and a cryptogram were sent to the San Francisco Chronicle. Police believe the author is the person responsible for the unsolved slaying of five persons in the North Bay area in the past year.(Image Source: Getty Images/Photo by Bettmann Archive) — The Zodiac killer allegedly sent two letters and a cryptogram to the San Francisco Chronicle. (Image Source: Getty Images/Photo by Bettmann Archive)

A man named Dave Oranchak, and two of his associates solved the cipher, Tyla reported. The message was allegedly sent to The San Francisco Chronicle, by the notorious killer in November 1969. The message contained a Z-340 cryptogram, which to the naked eye looks like a jumble of shapes.

Oranchak took up the deciphering as a challenge, Tyla reported. "It was an exciting project to work on, and it was on many people’s 'top unsolved ciphers of all time’ lists," he said. After much work, he and his team solved the complicated code.

The cryptogram, according to the team, translated to, "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 from me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice so they are afraid of death. I am not afraid of death I am not afraid of death because I know that my new life will be an easy one in paradice death," Tyla reported.

The show and gas chamber could be about what unfolded in a program at KGO-TV in October, Tyla reported. Someone called the network and claimed to be the Zodiac Killer. The alleged killer stated, "I need help. I’m sick. I don’t want to go to the gas chamber." The misspelling of paradise and talk of collecting slaves was also noted in other letters attributed to the serial killer back then.

The Zodiac killer remains unknown, but a man named Arthur Leigh Allen was considered a strong suspect by authorities for many years, The Independent reported. There was never enough evidence to apprehend him. A new Netflix Documentary titled, This Is the Zodiac Speaking reveals that Allen allegedly identified himself, as the killer to a trio of siblings.