Source | Xiaoxiang Morning News
Reporter | Ren Qiurong
The Zodiac was a serial killer who brutally murdered at least five people in California in the 1960s and 1970s and wrote "code" letters to newspapers and police.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, a password cracking team of three members from the United States, Australia and Belgium solved the 51-year-old "killer zodiac" mystery and reported its breakthrough to the FBI.
The FBI confirmed on December 11 that one of the most puzzling secrets in the "Zodiac Killer" case— the "340 code"—had been cracked by a code-breaking team.
"Zodiac" is a pseudonym for a serial killer. He brutally killed at least 5 people in northern California in the 1960s and 1970s, and there are also reports that the death toll could exceed 30.
San Francisco police circulate the appearance of the "Zodiac.". The picture on the left shows a truck driver after being killed, drawn according to the description of the witness, and the picture on the right is corrected after the police questioned the witness.
After the murderous killing, he wrote a series of gruesome letters to the San Francisco Chronicle, some of which were encoded, including a letter with 340 particularly complex characters, later known as the "340 Code." The letter was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle on November 8, 1969.
Part of the letters written by the "Zodiac"
The "Zodiac Killer" case caused a great sensation at the time. The passwords he sent to the newspaper were complex and difficult to understand, involving many astrological symbols and difficult drawings.
After the FBI's investigation reached an impasse, the "Zodiac" continued to contact the police and newspapers in the form of letters and greeting cards, which not only mocked the police, but also detailed how he would kill innocent people next, which became a hot news spot at the time.
The San Francisco Chronicle interviewed codec david Oranchak, a member of the team of codebreakers. He said the cipher text he deciphered included: "I hope you had a lot of fun catching me." "I am not afraid of gas chambers because it will send me to heaven as soon as possible, because I now have enough slaves to work for me."
David Oranchak, one of the team members of the deciphering expert team
David Oranchak has been working on the "Zodiac Killer" code for 15 years. He told the San Francisco Chronicle: "One of the teams I was on cracked 340 characters and submitted it to the FBI. They have confirmed our deciphering results. No kidding! It's true. "
Dr Samuel Blake, a visiting scholar and mathematician at the University of Melbourne, was interested in the "Zodiac Killer" case and reached out to him after watching some david Oranchak documentaries about deciphering the code. Starting in March this year, let's study how to crack the password together.
Dr Samuel Blake, a visiting scholar and mathematician at the University of Melbourne, watched David Oranchak's code-breaking documentary and decided to join the team.
Dr. Blake told reporters that password letters are very difficult to decipher and are not simply written from left to right or from top to bottom. Instead, the reading direction is roughly diagonally diagonal.
Belgian programmer Jarl van Eycke's program helped decipher codes.
Dr. Blake paid tribute to David Oranchak and Belgian programmer Jarl van Eycke, whose programs helped decipher codes.
Their team tried 650,000 ways to decipher, and the key to solving the puzzle was to get the word "GAS CHAMBER" in a chaotic ocean of words.
This was confirmed by the FBI. The FBI wrote in a statement: "A code that is believed to be a 'zodiac killer' has recently been cracked by ordinary citizens. The FBI's San Francisco division and local law enforcement agencies are still investigating the 'Zodiac Killer' case. The Zodiac Killers created terror in multiple communities in Northern California, and even as decades have passed, we continue to seek justice for the victims of these atrocious crimes. As the investigation is still ongoing, we will not comment further at this time out of respect for the victims and their families. "
Some of the victims of the "Zodiac Killer" case.
The "Zodiac Killer" case has brought people a lot of speculation about the identity of the killer. In addition, the case has inspired many books and films, and the two film and television dramas "Dirty Harry" and "Zodiac" are based on the event.
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