The Zodiac Killer communications were often preceded by newspaper articles about him. The Zodiac Killer opened his letter-writing campaign to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969. Other than the questioned "Cars Make Nice Weapons" letter on October 28th 1987, the Zodiac Killer or an impostor hadn't written to the Vallejo Times-Herald for twenty-one years until the arrival of the Celebrity Cypher on September 25th 1990. If the Zodiac Killer (assuming him the author) was to remain fairly consistent in replying to the newspaper articles about him, then the August 16th 1990 article in the Vallejo Times-Herald may have been a likely trigger for the Celebrity Cypher, mailed just a few weeks later. A few days before the August 16th 1990 article, Pam Huckaby (sister of Darlene Ferrin) had appeared on the Sally Jessy Raphael Show, outlining a series of threatening and disturbing incidents that befell her in recent weeks. Her claims are widely disregarded, but could the real killer of Darlene Ferrin (as opposed to an impostor) have watched the show and/or read the article, and composed the Celebrity Cypher the following month. Below is the article with highlighted sections.

The article has a running theme of Pam Huckaby, who lives near Antioch, California, who has been sent cryptic messages. Notable passages are "The killer is called the Zodiac because of his cryptic messages, loaded with astrological symbols, to the news media and police investigators" and "Police in Antioch had been unresponsive to her earlier reports of death threats. Huckaby said there have been notes pinned to the door of her home - "cryptograms" and Zodiac signs". George Bawart stated "The Zodiac's success in his killing and the success of most serial killers are they have no connection with their victims". 

Did the Zodiac Killer react to this Vallejo Times-Herald newspaper article mentioning cryptograms, Antioch and the fact serial killers are usually unknown to their victims, by mailing a cryptogram to the Vallejo Times-Herald and possibly beginning with the words "Do you know me, my name is"?  Then creating a return address on the left side of the postcard of Antioch, Ca, so as to insinuate he is living very close to Pam Huckaby.             

This is another speculative article searching for the name of the Zodiac Killer within his communications - so caution must be applied to any conclusions that are reached in the following analysis.

After the challenge by Dr. Marsh on October 22nd 1969 requesting that the Zodiac Killer give us his real name in a cipher "however complicated", the notion of a killer hinting at his name in later communications is certainly plausible. Presented in a hidden format, the Zodiac Killer knew that it could never be used as evidence against him, unless the unearthed solution could be proven beyond doubt to be the correct one. In the article Return to Sender we explored the introduction and answer to the 13 symbol cipher of "This is the Zodiac speaking. By the way have you cracked the last cipher I sent you. My name is....Fk, I'm crackproof". The Zodiac Killer effectively giving us his name, but in the shortened format. 

Three months later, the Zodiac Killer mailed the Little List letter on July 26th 1970 paraphrasing the recital of Groucho Marx's As some day it may happen from the Gilbert & Sullivan comedic opera, The Mikado. On October 12th 1970, the San Francisco Chronicle featured this letter under the title of Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac, stating "A quiet search for onetime Ko-Ko's has turned up none that could be Zodiac. Obvious differences in physical description and handwriting comparisons have cleared all Ko-Ko's tracked down since the arrival of the July 27 letters". But what if the Zodiac Killer wasn't choosing the character of Ko-Ko because he played him in a production or even liked the theater, but the name Ko-Ko was somehow pertinent to his identity. Bearing in mind the phrase "My name is....Fk, I'm crackproof", could the Zodiac Killer's surname begin with Ko. The phrase "FK, I'm crackproof" is actually 14 letters long, but it was fashioned into a code of only 13 characters. Could this deliberate formatting indicate his initials were FK in a name comprising of 13 letters?

Although questionable Zodiac correspondence, the December 1990 Eureka card yet again featured Groucho Marx in imagery on the front of the card, promising us his name yet again. The card read "From your secret pal, can't guess who I am yet? Well, look inside and you'll find out" - and contained within was a xerox copy of two keys. This too triggered the notion of a surname beginning with K. The Exorcist letter mailed on January 29th 1974 also featured a verse recited by Groucho Marx, but more importantly, the verse of Tit-Willow by Ko-Ko was preceded by the line "Signed, yours truley", implying the character in the verse had something to do with his name. This wasn't all.

We argued that the Zodiac Killer gave us the answers to all his "unsolved" codes in his own words, and the Celebrity Cypher mailed on September 25th 1990 to the Vallejo Times-Herald may have followed a similar pattern. The name of the sender was hidden behind 5 and 8 characters totaling 13, placed on the address side of the postcard and at the foot of the communication. A Celebrity Cypher with a likely introduction of "My name is", exactly like 13 symbol cipher mailed on April 20th 1970. If the initials of the killer were given in that instance within the phrase "Fk, I'm crackproof", then there are reasonable grounds to believe the 5 and 8 letters of the name on the Celebrity Cypher begin with an F and K also. In the Return to Sender article we hypothesized the forename as "Frank", based upon the phrase "how much money you have on my head now" in reference to the stamp on the April 20th 1970 letter - and this fits nicely into the Celebrity Cypher solution. I have speculatively placed "Ko" at the beginning of the surname regarding The Mikado references, but will venture no further. There are possibilities based on the "keys" provided by the Eureka card to suggest his surname could end in "key" or "ki" such as "Kominski", however, there are plenty of other options pertaining to the xeroxed image.

Comparisons can be drawn between the April 20th 1970 and September 25th 1990 communications with respect to a name comprising of 13 letters (split into 5 and 8 characters) - and bearing in mind the Christmas card, likely mailed close to December 25th 1990 continuing the theme of promising us his name - can a link be forged between all three regarding the identity or name of the Zodiac Killer? 

While discussing the September 25th 1990 Celebrity Cypher in an earlier article on this site, Rubislaw32 discovered the identity of the postcard, described by Zodiac researcher Lyndon Lafferty as "Driftwood on Ocean Beach", whereas the face of the card featured a rooted tree on a beach in Carmel, California. Any doubt that this discovery by Rubislaw32 was not of Carmel Beach in California has been seemingly quashed, when the John Hinde alphanumeric publishing code in the top left corner of the address side, was compared to the alphanumeric publishing code on the original Celebrity Cypher mailed to the Vallejo Times-Herald in 1990. This discovery is now available on the Project MK Zodiac website here.      

The address side of the original 1990 Celebrity Cypher contained the alphanumeric code 2CG 66-B, as did the Carmel postcard on the left, effectively tying the two together and strengthening the case regarding the image portrayed on the face of the postcard. If anybody has information to the contrary in respect to these alphanumeric codes, please let me know in comments. The only thing left to speculate upon, was whether the 1990 Celebrity Cypher was authored by the Zodiac Killer or somebody attempting to mimic the Zodiac Killer.

There have been numerous theories put forward, including from Sandy Betts, who has expressed her reservations on whether the Celebrity Cypher has Carmel Beach on the face of the card. She believes there may be a connection to the John and Joyce Swindle murder, alongside Ocean Beach, San Diego on February 5th 1964. She stated on Zodiac Killer Site forum "On Wednesday, February 5, 1964, Navy radio-man third class Johnny Ray Swindle and his newlywed wife Joyce were violently murdered along the "Ocean Beach" Boardwalk next to the Silver Spray Apartments. Swindle had married his childhood sweetheart on January 18, 1964 and they stayed in a three room cottage nine blocks from where they would eventually be slain. According to the San Diego Union Newspaper, five shots were fired from the sniper position above. Police said two more were fired at close range. Indicating that the killer fired the last two shots into their heads in a kind of coup de grâce. Their murder case remains unsolved to this day, however, there are many persons who believe the murders were committed by the infamous Zodiac Killer". She further elaborated on Zodiac Killer Forumotion "The "Ocean Beach" that I believe it is was, is in San Diego Ca. I knew about two murders there on Feb. 5th 1964. They were John and Joyce Swindle. The stamp that was used backs up what I believe. The stamp is of Marianne Moore who died on Feb. 5th 1972, I do not think that was coincidence".

The Zodiac Killer began his cipher mailings to the Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969, to which he mailed part one of a three-part cipher to Bay Area newspapers. So this 1990 offering in ciphertext (if Zodiac) would mean the only two confirmed mailings to the Vallejo Times-Herald would both have contained code. The characters of the code are certainly recognizable, but not difficult to replicate for anybody who knows something about the Zodiac Killer. The Bay Area murderer gloried in his narcissism, parading himself in an executioner's costume at Lake Berryesssa on September 27th 1969, so designing a postcard based on  the Celebrity Ciphers of Luis Campos would not be beyond him. These ciphers were published regularly in the newspapers featuring well-known people, past and present. The reader had to identify the person and quote from the encoded text. The idea that the Zodiac Killer, deeming himself a celebrity, would then tease us a further time with his name, is not so far-fetched. 

You can see that the foot of the Luis Campos cipher solution on the right is reserved for the celebrity's name (in this case, John Lee Hooker). Bearing in mind the positioning of the characters shown above, with the left side of the postcard normally reserved for the name and address - and with the final 5 and 8 characters identical to the beginning of the cipher, we should expect the red rectangles to contain the name of the postcard author. The blue rectangle to contain the address and the green rectangle to harbor the message. If this were the Zodiac Killer, being the celebrity that he is, what better way to encipher this message with one of his old quotes.

The communication that most springs to mind when we are attempting to discover the name of the Zodiac Killer, is the April 20th 1970 "My Name Is" 13 symbol cipher. That being 2 letters, followed by 4 letters, followed by 2 letters and finally his name of 13 letters (split into forename and surname). Well look at that. The 1990 Celebrity Cipher ends in a formation of 2, 4, 2 and 13. This was a Zodiac quote so good, they even named the correspondence after it. But what about the first four words in the Celebrity Cypher message. What Zodiac communication was this chosen from?

You would expect the revelation of his name to be preceded by a question, such as "do you know me" or "if you want me", followed by the answer. This is obviously assuming there is a second letter obscured by the stamp. He teased us similarly in the October 27th 1970 'Halloween' card stating "you ache to know my name. And so I'll clue you in", and in the 408 cipher with "in this cipher is my idenity". But he always failed to deliver. If we combine part of the 'Halloween' card phrase with the April 20th 1970 letter, we get "you ache to know my name. My name is".  Replacing the first "my name" with "me"  in the form of a question, it is my guess the Celebrity Cypher reads something along the lines of "do you know me. My name is".
If the 1990 Celebrity Cypher was truly by the Zodiac Killer, his name should be 5 and 8 letters in length, mirroring the '13 Symbol' cipher - but forgive me for being skeptical.

Luis Campos, born in Santiago, Dominican Republic is an inventor, poet and cryptographer who created puzzles and ciphers for the United Features Syndicate of New York, beginning in 1983. He would create six celebrity ciphers a week featuring famous quotes from well-known people, past and present. The reader had to identify the person and quote from the encoded text. The characters in the cryptograms were deliberately spaced into separate words, as shown on the right. 

On September 25th 1990 somebody mailed the celebrity cypher to the Vallejo Times-Herald approximately three months before the 1990 'Eureka' card, often associated with the Zodiac Killer. Bearing in mind the 408 cipher mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco Examiner and Vallejo Times-Herald on July 31st 1969, many have pondered whether this postcard was mailed by the Bay Area murderer. There is little to prove this notion one way or another, but if somebody was mimicking the Zodiac Killer, one might expect the wording on the card to equally mimic previous correspondence, in particular, phrases he used with respect to his codes and ciphers. 

Many people have put forward solutions to the celebrity cypher including the website Zodiologists.com and Rubislaw32 (a regular contributor to this site). Some of these solutions can be found on Ricardo Gomez's Project MK-Zodiac site. But here, I am not going to tackle the celebrity cypher from the angle of cryptology, because not only do I have a basic knowledge of ciphers, but also, the mere fact that so many people of greater ability than me have come to wildly different conclusions, is evidence of a code that is malleable. In other words, this code is open to subjective interpretation and no solution, despite the belief of the code-cracker, has been universally accepted. Of course, nobody knows or could know with certainty, who the author of this postcard is. However, if the author mailed a cipher to the Vallejo Times-Herald in an attempt to pass this communication off under the guise of Zodiac-style correspondence, could it be argued that the sender is also a murderer? One attempted solution caught my eye on the Zodiac Killer Site forum - and this is the path I will follow, despite the pitfall of characters being hidden behind the stamp. Here is the card, on which I have added some notations which will be explained later.   ​ 

​The first thing to notice is that the author likely places his name and address on the upper left hand side of the celebrity cypher, and also signs off the card with his name. Often a sender will provide a return address on the left side of a postcard or envelope. This is backed up by the identical thirteen characters beginning and ending the correspondence. Then we have to predict what the preceding text is before the author signs off with their name. On the left is the '13 Symbol' cipher mailed by the Zodiac Killer on April 20th 1970. He precedes the code or name with My name is. 

In the Luis Campos example at the top of the page, the final line is reserved for the name. Therefore, it makes perfect sense that the Zodiac Killer or somebody imitating him, would write My name is before signing off with their name. This may be preceded by a question, such as "Do you know me", in view of the Bay Area murderer having committed his crimes just under 21 years ago. In other words, a variation of do you remember me? Even if the author wasn't the Zodiac Killer they may have been projecting the idea that they were. 

The next thing to look at is the return address. It has 10 characters followed by seven, then two. Many on the Zodiac Killer forum have deduced that the bottom line of the return address to be Oakland, CA - so I will run with this idea. The postcard was postmarked Oakland, so it's reasonable to conclude the return address would be Oakland too. This being the case, the 10 characters above must represent the area within Oakland. Now comes the simple task of finding a potential murderer who possibly authored this postcard. Somebody who knew of the Zodiac Killer, lived in an area of Oakland (comprised of 10 letters), and was eventually caught and convicted of murder. Surprisingly, if you type into Google search "Oakland, murderer, 1990" a possible answer is served up on a plate. Somebody who certainly lived in Oakland up to 1992, murdered two women in Oakland Hills that year, and lived with his grandparents near to Skyline Road and Golf Links Road, the deposition site of the two murdered women. Where exactly his grandparents lived, I have yet to ascertain, but there is a 10-letter neighborhood in East Oakland called Castlemont. It is less than a mile from Golf Links Road. His name was Monte Crawford, exactly fitting the 5 and 8 characters at the foot of the celebrity cypher.   

Monte Crawford, a military veteran, was sentenced on Friday, August 1st 2014 to 40 years to life for the 1992 double murder of Tredis Penny (26) and Shirley Wynn (38), both strangled and sexually assaulted before being dumped in the Oakland Hills. I have no idea whatsoever if Monte Crawford was responsible for the celebrity cypher but he did live in Oakland, in or near Castlemont, both of which fit the code - and he was capable of murder as he showed just one and a half years later, if he wasn't already a killer at this juncture.