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Richard Grinell, Coventry, England
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THE ILLUSION OF THE 340 CIPHER

6/28/2018

 
THE 340 CIPHER WAS CRACKED ON DECEMBER 3RD 2020 BY DAVE ORANCHAK, SAM BLAKE AND JARL VAN EYCKE, SO THIS EARLIER ARTICLE SHOULD BE VIEWED IN RESPECT TO RECENT DEVELOPMENTS.

This is a combination of previous articles (with a little extra) under one banner, attempting to dispel the idea that the 340 code is a genuine cipher, and all attempts at trying to reveal a continuous and coherent message will ultimately fail. By overwhelming consensus, the 340 cipher will soon be entering its 50th year unbroken, remaining impervious to all attempts at releasing its secrets, despite innumerable attempts by the best codebreakers and codebreaking machinery thrown at it. Either the Zodiac Killer created a cipher so stunningly impossible and misjudged the complexity of his cipher, or he didn't create one at all. The '13 Symbol' and '32 Symbol' codes were simply too short, with too many variables to be broken by conventional means. The '32 Symbol' cipher has 29 unique characters, meaning you can literally fill in the blanks however you choose. The '13 Symbol' cipher is simply too short to be called a cipher, and any solution proffered can be readily dismissed without a valid key. The Zodiac certainly wasn't stupid and must have known this - pouring huge doubt on whether he ever intended them to be solved in a conventional manner. Therefore, why should we treat the 340 cipher any differently. The whole thing just appeared to be one big game for the Zodiac Killer as we huffed and puffed long into the night trying to pry open his ultimate masterpiece.

Many observers have wondered whether the Zodiac Killer mailed the 'code key' to the Vallejo Police Department on August 10th 1969 under the guise of a "concerned citizen," unaware that it had already been solved by Donald Gene and Bettye June Harden, as well as the FBI in Washington. Unusual that he should then sit on the 340 cipher for many years to come, able to resist the temptation of revealing his subsequent ramblings. Keeping a secret for nearly 50 years would certainly take great restraint from a killer who bathed in the spotlight.

The 340 cipher may very well have been designed in the mind of the killer as early as August 4th 1969, or the moment his 408 cipher was cracked. The decrypted 408 read: "I like killing people because it is so much fun it is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all to kill something gives me the most thrilling experience it is even better than getting your rocks off with a girl the best part of it is that when I die I will be reborn in paradice and all the (people) I have killed will become my slaves I will not give you my name because you will try to slow down or stop my collecting of slaves for my afterlife". The answer to the 340 cipher probably already lay within the text of the 408 cipher - just designed in an altogether different format. The clue would later reveal itself in the design of the 'Halloween' card, mailed on October 27th 1970, where the killer placed "Paradice" and "Slaves" in a cross formation, and told us "sorry no cipher." This wouldn't be the only time the Zodiac Killer gave us clues, alluding to the fact we were chasing a solution to a cipher that didn't exist.        
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One of the best finds in recent years was by Tahoe27, a regular contributor to the Zodiac Killer Site forum, who discovered a connection between a Tim Holt comic and the 'Halloween' card. Many features on the cover of the comic parallel the 'Halloween' card, including the wording By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife, along with "Redmask" (the skeleton eyes) and "Lady Doom" (peek-a-boo you are doomed). However, I believe Tahoe27 is not convinced that the 'Halloween' card was authored by the Zodiac Killer. 
If the 'Halloween' card was authored by an impostor, who based the 'Halloween' card on the Tim Holt comic, then are we to believe he was extremely fortunate that a year earlier, the real Zodiac Killer just happened to create a 340 cipher containing the word "BY" in all four corners of the cipher, along with PARADICE and SLAVES being a possibility, running down and across the cipher on the midpoint vertically and horizontally, just like the configuration on the 'Halloween' card.

Admittedly, the words paradice and slaves have not been proven to exist in the 340 cipher, but the fact they are a distinct possibility by comparison to the 'Halloween' card appears another very fortunate stroke of luck- particularly if we believe the author of the 'Halloween' card wasn't the Zodiac Killer- and only considered the Tim Holt comic in his design of the 'Halloween' card. If the 'Halloween' card was crafted by the Zodiac Killer using only the Tim Holt comic, then the above still applies. The more likely conclusion we could draw from this, is that the 340 cipher was designed with the Tim Holt comic in mind, and the 'Halloween' card (one year later) was giving us a clue.  

Picture
​On the right, we can see how the four words "BY" fit into each quadrant of the 340 cipher just like the 'Halloween' card offering. What are the odds that in each quadrant of 80 characters we would find the letters B and Y together either horizontally or vertically every time. Not to mention the fortunate appearance of paradice and slaves bisecting the cipher perfectly. The killer may even have given us his signature in the bottom right corner, along with the running total, which was seven and counting on November 8th 1969.

If this wasn't the intended design of the 340 cipher, then either the Zodiac Killer or an impostor got extremely lucky, in just happening upon a Tim Holt comic that mirrored the 340 cipher unintentionally. But we may just be able to prove a definite link between these two communications and confidently state that both were designed by the Zodiac Killer, and with a fair degree of confidence, argue that the 340 cipher is not a cipher in the true sense of the word. The majority of the characters likely filler, but in this instance, far more than the 18 characters at the foot of the 408 cipher. The reason we may be able to contend the 340 cipher is not a continuous and uniform message like the 408 cipher (and not a cipher as we believe one to be), is because the Zodiac Killer lined us up for a fall and then admitted to it a year later.

On the 'Dripping Pen' card accompanying the 340 cipher, the killer stated
"This is the Zodiac speaking. I though you would nead a good laugh before you hear the bad news. You won't get the news for a while yet. Could you print this new cipher in your frunt page? I get aufully lonely when I am ignored, so lonely I could do my Thing". Was that bad news to come on October 27th 1970, when he mailed the 'Halloween' card. If we believe that the 'Halloween' card design is referring back to the 340 cipher, then the message concealed on the envelope inner of "sorry no cipher," is the Zodiac Killer finally admitting that the 340 cipher is not the real cipher we had thought. He is declaring that the 340 is "no cipher" - and is in fact, based upon the paradice and slaves configuration. This is why he crosses the phrase "sorry no cipher" to mimic the design of paradice and slaves, using 13 letters in both instances. The Zodiac Killer could easily have written "sorry no cipher" just the once, but deliberately fashioned it to form a link between the 'Halloween' card design and the 340 cipher.

After searching for solutions to the 340 cipher for nearly half a century, the Zodiac Killer may have given us the answer to its design after just one year, but it was overlooked. We have took the phrase "sorry no cipher" as an apology, that he wasn't giving us a cipher in the 'Halloween' card, when in actual fact, he was apologizing for stringing us along for the best part of a year, and offered us the real solution to the 340 cipher on October 27th 1970, contained within the 'Halloween' card. You could say it was a "trick" and "treat" befitting of Halloween.

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​You will notice that the paradice and slaves configuration from the 'Halloween' card fits nicely into the 340 cipher.
The two dashes on the 10th line are represented by the letter S. 
The left-facing V on the 9th column and 10th line are represented by the letter E. 
​The two addition signs on the 9th column are represented by the letter A.
When the letter R of paradice is placed into its only conceivable position, along with the L and V from slaves, it is reminiscent of the 'Halloween' card. What are the chances that this could be achieved accidentally?  

Picture
The word paradice travels vertically 17 lines, exactly matching the 17 columns that slaves travels horizontally.The Zodiac Killer placed crosshairs beneath the 9th column, the midsection of the cipher (shown here). The intersection on the 'Halloween' card configuration forms RAD and LAV, exactly the same as the bisecting center point of the 340 cipher. The Zodiac Killer also underlined the LAV of Paul Averly on the Halloween card envelope, on which he also placed the intersecting "sorry no cipher" on the envelope inner. 

The 'Halloween' card stamp depicts the surface of the moon with a half-earth in the distance and the words "In the beginning God." This phrase fits perfectly on the 1st line (the beginning) of the 340 cipher, with the 15th, 16th and 17th characters uncannily similar to the word GOD (the O in half phase just like the image on the stamp). 
Picture
But this wouldn't be the only correspondence that suggested the 340 cipher was designed as a puzzle rather than a 408 style message, If the paradice and slaves connection does exist between the 340 cipher and 'Halloween' card, then it makes more sense that the design of paradice and slaves was created in the 340 cipher first, and the 'Halloween' card was to "clue us in". If not, then the observation is just happenstance. ​If the 340 cipher doesn't actually contain a message, it will never be broken, and paradoxically will remain unsolved despite no solution being possible.
 
The cipher has many other issues - in that, the Zodiac Killer may have had 'cipher three' formulated or drafted before he designed 'cipher two', to enable the interconnectivity between both. He had to think forwards to create backwards. If we assume the 340 cipher has a solution and therefore a key (no matter how complex), then one may assume the Zodiac created the key, then created the message, and then applied the message to the key so as to encrypt it. If this were the case, we must believe that the 'near Zodiac' that emerged on line 20 was by sheer chance. We would also have to believe, that had he crafted 'cipher three' completely independent of 'cipher two', with no intention of connecting both, then the following observations also happened completely by chance.
Picture
​Because the '13 Symbol' cipher was thirteen characters in total (half the alphabet) and began with an A and ended with an M, it was considered that by placing the first half of the alphabet alongside the '13 Symbol' cipher and numerically counting the difference between the columns, something may emerge - It did.

For example: C to N produces a difference of 11, whereas B and E produces a difference of 3. Non alphabetical symbols cannot produce a difference, so a zero is inserted. The resulting numbers produced have been color coded. The red section is before the first circled 8, the green section is after the last circled 8 and the blue section spans the first and last circled 8. Notice the perfect symmetry. The red and green numbers are identical read forwards or backwards, and the blue numbers again read identically in either direction, producing a mirror image.

An equally symmetrical pattern was created using the identical technique, when placing the correct spelling of Zodiac alongside the 'near Zodiac' on line 20 of the 340 cipher. Furthermore, the three 0's and three 8's created, can be combined and carried forward onto his '13 Symbol' cipher, which seemingly is what he did. It is also apparent on the '13 Symbol' cipher, that either side of the three circled 8's are the Zodiac crosshairs and an inverted Aries symbol, also present on either side of the 'near Zodiac' on the final line of the 340 cipher. So, the author has effectively carried eight symbols from one cipher to another.
The point being, that when the Zodiac Killer sat down at his desk and began to create a unique key for his 340 cipher, into which he was to place his message, it accidentally created the 'near Zodiac' on the 20th line, accidentally created the correlation between 'near Zodiac' and Zodiac to produce three circled 8's, accidentally created the symbols either side of 'near Zodiac,' that fully or in part, carried forward to the '13 Symbol' cipher in the correct position, and accidentally created symmetry in both instances. Or, the Zodiac crafted the '13 Symbol' cipher before or alongside the 340 cipher, which I would argue nobody believes. The Zodiac Killer may have began his 340 cipher key from the bottom first, deliberately allocating specific letters in his message to create the 'near Zodiac' characters and continuing from there. But, if the interconnectivity exists between the 340 cipher and '13 Symbol' cipher, he effectively began with 'cipher three' first and worked backwards, and worked forwards with the words ​paradice and slaves from the 408 cipher. 

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​The Zodiac may have presented us with a fictitious negro male on August 4th 1969, who by inference, provided us with some valuable information about the Zodiac Killer driving his brown car by the payphone at Springs and Tuolumne. Was this a red herring of a clue, much like the correction on line 6 of the 340 cipher.

It can be clearly seen on the left, that the Zodiac Killer was conscientious enough to correct an alphabetical K to a reversed K on line 6, even though spelling correctly was never much of an issue with the Zodiac Killer. To validate that this was a genuine mistake, he made sure that the original K had not been fully obscured. This may give the impression it is easy to mix up your K's when implementing your encrypted text. Or maybe this is what he wanted us to believe. Who in their right mind would correct a fake cipher? Therefore it must be genuine. Did the Zodiac Killer implement this correction, conveniently leaving the blacked out character still visible (and just reversing it), to give us the impression that the 340 cipher is undeniably genuine? Was this move just another red herring, to again validate something that never was?

Alternatively, the final line of the 340 cipher may contain just a part message, yet incomplete, bearing in mind that many believe the '13 Symbol' cipher may contain some form of a name. The 340 cipher may end with: "the Zodiac is".... to be continued on the next cipher. The anticipation of the newspapers and readers alike, for the sequel to be released, would be a Zodiac dream. The Zodiac Killer may have been pushing us in the right direction on October 27th 1970, but his attempt at revealing the workings of the 340 cipher may have begun far earlier - on December 16th 1969 - just 38 days after his 'so called' masterpiece, in which he would be claiming a potential 38 more victims.

The December 16th 1969 'Fairfield' letter, mailed to the San Francisco Examiner, has been considered dubious Zodiac correspondence, however, it may have been Zodiac's first foray into revealing the mechanics of the 340 cipher, albeit using a rudimentary code as a tool. Clearly, the Zodiac must have known that offering just five different symbols in a code of nine is open to many different interpretations, and hence practically unsolvable. Therefore, one could suggest this wasn't his intention - he was simply teasing us with the mechanics of how the 340 cipher was designed, by using a rudimentary diagram based on the Tim Holt comic - and something he would expand upon nearly a year later. One can see how he uses the Zodiac symbol around the crosshairs in the December 16th 1969 'Fairfield' letter code, implying a uniformity of message, but aligns five symbols as an introduction to this design. This marries perfectly with 'Death By Gun', 'Death By Knife', 'Death By Fire' and 'Death By Rope.' Death is the introduction, following by the methods of death around the crosshairs. This is exactly what he offered us on October 27th 1970, when he placed the methods of death in the four quadrants of the bisecting Paradice and Slaves.  Here is a representation. 

Picture
Another Fairfield letter was mailed prior to this correspondence on December 7th 1969, mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle. Was the Zodiac Killer highlighting pertinent sections of the 340 code in as little as one month after his November 8th 1969 'Dripping Pen' card and cipher, negating the idea he could resist the temptation of giving us clues to its design. The final offering to the mechanics of the 340 cipher may have come with his final confirmed correspondence - that of the 'Exorcist' letter mailed to the San Francisco Chronicle on January 29th 1974. ​         
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The symbols at the foot of the 'Exorcist' letter were rearranged by Kevin Robert Brooks to reveal the words "To Kill". The message would then read "If I do not see this note in your paper, I will do something nasty, which you know I'm capable of doing...To kill".

This threatening message was very similar to the trinity of communications that began the Zodiac's letter writing campaign on July 31st 1969, where he stated "I want you to print this cipher on the front page of your paper. In this cipher is my idenity. If you do not print this cipher by the afternoon of Fry.1st of Aug 69, I will go on a kill ram-Page Fry. night. I will cruse around all weekend killing lone people in the night then move on to kill again, until I end up with a dozen people over the weekend".
 
In both the 'Exorcist' letter and July 31st communications the author would threaten "to kill' - as he would in the decoded 408 cipher. This is not particularly unusual for a serial murderer, but linking the unarranged symbols on the 'Exorcist' letter to the 340 code may connect yet another communication to the design of the cipher.

Key features of the 'Halloween' card, '13 Symbol' cipher, Fairfield communications and 'Exorcist' letter can be found in the 340 cipher, suggesting the Zodiac Killer was constantly pushing us towards the design of the 340 puzzle. The following presentation will show a perceived correlation of the 'Exorcist' letter symbols to the only corrected section of the 340 cipher.


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​​In the image on the left I have moved the two symbols on the extreme left of the 'Exorcist' letter to the right side as shown, without altering their position on the vertical axis. Then I have turned the extreme right symbol on the 'Exorcist' letter 90 degrees clockwise to form the new arrangement, shown in the bottom left image. This can now be compared to certain characters on the fifth, sixth, seventh line of the 340 cipher. The area in the proximity of the corrected sixth line. Five of the six characters on the 'Exorcist' letter now bear a noticeable similarity to this area of the 340 cipher.

Did the Zodiac Killer sit down to create a uniform and continuous message using a code key in the 340 cipher, just like the message contained within the 408 cipher? If so, then the above findings were all created accidentally and unintentionally by the killer.

He placed an intersecting symbol at the center of the 340 cipher (+ sign), with two dashes at the periphery of the center line, to create the illusion of intersecting crosshairs. Paradice and Slaves (uniformly of 17 characters) was created as a viable possibility bisecting the 340 cipher along the X and Y axis, along with "RAD" and "LAV" on the intersection of the cipher. The word "BY" (horizontally) was present in all four quadrants of the cipher. The 'near Zodiac' allied with the correct spelling of Zodiac on the 20th line produced the symmetry of three circled 8's. Using the identical technique and placing half the alphabet alongside the '13 Symbol' cipher, yet again, perfect symmetry was observed. The three circled 8's, along with the symbols either side, all carried forward from the second cipher to the third cipher, and the 'Exorcist' letter symbols aligned with the corrected sixth line of the 340 cipher. This of course all happened by chance and the Zodiac Killer knew nothing about it. 
 
This would indicate that the Zodiac Killer had deliberately placed Paradice and Slaves into the 340 cipher, to which he would give us a clue one year later. The machinations of the '13 Symbol' cipher were most likely constructed in the mind of the killer before November 8th 1969, as to create a continuity between the two ciphers. The idea therefore, that the author of all these communications could interweave these designs together and still create a rambling uniform message to co-exist alongside them within the 340 cipher, would probably be a step too far. The idea of a killer who sat down one evening to write a rambling 340 character message, to which he enciphered using a code key, who would then accidentally and inadvertently create so many by-products in his cipher without his knowledge, seems rather fortuitous. The Zodiac seemingly couldn't resist showing us the workings of his great masterpiece, and would eventually tell us that the 340 code was "no cipher", by giving us a portion of its true design in the 'Halloween' card on October 27th 1970. However, it's far more fun chasing a real cipher, that will long continue for another 50 years.      

Shawn
6/28/2018 04:20:17 am

https://patriots4truth.org/2018/06/25/zodiac-killer-named-code-broken/

Doctor Thomas Horan has now claimed to have solved the 340. Evidently based on a military cipher manual. Solution below....

Gold at private lake Napa whats the problem

Reynolds kill got help

Kurt will go ahead

Zodiac people already know his Napa

People Ken Snook

Go pricks

Vallejo police dept

zodiac

Got real cop Napa involved.

signed Zodiac Snook

Richard
6/28/2018 04:39:50 am

Strange how he has managed to tie the Zodiac 340 cipher to one of the Zodiac team members- notably Harold Snook. As usual the message makes no sense whatsoever. This is now the 4,000th 100% decoded solution of the 340 cipher, and the list will keep growing.

Anon
7/27/2018 10:11:47 am

I have an old zodiac watch in my possession with the Libra scales engraved on the back. The zodiac killer was a taurean and according to the astrology I have looked into, Libra and Taurus go together. My watch BTW was a gift from an american this year to me. A friend who has 30 guns,licences, locked in his safe at home.



Rubislaw 32 link
6/28/2018 06:42:32 am

Interesting to figure out,where the inspiration comes,regarding Mr.Horan's effort.

Couldn't help thinking Captain Tom Reynolds [Frank Sinatra],to Colonel Kurt[z] [Marlon Brando].

''Never so few'' [1959],to ''Apocalypse now'' [1979].

Zodiac ''time travelling'',through war films [?].

The ''clincher'' must surely be Napa,which is short for Napalm.

Shawn
6/28/2018 07:02:16 am

If you listen to the video in the link above you will hear Horan make some interesting points regarding Snook's time in the military and bomb making plus Cerous is a real word that snook would know.

Part of the 340 solution is based on the Filipino language (maybe an obscure dialect?).....

I rather not be snookered.....

Richard
6/28/2018 10:31:03 am

The interviewer couldn't be anymore fawning if he tried. He did just about everything but lick his arse- "What you have brought forward is a huge revelation." He didn't dig into the facts, but just drooled away as Thomas Horan quoted one falsehood after another.
Thomas Horan's statements like "I know more about the case than anybody other than Robert Graysmith" and "Nobody wants to debate me- I debated Mike Morford and I won hands down because I've got the facts on my side" shows what a patronizing, immodest creator of fiction he is. Hal Snook is no more Zodiac, the writer of any Zodiac letters or the murderer of Paul Stine than me, and I was seven in 1969. If Thomas Horan proclaims to know more about the Zodiac case than any of us mere mortals, quivering in his Godly shadow, it's about time he starts quoting some facts instead of a witches brew of hocus-pocus. Nobody wants to debate him because he doesn't stop rambling incessantly, pouring out the same conspiracy theories over and over again. Using logic to debate the illogical is meaningless. He is the Alex Jones of the Zodiac scene. The cipher was solved independently by somebody who knew not of Harold Snook. Yes, I really believe that. And if Hal Snook was an educated man, how come he wrote the 340 cipher as illegible as a demented 5 year-old. He clearly couldn't string a readable sentence together. If all police were that stupid, no crimes would ever be solved.
If he teaches his students like he approaches the Zodiac case, I, as a parent, would remove my kid from his English classroom before my child starting writing ciphers with the grammar of a fetus.
Anyway, I'm going back to Alex Jones to learn about Human frog hybrids on Mars

Alex Lewis
7/22/2018 01:49:08 am

Funny enough Rich I remember hearing Horan's radio interview & He saying ""Nobody wants to debate me- I debated Mike Morford and I won hands down because I've got the facts on my side" and I remember thinking: "I'm sure if I had to, I'd throw 3 or 4 factual points at Him that He wouldn't appreciate nor easily answer, and that's before the Q&A session! I listened to a l=portion of that radio interview n youtube He uploaded but it's a declaration of why Thomas is better than the tens of thousands of other amateur & professional Z investigators and/or researchers and how He knows this.

Again, Hitch said it perfectly when asked is there not a place for Mystery & the Unknown answered: "Yes, just as long as that's what it is. Anyone who comes along and says they know and have the answer are automatically out of the argument or debate as they claim to know that of which, by it's very definition (of mystery), they cannot know."

Richard
7/22/2018 02:23:41 am

Nobody wants to debate him because you can't get a word in edgeways. Mike Morford completely stumped him on one particular point, and Thomas Horan rather than just admit he was wrong, began a revisionist theory. It would be like if DNA totally discredited your suspect- rather than just accept your suspect has been eliminated, you begin discrediting the DNA science or claim a second person licked the stamp (a possibility you never argued before). This is a revisionist at work, constantly adapting to circumnavigate the evidence, rather than accept you are fallible.
Thomas Horan never won the argument with Mike Morford, he just dominated 90% of the discussion. Debating somebody who has arrived at his conclusions devoid of logic, cannot be debated using logic as a tool. It's like trying to debate creationists or flat-earthers- it's just not worth the effort or time.

Alex Lewis
7/22/2018 11:46:26 am

Yeah I suppose there are some who would hear A DNA Analyst testffy that the DNA is a match with odds of te DNA BelongingBto anyone other than subject accused & whos on trial in the courtrom. . . DNA analyst opinion is the odds are approx.1 in 6 Billion it is A and another individual and on cross. . .

"Planet of at least 7!...and yours is mere opinion and one which uses the word approx! Could be 1 in 5 billion yes? Then there are two othree Billion other possibilitiess other than him that could be the contributor? you just heard the Expert tell you himself! Reasonable Doubt!

Judith
6/28/2018 12:54:26 pm

Seriously I thought Thomas Horan decided that the Zodiac killings were a hoax. He can't have it both ways. Talk about an opportunist.

Rubislaw 32 link
6/28/2018 01:29:22 pm

I agree with a general view,that Mr.Horan is ''all creative writing,and no substance''.

In the past,Mr.Horan has intimated that,if it was the case that he ''might'' believe that the Zodiac existed,then he would be inclined to think that Lake Berryessa park ranger,Dennis Land,could be the notorious ''Cipher Slayer''.

One could imagine Mr.Horan filling in a betting slip,as follows :

There is no Zodiac - $10 to win

Dennis Land is Zodiac - $5 to place

Total invested : $15

Now,I would imagine that any turf accountant,presented with this betting slip,would think :

''Here's my lunch money for today.''.

Richard
6/28/2018 03:06:31 pm

There are four possible Zodiac's in the theory last time I checked- Hal Snook, Dennis Land, Robert Graysmith and Keith Power all in cahoots to pull off the great Zodiac hoax for absolutely no purpose whatsoever.
You couldn't write this, or maybe several books prove you can!

Rubislaw 32 link
6/28/2018 04:51:46 pm

I see what you mean now,about Mr.Horan.

I couldn't take more than 15 minutes,of that radio interview.

He has re-invented himself.....from nihilism to conspiracy theory.

He is all over the place....from hallowed academia to covert governmental operations.

Areas that he doesn't understand....then he can't name names of reference,unless they are people that have since died.

Simply tawdry ''booboos'' from a self-professed professor [?].

Drew
6/28/2018 04:14:14 pm

This is a fantastic achievement Richard! I can see how this has coalesced one little mystery at a time over the years and it puts forth a hell of a case for the real puzzle being the interplay of the letters themselves. If this all sticks together and I believe that does then the proposed numerology play in the cut and paste cards is a logical extention.

Karen C and I had a chat several articles ago discussing the idea that Zodiac could have prepared many of his offerings well in advance. A stockpile of sarcastic greeting cards certainly sounds plausible. It's interesting to consider that the Halloween card may have been selected or partly prepared in October of 1969, perhaps specifically for Avery after his Oct 18 'clumsy criminal' article. The taunt count would have been six or seven so we may have seen clues on the interior to that affect. He perhaps changed his mind about what his next correspondence would be after the Dr Marsh challenge on Oct 22 and decided to create the 340 and/or cipher 3 in response. It is also possible that the media spectacle that began on the same day with the Dunbar caller had an effect on how he wanted to continue the campaign.

The Tim Holt comic reference seems like a lock for the Halloween card which makes it is hard to overlook the resemblance shared between the 7VF symbol and the “Flying V F Bar” cattle brand used by the comic creator/cattleman Fred Harman at his Red Ryder Ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado.
http://storage.proboards.com/5606240/thumbnailer/IWAqiQQ6Fg7NNXhrV_lk.jpg
It's hard to know what to read into the intended meaning of any connection here beyond Zodiac appreciating the aesthetic tone (as he did with the Mikado) and the intertwined mystery quest the reference presented. If the symbol did evolve from the Harman brand then the 4 dots could be his way of uniting it with the wheel of death idea. If Hartnell had recollected the Colorado conversation he had with Zodiac at Lake Berryessa with more confidence I think we would have to look for an even deeper connection to Colorado. I suppose this cattle brand image may have also been in the same comic (I've only viewed excerpts). I can’t imagine how on earth Graysmith was able to discover the Harman ranch connection if he wasn’t first aware of the specific comic in question but apparently he did in Unmasked.
https://books.google.ca/books?id=8Wm6fvRvEqIC&pg=PA128&lpg=PA128&dq=%22redryder+%22+%22cattle+brand%22&source=bl&ots=21KWWzB2ua&sig=ACqHmVYGj2ba0u84UZQOV1BgzWs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vtTBUrnFN8rKsQT5joKwDA&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22redryder%20%22%20%22cattle%20brand%22&f=false
There are other interesting things to see in this Harman print, including a 41 brand that could have inspired the flipped 14 on the skeleton’s hand and the compass at the bottom looks like it is tilted to about 17 degrees. The image also reminds me of the Incline Village poster he chose for the Pines card.
https://historical.ha.com/itm/books/prints-and-leaves/fred-harman-s-red-ryder-ranch-print-approx-1125-x-14-inches-one-vertical-crease-very-good/a/201226-93418.s

It is all very weird that he focused so specifically on this comic. Anyways great article Richard!

Richard
6/28/2018 10:27:11 pm

Some great spots regarding the compass and 41 on the Harman print Drew. Bearing in mind the N represents 14 and is flipped could be another pointer, coupled with the wording By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife and the ZVF symbol. The Harman connection is hard to ignore, as is the possibility of a Zodiac link to Colorado as you suggested should be investigated more.
The Harman ranch in Pagosa Springs, Colorado is pertinent regarding the mention of Colorado by Bryan Hartnell, and so is the Halloween card relevant to Colorado in respect to the ranch and Fred Harman, as is the design of eyes peeking from a tree on the Halloween card to the Berryessa attack. The only images I've looked at regarding the Halloween symbol and comic is here:
http://zodiacode1933.blogspot.com/2014/04/red-ryder.html
The idea that Zodiac may have prepared his offerings well in advance is extremely likely. At the very least he had an array of cards and writing materials at hand ready to add any current information. I don't know exactly when the Halloween card was originally manufactured (maybe you do), but the suggestion of having it already constructed well in advance of October 1970, notably October 1969 ties nicely with the premise Paradice and Slaves was being prepared for the 340 cipher and By Fire, By Gun, By Rope and By Knife for the following Fairfield letter. After all, if it was chosen in 1969, then it may obviously have been chosen soon after the Berryessa attack, but hit the back-burner with the Stine murder and subsequent 340 cipher and Dripping Pen card. I would like to know for certain when this Halloween card was produced. A connection to the Oct 18 'clumsy criminal' article is certainly a great suggestion and the challenge by Dr Marsh may very well have shaped his decision to compose the 340 cipher, and subsequent ciphers, which may not have arrived if not for the challenge. This and the Dunbar Show may certainly have shaped the future of Zodiac correspondence- good thoughts as usual Drew.

Drew
6/29/2018 08:22:17 am

Thanks so much Richard! I have spent an embarrassing amount of time googling vintage halloween cards with kits such as the Zodiac may have had (if all the elements were from the same source) but I've had no luck at all. Randall Clemons is on the hunt and somehow he has an image of the card front without the pumpkin so perhaps a photo was released but he's one of them artsy types so he may have created it. Gosh that guy sure isn't afraid to roll up his sleeves!
http://340cipherhalloweencardconnection.blogspot.com/2015/05/the-facts-about-zodiac-killer-halloween.html
I saw reference on Tom's board from 2006 where it was stated that Tom "discovered the two stickers" but I couldn't find the page showing what exactly about the stickers he actually uncovered.
http://www.zodiackiller.com/discus/messages/28/508.html?1171596365
Unfortunately it seems clear that no one in our community has yet discovered the card company who made the 'Secret Pal' cards. The great Doranchak did a lot of research into potential manufacturers including Dennison, Avery, and Hallmark, and it seems quite possible that the card is considerably older than 1969, but he couldn't find anything conclusive. I know the Apollo 8 stamp was issued May 5, 1969, so the early send remains a possibility.
http://www.zodiackillersite.com/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=2899&hilit=halloween+skeleton+sticker
It occurs to me that Zodiac may have used the same white (ink or paste?) writing device to cover the card manufacturer's logo.

Richard
6/29/2018 09:15:04 am

The only negative I have for an early Halloween card is the argument of him eventually conceding to everybody that the 340 was indeed "no cipher." This was his trick for Halloween. Usually Zodiac replied to the recent coverage in the newspapers, particularly the Chronicle- so it wasn't surprising that the San Francisco Chronicle article dated October 12th 1970 entitled 'Gilbert and Sullivan Clue to Zodiac' was followed 15 days later by a Halloween card beginning with "I feel it in my bones, You ache to know my name, And so I'll CLUE you in.."
This article also contained the text "Homicide detectives who have been hunting Zodiac for nearly two years frankly admit he is much an enigma now as he was on Dec 20 1968 when he CHALKED up his first two victims. Strange then, that Zodiac chose a dark secret pal card, ditch his usual blue marker pen, and choose to chalk his writing, with ZVF possibly denoting his fourteenth victim.

Tom
6/29/2018 06:13:08 pm

I am weak on ciphers, but to me Clemons has this figured out. The puzzle pieces are all there. Mike R has an analysis that leads to his POI how unlikely that may be. Mr Z supplied a coded message, a map, and an overlay. To whom does that lead? Is this guy hiding in “plain sight”?

Judith
6/28/2018 05:55:23 pm

Just read today that they think they have solved the DB Cooper case through his ciphers

Shawn
6/28/2018 07:13:47 pm

HAHA I just read someone cracked the 340 also. Maybe Horan will crack the DB Cooper case next.

The guy (Colbert) has a suspect (Rackstraw) and he is trying to twist facts and fake letters to conform to his suspect.

Bunch of people out there trying fit square pegs in round holes.
They are dime a dozen!

http://www.dailyastorian.com/Local_News/20180628/db-cooper-letter-may-reveal-skyjackers-identity

Rubislaw 32 link
6/28/2018 06:45:37 pm

Who is they,Judith ?

Do you have any handy reference ?

Sounds interesting.

Judith
6/29/2018 07:15:22 am

Just as Shawn says above Rackstraw is the suspect they also do a side-by-side comparison of the composite and Rackstraw which is pretty interesting. Whoever they are I don't believe it's law enforcement.

Rubislaw 32 link
6/29/2018 08:11:59 am

Thanks Judith [and Shawn]...I'll check it out.

Disappointing that there doesn't appear to be an official L.E. link.

I'm still reeling over Mr.Horan's ''implosion''.

Do you think that he is having a nervous breakdown ? It is as if he realises that he missed opportunities to cash in,on all the recent activity,directly or indirectly linked to the Zodiac case.

It only shows that he was a con artist,from the start.

Shawn
6/29/2018 11:40:33 am

Yea Horan is getting way out there with his deep state friends.

His video got 10,000 views in 2 days thanks to the thousands of that a boy deep state believers

Shawn
6/29/2018 11:43:41 am

Check out the comments at youtube.....

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mI7u5RUdVWU

Richard
6/29/2018 01:01:54 pm

Fox News next. When you arrive here you know your selling horseshit.

Tom
6/29/2018 05:58:36 pm

Have you guys fell prey to the left wing progressive movement here in the states? Horan is full of crap, not sure what Fox News has to do with that. Our media is dominated by left wing prpagandists. I am on this site because it normally avoids left wing negative pitfalls. Have a nice night.


Alex Lewis
7/22/2018 09:18:00 pm

Hey Too-Mass, there is wonderful news for you right wing modest & most humble lot... Alabama has just sanctioned and made executing it's ittizens via Nitrogen Gas! Tell you want Too Mass, the excitement is almost unmatched!

At least your elected officials don't try to hide this lawful punishment as Death Certificate of inmates executed shows with utmost pride:Cause of Death: Hydrogen Cyanide Gas exposure. Manner of death: HOMICIDE.' Manner is without fail listed as "Homicide" Prosecutors treat the public of the State as uninformed idiots. . . 'Carry out the punishment as prescribed by the Law. . . . "

Death Certificate says your carrying out Homicide after Homicide like a record breaking serial killing Nut that make Bundy and Dahmer look like choir boys!

Alex Lewis
7/22/2018 09:40:36 pm

I mean let's be honest, it's only because you modest & humble people on the right who assume role of YHWH and are self entitled yourselves to play GOD and decide who is to live & who will die is clearly not arrogant or anything.

I do hope Toomass that it is not your loved one wrongly convicted .and strapped down because I hear so many declare "I'd throw the switch myself on this piece of shit..." And I have no doubt threse would, until the State has your Loved one strapped down!

Alex Lewis
7/22/2018 09:54:30 pm

Anyhow, Much as I'd love to stay and shoot the breeze .. . . Calm down I said breeze not humans *Tut!!*

No but seriously. . . one can't stop to chat Tommy, I have to go uphold the Law & Committee Homicides!

TTFN Too-mass the too modest!

Thomas_E
6/30/2018 10:17:24 am

Hello, I have only been interested in the Zodiac case for a month, but here are a few tips. Look at the link at the end and a little more in the comic scene. Greetings from Germany

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rosen_(comics)

Nick
3/9/2020 10:06:27 pm

It is interesting to note that the by fire, by gun, by knife, by rope thing all have by with the y to the right of the letter b but the by knife the y is directly underneath the b. This leads me to believe it is a type of substitution cipher, but who knows? I think he could have easily spelled out this "key" first and then written a message around the key and then encrypted the entire message using the same type of substitution ciphering key he did with the 408 cipher. It appears that if done this way the < character that represents the letter "E" in "paradice" then becomes ">" also standing for "E" when you plug in "by knife" into the encrypted message. so he's obviously changing the scheme as he did in the 408 cipher like "...<,>". Another interesting "thing" to note is that three of those words (by fire, by knife, by rope, by gun) end in the letter "E" which could help lead us to what the key is for the letter "E". If you go line by line and find out what he uses for the letter "E" on each line. You could do the same thing for almost every letter in the "key" of sorts that he supplied.

Nick
3/9/2020 10:11:55 pm

Funny to see that every single vowel is also represented in this message in the halloween card as well (by fire, by gun, paradice, slaves...). That could lead to making decryption easier if there is a hidden encrypted message at all I would want to believe. Not having vowels is a b*&ch to understand what the message is if you've ever watched wheel of fortune.

Nick
3/9/2020 10:18:35 pm

Is it possible that the name "Paul Averly" is written inside of the word "slaves" in the cipher? I mean, it wouldn't make any sense as an entire message anyways unless you erased the "slaves" lettering around paul averly's name if that was the case. But if thats true then, the paradice and slaves thing is just a key and not meant to be a part of the message and the key is thus hidden inside of the cipher itself. Adding extra letters would certainly make decrypting much tougher though.


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    The Zodiac Killer may have given us the answer almost word-for-word when he wrote PS. The Mt. Diablo Code concerns Radians & # inches along the radians. The code solution identified was Estimate: Four Radians and Five Inches To read more, click the image.
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