On October 22nd 1969 in the San Francisco Examiner, Dr. D.C.B. Marsh challenged the Zodiac Killer under the banner of Cipher Expert Dares Zodiac to Tell Name, to reveal something about his identity no matter how complicated. I doubt anybody with a modicum of intelligence seriously contemplated that the Zodiac Killer would supply us with his full name, however, the tactic of encouraging the Bay Area murderer to write more communications and possibly create a second cipher, had the potential to reveal more clues about the killer, while serving the secondary purpose of keeping him writing rather than killing.
On October 25th 1969, law enforcement and the newspapers headlined with Cops No Closer on Zodiac Identity, probably attempting to guide the Zodiac Killer into producing his second cipher, writing in conciliatory tone "Homicide detectives in San Francisco, Vallejo and Napa said they are no closer to catching the cryptic killer than they were ten months ago - unless some clue to his identity is among the hundreds of leads still in the process of being checked out".
The next paragraph may have been the inspiration for the next Zodiac communication on November 8th 1969. The Chronicle article continued "Zodiac struck last on October 11 when he gunned down cab-driver Paul Stine on Washington Street in Presidio Heights. He revealed himself the killer in a letter sent to the Chronicle three days later. Since then he has remained silent". In the Dripping Pen card the Zodiac apologized by way of chosen image and wording, stating "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen". It was hypothesized that the second cipher was inspired by the language adopted in the newspapers, and the Dripping Pen card was specifically chosen in response to "Since then he has remained silent". If so, then there is a real possibility that the 340 cipher was created subsequent to October 25th 1969.
On October 25th 1969, law enforcement and the newspapers headlined with Cops No Closer on Zodiac Identity, probably attempting to guide the Zodiac Killer into producing his second cipher, writing in conciliatory tone "Homicide detectives in San Francisco, Vallejo and Napa said they are no closer to catching the cryptic killer than they were ten months ago - unless some clue to his identity is among the hundreds of leads still in the process of being checked out".
The next paragraph may have been the inspiration for the next Zodiac communication on November 8th 1969. The Chronicle article continued "Zodiac struck last on October 11 when he gunned down cab-driver Paul Stine on Washington Street in Presidio Heights. He revealed himself the killer in a letter sent to the Chronicle three days later. Since then he has remained silent". In the Dripping Pen card the Zodiac apologized by way of chosen image and wording, stating "Sorry I haven't written, but I just washed my pen". It was hypothesized that the second cipher was inspired by the language adopted in the newspapers, and the Dripping Pen card was specifically chosen in response to "Since then he has remained silent". If so, then there is a real possibility that the 340 cipher was created subsequent to October 25th 1969.
On October 26th 1969 in the San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle they dedicated an entire section entitled Hymn to Murder, reminding the reader about the Zodiac Killer's 408 cipher, in part stating "Finally, a school teacher in Salinas broke the code by looking for the words "kill" and "killing". When deciphered, the messages proved to be a hymn to murder by an obviously disturbed person. There was, unfortunately, no clue to his identity in the cyphers". Again, another newspaper article mentioning identity and ciphers, but this time describing them as a Hymn to Murder. Was it remotely possible that the Zodiac Killer responded to these strategic newspaper messages, bringing about the arrival of his second Hymn to Murder?
The next San Francisco Chronicle newspaper article on November 8th 1969 described the attempted poisoning of Daniel Williams, a Salesian High School teacher, on November 2nd 1969, that culminated a series of menacing phone calls by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, which began on October 23rd 1969. The language adopted in the Dripping Pen card and Bus Bomb letter strongly suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have been referring to his ongoing pursuit of Daniel Williams. In fact, the Dripping Pen card and accompanying cipher appeared a response to all of the newspaper articles beginning on October 22nd 1969 (including the attack on Daniel Williams), with the card being carefully chosen in response to Paul Avery, who stated that Zodiac had remained silent since his October 13th 1969 letter.
The next San Francisco Chronicle newspaper article on November 8th 1969 described the attempted poisoning of Daniel Williams, a Salesian High School teacher, on November 2nd 1969, that culminated a series of menacing phone calls by somebody claiming to be the Zodiac Killer, which began on October 23rd 1969. The language adopted in the Dripping Pen card and Bus Bomb letter strongly suggested that the Zodiac Killer may have been referring to his ongoing pursuit of Daniel Williams. In fact, the Dripping Pen card and accompanying cipher appeared a response to all of the newspaper articles beginning on October 22nd 1969 (including the attack on Daniel Williams), with the card being carefully chosen in response to Paul Avery, who stated that Zodiac had remained silent since his October 13th 1969 letter.
Issue Date: May 5, 1969 It is certainly possible that the 340 cipher could have been designed to relay a relatively simple superficial message, while still harboring an underlying cryptic message. A picture with a cryptographic solution under the canvas, if you will.
If the Zodiac Killer just allotted ciphertext characters to plaintext characters randomly, then how likely would it be to find the possibility of "paradice" and "slaves" bisecting the mid-section of the cipher both horizontally and vertically (17 by 17), as depicted in the Halloween card on October 27th 1970? How likely would it be for the alphabetical letters B and Y forming "BY" to fall together in each quadrant of the cipher, mimicking the Halloween card? How likely would it be for the cipher to begin with HER, forming the last three alphabetical letters of "cipher"? How likely is it that the near "Zodiac" on the final line would drop out through a randomly designed cipher? Then we have the "sorry no cipher" on the envelope inner of the Halloween card mimicking the formation of "paradice" and "slaves" in both communications.
And finally, we have the Genesis of the Hymn to Murder, found on the envelope of the Halloween card and possibly the 340 cipher. The stamp, commemorating the Apollo 8 launch on December 21st 1968, contains the words "In the beginning God", spoken by Bill Anders from the text of Genesis. This slots nicely onto the first line of the 340 cipher with the ciphertext of "GOD" positioned in acceptance at the very end. Even the half-darkened "O" looks eerily similar to the picture of the earth from the moon on the Halloween card stamp. Did "In the beginning God" introduce the Zodiac Killer's second Hymn to Murder?
If the Zodiac Killer just allotted ciphertext characters to plaintext characters randomly, then how likely would it be to find the possibility of "paradice" and "slaves" bisecting the mid-section of the cipher both horizontally and vertically (17 by 17), as depicted in the Halloween card on October 27th 1970? How likely would it be for the alphabetical letters B and Y forming "BY" to fall together in each quadrant of the cipher, mimicking the Halloween card? How likely would it be for the cipher to begin with HER, forming the last three alphabetical letters of "cipher"? How likely is it that the near "Zodiac" on the final line would drop out through a randomly designed cipher? Then we have the "sorry no cipher" on the envelope inner of the Halloween card mimicking the formation of "paradice" and "slaves" in both communications.
And finally, we have the Genesis of the Hymn to Murder, found on the envelope of the Halloween card and possibly the 340 cipher. The stamp, commemorating the Apollo 8 launch on December 21st 1968, contains the words "In the beginning God", spoken by Bill Anders from the text of Genesis. This slots nicely onto the first line of the 340 cipher with the ciphertext of "GOD" positioned in acceptance at the very end. Even the half-darkened "O" looks eerily similar to the picture of the earth from the moon on the Halloween card stamp. Did "In the beginning God" introduce the Zodiac Killer's second Hymn to Murder?
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