The Coded Letters of the “Chinese Zodiac Killer
In the U.S., an unknown man has sent several encrypted letters to the press, claiming to be the “Chinese Zodiac Killer.” Can a reader help the FBI decipher them?
I’ve reported about the Zodiac Killer on Cipherbrain quite a few times. Two of the four encrypted confession letters of this serial killer have been solved. However, the perpetrator has never been found.
Over 50 years have now passed since the Zodiac Killer’s deeds. Since then, there have been repeated copycats (“Zodiac Copy Cat”) who have sent similar letters, sometimes impersonating the real Zodiac Killer. I expect to have something new to report on one of these cases, which I have already featured on Cipherbrain, in the next few days.
The Chinese Zodiac
But today I want to talk about another “Zodiac Copy Cat” that I just learned about yesterday. As reported by some US media, in December 2021, an unknown person sent letters to TV stations in New York State, claiming to be the “Chinese Zodiac Killer”. This has been confirmed by the FBI:
Quelle/Source: FBI
Unfortunately, the FBI does not mention what these letters of the “Chinese Zodiac Killer” look like. Instead, a user named Bolleswoods posted a report on Reddit that links to one such letter. Unfortunately, the image is not complete, which is why a part is missing below:
Quelle/Source: Reddit
The “Chinese Zodiac Killer” is said to have sent this letter to a newspaper in New London (US state of Connecticut, about 100 kilometers from New York state) in October 2021. This is allegedly in an article that is only accessible through a paywall. However, I have not read that article. Other than Reddit, I have not found any freely available source for this letter, even via Google image search. Therefore, I cannot guarantee that the above letter is genuine (that is, that it is from the very “Chinese Zodiac Killer” that the FBI warns about). It could also be that a Reddit user was joking here.
Possible solutions
No one on Reddit has deciphered the letter yet. Maybe my readers can do it. Bolleswoods has created the following transcription that might help:
HAPPY HALLOWEEN AND SAMHAIN
FROM YOURS TRULEY –
THE CHINESE ZODIAL KILLER –
05.11.11.20.79(07.19.80.14)53.22.59.17.05.47.39.27.70.22.15.81.13.05.60.35
——————————————————
01.02.03.04.05.05.01.06.07.08.09.10.06.11.12.13.14.15.16. 17.13.17.18.19.05.20.21.18.22.18.21.53.01.
23.24.05.07.05.13.13.03.15.25.14.26.03.15.05.17.08.11.11. 27.09.28.20.07.21.74.29.19.01.22.15.03.17.
11.30.31.03.05.20.29.18.17.25.32.33.34.30.18.74.35.05.12. 35.36.12.20.37.17.34.38.39.30.09.13.74.15.
14.21.07.20.20.23.30.29.23.15.13.03.06.17.74.03.17.18.17. 12.17.11.40.74.01.23.74.12.13.39.34.03.41.
42.11.05.20.26.08.74.43.17.21.20.40.44.01.18.35.45.03.34. 18.20.21.17.05.21.01.07.13.06.05.74.06.21.
46.25.04.11.19.01.45.15.47.31.19.38.12.13.05.26.11.15.73. 31.05.18.14.05.20.31.47.74.48.17.17.28.40.
20.09.74.06.15.04.40.25.26.74.49.39.26.19.45.13.30.13.40. 31.18.27.05.34.14.50.35.19.20.30.15.07.07.
15.21.06.31.31.51.40.17.21.01.52.01.18.17.40.13.17.20.14. 05.17.35.58.09.12.13.74.40.05.06.75.01.13.
54.17.18.24.17.34.15.18.01.04.19.07.20.04.06.23.18.30.20. 12.06.13.17.53.04.14.17.07.40.08.01.40.18.
13.15.11.03.08.12.05.23.23.23.30.20.74.06.29.51.18.07.13. 43.13.20.20.21.13.17.24.14.05.12.20.76.06.
55.18.17.34.05.07.26.25.26.34.19.05.34.53.13.17.13.34.17. 20.30.13.74.05.13.05.12.18.06.04.74.74.17.
55.20.12.23.05.07.35.23.56.17.21.57.06.17.20.05.13.30.07. 74.19.18.39.13.13.05.28.77.11.35.07.18.73.
05.19.31.39.17.19.23.59.44.58.74.39.05.22.17.05.01.06.26. 17.31.78.35.12.12.13.17.17.04.05.13.06.11.
20.07.60.14.15.74.08.20.20.17.17.01.05.04.74.34.20.74.31. 17.13.09.03.04.09.22.74.14.07.05.09.25.25.
17.17.17.26.15.30.05.45.23.20.03.17.47.14.26.12.09.07.34. 23.06.19.06.05.13.20.60.28.13.15.74.05.21.
05.28.15.06.03.39.54.03.05.17.17.06.08.17.04.18.15.61.04. 18.21.43.34.21.39.45.40.40.07.32.01.25.28.
66.05.13.23.13.24.17.14.06.01.01.08.03.14.34.06.26.17.18. 06.17.39.03.12.60.02.05.23.22.03.22.22.04.
04.48.54.05.05.13.29.04.49.13.03.03.74.12.21.62.17.81.06. 30.06.73.23.50.39.20.14.11.34.73.26.29.17.
13.21.01.82.39.22.03.05.82.74.30.17.19.26.13.40.74.05.20. 34.19.01.03.01.13.50.12.09.22.12.20.17.79.
05.24.15.19.08.34.14.06.06.74.20.01.68.23.18.14.74.22.18. 09.17.23.03.06.74.03.01.30.12.11.11.13.27.
13.05.31.74.13.13.01.17.31.20.18.26.30.63.39.18.19.05.27. 74.22.34.25.05.06.40.08.08.45.13.15.09.64.
70.04.26.12.08.05.14.25.06.17.13.04.18.13.24.17.05.30.05. 23.35.34.13.39.17.65.49.39.05.13.40.05.05.
28.74.21.30.01.01.74.45.74.13.12._.19.03.03.74.22.03.05.17. 23.01.24.33.31.60.34.06.12.21.43.54.66.
28.05.05.04.29.29.13.74.17.17.74.01.30.17.19.83.13.18.39. 13.34.01.30.06.20.35.74.17.34.05.05.31.21.
25.22.24.17.12.07.29.25.18.12.01.05.18.11.13.17.35.15.05. 13.29.06.34.04.74.40.31.06.23.12.53.84.28.
00.09.20.17.04.13.05.34.23.60.73.20.31.17.34.03.07.13.21. 17.30.05.85.15.04.15.45.01.05.15.08.40.67.
00.15.28.06.13.05.05.07.31.20.49.13.01.19.03.25.68.35.24. 05.74.13.05.39.05.03.30.02.31.22.05.27.
00.22.13.20.03.05.13.17.09.15.04.74.17.12.11.21.17.01.13. 03.26.18.35.05.06.69.22.05.27.17.06.32.50.
00.19.06.31.01.30.13.29.20.86.17.74.04.03.17.74.20.15.05. 09.08.21.87.26.06.06.13.14.28.07.13.03.23.
00.13.06.28.53.12.20.07.13.74.40.20.12.13.05.03.20.40.05. 18.30.26.43.34.40.05.30.03.30.22.07.88.07.
00.18.13.21.23.11.15.17.05.40.48.68.07.13.13.23.22.13.05. 11.17.43.70.11.13.17.48.04.31.13.01.13.73.
00.20.07.40.08.21.17.05.08.33.22.13.23.06.71.05.06.74.21. 13.18.06.23.74.8513.48.21.53.03.05.07.14.
00.04.05.73.05.05.07.05.40.63.39.35.18.07.40.12.08.07.05. 11.19.22.73.17.05.05.09.40.19.07.12.07.01.
According to this transcription, the alphabet used contains around 90 symbols. Thus, like the Zodiac killer, the author could have used a homophonic cipher. Whether an additional transposition was applied (as in the second, but not in the first Zodiac message) is unclear.
Can a reader find out more about this cryptogram? If so, this could also be of interest to the FBI.
If you want to add a comment, you need to add it to the German version here.
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Further reading: An encrypted notebook that waits to be solved
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