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While extensive information on the Zodiac Killer case has been publically available for a long time, the hidden contents of most of the Zodiac Killer ciphers still remain a mystery. As it looks, all general leads have been largely exhausted. Also, the FBI files published did not provide sensational new insights. Therefore, we think that it is fair to conclude that the most promising leads remaining must be hidden inside the Zodiac ciphers.
Currently there are four recognized Zodiac Killer ciphers with only one of them solved yet not fully understood. Various solutions to the other Zodiac Killer ciphers have been offered, none of them convincing. Upset by their futile attempts at solving the Zodiac Killer ciphers, some people even alleged that the Zodiac Killer was actually producing nonsense ciphers to frustrate the authorities. We believe the contrary.
Our theory is that the Zodiac Killer has been using three different levels of communication to selectively convey information to different audiences. The Zodiac Killer's first means of communication were plain text letters meant for the general public. The second level were ciphers that the Zodiac Killer wanted to be decoded, and the third level were complex ciphers meant for individuals of "his intelligence" that would be able to crack his ciphers and understand his motivations.
There is a good possibility that there have been additional Zodiac Killer ciphers and letters that may have been mistaken for hoaxes. In the following pages you will see our understanding of the Zodiac Killer ciphers. We invite you to compare our Zodiac Killer cipher solutions with those published by others.
For the purpose of simplicity, we will refer to the Zodiac Killer’s ciphers in short form, combining the letter ‘Z’ for ‘Zodiac Killer’ and the number of characters used in the respective cipher. For instance, we will name the Zodiac Killer’s Three Part Cipher ‘Z 408’, ‘Z 408 cipher’ or ‘Z 408 cryptogram’ because it contained 408 characters. Consequently, we call the Zodiac Killer’s 340 character cipher Z 340, and will apply same cipher name logic on other confirmed and presumed Zodiac Killer cryptograms.
We will start with the first known cipher, the so called “Three Part Cipher” that the Zodiac Killer sent to different Californian newspapers
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