Let's Crack Zodiac - Episode 11 - Did someone solve Zodiac's last two ciphers?

Zodiac’s 340 cipher has been cracked for almost a year.
But codebreakers continue to be baffled by two more unsolved ciphers by Zodiac.
A French engineer was in the news for claiming to solve them.
What were his solutions?
Watch this video for a detailed look.

CONTENTS:

0:00 - Intro
0:34 - Z13 overview
1:31 - Dr. D.C.B. Marsh challenges Zodiac
2:15 - SFPD park station bombing
3:15 - Zodiac’s threat against schoolchildren
4:12 - Z13 cryptanalysis and observations
5:39 - Using simple substitution on Z13
5:57 - Getting names and phrases from Z13 using substitution
8:31 - Changing the rules to find names easier
10:00 - Adding decryption steps
10:46 - Introduction to Faycal’s claims
11:21 - Faycal’s Z13 decryption steps
15:51 - Faycal’s Z13 solution: “KAYR” (Lawrence Kane)
17:04 - Changing his steps slightly yields a different name: “EARL” (Earl Van Best Jr.)
20:34 - Another example yielding a different name: “FRED” (Fred Manalli)
23:31 - Z32 overview
24:19 - Faycal’s Z32 decryption steps
27:30 - Faycal’s Z32 solution: “LABOR DAY FIND 45.609 NORT 58.719 WEST”
27:55 - The problem with anagrams, part 1
28:50 - The problem with anagrams, part 2
30:05 - The problem with geomagnetic coordinates
31:26 - The problem with existing keys and intermediate steps
32:18 - Z32 radians/inches map tool I made for History Channel show
35:07 - Conclusions about Faycal’s solutions
36:41 - General conclusions / outtro

MUSIC CREDITS:

Music from Uppbeat (free for Creators!):
License code: ZOBFFRRSTNDCRDP3
License code: CVU4MU89RX4VYCNT
License code: ZN73DZDL5IMHP95J

LINKS:

VIDEO ASSET CREDITS:

SOUND CREDITS:

[AliceYobby]

I cant believe he made up all those arbitrary steps and didn't even arrive at "KANE" but the gibberish "KAYR" lol

[robland]

The huge amount of logic and expertise that's been brought to bear on these seemingly amateurish and error-ridden ciphers is quite the paradox.

[zombiefireman]

Another great video, David. The Zodiac would have known that such short ciphers are pretty much impossible without some internal clues to set some ground rules for solving them. This solver applied multiple arbitrary steps only to arrive at a “solution” (KAYR) that is farther away from KANE than if you just grab it directly from the original cipher text and read it as a plain text anagram (KANE MY NAM) as Harvey Hines always tried to argue, albeit with his own set of pattern-seeking prejudices guiding him. Even if we assume it’s Kane ( just for the sake of argument), why would Z go through all these extra steps only to come up with something that not only doesn’t spell anything specific, but is more vague than what he started with? We know that The Zodiac placed ACTUAL readable messages within his ciphers, so it’s more likely than not that he did so in the Z13 and Z32 as well, even if they turn out to be more of the same rhetoric. Any solution that requires arbitrary steps and conversions are a waste of time.

[bryede]

One problem is not really knowing Zodiac's skill level at this. If he's just playing around with various methods (and indeed making mistakes during the process), then he might not have considered the problems a short cipher would cause. If he's smarter than that, then there's probably a way to know you're on the right track using other information he's given. It seems to me that the purpose was never to send in something that couldn't be cracked, but rather something that would take a little while and would then propel him into the headlines at various intervals as they were solved. For this reason, I doubt he'd ever intentionally give himself away.

[AceAcumen]

This is the only guy who isn’t a crackpot on the Zodiac topic.

[mysteryblondee]

My professor has asked the class to write a piece explaining who is Zodiac Killer is — it has proven to be a very difficult thing to write (currently on page 16). Stumbled across these videos during the writing process and I am very intreged by all of the work you're doing!

I completely agree with your point about how the Zodiac Killer wouldn't have included his name in any of the ciphers. Instead, he enjoyed playing a game and messing with law enforcement — why would he expose his identity? It would've caused the "fun" he was having to end! In the "Examiner" letter, he even wrote: “I WILL NOT GIVE YOU MY NAME BECAUSE YOU WILL TRY TO SLOW DOWN OR STOP ME”.

Just a thought... regardless, thank you for creating such amazing videos! I have learned a lot :)

[Freakuency_DJ]

I cannot express enough how amazing it is to see not only the work you (Jarl and Sam) have done to break the 340, but that you’re weighing in on false leads.

Thank you so much for the work you put into showing how many ways we can apply ambiguity when it comes to these short codes. You’re doing the best service to the victims that could ever be done short of solving the Z case - you’re not allowing a scapegoat be ignored, and showing why a biased solution can’t be accepted unless all are.

Thanks for your time and effort into making sure we can differentiate fact from possible fiction.

[CMorpheus]

So Fayçal finds a 4 letters name, two of which are wrong and he's "confident" he's got the right guy ? That's a stretch and a half.

[Kris_Toffer]

I just don't understand why people insist on him having written his name in any of the ciphers. Why would he ever take that risk? I'm sure the only way he'd be found is if the familial DNA thing that they used to catch EAR/ONS works out, not through finding his name in a cipher.

Anyway, yet another great video with amazing production. Well done, sir.

[ccchhhrrriiisss]

I've always felt that the best way to catch the Zodiac's identity would be to pour through evidence in unsolved murder cases in San Francisco between 1965-1974. In taunting the SFPD, he claimed 37 victims. My guess that he's telling through truth for at least some of those murders. I would use a forensic psychological profile mixed with the eyewitness description and search for a man between the ages of 25-45 (who looks to be more on the older end of this range).

I strongly suspect that he was single -- probably divorced or with a deceased wife -- because of the statement about his rocks and "a" girl (not "my" or even "girls" in general -- implying he wasn't in a personal relationship. He was stocky and of above average intelligence. He may have been a diver or wannabe diver; or, he may have simply bought or inherited a Zodiac watch (or saw an advertisement in a magazine in which Zodiac used to place ads).

He's familiar enough with the streets of San Francisco to get away following a murder; so, he is likely a long-time resident familiar with the city and Vallejo. He has visited South Lake Tahoe either to ski or to gamble (on the Nevada side). I suspect that he spent time in South Lake Tahoe the week before the killing -- and he probably either left abruptly or stayed around to gamble (being undeterred by the police).

Yet, by or after 1974, something happened that ended this narcissist necessity to taunt. Did Zodiac die? Did he get arrested? Did he have a religious conversion? Did he get married/have children? Did he simply get scared?

Given the nature of serial killers -- and their need to continue -- I don't think that something as simple as marriage, fatherhood or conversion were the cause of his silence (although I suppose that it is possible). This silence was final. Even the BTK killer's silence eventually came to an end. He thought that he was smart enough to NOT get caught; but, he was caught anyway.

The fear idea is interesting -- because he may have thought that the cops were closing in on his trail. This would make anyone questioned in 1974 or after an interesting possibility. Even without the police questioning him, the Zodiac may have remembered a mistake he made and decided he didn't want to get caught. His whole "Zodiac" persona could have been a farce and he really WAS afraid of capture or death. That's a distinct possibility.

Otherwise, my guess is that the most likely reason he stopped was due to death or arrest. By this time, he could have been in his 40s or 50s and may have been overweight. I wonder if police found anyone else who was arrested during or just after 1974 for something seemingly unrelated to these murders. Did he spend considerable time in prison? Did someone in their 40s or 50s die after that last letter was sent?

[clauscombat]

One thing to remember is: the zodiac killer came the other way. He did not decipher, he encrypted. And while it's reasonable to subtract 25s to numbers higher than 25 to get to a letter, ... there is basically no rhyme or reason for the zodiac killer to randomly ADD 25s to certain values. 🤔

[ougonce]

One thing that popped out to me in Z13 is the symmetry. If you take the circled 8s as spaces, it looks like the format of an abbreviated full name, like John K. M. Name or whatever

[BigAndy_]

Since the zodiac left a hint on the envelope "rush to the editor" which was slanted... the one David solved. So maybe there's another hint on the envelope like the direction of the stamps face is facing or the direction/placement of any wording on the envelope?

[ElonkaDunin]

Nice job. I especially like how you incorporated the older news clips, those are fascinating. And of course you have a firm debunking of the latest so-called solutions of Z13 and Z32. Your video both allows us to follow the reported steps, and also demonstrates how easy they would be to modify. Keep up the great work!

[bmenrigh]

Another criticism of the lat/long coords is that with only 3 decimal digits of precision that describes a pretty substantial area if you assume the 4th and remaining digits were simply truncated / rounded.

[katarzynazofia]

"His steps are logical and seem reasonable" Well, I'm not so sure. Using three different number systems, quite ambiguously for starters, also the circled eight doesn't seem to me as the Pisces symbol. It all sounds like a bitof a stretch and a very subjective choice of methodology. Imo Zodiac seems to have chosen pretty simple methods, almost like crudely coping methods from a textbook, so these decryption doesn't feel like it matches that style.

[silvaskiproductions]

this is edited so well and you explain things very clearly, big respect

[chanm]

"You may THINK that my solution is wrong, but actually it was just an encoding mistake. So simply replace letters in the resulting plaintext until you make whatever word or name or acronym you want. Done"

[sinus]

Excellent, very informative video. The animations really help to better understand each step! I really think that everyone interested in Zodiac case feels that we're very lucky to have people like you trying (successfully) to crack Z's encrypted messages. Your videos are very informative and interesting.

[Albeit_Jordan]

Maybe that's the exact taunt the zodiac killer was going for: that you can literally decipher thousands upon thousands of names from the z13 cipher all as valid solutions.