SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (KRON) — More than 50 years after the so-called Zodiac Killer first began terrorizing the streets of the Bay Area, a codebreaking team has now said they’ve cracked one of the killers mysterious coded messages.
The specific message was sent to the San Francisco Chronicle back in 1969.
Kevin Fagan is a writer with the San Francisco Chronicle. He’s been covering the Zodiac killer for more than 25 years and he joined KRONon Saturday to talk about the new development.
The cipher is one of many sent by a killer who referred to himself as Zodiac in letters sent to detectives and the media.
The Zodiac terrorized Northern California communities and killed five people in the Bay Area in 1968 and 1969.
FILE – This is a file copy of a cryptogram sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 by the Zodiac Killer. A coded letter mailed to a San Francisco newspaper by the Zodiac serial killer in 1969 has been deciphered by a team of amateur sleuths from the United States, Australia and Belgium, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Friday, Dec. 11, 2020. (San Francisco Chronicle via AP, File)/San Francisco Chronicle via AP) 
According to code-breaking expert David Oranchak, the cipher’s text includes: “I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me. … I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me,” the newspaper reported.
The FBI San Francisco Division on Friday announced it is aware and investigating after the cipher attributed to the Zodiac Killer was recently solved by private citizens.