Zodiac Killer's Final Unsolved Cipher Decrypted, Reveals Chilling Connection
In a groundbreaking development, investigative consultant Alex Baber asserts he has successfully deciphered the Zodiac killer's elusive Z32 cipher, uncovering coordinates that point directly to the burial site of Elizabeth Short, the victim known as the Black Dahlia. This discovery forms a crucial pillar in Baber's explosive theory that America's two most notorious unsolved crimes were committed by the same individual.
The Map and the Message
On June 26, 1970, the Zodiac killer mailed a cryptic letter to the San Francisco Chronicle containing a 32-character cipher alongside a Phillips 66 Bay Area roadmap. The map featured a crosshair over Mount Diablo with the instruction: '0 is to be set to Mag. N.' The accompanying message declared: 'The map coupled with this code will tell you where the bomb is set.' This followed previous threats from November 1969 and April 1970 about roadside bombs targeting buses.
Exactly one month later, on July 26, 1970, the Zodiac sent another letter containing a large crosshair with a dark circle in its lower left quadrant. Beneath it was a misquoted verse from The Mikado opera: 'As some day it may hapen that a victom must be found. I've got a little list... who might well be underground who would never be missed.' A postscript added: 'PS. The Mt. Diablo Code concerns Radians & # inches along the radians.'
Decoding the Coordinates
Baber meticulously followed the Zodiac's instructions, aligning the map to magnetic north, which was 16.9 degrees east of true north in 1970. He determined that the '0' on the July 26 crosshair represented the directional origin point. Overlaying this onto the earlier roadmap and rotating it accordingly, Baber noticed the circle was approximately four radians, or about 242 degrees, from the north point.
Suspecting the crosshair wasn't drawn to scale, Baber reasoned the Z32 cipher must contain instructions for both angle and distance, echoing the Zodiac's note about 'Radians & # inches along the radians.' Drawing on established solutions to the Zodiac's other ciphers, including the FBI-verified Z340 and his own Z13 decryption, Baber concluded the Z32 employed homophonic substitution, where a single character can represent multiple letters.
The Cryptographic Breakthrough
By testing words like 'radian' and 'inches' within the cipher and accounting for repeated characters, Baber theorized the word 'estimate' might be present, reflecting the need for rounding in radian measurements. This led to a partial reading: 'Estimate four radian and XXXXX inches.' The only number fitting the remaining characters was 'three', resulting in the complete phrase: 'Estimate four radian and three inches.'
Applying a distance of three inches on the map, with the correctly scaled crosshair rotated to 1970's magnetic north, Baber found the shaded circle pinpointed a specific location in Oakland, California. It fell precisely where 'a victim' could be found 'underground' – Mountain View Cemetery, the burial site of Elizabeth Short, who was laid to rest there on January 25, 1947.
Historical Connections and Coincidences
Baber highlighted another intriguing link: The Mikado opera opened at the El Patio Theater in Los Angeles on January 9, 1947, just five days before Short's bisected body was discovered in Leimert Park. If Baber's interpretation is correct, the Zodiac's taunting letter and Z32 cipher pointed to his first potential victim – Short, who was murdered two decades before the serial killing spree in the San Francisco Bay Area began.
This discovery builds upon Baber's earlier solution to the Z13 cipher, which he claims reveals the name Marvin Merrill, an alias for Marvin Margolis, a prime suspect in Short's murder. Baber has also uncovered circumstantial evidence linking Margolis to both crimes, including a weapon similar to one used in a Zodiac attack and a chilling sketch regarded by some as a possible deathbed confession.
Expert Verification and Skepticism
While cryptography experts who verified Baber's Z13 solution describe it as correct, they have been unable to confirm his Z32 decryption. Ed Giorgio, former Chief US Codemaker and Codebreaker at the NSA, called the finding 'plausible' and 'consistent with other theories' about the map and coordinates but noted it lacks cryptographic evidence due to the cipher's short length and limited repeated characters.
However, independent amateur sleuth Paul Brookbanks, based in Australia, has substantiated Baber's interpretation, identifying 'Estimate four radian and three inches' as one of three possible solutions. Brookbanks noted that while other solutions pointed to locations in Contra Costa County or Ingleside Police Department, the first solution lands squarely on Mountain View Cemetery.
Growing Body of Evidence
Baber acknowledges approaching the Z32 with a 'perspective of bias' after already forming conclusions about connections between the Zodiac and Black Dahlia murders. Nonetheless, he believes this adds to mounting evidence linking the two cases, including the Z13 cipher solution, the Zodiac Motel where Short might have been murdered, and forensic items provided by Margolis's youngest son.
'For the Z32 to align following his specific instructions... it was one of those moments where I thought, if it is what we think it is, it's just another piece of supporting evidence to add to the pile,' Baber stated. 'We have so many pieces that are beyond coincidence.' The Daily Mail understands that several California law-enforcement agencies are currently reviewing these investigative findings.
