- American serial killer, rapist, and burglar, Richard Ramirez terrorised the people of California, primarily Los Angeles, between 1984 and 1985 before being eventually captured by the police. The brutal criminal, also known as Night Stalker, was finally found guilty of 43 charges, including 13 murders and was sentenced to death.
- Alphabetical List of 651 Serial Killers profiled by Killer.Cloud the Serial Killer Database, an ongoing research project which aims to sort and classify serial killers based on documented references from books written about serial killers as well as other online resources listed at the bottom of each killers profile page.
- Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names List
- Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names Movie
- Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names 2020
Serial Killers With 13 Letters In Their Names It's a question that many executives had decades ago and many others have to this day: who was the Zodiac Killer? We're not going to promise to reveal the answer to you, but we'll fill you in on a story that is one of the most unique and one that is sure to send a chill down your spin.
By Neil Sareen (Guest Contributor, Vanderbilt University)
The 1960s of the Bay Area of California are often remembered as a time of love and social expansion, but there remains a terrible and unexplained stain on the otherwise illustrious history. A lone and extremely elusive killer wandered the Bay Area streets at night. Known as the Zodiac killer, because of his messages signed with a zodiac symbol, he became one of the most infamous and terrifying killers in history. While he claimed to be responsible for the killings of 37 people, investigators were only able to confirm only seven victims (five were murdered, two survived). Throughout his serial killings, the Zodiac killer would write letters to the Bay Area press in an attempt to brag and taunt his pursuing officers. But these weren't any ordinary letters. They were ciphers. From the late 1960s to the early 1970s the Zodiac killer sent four coded letters. Of the four ciphers, only one has actually been solved.
His letters were written in two parts. The first part was usually written in plain text, while the other was in cipher text, in which he claimed contained his identity. In the plain text part, he threatened newspapers to publish his letters or else he would kill more innocent people. In other segments of his letters, he listed the names of his next victims, creating havoc amongst the Bay area. His goal was to use the media to instill fear in Bay area citizens, and it worked. As cryptographers dug deeper into his letters, they were able to find out what drove the Zodiac killer to keep killing.
Of the four ciphers letters he sent, one was a three-part coded message, sent to three different press companies, making a 408-symbol cipher. His other famous cipher letter contains a 340-character cipher, which still doesn't have a definitive solution. After the Zodiac killer sent his 408-symbol cipher (Z408), he sent another message to the police stating that if they could solve that cipher 'they will have me.' To understand what the Zodiac killer meant by this, we will have to first see how the message was deciphered.
Samuel Jeffries. David Berkowitz. Which serial killer, whose intelligence, charm, and good looks were often the focus of his murder trials, once worked for a suicide hotline? Samuel Jeffries. Most Chilling Letters Sent by Unidentified Serial Killers. By Anomalien.com. On Jun 14, 2021. The FBI estimates there are anywhere from 25 to 50 serial killers active within the United States at any given time. The global number is no doubt much larger. The majority of these true life monsters work exclusively in the shadows, but over the years.
In 1969, two schoolteachers Donald and Bettye Harden managed to crack the Z408 cipher. The Z408 cipher consisted of random symbols corresponding to a plain text message. While Zodiac killer's ciphers made him seem to be a genius, his Z408 cipher was not all that difficult to solve. It was a homophonic simple substitution cipher. In a basic simple substitution cipher, each ciphertext letter corresponds to a plaintext letter. However, in a homophonic substitution cipher, more than one ciphertext letter could correspond to a plaintext letter. This may seem tricky, but historically speaking, this cipher was far easier than any cryptanalyst would have expected ('Zodiac Killer Ciphers,' 2012).
To decipher the Z408 cipher, Donald and Betty Harden essentially looked for common patterns, and plugged in letters that might fit into the ciphertext. After analyzing the text, they noticed certain symbols appeared more frequently than others. For example, there were a high number of double symbols (double letters) found in the ciphertext. In frequency analysis, the letter 'L' is doubled most frequently in English. Because the message came from a serial killer, they figured that the double letter 'L' must be followed by the letter 'I' creating the word 'KILL'. In cryptography terms, the word 'KILL' served as the 'crib,' a word that could be plugged into other parts of the message to determine other phrases. While the message had a few misspellings, the meaning of the message was clear.
The cracked code offers frightening insight into the Zodiac killer's mind. According to the plain text message, he was attempting to collect slaves for the afterlife. While the plain text message gave police the reason for his serial killing, the message never mentioned his name. According to the message, he refused to give up his identity because it would 'slow down or stop [his] collection of slaves' ('Zodiac Killer Ciphers,' 2012).
While the Hardens managed to solve the Z408 cipher, the last 18 letters of the plaintext were 'EBEORIETEMETHHPITI.' Seemingly jumbled text, cryptanalysts believe these letters are filler letters, used make the cipher three equally sized parts. Others believe that the letters can be rearranged to the name of the Zodiac killer ('Filler Theory,' 2009). These last 18 letters could be rearranged to make 741,015,475,200 transpositions, making the anagram almost impossible to decipher. Maybe the Zodiac killer was referring to the last 18 letters when he stated that the police would 'have him.' Could the last 18 letters actually contain his name, or was it simply another method employed by the Zodiac killer to drive society insane? While the Z408 cipher has been solved, the mystery behind the last 18 letters still remains.
Adding to the fear that he once caused, the Zodiac killer still remains uncaught to this day. Recently however, Corey Starliper from Tewksbury, Massachusetts, claims to have cracked the Z340 cipher, by recognizing that Z340 is Caesar shift cipher (or a cipher where each plain text letter is shifted 3 letters down the alphabet). You may be wondering why the police didn't decrypt a simple shift cipher earlier? Before Starliper actually applies the Caesar shift, he arbitrarily converts each Zodiac symbol to a Latin letter. The reason why the police were unable to solve the cipher was because the cipher consisted entirely of Zodiac symbols. This process seems to be a bit unreliable, considering Starliper's method relies on his own assumptions. Surprisingly, the cipher message yields a message with English phrases, but not full English sentences (Muessig, 2011).
Interestingly enough, the last few phrases of the plaintext yield the words 'MYNAMEISLEIGHALLEN.' Leigh Allen was a suspect while police were still investigating the case, however, his DNA did not match the DNA found in the envelopes of the Zodiac letters (Winkles, 2011). Many cryptanalysts question the accuracy of the decipherment but one thing is for sure: if a simple shift cipher of three was used, and it yielded a name as well as other phrases that would be used by a serial killer, it may just be an accurate decipherment. There is no proof that Leigh Allen is the Zodiac Killer. For all we know, the Zodiac killer could be framing Leigh Allen (Winkles, 2011).
Cryptography has made this case even more mysterious, and surprisingly, never actually helped investigators catch the Zodiac killer. However, cryptography has truly helped us discover more about one of the most elusive serial killers in history.
This post is part of a series of essays on the history of cryptography produced by students at Vanderbilt University. The students wrote these essays for an assignment in a first-year writing seminar taught by mathematics instructor Derek Bruff. The essays are shared here, in part, to give the students an authentic and specific audience for their writing. For more information on this cryptography seminar, see the course blog.
References
Muessig, Ben. (2011, July 7). Corey Starliper, Massachusetts Man, Claims He Cracked Zodiac Killer's Code. The Huffington Post.
Sifakis, Carl. (2001). Zodiac Killer. The Encyclopedia of American Crime.
Winkles, Regina. (2011, February 4). Zodiac Killer: Identity Solved?
'Z 408 Cipher – Filler Theory.' (2009). Zodiologists.com.
'Zodiac Killer Biography.' (2012). Biography.com.
'Zodiac Killer's 408 Character Cipher.' (2009). Zodiologists.com.
'Zodiac Killer Ciphers.' (2012, June 24). Throw the Book at Him.
For some serial killers, the ultimate thrill is not the stalking, catching and killing of their victims — it is the torturing and enslaving of them. Inspiring an entire sub-genre of horror movies known as 'torture porn,' these real-life sickos built torture chambers in their homes to prolong their victims' pain and suffering until their sickening bloodlust was quenched. Rather than being satisfied when they murder, serial killers are instead agitated toward repeating their killings in an unending 'serial' cycle (2). References (1) Vronsky, P. The assailant responsible for at least five murders around the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s, known only as the Zodiac Killer (or Zodiac for short) is as notorious for the numerous letters and cryptograms he sent to the press over the years as he is for his heinous crimes. The majority of these coded messages remain unsolved. 34 Notorious Famous Serial Killers. The world is littered with serial killers, and while we can show you the full list of serial killers, here we are pointing out the most famous serial killers ever to walk the Earth. These are the folks who have become world-renowned in their twisted fame for the inhumane and vile crimes they have committed to.
Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names List
It's a question that many executives had decades ago and many others have to this day: who was the Zodiac Killer? We're not going to promise to reveal the answer to you, but we'll fill you in on a story that is one of the most unique and one that is sure to send a chill down your spin. We'll look at Zodiac Killer suspects, official letters and other parts of this story.
The Zodiac Killer Story
The Zodiac Killer was a name given to a serial killer who killed several people in Northern California in the 1960s and 1970s. There are 'only' 5 confirmed kills for the Zodiac Killer, but there are suggestions that this enigmatic murderer may have taken over 35 lives during his crime spree. That's why he is often described as one of the worst serial killers in US history.
Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names Movie
The Zodiac Killer didn't seem to have a preference for gender or age. He murdered men and women between the ages of 16 and 29, with no obvious connection between them. One of the reasons that he captured the attention of the media was the cryptograms that he left behind for law enforcement, taunting them.
This case has been marked 'unsolved' since the murders took place. It has been left inactive in the past, before being reopened agin a few years earlier. It is one of those cases that always endures, capturing the attention of cold case officers, the general public and film producers alike.
Who Was the Zodiac Killer?
No one knows. There have certainly been some suspects, which we have discussed below, but nothing concrete. Every one seems to have their own idea about who the Zodiac Killer was. They all think that their man is the killer and they have a compelling case for why this is true. But the same happens with every unsolved serial killer case. It has been happening with Jack the Ripper for over 100 years.
Every now and then someone will put forward a suspect that makes everyone stop and think. It is often used to promote a film, book or documentary, and after hearing the evidence they give it's easy to think, 'It has to be him/her; why wasn't he arrested?'.
The problem with such propositions is that they omit a lot of information. They tell you the reasons why a certain person could be the killer, but they avoid telling you the reasons they so obviously are not.
It's a one-way accusation and rather than helping to close a cold case, it merely adds fuel to a roaring fire and drags a lot of innocent victims into the chaos.
The Zodiac Killer Letters
The first three Zodiac Killer letters were almost identical and were sent to three major publications across the Northern California region.
These Zodiac Killer letters all contained one-third of a code which formed a single message when added together. The writer—who displayed an in-depth knowledge of the crime and was deemed to be the killer—demanded that the letters be printed on the fist page less he would kill 'a dozen people on the weekend'.
Another letter was sent at a later date which teased the police with a declaration that if they solved his previous cryptogram then they would know who he was. The code was later solved, but for a few symbols. It professed 'I like killing' and 'I will be reborn in paradise' before adding 'I will not give you my name'.
There were many spelling mistakes in the solved code, and indeed in the letters that the Zodiac Killer sent, writing 'cruise' as 'cruse'.
Zodiac Killer Suspects
We mentioned the issue with the many Zodiac Killer suspects above. But it's still worth mentioning who the suspects are, if not just so we can show you how one-sided these claims can be.
- Jack Tarrance: With a name eerily similar to the antagonist in The Shining, it seems fitting that Tarrance was linked to a crime like this. In 2007, his step-son came forward with a number of items from his late step-father, all of which he said proved that the man he once called 'Dad' was the notorious SF killer.
It made the news at the time, as all of these new Zodiac Killer suspect claims do. But three years later a DNA analysis was taken and proved to be negative, thus ruling Jack Tarrance out. Of course, that didn't make the headlines and that's why so many still believe Tarrance was the killer.
- Richard Gaikowski: A newspaper editor who worked for a counterculture San Francisco publication during the time of the killers, Gaikowski was fingered for the crimes by a History Channel documentary. They had a new Zodiac Killer suspect, which means they had plenty of publicity for their show. Say no more.
The only 'proof' they had was that the writer closely resembled a sketch of the Zodiac Killer and that his voice was similar.
- Arthur Leigh Allen: In a book and film about this infamous murder spree, Allen was singled out as the most obvious of all Zodiac Killer suspects. The film in particular ended with the suggestion that he basically got away with his crimes. But the truth isn't as cut and dry. There were certainly some things that connected him and made him a viable Zodiac Killer suspect on the surface, but those things were transparent at best.
New Zodiac Killer suspects will always make for good reading, but because this crime occurred just 50 years ago, the people being fingered for the crimes are often alive or have first generation family who are alive. Why is sent mail missing on microsoft outlook 2016 for mac.
Serial Killers With 13 Letter Names 2020
Serial Killers With 13 Letters In Their Names
Would you want your name or you father's name dragged through the mud in this manner?
Zodiac Killer Facts
- Zodiac Killer suspects have ranged from the Unabomber to Charles Manson.
- The Zodiac Killer was the inspiration for the psychopath in the Dirty Harry movie.
- Books continue to be written, introducing new Zodiac Killer suspects as early as 2014.
- Not all of the Zodiac Killer's victims died. Several were injured and lived to provide the police with the sketches that would become famous.
- The last letter from the Zodiac Killer was received in 1974.
- Many believe that the Zodiac Killer stopped because he died, was imprisoned or because the police were getting too close.
Best Zodiac Killer Movie and Book
One of the best stories about the Zodiac Killer is in the film Zodiac, which was directed by David Fincher. This 2007 American film is based on a non-fiction book by Robert Graysmith, which is also worth reading.
Serial Killers With 13 Letters In Their Names And Meanings
Both of these make a point of focusing their attentions on a Zodiac Killer suspect that many experts on the case didn't pay much heed, but it's entertaining nonetheless. And as mentioned in the 'Zodiac Killer Suspects' section above, this is something you will find in most books and films about the subject. It's an essential part of any publication about an unsolved murder. It's what people want to see. It adds a sense of closure to something that didn't rally have any. And most importantly, it's what the public want.