The Zodiac Killers: Uncovering Cryptic Messages and Astrological Obsessions

The Zodiac Killer: Northern California’s Unsolved Mystery

In the late 1960s, a serial killer known as the Zodiac terrorised Northern California. The Zodiac Killer claimed responsibility for at least five murders between 1968 and 1969, targeting young couples and a lone male cab driver. What set this killer apart was their penchant for sending cryptic letters, ciphers, and making phone calls to local newspapers and the police, taunting and mocking them. The killer’s identity remains a mystery, despite extensive investigations and numerous suspects over the years.

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One of the Zodiac Killer’s most infamous ciphers, the Z340, was sent to The San Francisco Chronicle in 1969 and remained unsolved for 51 years. It was finally cracked in 2020 by a team of experts: software developer David Oranchak, mathematician Sam Blake, and cipher expert Jarl Van Eycke. Their software, AZdecrypt, was able to decipher the complex code, which consisted of 63 different symbols, with multiple symbols representing a single letter. The decoded message revealed the Zodiac Killer‘s brazen taunts:

“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 PARADICE ALL THE SOONER […] I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE [sic].”

Despite this breakthrough, the Zodiac Killer’s true identity and the meaning behind their cryptic messages remain an enigma, continuing to fascinate and puzzle investigators and the public alike.

The New York Zodiac: Astrology-Inspired Murders

Decades later, from 1989 to 1996, another Zodiac Killer emerged in New York City. This copycat killer, later identified as Heriberto Seda, killed three people and injured five in Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. Seda, also known as the Brooklyn Sniper or Faust, targeted his victims based on their zodiac signs and drew inspiration from notorious serial killers like Ted Bundy and David “Son of Sam” Berkowitz.

The New York Zodiac’s first victim was Mario Orozco, a 49-year-old man from Brooklyn, who was shot in the back in the spring of 1990. Two more shootings occurred at 21-day intervals, injuring Jermaine Montenesdro and killing Joseph Proce. The pattern and the notes left at the scenes, bearing zodiac symbols, led police to realise they were dealing with a serial killer.

Retired NYPD detective Larry Milanesi and his team noticed the connection between the shootings and astrology. They consulted with astronomers, astrologists, and even a warlock, who directed them to the works of British occultist Aleister Crowley. Milanesi discovered Crowley’s rare book, The Book of the Law, in the New York research library, finding a disturbing message inside. Crowley’s teachings and the alignment of constellations provided crucial insights into the shooter’s motives and methods.

The task force was able to predict the next shooting but not the location. On June 21, 1990, the New York Zodiac struck again, shooting a homeless man, Larry Parham, in Central Park after asking for his zodiac sign. Despite going quiet after this attack, Seda’s reign of terror ended in a dramatic shootout with police at his Brooklyn home in the summer of 1996. He was convicted of three murders and multiple assaults, receiving a total sentence of 232 years in prison.

The cases of the Zodiac Killers, both in Northern California and New York, showcase the dark intersection of cryptic messages, astrological obsessions, and serial murder. While one killer remains unidentified, the other’s capture demonstrates the power of persistence in solving these complex and terrifying mysteries.