And they show you exactly how they did it.
This is just so awesome.
On December 5th, 2020 Sam Blake, Jarl Van Eycke, David Oranchak finally cracked the Zodiac Killer's unsolved 340-character cipher.
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who was active in Northern California in the 1960s and '70s. His name came from the taunting letters he would send to the San Francisco Bay Area press which included a total of four ciphers. It was confirmed that he killed at least five people, though he claimed to have murdered 37.
Police still don't know the identity of the Zodiac Killer, though they've long hoped that solving his ciphers would reveal more details about him.
Watch this video by David Oranchak breaking down how they solved the 340-character cipher.
These guys are geniuses, man!
Here's what the original cipher looked like:
And here's the full solve:
I HOPE YOU ARE HAVING LOTS OF FUN IN TRYING TO CATCH ME
THAT WASNT ME ON THE TV SHOW
WHICH BRINGS UP A POINT ABOUT ME
I AM NOT AFRAID OF THE GAS CHAMBER
BECAUSE IT WILL SEND ME TO PARADICE ALL THE SOONER
BECAUSE I NOW HAVE ENOUGH SLAVES TO WORK FOR ME
WHERE EVERYONE ELSE HAS NOTHING WHEN THEY REACH PARADICE
SO THEY ARE AFRAID OF DEATH
I AM NOT AFRAID BECAUSE I KNOW THAT MY NEW LIFE IS
LIFE WILL BE AN EASY ONE IN PARADICE DEATH