morf13, Subject: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sun Apr 22, 2012 8:50 pm

For you cipher guys,could the circled 8′ looking symbols(which are clearly either circled 8’s or Taurus symbols)actually represent the number 8. I have a person of interest that went to school with Cheri bates,and moved with his Family to Napa around 1968. His DOB is 8/18/48

traveller1st, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:36 pm

To be honest they could represent anything in a cipher that short. The symbols being 8’s and referencing a date like a birthdate has been suggested many times. It was actually part of one cop’s solution (can’t rem his name) for it being Kane as I think the 8’s fitted into his birthdate.

I had considered that if they were 8’s they added up to 24 which is the same number of + symbols in the 340. Don’t know what that could mean either so, as I said, they could be anything.

AK Wilks, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:39 pm

Sure those could be 8’s. That is what they look like to me. And if you have a poi with three 8’s in his birthdate that could be a teasing clue. But its the kind of clue that is hard to prove or disprove. If they are meant to be 8’s is Z telling us he is 24 years old or born in 24 or 42 or that his name has three H’s in it as H is 8th letter? Or does it mean Taurus or infinity symbol?

morf13, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sun Apr 22, 2012 9:56 pm

Guess there are many possibilities.

zodio, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sat May 19, 2012 8:06 pm

Being that he asked if the last cipher had been solved yet would this be the same key?
No taurus symbols in the 340 though.

duckking2001, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Sun May 20, 2012 12:58 am

Don’t have an opinion on the 8’s.

But I did notice that "My name Is – " with spaces:MYXNAMEXISX-X is 13 characters, same as the cipher.

Quicktrader, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Mon May 21, 2012 1:05 pm

AENZ8K8M8TNAM
MYXNAMEXISX-X

Don´t think it would match..at least not without anagramming it – no reason to start anagramming anyway, imho. In larger ciphers Z used multiple symbols for alphabetic letters sometimes, however there also is no reason to believe he used one symbol for multiple alphabetic letters or did anagramm his ciphers.

QT

QueenOfClews, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:10 am

My question is not directly related to the question Morph asked, but I didn’t want to start another thread about the same cipher.

I find it odd that Z prefaced the "My name is —-" with a question asking whether or not they had solved the last cipher he sent.

Is that supposed to mean that the only information to be gleaned from the cipher is his name?

smithy, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Mon Feb 18, 2013 11:33 am

My question is not directly related to the question Morph asked, but I didn’t want to start another thread about the same cipher.

I find it odd that Z prefaced the "My name is —-" with a question asking whether or not they had solved the last cipher he sent.

Is that supposed to mean that the only information to be gleaned from the cipher is his name?

QoC, I think the question is a taunt about the length of time it seemed to be taking to get Z340 solved. Whether that was because the writer thought that the police and newspapers were holding back the solution having arrived at it, or whether he was teasing them because he knew that it was insoluble, is debatable, I think.

He certainly must have known that finding "the right name" from Z13 was an impossible task.
At no point was he ever going to reveal his name. No chance.

onewhoknows, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Mon Feb 18, 2013 12:11 pm

Part of Zodiac wanted to be known. This is why he kept writing letters, and making phone calls and in fact
why he kept killing. He wanted attention desperately. In my opinion, he did put his name in that cypher.
I am not computer savvy, but I find it amazing that no computer program has been able to solve these
codes. Perhaps we cannot ignor the anagramming. In the SF Chronicle, I think on the page, or the
same section as Herb Caen’s column, there was a daily puzzle called Jumble. It was an anagramming word game.

QueenOfClews, Subject: Re: ‘My Name is’ cipher question   Mon Feb 18, 2013 10:27 pm

I agree with both of you on certain aspects, but have a slightly different opinion about one point. I agree that the cipher likely does not contain Z’s actual name. But I do think that what he did leave in the cipher was either another pseudonym or a some other clue as to his identity.

I think that Z was not as ballsy as his crimes and letters would have us think. I think that he was someone who from a very young age, got attention by pulling pranks. As an adult, I believe that each time he committed a crime or sent a letter, he got a rush, and the intensity of the rush was enhanced by taking greater risks. I believe that Z was probably taking opiates of some sort to help calm his nerves during the commission of his crimes. In his natural state, I don’t think he could have pulled it off.