The Scorpion Ciphers and the Zodiac Killer
Did the Zodiac Killer Continue to Write Ciphers?
In this article we will explore the idea as we dive into a little known unknown cipher called the Scorpion Ciphers. These were a set of ciphers and letters or correspondence starting in 1991 sent to “Americas Most Wanted” host John Walsh. According to a website called ciphermysteries.com only two of the ciphers and a few pages have been made public.
Below is S2:
A Number of Observations:
On the “S1”, which is the 70 character cipher, the shorter one I observed something quite unique. The ONLY character that repeats is the backward “L”shaped character. I find this of significance because the Zodiac Killer wrote the Z408, and the Z340 ciphers which have both been decrypted, but what is interesting is that the backward L in both ciphers have broke to an “A”.
In the first Zodiac Cipher you find the backward “L” that converts to an A. See below for the Z408 Key:
The Z340, which was much more difficult to crack, we find the same backward “L” also converts to the “A”.
See below for the key for the Z340:
I believe that there may be some significance to the backward “L” shaped symbol on even the Scorpion Cipher. I find it odd that the symbol which is repeated in both the Z408 and Z340 Zodiac ciphers is the most often repeated in the Scorpion Ciphers at least in the S1. Now, on to the S2, which I will comment a few observations on as well.
If you look at the S2 you notice that it starts out with “HI REMEMBER ME?” Notice how the H and the R are underlined. I think this is significant because I have stated in other places and I will have to comment later on this that the Zodiac Killer had arithmomania, a type of OCD in which everything is counted even letters converted to numbers. So, for example the H is converted to 8 and the R to 18. Both numbers were used many times by the Zodiac Killer.
Now, on to the S2 itself, it is or consists of 180 characters. Notice the use of the number 180, there is the number 18 again even in the count of characters of the S2. This number is easy to dismiss offhand but throughout the case of the Zodiac Killer we find these numbers scattered again and again throughout the Zodiac murders and letters and ciphers.
I will have to dive in more detail about this in another post though at another time.
Now look at the center of the Scorpion Cipher S2 we see the classic “Zodiac Killer” symbol next to the backward “L”, and these are above a “pair of dice”. What is significant about the “Pair of Dice” you see there in the center of the S2? Well, the Zodiac Killer in his first two big ciphers the Z340 and Z408 mentioned that he was collecting “slaves” for when he reaches “paradice”. He mentions slaves and paradice again in his Halloween Card.
Further Analysis and Opinion
I believe that since the Zodiac Killer was Joseph Paul Franklin he may have written these from prison. Some more observations on the wording indicate to me that this was the Zodiac Killer, so look at the wording of “collecting” of bodies. That wording sounds very similiar to the Zodiac’s claim of collecting of slaves for his afterlife or for when he reaches paradice.
Another observation, but this gets back to his need to the number 8 and 18 in most of his correspondence:
The name SCORPION is 8 characters long, he also underlines the H and R which correspond to the 8th and 18th letters of the alphabet. That is my opinion, but would look forward to comments from readers.
These observations were mentioned on Youtube Channel Black Box Online Radio by Ned Dehan:
https://youtu.be/lDbHTd6-Hig?si=wzManGD0TkQ8_mMy
REF: https://ciphermysteries.com/other-ciphers/scorpion-ciphers
