A team of cryptography enthusiasts announced on Friday that
they have successfully cracked one of several coded messages sent by the ‘Zodiac
Killer’, a serial-killing criminal entity who terrorized California in the late
1960s and till date has remained unidentified, reported AFP.

The message in question was sent to the San Francisco
Chronicle newspaper by the alleged serial killer in November, 1969, and
consists of multiple cryptic letters and symbols.

Investigations at the time employed techniques to crack the
code, which was said to contain details regarding the killer who committed at
last five murders in 1968 and 1969, although claiming 37 in total and inspiring
other serial killers.

According to the trio who worked to crack the code, the
message includes boasting and defiance of authorities, without a hint of the killer’s
motive or identity.

“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 (sic) all the
sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me.” AFP quoted the message
to be saying.

For American web designer David Oranchak, who started working on the
code in 2006, several computer programs and years of hard work have culminated
in deciphering the complex code.

He was helped by Sam Blake, an Australian mathematician, and Jarl Van
Eykcke, a Belgian logistician, he reportedly told San Francisco Chronicle.

The information uncovered were shared with the FBI, who are the Federal agency
in charge of the investigation.

The very first message sent to the Californian newspaper was decoded by
a schoolteacher and his wife in 1969.