Canonical cipher 1: Z408 vol.1. Purgatory

 Canonical cipher 1_Z408 vol_1_Purgatory

1.                       From Hell

The last day of this July marked 56 years since the sending of the three-piece Z408 [1]. After months of silence and a phone call assuming responsibility for both LHR and BRS in the early hours of July 5, 1969, the killer makes a stunning declaration of purpose: three newspapers receive the three pieces of a cipher. Two of them are the biggest papers of the biggest city of Bay Area: a foreshadowing of things to come.

The choice of the papers is not random. As Soze has pointed out, the number of stamps in each envelope reflects the editorial and publishing history of each paper: the killer demonstrates for the first time that he is acutely aware of the history of the people he is sending his cipher to [2]. This demonstrates a system which may very well extend to the victims themselves (genealogy). It took many decades for anyone to pick up on that. Soze nailed it. I am planning to publish a revised thesis on the “Quantity of the Stamps” but that is the purpose of another piece. For now, the cipher itself is the object of study. Thanks to Tom Voigt, we have had the cipher letters as well in the public domain [1].

The cipher, in appearance and content, oozes with discipline and purpose. The Whitechapel murderer may or may not have sent any authentic communication – however the one that has been evaluated as “most likely” being from the killer was the letter beginning with the ominous words “From Hell”. In that, the killer does not identify himself. The Whitechapel murderer attacked female prostitutes. In my piece about the “Hartnell car door message”, I make the case of a similar misogynist “alibi” that the killer tries to set up for himself, in the context of “divine retribution”.

It is questionable how a person who, as the solution of the Hardens revealed, dreams of acquiring “slaves in the afterlife” may be religiously eligible to be the hand of divine justice. But the killer did not care for theological nomenclature. He cared to exhibit the system (stamps), the discipline (cipher pieces) and the menace. At the same time, this is all executed with the finest awareness of pop sensationalism. For all his otherworldly masquerade, this is a person very much aware of societal mechanisms, mass opinion, and manipulation. That alone is a very strict criterion, in my opinion, about the killer’s age. As for the “adultery’ accusation, it’s pure bullshit. Stine’s murder does not even fit in that pattern.

Whereas “public opinion” continues to move in a circular loop of either accepting the Harden solution as “the upper bound” of research, or treating the pending issues (miss-spellings, last 18) as dangerous territory to tread, the cipher itself has assumed the position of a peculiar paradox. It was sent from Hell, but it remains in Purgatory.

 

2.                       Purgatory

The cipher floats in limbo. We do not know what the purpose of the miss-spellings is, we do not know the nature of the miss-spellings, we do not know what the “last 18” is about. Moreover, the plaintext seems redundant. The killer certainly makes the case for his purpose, references “the most dangerous game” and rants in disjointed spouts of “personal philosophy”. If one thing is clear, he introduces the “cat and mouse” game that he so cleverly played until he faded into the lore of an obscure but unresolved riddle.

For the grieving families, this was the worst possible scenario: the killer had his fun the press, taunted and ridiculed his pursuiters, and defied justice. The case has grown old, and sometimes, way too cold. But what is old is new.

 

3.                       What is old is new

What is worse, we still do not have a collective knowledge and a shared database of the cipher itself. The “what”, “how” and “why” remains unanswered. The cipher is comprised of 54 symbols, with some of us making the case for a 55^th. Tim Spencer named his book after his thesis that 55 is not only the final number, but that it stands for “EE” [3]. As part of my work, I will identify symbol-55 in the Z408 and make the connection with Tim Spencer’s position.

Dave Oranchak has produced a very helpful tool for the study of the ciphers, offering interactive tools [4]. In it, we find the most useful combined key of Z408 and Z340 [5], as shown in Figure 1.

Five cipher symbols maintain the same plaintext value for both Z408 and Z340: these symbols are “latches”, as we call them in digital theory. Three of them are English alphabet-proper, and two of them are inverted. These five latches provide an index of five loops that will play into my final proposal of Z32.

For the 54 cipher symbols, 25 out of the 26 symbols of the English (Latin) alphabet are used. So, 54 cipher symbols are constructed with 25 symbols of the English alphabet and 29 “other symbols”, many of which are rotations of Latin glyphs proper. More specifically, from the 29 “other” symbols, 12 are “rotated/inverted” Latin symbols and 17 are non-Latin, either astronomical or Greek. However, right there we notice an ambiguity: symbol “Λ” can both be a reversal of the “V” English alphabet proper (V-inverted) and the glyph for the uppercase Greek letter “lamda” (λ). Figures 2 and 3 represent both scenarios.

Figure 1. Combined Z408/Z340 key [5]

Figure 2. distribution of Z408 cipher symbols with “Λ” considered as V-inverted

Figure 3. distribution of Z408 cipher symbols with “Λ” considered as Greek upper-case lamda

As the reader may remember, the Z32 study reached the point of analyzing the Sun symbol (S) and the corresponding astronomical glyph, which appears in the combined key as having the combined plaintext “ED”. This corresponds to the number of cipher symbols for the Z408 (E=5, D=4, Sun Glyph is “ED”=”54”).

For this glyph as the Sun representation, the reader is referenced to the “Observer’s Handbook 1968” published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada [6] (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Sun glyph astronomical symbol [6]

It is my firm conviction that this ambiguity is deliberate, for the sheer reason that it is repeated in Z32. It should be noted that in both cases the sum of “non-English alphabet proper” symbols are 29, which is the number of original cipher symbols (cipher alphabet length) of Z32 [7].

The nature and meaning of the ambiguity will be presented in my next piece in the Z32 series. In next Z408-affiliated volume, I will make the case for the significance of these metrics for Z408. In this instance, I will assign each pair’s role in the Z408 attributes: 11/12 refers to the miss-spellings, and even more so, jointly for Z408 and Z340, whereas 17/18 refers to the number of columns (row length).

4.                       Z408 dimensions and the first Metamorphosis

Certainly, both Z408 and Z340 have 17 columns, which defines a common row length, with a deviating row number (24 for Z408 and 20 for Z340). Whereas I vouched to expand on how the 17-18 ambiguity refers to the dimensions in the next volume, we can still raise the question right here and now. There are two independent points of origin to do so:

a.        “ILIKEKILLINGPEOPL” is a standout. This magnificent outlier of the last appropriate “E” being left for the next row is remarkable. How could someone with the discipline and geometrical accuracy that the killer showed in crafting these neatly designed ciphers allow this to happen? Or did he?

b.       The last 18 symbols are, well, eighteen.

For the purpose of editing the ciphers, I have compiled various MATLAB implementation codes that have inserted the cipher-text and plain-text of all ciphers into this powerful tool.

The accepted nomenclature of Z408 (24x17) is depicted in Figure 5.

Figure 5. Z408 24x17

In both points (a) and (b) brought up, the glyph “E” is the outlier, in positions: (row-2, column-1) and (row-23, column 17). This creates the vertical combination of EI for column-1 and column-17. “EI” is the phonetic value of the Z-glyph rune in the Elder Futhark system [8]. A killer’s signature? I answer my own question affirmatively. But it still does not prevent from attempting a glimpse at a first metamorphosis of the Z408 structure, attempting to even out the “anomaly”. The result is shown in Figure 6.

Figure 6. Z408 23x18

We can now see that the first four words all fit in row-1. The structure has been reshaped into 23x18. More interestingly, row-23 features the last-12 of the “Last 18” plain-text. The first six symbols have been shifted to row-22. We will reserve the commentary on these numerical values for a later point. For now, we can focus on the highlighted first six symbols.

We note that “EI” still appears, at the beginning and the ending of the six-symbol sequence. So the Z-glyph insignia is there, marking the start and end of the sequence. That is the first remark of interest. The second remark concerns the other four symbols: BEOR.

From [9]:

Beor (Hebrew: בְּעוֹר Bə‘ōr, "a burning") [..] is a name which appears in relation to a king ("Bela son of Beor") and a diviner ("Balaam son of Beor"). Because the two names vary only by a single letter (ם‎, -m, often added to the ends of names), scholars have hypothesized that the two refer to the same person.

In [10] we have a linguistic interpretation of interest. In Latin, beor can be identified as “blessed”. In Old English, it stands for beer, with the Scottish variant of “bere”. This word appears in the second section of the Z408 plain-text, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 7. BERE sequence identified in the second part of the Z408 plain-text

The third remark of interest is that if considered numerically, EI is 59; and BEOR may very well be an anagram of BORE, a word with significance both in gun design and in hydraulics.

It is this second interpretation of “Bore” that appears in conjunction with “59” in the following crossword puzzle. The clip is Oakland Tribune, Sat, Feb 14, 1942 ·Page 7 [11] and it is shown in Figure 8. In this instance, the 59 wanted word for “bore” is “tap”. We cannot help but notice the shape of the puzzle which brings together the X-shape (mark) and the Crosshair (target). We will develop on this fourth remark of interest in vol.2., discussing the alignment of the S-rune, the Zodiac Cross the X-glyph.

Figure 8. “59 Bore” reference in crossword puzzle, Oakland Tribune, Sat, Feb 14, 1942 ·Page 7 [11]

5.                       The “next death”: Z408 dimensions and the second Metamorphosis

 

GRAYSMITH

I ‘ve been thinking…

AVERY

.. yeah…

GRAYSMITH

… someone should write a book.

AVERY

Somebody should write a fucking book, that’s for sure!

[beat]

About what?

 

Someone once wrote a book about “Metamorphosis of a criminal”. It’s hard to tell who that person really was or what he did. But he was spot-on about the mouthful of a word that he used. As a native Greek, I can attest to the multi-layer nature of the word. Ovid did too, and in a subsequent piece I will try to make the case for the killer’s reference to this author. The Metamorphosis is used with an uppercase-M to denote the mystique of a ritual. It’s not about reformation, not for criminals or otherwise (and certainly that was not the case with the person at hand; not that he cared about it; for he chose the word with high deliberate precision). In the Major Arcana [12], Card 13 (English alphabet Latin symbol M stands for numerical index 13) is Death:  the meaning here is not of physical demise but a spiritual re-birth, which is a fundamental essence of Metamorphosis.

If the 17-18 ambiguity, tied to the row-2 and row-17 original outliers can provide a first Metamorphosis, there is yet room for a second one: a “next death”.

In the Oakland tribune crossword puzzle offered in the previous section, the “59 Bore” reference index leads to the convergence of the X-shape and the Crosshair-target. In the Z408, the X-glyph appears for the first time in row-1, position-15, as shown in Figure 9. It is the 13^th original cipher symbol to appear in the cipher, and the last in row-1, as the next two symbols have already appeared in prior positions.

This position of X in both cipher geometry and cipher-alphabet sequence of original symbols (15 and 13) corresponds to both manifestations of Z in the Elder Futhark system [8]. The 13 symbol is the Z-glyph rune (“yew”, axis of life and death), with phonetic value “EI” as already mentioned, and the 15 rune is the Elk protection rune with phonetic values Z-R.

Figure 9. Position of X-glyph in Z408 cipher-text

Based on this perfect alignment, I took the position of assuming the role of X is vital in highlighting the ratio of original cipher symbols per row. In the first two rows, each such length is 13: there are 13 original cipher symbols in row-1 and 13 original cipher symbols in row-2 (a total of 26 in the first two rows). From that point onwards, the number of original symbols per row reduces drastically, until all 54 original cipher symbols appear in the mapping of Z408.

Original cipher-symbol 26, the 13^th of row-2 is Q-inverted, which has plain-text assignment “M”, which takes us back to index-13 and the previous discussion! M-glyph in the cipher symbol alphabet comes right next, right at the start of row-3. Beneath it, at start of row-4, is cipher symbol 39, S-glyph. S identifies with the number of the cipher symbol 26 appearances: Q-inverted is the most frequently occurring glyph in Z408, appearing 16 times (numerical index S) [13]. Finally, C-inverted is original cipher symbol 52, appearing as the first symbol of section 2 (row-9). The layout is shown in Figure 10.

The last two cipher symbols are τ and “open square”, with plain-text assignments X and Y respectively. Given how Z (along with J, Q) does not appear in the plaintext alphabet sequence, this position of the last two cipher symbols as per their plaintext values does not seem accidental.

This has all led me to examine some critical ways of clustering the 54 cipher symbols into groupings based on 13, 17 and 18. The results are shown in Figure 11. The first clustering is the logical for an availability of 54 symbols where the “division by three” provides three pieces of the cipher, sent to three newspapers. This first clustering leaves no “residue” symbols out of the multiplication and aligns with the first Metamorphosis of Z408.

 

Figure 10. Layout of: X (original cipher symbol 13), Q-inverted (original cipher symbol 26), S (original cipher symbol 39), C-inverted (original cipher symbol 52), with M-glyph as auxiliary finetuning symbol

Figure 11. Clustering of Z408 original cipher symbols (cipher alphabet length)

 

The second clustering aligns with the proper structure of Z408: 17 symbols in three groups with three residue symbols. Critical symbols are E-inverted (original cipher symbol 17) with plaintext assignment “C” (the only English alphabet proper symbol not used in the cipher-text alphabet),N (original symbol 34) with plaintext assignment “E” and the “Zodiac Cross” (original symbol 51), in position 100 which identifies the number of words in Z408 (excluding the “last 18”). “Zodiac Cross” has plaintext assignment “D”. The layout is shown in Figure 12.

Figure 12. Z408 Position of cipher symbols E-inverted (original symbol 17 in position 21), N (original symbol 34 in position 46) and “Zodiac Cross” (original symbol 51 in position 100)

Read as a teletype from right to left, with the “Zodiac Cross” at first, we read “DEC”, an abbreviation for both the decimal system, and the December month, timeframe of the LHR attack and an index of the duodecimal system (12), which incorporates the decimal system. This foreshadows an advantage of the 17-12-29 arrangement over the 18-11-29, though both will be studied and featured in follow-up pieces. But on this early remark, we can assume a manifestation of the killer’s decision to proceed with the 17-column arrangement (row length). In any case, both scenarios add up to 29 non-English alphabet proper symbols, a foreshadowing of the Z32 cipher alphabet length.

Figure 13. Z408 32x13

 

The last clustering is on the basis of a 13-symbol clustering system. Four such tiers exist, with a fifth comprising of the two residue symbols, which reflect the last two symbols of the plaintext alphabet in proper order: X and Y. This opens the way for the second Metamorphosis (“next death”) of Z408 into a new grid defined by a 13-column length of rows. The result is shown in Figure 13. It is evident, not without some bewilderment, that the new grid has dimensions 32x13.

These are the dimensions of ciphers Z32 and Z13 respectively.

The last row-32 has five symbols and 8 blanks (marked by X in Figure 13). This corresponds to the cipher text length of Z13: five Latin symbols of the English alphabet proper (AENKM in order of appearance or as I have made the case, “EK” and “MAN” in runic positioning), with repetitions leading to a total of 8 such symbols, since “A M N” appear twice.

Hidden in his first cipher, the killer’s ciphers to come.

SDS

September 8, 2025

References

1.        https://zodiackiller.com/Letters.html

2.        https://zodiackillerletters.blogspot.com/2025/05/quantity-of-stamps-and-zodiac-dozen.html?m=1

3.        https://www.55zodiackilleridentified.com/

4.        http://www.zodiackillerciphers.com/

5.        http://zodiackillerciphers.com/images/z408-z340-combined-keys.png

6.        “Observer’s Handbook 1968” published by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada

7.        https://zodiackiller.com/ZButtonLetter.html

8.        Edred Thorsson, Runelore: a handbook of esoteric runology, Weiser Books, 1987.

9.        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beor_(biblical_figure)

10.   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/beor

11.   https://www.newspapers.com/image/147883664/

12.   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Arcana

13.   http://zodiackillerciphers.com/webtoy/