SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A coded letter mailed to a San Francisco newspaper by the Zodiac serial killer in 1969 has been deciphered by a team of amateur sleuths from the United States, Australia and Belgium.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Friday the cipher is one of many sent by a killer who referred to himself as Zodiac in letters sent to detectives and the media.
According to code-breaking expert David Oranchak, the cipher's text includes: "I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradise."
The Zodiac terrorized Northern California communities and killed five people in the Bay Area in 1968 and 1969.
