The consensus solution was arrived at by running zkdecrypto-lite 400 times for 10 minutes each run on the target text, restricted by row, as proposed by Olsen. A full table of the results is here.
A note: The results were tabulated using the statistical software R -- see the R project for more information on R -- and then tabulated for easier reading in the OpenOffice spreadsheet. I have used only FOSS here, so that anyone can duplicate what I've done. The computer I used was a Dell p7 from Goodwill, with no hard drive, which cost $149. I installed Ubuntu, and a SSD, and those costs were the sum of the project. I say this only to point out that resolving this matter will not require a Cray or a BlueGene; it will require a different approach than what has failed to work up to this point.
The results of all this are the consensus solution, presented in the linked table with statistics.
The more likely letters are given here, in the same format as the 340 document. (As noted earlier, I deleted the - - characters at the middle line, and the Zodiac 'signature' character, and the word ZODAIK at the end, before analysis).
BELFANALLYCANDTOE
URTHAREANEWTOTHIT
FACERTHETOWASTHET
OTRANISMARETOTHET
HINGBETHTOSWASTAT
NTHMANTRYTHINGEDT
ORTHEASATTHISSPER
INGSTTESEAREISANS
ALTHREANTOUTITWWI
NGALMYSLESIANSWER
ETOMSLSTOAVEDCREA
NANUIWITHEANALLED
TOTOUTWITHSTTERIN
GTISEDTOTHSEDTORE
ANTOTNSALLANUSETO
TIMESRALEEDTHESST
HEMINGEANCIDBUTTO
THANDRANAREESWAVE
SPRIETOAMANFICBEA
NANDING
If we include second (and, if the combined likelihood was less than 80 percent, a third) most likely letter for those where the likelihood of the first letter was less than eighty percent, we have:
BEL(F,T)ANALLY(C,D)ANDTOE
URTHA(R,V)EANEWTOTH(I,E)T
(F,E,C)(A,S)(C,D,P)(E,L)RTHETOWASTHET
OT(R,V)AN(I,S,D)S(M,P)AR(E,I)TOTHET
HINGBETHTOS(W,M)A(S,T)T(A,S)T
NTH(M,F)ANTRYTHINGEDT
ORTHEASATTH(I,E)S(S,B)(P,U,T)ER
INGST(T,A)E(S,B)EA(R,V)E(I,D)SANS
ALTH(R,M)EANTOUTIT(W,E,S)(W,P)I
NGAL(M,P)YSLES(I,E)AN(S,B,D)(W,F,E,C)ER
ETO(M,P,C)SLSTOA(V,C,R)ED(CF)REA
NANU(I,D)WITHEANALLED
TOTOUT(W,E,S)(I,D)THST(T,R)ERIN
GTI(S,B)EDTOTHSEDT(O,H)(R,M)E
ANTOTN(S,B)ALLANUSETO
TIMES(R,M)AL(E,I)EDTHESST
H(E,I)MING(E,I)AN(C,D)IDBUTTO
THAND(R,M)ANA(R,V)(E,I)ES(W,F)A(V,C)E
(S,B)(P,U)R(I,E)ETO(A,F)MAN(F,T,C)ICBEA
NANDING
Now, we put on our analyst caps and try to produce a more-or-less English 'translation.'
BELTAN ALLY CAND
TO EURT HAVE A NEW
TO THE TECSPERT
HE TO WASTHE
TO TV AND SPARE
TO THE THING BETH
TO
[S(W,M)A(S,T)T(A,S)TNTH( MAN TRY ] (SWASTATNTHMANTRY = swasthya mantra?)
THING EDTOR THE AS AT THIS SPERING STAE SEAESANS
AL THREANT OUT IT SPING
AL MY SLES I ANSFER TO (M,P,C)S LS
TO AR ED CRE AN A NUD WITH EAN ALL ED
TO TOUT WITH STTRERINGTIS ED
TO THS EDTOR MEAN TO TN BALL ANUSE
TO TIMES MALE ED THE SS THE MINGE AND ID BUTTO
THAND RANA VEES FACES
PRIETO A MANTIC BEAN
ANDING (ENDING)
Clearly, not entirely readable. But it does make a sort of sense, as if someone were trying to be almost comprehensible, while being untranslatable. One can sound it out, but one can not translate it letter-for-letter. This, I think, was The Killer's goal.
This is about as readable as we can expect with the zkdecrypto putting out a score of 34000; actually, almost as good as the 408 solution scoring 44000. Some of the phrases require glossing, like the 'Prieto bean," or the "swasthya mantra," both of which took some time in the 11th Britannica (assuming that The Killer had some such version available to him. I'm guessing the dJVu I've provided a link to is acceptable; I used a hard copy).
But here is a gloss:
Beltane ally candidate to Earth:
To Earth; have a new (something).
To the techspert;
he('s) a waste.
To TV and SP area,
to the thing Beth; to
(line re swasthya mantra, selected just because of hapax legomena re letter conjunctions)
The thing editor, the ass (or ace?) at this, spring, stay seasons
all threat (through) out it, spying.
All my slaves I transfer to ???? (Ms. L.S) ???
To all editors (I give) a nude with ??? (ed -- early death? Or should it read VD, an unlikely
combination that zkdecrypto wouldn't suggest?)
To all with 'stutteringitis', ed ?? (ed -- early death? Or VD?
Also, the profilers said the Zodiac had odd speech patterns -- but not a stutter)
To the THS editor who was mean to ??? a ball and an anus;
To the Times mail editor the SS, the mange, and (a Zodiac) ID button,
Thandrana's faces, (referring to Hanuman, the monkey-faced god),
Prieto, a mantic bean. (the bean of the Prieto bush, which has hallucinogenic properties,
and which hence could be used for shamanistic purposes)
Ending.
And there we have it -- a proposed solution to the 340 cipher.
Is it a good solution? There are two ways to think about it.
There was a crooked man, and he walked a crooked mile,
He found a crooked sixpence against a crooked stile;
He bought a crooked cat which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together in a little crooked house.
I think the conclusions I might draw from all this are the following: 1. The Killer was perverse in every aspect of his being; driven to communicate, yet to obfuscate his communicatio 2. The Killer wanted to encrypt, yet to be decrypted, so his insults could be read 3. The Killer wasn't actually a master codesmith, as the ready decryption of the 408 showed 4. The Killer just threw in more garbage lines and, it seems, real words which indicate his learning but communicate little ("swasthya mantra") Do I have a guess as to whom the killer might be? I do (as does everyone else). If this decryption is in the ballpark, The Killer (or at least the author of the 340 and 408) was someone with access to a well-stocked library. I wouldn't say, necessarily, that he knew all about Thelemic religious thought, the 13-month calendar, Vedic religion, and the like; but he had read about those things, possibly just in order to toss that material into his letters in order to throw off detectives. In any event, he had access to obscure books, and that meant either a library or an occult bookstore.
That could, of course, be any suspect; libraries are open to all. But it is hard to imagine, say, Lawrence Kane in a library, poring over books; but Ross Sulllivan worked in a library. Sullivan and Kane both had mental disorders that might lead to the sort of conflicted thinking (must encrypt / must communicate) we see in The Killer; but only Ross is in a library for hours, days on end. I'd bet on Ross.
The reasoning behind this solution
Exactly how this solution was derived
The solution itself, with explanatory material
Resources so you can
recreate this solution
improve on this solution
Absolutely the least interesting and important thing here