WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:08.679 In La, murder often becomes myth. No other place seems 2 00:00:08.679 --> 00:00:12.080 to elevate its killings and killers the way Los Angeles does. 3 00:00:13.119 --> 00:00:17.640 From Manson to Menendez, murders and murderers are often catapulted 4 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:21.239 into the American zeitgeist and find a permanent place in 5 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:25.399 the public conscious. The media baptizes them with monikers that 6 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:30.039 add to the longevity of their horror. The Nightstalker, the 7 00:00:30.120 --> 00:00:35.200 Hillside Stranglers, the grim Sleeper. Perched at the top of 8 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.079 this dark pantheon of murder in the City of Angels 9 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:43.320 since Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia, the 10 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:48.200 girl who was cut cleanly in two her unsolved murder, refuses, 11 00:00:48.359 --> 00:00:52.320 even after almost eighty years, to diminish in the public imagination, 12 00:00:53.200 --> 00:00:56.439 not just for how she was mercilessly tortured with a 13 00:00:56.479 --> 00:00:59.600 clown smile cut into her face, then left naked and 14 00:00:59.640 --> 00:01:02.640 into parts in a trash drewn lot, but for how 15 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.480 she lived. She had come to La, like so many others, 16 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:10.040 with a hope and a dream to find love, to 17 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:14.760 find happiness, to find home. Her end was the end 18 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:22.280 of the Hollywood dream. Over the decades, shorts horrific demise 19 00:01:22.359 --> 00:01:24.920 has sparked the imagination of many in the fields of 20 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:30.000 entertainment and law enforcement, be it fiction or documentary. There 21 00:01:30.000 --> 00:01:33.680 are uncounted versions of the story in book and screen form, 22 00:01:34.079 --> 00:01:37.719 and it's a competitive market, with champions of one suspect 23 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:42.280 tirelessly sniping at those of others. There has also been 24 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:45.879 no shortage of real life suspects brought forth. Calling a 25 00:01:45.920 --> 00:01:49.000 cold case is a bit ironic when so many investigators 26 00:01:49.239 --> 00:01:52.519 di amateur and professional alike have worked the bones of 27 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.159 Elizabeth Short since the day her body was found in 28 00:01:56.239 --> 00:02:01.319 nineteen forty seven. Mitzi Roberts, who ran the Los Angeles 29 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:05.120 Police Department's cold case unit until her retirement last year, 30 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:08.000 says that not a week went by that she didn't 31 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:12.800 feeld inquiries and unsolicited solutions to the mystery of who 32 00:02:12.879 --> 00:02:14.400 killed Elizabeth Short. 33 00:02:15.360 --> 00:02:17.319 It was a hard case to keep because of the 34 00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:22.039 amount of people that would call me on it and 35 00:02:22.840 --> 00:02:25.000 want to have tips or want me to look into 36 00:02:25.080 --> 00:02:28.360 a suspect that they developed, and some of them were 37 00:02:28.599 --> 00:02:33.319 people of importance, I guess, and so the department would 38 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:38.520 pretty much order me to look into these various theories 39 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:44.039 and speak with some of these people. Authors, retired investigators 40 00:02:44.039 --> 00:02:47.319 stuff like that, and it took a considerable amount of 41 00:02:47.360 --> 00:02:49.639 my time. And at the time, this was just like 42 00:02:49.680 --> 00:02:52.960 an ancillary case. It was sort of like a hobby case. 43 00:02:53.800 --> 00:02:56.120 But it ended up taking a considerable amount of my 44 00:02:56.199 --> 00:02:59.560 time just to fill all these different people that came 45 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:04.360 forward with information or wanting to solve the Black Dalua. 46 00:03:05.159 --> 00:03:08.439 I mean, I would get correspondents from people would via 47 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:11.879 email or phone calls every week, for sure. 48 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.199 Every week. None of the theories or suspects helped promise. 49 00:03:16.879 --> 00:03:19.759 Most were rejected by known facts of the case before 50 00:03:19.800 --> 00:03:23.680 the phone call was even over. In Robert's view, the 51 00:03:23.800 --> 00:03:26.439 case would never be solved and there would be no 52 00:03:26.719 --> 00:03:32.319 justice for Elizabeth Short. That is until she met Alex Baber, 53 00:03:33.039 --> 00:03:36.919 a self styled citizen sleuth who carries no badge and 54 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:41.479 no law enforcement training. Now, Roberts, perhaps the top living 55 00:03:41.520 --> 00:03:45.039 expert on the Black Dalua case, says, the murder of 56 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:48.879 Elizabeth Short has been solved. 57 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:52.759 When he presented all of his evidence, and you look 58 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:58.120 at that and it fits so precisely into the case. 59 00:03:58.199 --> 00:04:03.479 It's hard to think that this person is not the 60 00:04:03.560 --> 00:04:07.919 person that was responsible for killing the Black Dallian. I 61 00:04:07.960 --> 00:04:12.800 really believe that he's found the guy. Like he solved 62 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:14.360 the he solved the Black Dahlia. 63 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:19.199 And not only that, but the case was solved almost 64 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.720 by accident when Baber set out to investigate a different 65 00:04:22.800 --> 00:04:32.079 case altogether, the Zodiac Murders of Northern California. I'm Michael 66 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:35.600 Connolly and this is killer in the Code solving the 67 00:04:35.639 --> 00:04:40.519 Black Dahalia and Zodiac cases. Over the next several episodes, 68 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:43.120 we are going to detail how a quick spoken and 69 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.839 self proclaimed crime solving genius convinced some of the greatest 70 00:04:47.879 --> 00:04:51.800 minds in murder and code breaking that he has solved 71 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:58.120 two of the most infamous crimes of the last century. 72 00:05:00.040 --> 00:05:02.560 Dux Favor is fifty years old. He grew up in 73 00:05:02.639 --> 00:05:06.079 rural Florida. He said he learned at an early age 74 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:10.000 that his grandfather was likely a serial killer who went 75 00:05:10.120 --> 00:05:14.399 undetected because he preyed upon migrant workers who registered no 76 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:20.160 standing in society or importance with law enforcement, who backwoods Florida. 77 00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.120 Bab says it was his family's dark secret that set 78 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:28.480 him on a path toward redemption through finding answers for 79 00:05:28.680 --> 00:05:30.120 victims and their families. 80 00:05:30.439 --> 00:05:33.519 I can recall vividly how my mother and her siblings 81 00:05:33.600 --> 00:05:38.079 would often speak quietly a FEMA gatherings discussing details surrounding 82 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:41.199 my grandfather and just crimes from their childhood to instance 83 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:43.879 stand out to me in particular. And what about any 84 00:05:43.959 --> 00:05:46.759 plantation workers or hired hands that work the fields for 85 00:05:46.839 --> 00:05:49.120 my grandfather and been constructed not to speak to my 86 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.800 aunt and make interpropriate comments. Apparently this happened on a 87 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:55.879 few occasions, and the individuals involved did not return to 88 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:59.360 work or were never seen again, so these were always present. 89 00:05:59.519 --> 00:06:02.399 I can remember verse far back is is five years 90 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:05.279 of age hearing the first story, and then over the 91 00:06:05.360 --> 00:06:07.920 years as I grew up, we would get more details 92 00:06:09.240 --> 00:06:12.800 and more insight into the events as I grew older. 93 00:06:14.199 --> 00:06:18.759 Diagnosed at age twelve with autistic disorder, Baber didn't fit 94 00:06:18.839 --> 00:06:21.279 in at school and was bullied and beaten until he 95 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:25.120 dropped out. He later picked up a GED without needing 96 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:27.959 to study for it. By then, he says his IQ 97 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:31.279 had been tested at above one point sixty on both 98 00:06:31.319 --> 00:06:36.800 the Wexler and Stanford Bennet intelligence scales. Baber has a 99 00:06:36.839 --> 00:06:40.000 fast moving mind and no filter when it comes to 100 00:06:40.040 --> 00:06:44.120 believing himself and his efforts. He talked fast and confidently 101 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:48.120 about his skills. His personality can be and often has been, 102 00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:51.639 read the wrong way. The first time I spoke to him, 103 00:06:51.639 --> 00:06:56.199 he introduced himself as an autodidact holymath. That's a fancy 104 00:06:56.240 --> 00:06:58.759 way of saying he was a self taught expert in 105 00:06:58.879 --> 00:07:03.199 many fields. He told me focused on unsolved crimes because 106 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.560 he had the ability to find the hidden beneath the hidden. 107 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:09.800 I have to admit I was put off at first 108 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:12.600 and skeptical about his claims. 109 00:07:13.240 --> 00:07:16.240 My confidence is often mistaken for arrogance, but my focus 110 00:07:16.279 --> 00:07:19.759 has always been on purpose, not an ego. I work fast, 111 00:07:19.800 --> 00:07:23.480 I speak directly because uncovering trees requires both my self 112 00:07:23.519 --> 00:07:27.839 taught background spans numerous disciplines that help reveal what owners 113 00:07:27.959 --> 00:07:31.639 might miss or overlook. It's never about claiming to know everything, 114 00:07:31.800 --> 00:07:35.319 only about finding results where others have stopped looking. I 115 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:36.839 tend to dig a little bit deeper because of my 116 00:07:36.879 --> 00:07:39.800 autistic disorder, and it's hard for me to let go 117 00:07:40.120 --> 00:07:43.680 once I find something that is intriguing or interest to me, 118 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:47.399 and I will dig until I find an answer, one 119 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:48.079 way or another. 120 00:07:50.079 --> 00:07:53.279 There's no shortage to the number of Internet denizens who 121 00:07:53.279 --> 00:07:56.560 have taken the aim at Babe before his blessed during Bravado. 122 00:07:57.399 --> 00:08:00.399 Four years ago, he started a company called Cold Case 123 00:08:00.439 --> 00:08:05.079 Consultants of America. He built a website complete with claims 124 00:08:05.079 --> 00:08:07.920 of crime solving genius and a photo of the founder 125 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.800 wearing leather suspenders that look a lot like a shoulder ulster. 126 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:15.920 When Baber dipped into an unsolved case, famous or not, 127 00:08:16.199 --> 00:08:19.439 he was often viewed as a carpetbagger looking to make 128 00:08:19.560 --> 00:08:23.160 money off of people haunted and desperate for answers in 129 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:28.040 their missing, their murdered loved ones cases. Baber insists his 130 00:08:28.160 --> 00:08:30.800 intentions were misunderstood. 131 00:08:31.560 --> 00:08:34.159 So that I am clear, I nor my company has 132 00:08:34.200 --> 00:08:36.679 ever received a single pinion from a cold case review. 133 00:08:37.159 --> 00:08:40.600 My work has always been conducted independently, without conversation or 134 00:08:40.639 --> 00:08:43.759 financial involvement from any victims family. My goal has never 135 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:47.320 been a profit from the tragedy of others, but rather progress. 136 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:52.000 My company's efforts were financed by financial inheritance and advocate investors. 137 00:08:52.600 --> 00:08:56.320 Not one cent has ever been received from a victim's 138 00:08:56.399 --> 00:08:58.600 family for any case that my agency has worked. 139 00:09:01.639 --> 00:09:04.759 Along the way, Baber ad an idea he would collect 140 00:09:04.840 --> 00:09:08.320 all the known writings of serial killers and mass murderers 141 00:09:08.360 --> 00:09:12.279 into a digital database. Through which comparisons could be made 142 00:09:12.360 --> 00:09:17.399 in terms of word choices and phrasing, misspellings, penmanship, syntax, 143 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:21.200 and even psychological tell He thought it might be a 144 00:09:21.240 --> 00:09:23.559 way of finding the hidden beneath the hidden. 145 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.840 The Frenchic Linguistic database served a valuable purpose for oursentifiing 146 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.240 linguistic and behavioral parallels between previously unrelated cases. Beyond that, 147 00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:34.399 it offered deeper psychological insight into criminal mind or viewing 148 00:09:34.440 --> 00:09:38.120 similar patterns of thought amongst various cases with connective tissue. 149 00:09:38.320 --> 00:09:41.519 So I was able to identify similarities between the wording 150 00:09:41.960 --> 00:09:45.639 and the choice of words between the Black Value Avenger letters, 151 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:48.320 which some people said about crank letters, we now know 152 00:09:48.440 --> 00:09:50.639 that they weren't, as well as the twenty two plus 153 00:09:50.720 --> 00:09:53.679 letters of Zodiac mailed in between nineteen sixty nine and 154 00:09:53.799 --> 00:09:54.840 nineteen seventy four. 155 00:09:56.200 --> 00:09:59.240 Included in his database were the many letters sent to 156 00:09:59.320 --> 00:10:03.200 law enforcement in agencies and newspapers by the self named 157 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:08.919 Zodiac Killer in northern California. The Zodiacs reign of terror 158 00:10:08.960 --> 00:10:12.120 began in December of nineteen sixty eight, when he shot 159 00:10:12.200 --> 00:10:14.840 to death a young man and woman in a lover's 160 00:10:14.919 --> 00:10:19.480 lane in Solano County over the next ten months, the 161 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:23.200 same man attacked two more couples, killing two more women, 162 00:10:23.759 --> 00:10:27.840 and then murdered of San Francisco cab driver. In a 163 00:10:27.919 --> 00:10:31.720 series of messages sent to newspapers and law enforcement agencies, 164 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.399 he took credit for the killings, often beginning with the 165 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:40.879 ominous greeting, this is the Zodiac speaking. The letters threatened 166 00:10:40.879 --> 00:10:44.000 more killings, including a plan to pick off children getting 167 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:47.799 off a school bus, Though the five murders during the 168 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.879 ten months free were the only slayings officially credited to 169 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:56.200 the Zodiac, he claimed that various times in various messages, 170 00:10:56.519 --> 00:11:00.960 to have taken seven, then twelve, then fourteen, then seventeen, 171 00:11:01.320 --> 00:11:04.759 and then finally thirty seven lives, stating that he was 172 00:11:04.799 --> 00:11:12.480 accumulating slaves for the afterlife. In four of the messages, 173 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:16.799 the Zodiac included ciphers composed of letters and hand drawn 174 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:21.080 symbols in a grid pattern. The first one was the longest, 175 00:11:21.120 --> 00:11:23.639 and it was sent in three parts to three different 176 00:11:23.639 --> 00:11:29.559 newspapers for publication. His code was broken quickly and rather easily, 177 00:11:29.639 --> 00:11:32.879 by a high school teacher and his wife. The next 178 00:11:32.919 --> 00:11:36.440 three ciphers were far more difficult and withstood the efforts 179 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:40.639 of would be codebreakers and cryptographers for decades until the 180 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.519 year twenty twenty, when the Z three forty cipher, so 181 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:47.759 named for the number of characters that included in the grid, 182 00:11:48.080 --> 00:11:53.039 was broken by an international team of amateur cryptography enthusiasts. 183 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:59.000 The remaining two ciphers were much shorter and therefore more 184 00:11:59.039 --> 00:12:02.879 difficult to break because they consisted of a limited number 185 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:07.279 of characters, making them harder to crack because fewer characters 186 00:12:07.320 --> 00:12:12.639 meant fewer patterns, reducing the effectiveness of traditional decryption methods. 187 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:20.720 The shortest cipher, the Z thirteen, came after the Zodiac 188 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:25.080 wrote this is the Zodiac speaking. By the way, have 189 00:12:25.200 --> 00:12:29.120 you cracked the last cipher I sent you? My name 190 00:12:29.399 --> 00:12:36.679 is thirteen letters and symbols followed. Some believed that the 191 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.000 Zodiac was goaded into encrypting his name and sending it 192 00:12:40.039 --> 00:12:43.320 to the San Francisco Chronicle because he had been called 193 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.039 out publicly by the president of the American Cryptogram Association. 194 00:12:49.159 --> 00:12:51.960 He said the Zodiac was a rank amateur when it 195 00:12:52.039 --> 00:12:55.480 came to encryption and would never dare put his name 196 00:12:55.519 --> 00:12:56.759 out in a cipher. 197 00:12:57.120 --> 00:13:00.759 Zodiac most certainly felt confident after his three forty cipher 198 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:03.440 made unbroken for six months, despite the best efforts of 199 00:13:03.480 --> 00:13:07.320 topic photography experts across the nation. His ego couldn't allow 200 00:13:07.399 --> 00:13:11.000 law enforcement or the American Cryptogram Association to believe they 201 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:13.919 were smarter than him, so he answered their challenge directly 202 00:13:13.919 --> 00:13:15.159 with the Z thirteam cipher. 203 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:21.600 With the advent of artificial intelligence beginning to infiltrate almost 204 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:26.000 all levels of society, from medical treatment to business applications 205 00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:31.039 to political campaigns, Alex Baber thought, why not law enforcement? 206 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:36.240 Why not code breaking? The Z three to forty cipher 207 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:40.240 had been broken two years earlier by identifying a dual 208 00:13:40.279 --> 00:13:44.840 coding system similar to that used by cryptographers to secure 209 00:13:44.919 --> 00:13:47.840 military messaging during World War Two. 210 00:13:48.519 --> 00:13:51.039 They cracked the Z three forty by applying a layer approach, 211 00:13:51.120 --> 00:13:54.360 first identifying a transposition method inspired by a World War 212 00:13:54.440 --> 00:13:57.679 II coding system, and then applying a substitution layer to 213 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:00.399 reveal the actual letters. By combining these states niques with 214 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:03.840 letter frequency and brute force, they systematically unravel as cipher 215 00:14:03.840 --> 00:14:08.480 to expose the Zodiac hidden message. 216 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.159 With this knowledge, Baber set a site in the Z 217 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:15.799 thirteen cipher, and using an AI program he designed, he 218 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:18.519 amassed a list of first and last names that could 219 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:22.519 fit into the thirteen digit cipher talk about finding a 220 00:14:22.559 --> 00:14:25.960 needle in a haystack. The list was seventy one million 221 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:32.440 names long, as it was originally written in the Zodiac letter, 222 00:14:33.039 --> 00:14:36.440 the cipher was just one line, but the other ciphers 223 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:39.080 authored by the Zodiac were much longer and had been 224 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:43.200 presented in a grid. So Baber broke Z thirteen into 225 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:46.879 a two x seven grid, adding a fourteenth digit to 226 00:14:47.000 --> 00:14:51.120 make the grid even with seven columns of two characters each. 227 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:55.519 This added digit is called a knull in code speak, 228 00:14:55.840 --> 00:14:58.799 and would possibly be the space between a first and 229 00:14:58.919 --> 00:15:05.600 last name. The original cipher also contained three symbols that 230 00:15:05.639 --> 00:15:10.000 were repeated twice and a fourth symbol repeated three times. 231 00:15:10.600 --> 00:15:16.240 This narrated the possibilities considerably, and employing other disqualifiers cut 232 00:15:16.320 --> 00:15:20.080 further into the list of names. Based on nine witness 233 00:15:20.080 --> 00:15:23.360 accounts and the possibility that di Ze three forty cipher 234 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:28.279 was derived from World War II era cryptography methods, bab 235 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:31.519 started looking for a white male who would have been 236 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:34.240 in his late thirties or early forties at the time 237 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:39.320 of the Zodiac attacks. For nine months, he waited for 238 00:15:39.519 --> 00:15:43.440 phone directories from the period, as well as US census data, 239 00:15:43.639 --> 00:15:49.879 voting roles, property records, military archives, birth records, and arrest records, 240 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:53.039 and was finally able to whittle the list of seventy 241 00:15:53.080 --> 00:16:00.960 one million names down to fourteen possibilities. He then had 242 00:16:01.000 --> 00:16:04.679 to put on his private eyeat and through forensic analysis, 243 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:09.159 he went through the final fourteen possibilities and eliminated thirteen 244 00:16:09.279 --> 00:16:14.080 through disqualifying factors such as height, background, and proximity to 245 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:23.639 northern California. That left one name, Marvin Merrill. The name 246 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:27.039 belonged to a man who had several addresses in California 247 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:31.360 in the sixties, seventies, and eighties. He also had a 248 00:16:31.399 --> 00:16:39.159 criminal record. Now, before we continue with Alex Baber's deep 249 00:16:39.240 --> 00:16:42.559 dive into who Marvin Merrill was, I have to say 250 00:16:42.600 --> 00:16:44.840 we will be taking a deep dive into his code 251 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:49.399 breaking methods in the later episode. There is also additional 252 00:16:49.440 --> 00:16:54.720 information on our website Killerinthecode dot com about his investigation. 253 00:16:57.480 --> 00:17:00.919 I happen to know very little about ciphers and cryptography, 254 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:04.440 but breaking the Z thirteen code is the foundation on 255 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:10.599 which this entire investigation stands. I had to independently confirm 256 00:17:10.759 --> 00:17:14.400 or refute Baber's work before I took another step down 257 00:17:14.440 --> 00:17:18.359 the path with him. I went to a code breaking 258 00:17:18.400 --> 00:17:22.000 team headed by Ed Georgio, a legend in the world 259 00:17:22.000 --> 00:17:27.640 of cryptography. Georgio spent thirty years in a national security 260 00:17:27.720 --> 00:17:31.559 agency and to this day is the only man Everett 261 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:36.400 who have served as both NSA's chief codebreaker and code maker. 262 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:41.240 He accepted the challenge from me and analyzed and reworked 263 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:45.480 the steps Faber had taken. It took him three weeks. 264 00:17:46.839 --> 00:17:49.759 Then he had his work and conclusions peer reviewed by 265 00:17:49.799 --> 00:17:54.200 two other top code breakers who formerly worked with the NSA. 266 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.119 This is what Ed Georgio told me. 267 00:17:58.519 --> 00:18:00.440 It was one hell of a piece of work that 268 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:03.440 Alex and his team did. It was quite convincing. 269 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.079 I want to emphasize what an incredibly good job Alex 270 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:10.720 did in he not only had to find a list 271 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.400 of candidates, he had to figure out what the cryptosystem 272 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:14.359 was to begin with. 273 00:18:15.039 --> 00:18:17.319 I asked ed to read from the paper he and 274 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.119 his team were authoring on Alex Baber's investigation. 275 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:25.759 The Baker team has done an outstanding job identifying and 276 00:18:25.880 --> 00:18:29.920 joining two infamous murders, the Black Volume Murder and the 277 00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:33.599 Zodiac Murders. A central element of their work is the 278 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:38.200 proposed decryption of the Zodiac Z thirteen psycho, which the 279 00:18:38.319 --> 00:18:42.720 Zodiac claimed would reveal his name. The Baby team combined 280 00:18:42.799 --> 00:18:48.440 cryptanalytics and traditional investigative methods, first using a define set 281 00:18:48.519 --> 00:18:54.720 of encryption assumptions, obfuscation, permutation, and substitution to reduce the 282 00:18:54.839 --> 00:18:59.519 vast number of possible Z thirteen solutions to a manageable subset, 283 00:19:00.079 --> 00:19:04.319 and then applied forensic reasoner to eliminate all but one candidate, 284 00:19:05.319 --> 00:19:11.559 Marvin Merrill. Our independent validation confirmed the internal consistency of 285 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:13.559 the Baber Team's decryption method. 286 00:19:17.160 --> 00:19:19.680 We'll hear more from Ed Georgio and his team in 287 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:24.519 upcoming episodes. For now, let's go back to Alex Paper's investigation. 288 00:19:26.680 --> 00:19:29.599 Once he had the name Marvin Merrill, Baber started to 289 00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:33.480 background the man he believes he had identified as the Zodiac. 290 00:19:36.359 --> 00:19:38.920 He was able to place him in northern California at 291 00:19:38.920 --> 00:19:42.480 the time of the Zodiac killings. He learned that in 292 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:46.880 nineteen seventy one, Merrill had been charged in Oceanside, California 293 00:19:46.960 --> 00:19:50.480 with five counts of fraud and spent three years on probation, 294 00:19:51.240 --> 00:19:53.799 a period of time that matched with a period of 295 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:59.119 time when the Zodiac had gone silent. He also learned 296 00:19:59.160 --> 00:20:02.839 that Merrill had done to Santa Barbara in nineteen ninety three. 297 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:06.599 He was sixty eight years old at the time. If 298 00:20:06.599 --> 00:20:10.200 he was the Zodiac, then he had gotten away with it. 299 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:17.279 But Baber also encountered a problem. He could find no 300 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:21.559 military property, voting, or census records with Merrill's name on 301 00:20:21.640 --> 00:20:27.400 them before the nineteen sixties. Curious, Baber dubbed deeper. He 302 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:31.559 learned through Social Security Administration records that Merrill had a 303 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:35.640 history of using two different Social Security numbers, neither of 304 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:39.079 which were his. One belonged to a woman who lived 305 00:20:39.119 --> 00:20:43.200 in Chicago. The other belonged to a man named Marvin Margolis, 306 00:20:43.599 --> 00:20:48.119 also out of Chicago. Social Security records stated that Marvin 307 00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:55.759 Merrill was an alias from Marvin Margolis. This was a puzzle. 308 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:00.720 Long before the Zodiac's murders, free Marvin Merrill was involved 309 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:06.039 in identity manipulation. The question was why did Marvin Margois 310 00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:07.640 become Marvin Merrill. 311 00:21:08.359 --> 00:21:10.759 It's one of those Aha moments where you realize that 312 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:14.319 there's something to this guy that needs to be looked 313 00:21:14.359 --> 00:21:18.640 at deeper. Because an individual, first off, doesn't use someone 314 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:23.000 else's security number and doesn't file legal documents under that, 315 00:21:23.160 --> 00:21:26.319 and he surely doesn't use an alias in correlation with it. 316 00:21:26.759 --> 00:21:28.480 There has to be a purpose to that. Either he's 317 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:31.880 running from something, hiding from something, or he's doing something illegal. 318 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:35.079 And at that moment, that was another Aha moment where 319 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.680 I realized I'm on the right road. I need to 320 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:41.799 dig deeper into his past, because this guy went from 321 00:21:41.799 --> 00:21:46.079 being an entity or nobody to me right to actually 322 00:21:46.119 --> 00:21:49.200 being a real world individual to being now a real 323 00:21:49.240 --> 00:21:53.759 world individual who is shady that's doing some ille illegal activities. 324 00:21:54.200 --> 00:21:59.960 So right there tells you there's some criminal element to him. 325 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:05.039 The deep dive continued. Now. Baber was pursuing Marvin Margolis 326 00:22:05.079 --> 00:22:08.440 across time and building a biography of this mystery man. 327 00:22:09.599 --> 00:22:12.920 He learned through military records that Margolis had served as 328 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:16.920 a hospital corpsman attached to a marine battalion that made 329 00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:22.039 the first landing on Okinawa during World War Two. Baber 330 00:22:22.079 --> 00:22:25.240 found a story in the archives of the Chicago newspaper 331 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:29.000 that hailed his return from the war. He posed for 332 00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:31.839 a photo with the rifle he had taken off a 333 00:22:31.920 --> 00:22:36.960 Japanese soldier he said he had killed. After the war, 334 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:40.000 Margolis was mustered out of the Navy in his hometown 335 00:22:40.039 --> 00:22:44.519 of Chicago, but soon turned up in California. In nineteen 336 00:22:44.599 --> 00:22:48.240 forty six, he was living in Hollywood and taking pre 337 00:22:48.359 --> 00:22:53.759 med classes at the University of Southern California, and then 338 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:59.279 Baber made a startling discovery. Margolis's name was in the 339 00:22:59.400 --> 00:23:04.119 nineteen fifty one grand jury report on the unsolved murder 340 00:23:04.559 --> 00:23:09.119 of Elizabeth Short. The report said that Margois had been 341 00:23:09.160 --> 00:23:12.480 one of the prime suspects in the killing of the 342 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:13.400 Black Dahlia. 343 00:23:14.839 --> 00:23:17.319 At that moment, I had another aha moment, like, holy shit, 344 00:23:17.400 --> 00:23:19.519 this guy that was Merril, that was Margolis, that used 345 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:22.000 a security number, is now the same individual. And the 346 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:24.480 reason I knew it was the same identical individual Michaels 347 00:23:24.519 --> 00:23:26.759 because in the records they use this date of birth 348 00:23:27.160 --> 00:23:29.880 in his hometown, which you've read in his military report. 349 00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:35.839 So I knew, same birthday, same name, same on town. 350 00:23:36.400 --> 00:23:37.319 We had the right guy. 351 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.160 How crazy is that? 352 00:23:43.000 --> 00:23:45.799 In nineteen forty nine, the two year old Black Dahia 353 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:49.160 case was still big news in Los Angeles, and despite 354 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:53.039 a massive effort to identify a suspect and make an arrest, 355 00:23:53.480 --> 00:23:57.039 the LAPD had come up empty. A grand jury was 356 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.799 impaneled and for two years her testimony from witnesses, including 357 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:06.440 the lead investigators on the case. They provided the grand 358 00:24:06.519 --> 00:24:09.519 jury with a list of twenty one possible suspects in 359 00:24:09.599 --> 00:24:13.200 the murder of Elizabeth Short. The list was in no 360 00:24:13.319 --> 00:24:18.680 particular order of importance. Number eleven on it was Marvin Margolis. 361 00:24:20.079 --> 00:24:23.960 According to the grand jury reports, what brought Margolis to 362 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:27.039 the attention of the investigator was that he and Elizabeth 363 00:24:27.079 --> 00:24:30.920 Short had shared an apartment in Hollywood for twelve days 364 00:24:30.920 --> 00:24:37.240 in October, just three months before our murder. He was 365 00:24:37.279 --> 00:24:40.480 interviewed twice by detectives in the weeks after the murder. 366 00:24:40.920 --> 00:24:45.160 The detectives reported that he was deceitful both times, including 367 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.640 initially lying about knowing Elizabeth Short and denying that the 368 00:24:49.720 --> 00:24:54.000 two had lived together briefly. He provided an alibi for 369 00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:57.240 the time of Short's murder, and his wife, who he 370 00:24:57.279 --> 00:25:01.079 had married a month after sharing the apartment, backed him 371 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:05.319 up on it. Investigators were not convinced by Margolis or 372 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:09.920 his wife. It had been the view of the detectives 373 00:25:09.920 --> 00:25:12.599 on the case that someone with a near surgical skill 374 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:19.119 had performed the bisection of Elizabeth Schwort's body. They learned 375 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.039 that Margois had taken part in the dissection of a 376 00:25:22.119 --> 00:25:26.640 human body at the USC Medical School three months before 377 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:33.160 the murder, and they learned that Margolis's wartime experiences had 378 00:25:33.200 --> 00:25:39.440 a profoundly negative impact on him psychologically. According to the 379 00:25:39.440 --> 00:25:44.640 grand jury reports, investigators uncovered of psychological report on Margolis 380 00:25:44.759 --> 00:25:47.960 that was written in support of a fifty percent disability 381 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:52.680 being granted Margolis for battlefield neurosis that grew from his 382 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:59.359 experiences on Okinawa. This is from the report that was 383 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:04.640 dated for four months before Elizabeth Schwort's murder. In Okinawa, 384 00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:08.400 Margolis was under bombing and strafing for twenty nine days. 385 00:26:08.920 --> 00:26:12.119 He was then ordered to set up a hospital there. 386 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:16.279 He worked long hours with little sleep, under frequent air raids, 387 00:26:16.519 --> 00:26:21.559 saw many bodies in mangled shape. He cared for two 388 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:25.640 companies where there were many casualties. His setup was in 389 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:29.359 a small cave. A rain caused the sides to cave in. 390 00:26:29.839 --> 00:26:32.839 He was buried all but his head, which was held 391 00:26:32.920 --> 00:26:37.599 tight like a vice. The next morning he dug out. 392 00:26:38.640 --> 00:26:44.880 He became amnesic, emotional, with depression and instability. The psychiatric 393 00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:50.000 diagnosis is as follows. The subject is calm, quiet and 394 00:26:50.079 --> 00:26:55.119 a resentful individual who shows ample evidence of open aggression 395 00:26:55.799 --> 00:26:59.200 at present. This man shows a lack of interests, aims, 396 00:26:59.200 --> 00:27:04.319 and ability to concentrate. Margos is sullen. His personality is 397 00:27:04.359 --> 00:27:09.480 not pleasing, apathetic, inclined to sarcasm. He said that the 398 00:27:09.559 --> 00:27:12.400 next time there is a war, two of us are 399 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:17.119 not going, the one who comes after me and myself. 400 00:27:19.279 --> 00:27:24.119 So this individual was obviously troubled by his wartime on 401 00:27:24.279 --> 00:27:26.960