Criminals have concocted cryptic codes to taunt the long arm of the law from the bootlegging days of Prohibition to the Chicago Lipstick Murders and the notorious Zodiac killer case that inspired a movie starring Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo.

Join SPYSCAPE as we investigate some of the most mind-boggling crimes in history from the strange saga of Henry Debosnys - part madman, part genius - to the FBI's vault of ice-cold cases, where ciphers just might unlock history's most audacious crimes. Here are some of our favorites.

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D.B. Cooper, 1971 skyjacker 

When Dan Cooper paid cash for a one-way ticket from Portland to Seattle in 1971 he triggered one of the greatest unsolved mysteries in FBI history. On board Flight 305, Cooper handed a stewardess a note saying he had a bomb and wanted four parachutes and $200,000.

During a quick stopover, Cooper collected the cash and freed most of his hostages. When the plane resumed flying, Cooper parachuted out of the back of the plane with the cash - the only lingering memory of him was the ransom note embedded with a code that was seemingly impossible to break. With no new leads, the FBI suspended the active investigation in 2016 but that didn’t stop amateur sleuths. Codebreakers now claim to have cracked the skyjacker’s code but the FBI isn't budging and the main suspect denies everything.

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JonBenét Ramsey, 1996‍

The mysterious case of child beauty queen JonBenét Ramsey still transfixes TV audiences and baffles Colorado police. Ramsey was six when she was strangled at home one evening. A lengthy, handwritten ransom note (written on Ramsey family stationery) was left on a staircase demanding $118,000. Was the precise figure referring to Psalm 118? Did the note really echo dialogue from Ruthless People, Ransom, Escape from New York, Speed, and Dirty Harry? Most curious of all was the letter’s sign-off: ‘Victory! S.B.T.C’ No one is certain what S.B.T.C. means, although theories range from references to quantum structures to a Christian acronym ‘Saved By The Cross’ and the Philippines’ Subic Bay Training Center.

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Henry Debosnys, Westport, New York state, 1880s

Henry Debosnys is often described as a madman, genius, murderer, and all three at once. His newlywed wife was found dead in the woods near Westport two months after their marriage, garroted across her neck. Debosnys pleaded not guilty but was seen leaving the crime scene and hiding from the main roads. It took only nine minutes to convict him. In prison, still declaring his innocence, Debosnys created puzzling codes that still have not been deciphered today - codes that are considered far more sophisticated than many others used by criminals. In any event, it transpired that Debosnys had left behind a trail of dead wives - three to be exact - and he was hanged on April 27, 1883. His true identity has never been determined. 

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The FBI case of Ricky McCormick, 1999

“We are really good at what we do,” Dan Olson, chief of the FBI Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU) said in a 2011 appeal, “but we could use some help with this one.” The case in question involved Ricky McCormick, 41, whose body was found in a Missouri cornfield in 1999. The Bureau had two intriguing clues: they’d found a pair of coded messages scrawled on crumpled scraps of paper in McCormick’s trouser pocket. Despite their decades of experience, the FBI still haven't been able to decipher the codes - nor has anyone else.

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Elizabeth Short, the Black Dahlia, 1947

Two bizarre murders rocked the US in the 1940s. They occurred thousands of miles apart yet may be linked. In the first case, Elizabeth Short was murdered in Los Angeles in 1947 in an FBI case known as the Black Dahlia. A postal worker later found a suspicious envelope addressed to The Los Angeles Examiner with a note - words cut-and-pasted from news clippings - and a message on the envelope reading: 'Here is Dahlia's belongings letter to follow.' Short’s birth certificate and other documents were inside. Months later, an apparent suicide note mentioning the murder was found on a bit of paper tucked in a shoe in a pile of men's clothing by the ocean's edge. There were also more letters to the Examiner, one saying: ‘Here it is. Turning in Wed., Jan. 29, 10 am. Had my fun at police. Black Dahlia Avenger.’ Was it a prank? A code? A confession? No one turned themselves in to the police…
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The Chicago Lipstick Murders, 1940s

Los Angeles Police Department Captain Donahoe said publicly that he believed the Black Dahlia and three of the ‘Chicago Lipstick Murders’ were likely connected yet the Illinois cases are also shrouded in mystery. In at least one of the Chicago cases, chief suspect William Heirens ‘confessed’, retracted his confession, and was controversially convicted in 1946. 

The most notorious evidence involved a message scrawled in lipstick at the home of Frances Brown, one of the murder victims: “For heavens sake catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself.”

At least, that is what the killer reportedly wrote. The note did not match Heirens’ writing. There were questions about who actually scrawled the lipstick message and when. A book by Loren L Swearingen later claimed the message was actually an encrypted code. Despite the uncertainty, Heirens served 65 years, one of America’s longest-ever prison terms. 
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Australia’s Somerton Man, 1948‍

‘Somerton Man’ was found on a beach south of Melbourne in a 1948 case that has baffled authorities and amateur sleuths ever since - so much so, his likeness was recreated in a 2020 animation (above) by Star Trek special effects artist. Somerton Man is thought to have been about 40 when he was found propped up against a sea wall, dressed in a suit with the tags cut off. Somerton Man’s suitcase was later discovered at a train station. Deep in the fob pocket of his trousers, a mysterious scrap of paper said Tamám shud, Persian for 'It is ended'. A coded note was also found on a page that may have been ripped from a book. Was he a spy? A jilted lover? A poet? No one knows. For 75 years he’s been known only as Somerton Man.

Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel Murders, London, late 1800s

Eleven people were murdered in east London between 1888 and 1891 - five of them often attributed to a killer known as ‘Jack the Ripper’. While researchers say DNA evidence points to Aaron Kosminski, 23, a Polish barber living in London, critics point out that the shawl used for the DNA test may have been contaminated. The cryptic graffiti written on a wall during the Whitechapel murder investigation is equally mysterious. It has been transcribed as variations on: The Juwes are the men that will not be blamed for nothing. A zealous Police Superintendent, Thomas Arnold, ordered the graffiti to be removed fearing it could lead to a riot. As a result, the exact words - and their meaning - are still under debate more than a century later. 

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Norway’s Ice Valley mystery, 1970

‘Isdal woman’ case is one of Norway’s most enduring mysteries. A woman’s burned body was found in the remote Ice Valley in 1970. Nearby lay her clothing with the labels ripped out. Her two suitcases were packed with wigs, maps, timetables, and British, Swiss, Belgian, and Norwegian currency. Police interviewed Hotel Hordaheimen staff and found coded notepads that revealed dates and locations, allowing police to determine she used eight fake passports. Authorities ruled the death as a suicide from a sleeping pill overdose. The victim, known only by the placeholder name Isdal woman, has never been identified.

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The SS Ourang Medan Dutch Ship, near Indonesia, 1940s

The tale of the SS Ourang Medan ghost ship has been handed down over the generations but no one has definitively ruled it a hoax - at least, not yet. The Ourang Medan was reportedly shipwrecked in the ‘40s in the Straits of Malacca. Distress calls were sent to boats in Indonesia saying: “All officers including captain dead, lying in chartroom and on bridge, probably whole crew dead.” A series of unintelligible Morse codes followed, ending chillingly with: “I die.” An American vessel, the Silver Star, is said to have responded to the distress call and found the deceased crew lying on their backs with their mouths twisted open in horror. Before the Silver Star could be towed, a fire apparently started in the bowels and the ship exploded.

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Zodiac killer, California, 1960s

You’re probably aware of the Zodiac killer but the mysterious episode is worth repeating. In the 1960s, a serial murderer known only as the Zodiac Killer operated in Northern California and apparently sent coded messages to journalists bragging about his crimes. Police attempted to decipher the codes, without success, leaving the killer free to roam. Decades later, French engineer Fayçal Ziraoui claimed to have cracked the last two ciphers which puzzled police for more than 50 years. While not everyone is convinced, that doesn’t mean Ziraoui is wrong. Ziraoui also claims to know the killer’s name and sent his findings to the FBI and San Francisco Police Department. Neither has commented, citing the ongoing investigation.