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Hello and welcome back to Cult Leader. For you new creeps, Cult Leader is a podcast about this boogie things.

Hello to all of my cult listeners. I'm your cult leader, Spencer Henry, and you know what's important in cults?

Dressing alike. And now we can visit cult leader.com slash merch or check out Cult Leader on Instagram at Cult Leader Podcast or me on Instagram at Spencer Henry for more info.

Okay, so before we get into the craziness of all that is the zodiac killer, can we talk about the fact that this is the 21st episode?

That means Cult Leader is a legal bitch. She's ready to party. Let's get to it. We're gonna cover everything. Don't worry. I want to talk this all out before I give my two cents.

Basically what happened with tonight's episode is I generally try and stay away from unsolved mysteries or murders or whatever on the show just because I feel like I love a resolution.

But tonight's gonna be a little different. You're gonna have to pay attention. There is no strong ending to this one because there was no resolution.

So let's get to it. America is probably one of our biggest unsolved mysteries ever. The zodiac killer.

Alright, so let's talk about first what prompted this whole chaotic state. So this is what happens. On August 1st, 1969, a few different news outlets in the Bay Area received anonymous letters. One was the Vallejo Times Herald.

Another one was the San Francisco Chronicle and then the San Francisco Examiner as well. So each of them contain a letter that has one third of a cryptogram in it which is made up of 408 symbols.

And so they get these letters. It has all this weird symbols on it. A cryptogram is basically just a bunch of different codes that are written out that you're supposed to just somehow figure out how to decipher.

And whoever sent these letters in addition to the symbols and everything, they were like, I want you to post this on the front page of your papers. And so of course they're like, well, like, why would they just do that?

Oh, here's a puzzle. Let's put it on your paper. Well, according to whoever sent these letters, he was like, I'm responsible for the two recent killings that happened in the area.

And if you don't put these on the front of your paper, I'm a kill again. So a second letter arrives at the San Francisco Chronicle six days later on August 7th of 1969. And this time the sender included information on the murders that had not yet been made available to the public.

So this basically solidified, I think this guy really is who he says he is. I think he really did commit these murders. And so they put it the cryptogram, whatever puzzle on the front of their paper.

And a day later on August 8th, 1969, a couple from Salinas, California, Donald and Betty Hardin were able to actually decipher the cryptogram that was on the cover of the paper.

And they sent in their response. And like her, she's probably like a fucking crossword queen. And she's just like, oh yeah, another puzzle. I'll do it. Little did she know she's like helping like try and solve one of the fucking most notorious murderers ever.

So basically the letter said, I like killing people. It is so much more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal evolved to kill.

Something gives me the most thrilling experience. And it's even better than getting your rocks off with a girl. Can't relate.

The best part of it is that when I die, I will be reborn in paradise. Sounds good. And those that I have killed will become my slaves. I will not give you my name because if I do, you're going to try and slow me down and stop my collection of slaves for my afterlife.

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