Joe Snodgrass wrote:
FBI cryptanalysis hasn’t decrypted notes from 1999 murder mystery http://tinyurl.com/4d56zsz The FBI is seeking the public's help in breaking the encrypted code found in two notes discovered on the body of a murdered man in 1999. The FBI says that officers in St. Louis, Missouri discovered the body of 41-year-old Ricky McCormick on June 30, 1999 in a field and the clues regarding the homicide were two encrypted notes found in the victim's pants pockets. The FBI says that despite extensive work by its Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit (CRRU), and the American Cryptogram Association, the meanings of those two coded notes remain a mystery and McCormick's murderer has never been found. One has to wonder though, if the FBI can't figure this out, who can? But I digress. From the FBI: "The more than 30 lines of coded material use a maddening variety of letters, numbers, dashes, and parentheses. McCormick was a high school dropout, but he was able to read and write and was said to be 'street smart.' According to members of his family, McCormick had used such encrypted notes since he was a boy, but apparently no one in his family knows how to decipher the codes, and it's unknown whether anyone besides McCormick could translate his secret language. Investigators believe the notes in McCormick's pockets were written up to three days before his death." "Standard routes of cryptanalysis seem to have hit brick walls," said CRRU chief Dan Olson in a statement. To move the case forward, examiners need another sample of McCormick's coded system-or a similar one-that might offer context to the mystery notes or allow valuable comparisons to be made. Or, short of new evidence, Olson said, "Maybe someone with a fresh set of eyes might come up with a brilliant new idea." The FBI says it has always relied on public tips and other assistance to solve crimes though breaking a code may represent a special circumstance.
[...] There are two JPG images (note1.jpg and note2.jpg) at the web page: < http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/march > . As they say there: " View larger versions (right click and save the files to enlarge further)." i.e. : Right click on first image and "Save image as ..." using the browser, "" "" on second image and "Save image as ..." using the browser. I used the GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) to enlarge and otherwise manipulate the images. But each is only about 50 to 80 kilobytes ... -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
