FBI asks public for help breaking encrypted notes tied to 1999 murder

[Lalelalala]

[QUOTE=Mr.T;28893874]Could MIL mean Million? Just a wild guess but meh.[/QUOTE]

It wasn't an M, he doesn't write M in uppercase. HIL or perhaps HPL

[VistaPOWA]

This thread is going to make Facepunch famous if we break the code, I'm calling it.

[Vietnow]

Meh, tried the easiest method of substitution:

Count how many times each letter appears in cipher text - Convert to percentages
Compare those with the average occurrence of letters in the English language (eg. E ~ 11.1% -- A ~8.6%)

Then use that to translate the letters of the cipher into English by matching up the most common and least common characters.

Got nowhere.

The letter E in the cipher text = ~15% so I questioned whether that could be equivalent to a space, but still seems to make no sense, due to all the repeated groupings of characters...

[vexxrz]

Are there any letters of the alfabet not being used? Don't know if it matters, but you never know..

[Prez]

[QUOTE=vexxrz;28894869]Are there any letters of the alfabet not being used? Don't know if it matters, but you never know..[/QUOTE]

I believe J, V, and Z aren't found in it.

[- Livewire -]

You're getting basically nowhere, but you guys are still disturbingly good at this.

[Vietnow]

[img]http://gyazo.com/cb8452a5183b92cee5d36bd360b16367.png[/img]

J here

No Z
Hard to distinguish between U and V in some cases, due to rushed handwriting

[editline]30th March 2011[/editline]

[img]http://gyazo.com/210e9ce1867452c4d56598998aae1f91.png[/img]

V's?

[gregvizz]

first one is V the 2 last ones are Us
Follow his hand

[editline]30th March 2011[/editline]

watch the curve

[Wnd]

[QUOTE=Mr.T;28893874]Could MIL mean Million? Just a wild guess but meh.[/QUOTE]

I think it is
DAY-WEEK-MONTH-YEAR-MILLENIUM

[Vietnow]

The strange thing is he puts tails on some of the U's and leaves them off on others... Unusual to change your handwriting like that.

[jaykray]

I'm sure I can see the words "unexpected" and "instructions"

[veribigbos1]

[QUOTE=Vietnow;28895253]The strange thing is he puts tails on some of the U's and leaves them off on others... Unusual to change your handwriting like that.[/QUOTE]
Might be lowercase Ns

[Beetle179]

I don't think "P1" means page one. Why would you label one page but not the other?

I tried the theory someone posted a few pages back (of numbering the alphabet starting with p = 1, then q = 2, r = 3, etc.), but got XYOX for the first 4 letters. So I don't think that's too likely.

Also, how many total letters/numbers are used in the note? If it's a square number, it may be possible to arrange it in a square, which might turn something up.

a|b|c|d|e|f|g|h|i|j|k|l|m|
n|o|p|q|r|s|t|u|v|w|x|y|z|

Has anybody tried replacing every letter with its opposite (table above)?

[SleeperCell]

PP = ss
r = e
71/74/75 = julian date
There is no solve to this. These are 4 letter words of his own device that he used (i.e a type of short hand)

[Vietnow]

[QUOTE=Beetle179;28895674]
I tried the theory someone posted a few pages back (of numbering the alphabet starting with p = 1, then q = 2, r = 3, etc.), but got XYOX for the first 4 letters. So I don't think that's too likely.
[/QUOTE]

Doesn't work. Just scrambles it again.

[QUOTE=Beetle179;28895674]
Also, how many total letters/numbers are used in the note? If it's a square number, it may be possible to arrange it in a square, which might turn something up.
[/QUOTE]
Too impractical... Note was probably rushed and using an exact amount of characters and working out the square pattern in your head would be too difficult.

[QUOTE=Beetle179;28895674]
Has anybody tried replacing every letter with its opposite (table above)?
[/QUOTE]

Nothing useful, and too simple. The repeated letter sets seem to point away from simple substitution.

[Catherine]

I agree that there is some type if short hand. I've only seen one or possibly two lower case t's in both documents. In short hand, that could represent a th. ERtE could potentially have a th in it.

[QUOTE=SleeperCell;28895733]PP = ss
r = e
71/74/75 = julian date
There is no solve to this. These are 4 letter words of his own device that he used (i.e a type of short hand)[/QUOTE]

[blazingfly]

"McCormick, btw, had a modest education (never finished high school), [b]had no background in mathematics or logic, and as far as I know, wasn’t intellectually gifted[/b]. The code is most likely something very personal. The FBI is hoping that deciphering the notes gives them an idea of McCormick’s whereabouts and activities [b]during the days immediately prior to his death[/b]."

I bet we spend our lives deciphering it, and in the end, it's actually a shopping list.

[EcksDee]

[QUOTE=blazingfly;28895987]"McCormick, btw, had a modest education (never finished high school), [b]had no background in mathematics or logic, and as far as I know, wasn’t intellectually gifted[/b]. The code is most likely something very personal. The FBI is hoping that deciphering the notes gives them an idea of McCormick’s whereabouts and activities [b]during the days immediately prior to his death[/b]."

I bet we spend our lives deciphering it, and in the end, it's actually a shopping list.[/QUOTE]

People totally write encoded shopping lists every day right

[fippe]

[QUOTE=Mr.T;28893874]Could MIL mean Million? Just a wild guess but meh.[/QUOTE]
It very well could, considering that the note is from 1999. The change of millenium (millenia?) was pretty big deal around then.

[SleeperCell]

Also - this letter has likily nothing to do with McCormicks murder. If I was gonna be murdered or even thought i was why in the world would I make it encrypted? now you could say "Maybe the killer was close to him" A) this is not a movie! B) why write anything at all?

All these 4 lettered phrases are HIS language. One of the first things in decyphering is to know what language the code is written in. He is using the english alphabet so it's pretty easy to figure his language. He was not overly educated, so don't over think it. In my eyes if he was writing this in McCormick language it was more likily a not based on a algorythem that we are likily to figure out.

FFS the FBI has been sitting on this for 11/12 years!

Anyone local to that area would have the best chances to crack the short hands / mccormick's lingo - they can SEE what he SAW - I'd bet my bottom dollar that the locals would have the best chances of cracking this!

2 cents only wait till I duck to cast stones

NCB Expressway ? locals got inputs?

[Beetle179]

[QUOTE=SleeperCell;28896084][B]Also - this letter has likily nothing to do with McCormicks murder. If I was gonna be murdered or even thought i was why in the world would I make it encrypted? now you could say "Maybe the killer was close to him" A) this is not a movie! B) why write anything at all? [/B]

All these 4 lettered phrases are HIS language. One of the first things in decyphering is to know what language the code is written in. He is using the english alphabet so it's pretty easy to figure his language. He was not overly educated, so don't over think it. In my eyes if he was writing this in McCormick language it was more likily a not based on a algorythem that we are likily to figure out.

FFS the FBI has been sitting on this for 11/12 years!

Anyone local to that area would have the best chances to crack the short hands / mccormick's lingo - they can SEE what he SAW - I'd bet my bottom dollar that the locals would have the best chances of cracking this!

2 cents only wait till I duck to cast stones

NCB Expressway ? locals got inputs?[/QUOTE]

If the murderer saw a note saying "it was [murderer]", they would get rid of it. Why they wouldn't get rid of an encrypted note is beyond me, but it's certainly more plausible.

NSENP is repeated twice in the second line of the "P1" page

[SleeperCell]

[QUOTE=Beetle179;28896232]If the murderer saw a note saying "it was [murderer]", they would get rid of it. Why they wouldn't get rid of an encrypted note is beyond me, but it's certainly more plausible.[/QUOTE]

Plausible yes but improbable. Even the FBI is eluding hat this is hardly related to his murder - But they need a primer to crack the other notes that they are not talking about or releasing! (total assumption!)

[Capt Fancypants]

On P1, Below p1 im interperting (PALSM) as Psalms could this maybe biblical in nature as far as cypher?

[gregvizz]

RCBRNS you can see this word about 4-5 times in this text

[AlphaAGENT]

Watch someone decode this in a few days when it takes the FBI 12 years and they still cant do it

makes you think, doesn't it?

[Capt Fancypants]

[QUOTE=raBBish;28893130]I don't know if anyone's been following Something Awful's discussion on this, but they've found an interesting idea. Some think that it's not a cipher, but a shorthand writing system of some kind.

It's still a total crapshoot, the above was the result of couple people wondering how the two first looked like "first person" and "second person", someone else wondered how "ncbe" might be some kind of measurement.[/QUOTE]

NCBE appears more then just behind those numbers.

[koeniginator]

snip
late as fuck

[gregvizz]

wldncbe also appears 6 times

[editline]30th March 2011[/editline]

Let's make a list FP

[editline]30th March 2011[/editline]

[QUOTE=StephWAII;28889488]I've been up workin' on this thing too... I'd have to disagree though, with a post 2 hours ago. I don't believe it's a 'Q', I believe it's an 'R'. This is what I've read it as, after a quick read through:

(MADMKNEARSE-N-S-p9-kNARE) (ALSM)

OTFRNENPKNSENPBSERCBRNSENPRSEINC
PRSENMRSE0PREHLDWLDNCBE(TFXLFTCXLNCBE)
AL-PRPPITXLYPPIYNCBEMGKSEWCORCBRNSGPRSE
WLDRCBRNSGNTSGNENTXSE-CRSLE-CITRSEWLDNCBE
ALW?NCBETSMELRSERLSEURGLSNEASNWLDNCBE
(NOPFSENLSRENCBE)NTEGDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
(TENETFRNENCBRTSENCBEING)
(FLRSEPRSEONDE71NCBE)
(CDNSEPRSEONSDE74NCBE)
(PR+SEPRSEONREDE75NCBE)
(TFN?CMSPSOLEMRDELUSETOTEWLDNWLDNCBE)
(194WLD'SNCBE)(TRFXL)
ALPNTEGLSE-SE ER+E
YLSEMTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
PNRTRSEONPRSEWLDNCBE
NWLDXLRCMSPNEWLDSTSMEXL
DULMT6TUNSENCBEXC

(MUNSA1STENMUNARSE)
KLSE-LKSTE-TRSE-TRSE-MKSEN-MRSE
(SAE?NSESENMRSE)

NMNRCBRNSEP+E2PTEWSRCBR?SE
36MLSE74SPRKSE29KCNOSOLE?73R+RSE
356LECLGSEUUNUTXEDKRSEPSESHLE
651MTLSEHTLSENCUTCTRSNMRE
99.84.52UNEPLSENCRSEAOLTSENSRSENRSE
NSREONSEPUTSEWCDNCBE(SXORL)

NMSENRSE1N2NTRLERCBRNSENTSRCRSNE
LSPNSENGSPSEMKSERBSENCBEAUXLR
H?C?ENMRENCBE 1/2MUNPPLSC

D-W-M-4M1L XDRLX[/QUOTE]

fixed some mistakes
(MADMKNEARSE-N-S-p9-kNARE) (ALSM)

OTFRNENPKNSENPBSERCBRNSENPRSEINC
PRSENMRSE0PREHLDWLDNCBE(TFXLFTCXLNCBE)
AL-PRPPITXLYPPIYNCBEMGKSEWLDRCBRNSEPRSE
WLDRCBRNSENTSGNENTXSE-CRSLE-CITRSEWLDNCBE
ALW?NCBETSMELRSERLSEURGLSNEASNWLDNCBE
(NOPFSENLSRENCBE)NTEGDDMNSENCURERCBRNE
(TENETFRNENCBRTSENCBEING)
(FLRSEPRSEONDE71NCBE)
(CDNSEPRSEONSDE74NCBE)
(PR+SEPRSEONREDE75NCBE)
(TFN?CMSPSOLEMRDELUSETOTEWLDNWLDNCBE)
(194WLD'SNCBE)(TRFXL)
ALPNTEGLSE-SE ER+E
YLSEMTSE-CTSE-WSE-FRTSE
PNRTRSEONPRSEWLDNCBE
NWLDXLRCMSPNEWLDSTSMEXL
DULMT6TUNSENCBEXC

(MUNSA1STENMUNARSE)
KLSE-LKSTE-TRSE-TRSE-MKSEN-MRSE
(SAE?NSESENMRSE)

NMNRCBRNSEP+E2PTEWSRCBRNSE
36MLSE74SPRKSE29KCNOSOLE?73R+RSE
356LECLGSEUUNUTXEDKRSEPSESHLE
651MTLSEHTLSENCUTCTRSNMRE
99.84.52UNEPLSENCRSEAOLTSENSRSENRSE
NSREONSEPUTSEWLDNCBE(SXORL)

NMSENRSE1N2NTRLERCBRNSENTSRCRSNE
LSPNSENGSPSEMKSERBSENCBEAUXLR
H?C?ENMRENCBE 1/2MUNPPLSC

D-W-M-4M1L XDRLX

[Zero Ziat]

if this is amateur sleuthing then what is expert sleuthing...? :derp:

[Beetle179]

[QUOTE=gregvizz;28896641](PR+SEPRSEONREDE75NCBE)[/QUOTE]

Pretty sure that + is actually a lower case T.