Handwritten Real-World Cryptogram?
February 11, 2006 4:44 AM Subscribe
Linda Rayburn and her son Michael Berry were brutally murdered by her husband, David Rayburn, on February 3rd, 2004. Rayburn then hanged himself in the basement of their home, leaving behind a handwritten cryptogram.
This article summary from around the time of the killings mentions a suicide note, but it's clear it wasn't encrypted. It's possible this cryptogram was found in the home, but I haven't found any news articles mentioning it.
posted by justkevin at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2006
posted by justkevin at 6:31 AM on February 11, 2006
B-E-S-U-R-E-T-O-D-R-I-N-K-Y-O-U-R-O-V-A-L-Theywaitaminute!
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on February 11, 2006
posted by mkultra at 9:38 AM on February 11, 2006
Killing your wife and stepson with a hammer before hanging yourself is definitely a proof that you are mentally sound. Therefore this cryptogram must have a meaning. Surely.
posted by surrendering monkey at 4:37 PM on February 11, 2006
posted by surrendering monkey at 4:37 PM on February 11, 2006
I'm an amateur at this stuff, but the arrangement definitely suggests that this isn't a cryptogram at all. It looks more like personal notes. Think a mathematician idly jotting down numbers as he thinks - his ledger isn't going to be a magical new theorem with references and logical progression. It isn't even going to be comprehensible. It only means something if you already have the context under which it was written.
As for the context? He's crazy.
posted by Simon! at 5:14 PM on February 11, 2006
As for the context? He's crazy.
posted by Simon! at 5:14 PM on February 11, 2006
It's a list of passwords. The lines are there to make the case of the letters unambiguous.
posted by teppic at 6:29 PM on February 11, 2006
posted by teppic at 6:29 PM on February 11, 2006
teppic!
posted by sonofsamiam at 6:40 PM on February 11, 2006
posted by sonofsamiam at 6:40 PM on February 11, 2006
teppic for the win.
posted by quite unimportant at 7:28 PM on February 11, 2006
posted by quite unimportant at 7:28 PM on February 11, 2006
It looks like he was playing hangman.
posted by dodgygeezer at 3:39 AM on February 12, 2006
posted by dodgygeezer at 3:39 AM on February 12, 2006
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If it means anything, it's almost certainly not a standand newspaper-style crytogram. The letter distribution doesn't match up to the English alphabet at all. And anything more complicated than that is beyond my meager puzzling skills.
posted by scottreynen at 6:05 AM on February 11, 2006