# Has anyone ever ACTUALLY deliberately left clues for police? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354 "2010-03-22T16:43:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/1 "2010-03-22T16:43:19Z")
I’m thinking of the TV / movie meme of a criminal who leaves puzzles and anagrams and such specifically trying to help the cops track them down. Secret codes that, once decoded, would basically just lead to them being captured? Seems to happen in cop movies all the time, I just wonder how many Riddler Copycats are out there. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/2 "2010-03-22T16:51:52Z")
The [Zodiac killer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zodiac_killer) is one of the more famous examples. He sent ciphers to newspapers in the area, but rather than intended to help police track him down, they seemed more intended to taunt the police. I think in such cases, the letters sent by the killers can be used to track them down, but I don’t think they intend to be caught. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/3 "2010-03-22T16:53:29Z")
[The BTK Killer.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rader) ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/4 "2010-03-22T17:02:01Z")
I think that the BTK Killer, like the Zodiac killer, intended the letters to taunt the police rather than “specifically trying to help the cops track them down” as the OP suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/5 "2010-03-22T17:04:22Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think that the BTK Killer, like the Zodiac killer, intended the letters to taunt the police rather than “specifically trying to help the cops track them down” as the OP suggests. I suppose you are right, but then what is the Zodiac killer one of the more famous examples of? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/6 "2010-03-22T17:13:03Z")
A killer who sent puzzles to the police, just not one who sent them intending to be caught. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/7 "2010-03-22T17:14:03Z")
DC Snipers called the cops and told them to look into a killing they did in Alabama. That helped them solve the case. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/8 "2010-03-22T17:20:38Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > A killer who sent puzzles to the police, just not one who sent them intending to be caught. Which is also not what the OP was asking for, right? You have me seriously confused. The OP says this ; > [@](#): > > Seems to happen in cop movies all the time, I just wonder how many Riddler Copycats are out there. And **Dewey** responds respond with this : > [@](#): > > The Zodiac killer is one of the more famous examples. What’s the difference? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/9 "2010-03-22T17:27:16Z")
The Zodiac killer was an example of a killer who “leaves puzzles and anagrams” (well, actually he sent them to the newspapers, not left them) but not “specifically trying to help the cops track them down” (but instead to taunt the cops). Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/10 "2010-03-22T17:39:04Z")
Well, I can’t think of many examples in the movies or TV where the killer is ‘specifically trying to help the cops track them down’ either, as opposed to taunting the cops or playing games with them. Maybe I don’t watch the right kinds of movies. ---
**Author:** ![johnspartan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a183cd/32.png) [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/11 "2010-03-22T18:14:11Z")
Well Seven (err Se7en if you’re a purist), Batman Forever and, to a lesser extent, Along Came a Spider come to mind… But only one of those would fall under the category of “the right kinds of movies” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/12 "2010-03-22T18:26:27Z")
[This story is very topical - but the clues weren’t exactly in code.](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/18/AR2010031805317.html) > [@](#): > > Kristie Reed was on the basement floor, her throat and wrists slashed. Her older sister, Stacie, was upstairs, dead from a stab wound to the heart. When police reached Kristie, who was then 14 years old, an officer leaned in and asked who had done this to her. Kristie mouthed two words: “Paul Powell.” > > On Thursday night, more than 11 years later, Paul Warner Powell, 31, was executed in Virginia’s electric chair. He was declared dead at 9:09 p.m. The Jan. 29, 1999, murder of one sister and the rape and near-slaying of the other in Manassas were among the most notorious crimes in the region’s recent history. > > …In 2001, the Virginia Supreme Court threw out Powell’s death sentence, ruling that the murder of one girl and the rape of another could not be considered the same crime – a factor necessary for the death penalty. After the ruling, Powell wrote an insulting letter to prosecutors. But in it, he admitted that he had tried to rape Stacie Reed, too. That admission tied Stacie’s attempted rape to her slaying and led prosecutors to re-indict him. He was convicted and sentenced to death a second time after another full trial in 2003. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/13 "2010-03-22T18:38:20Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The Zodiac killer was an example of a killer who “leaves puzzles and anagrams” (well, actually he sent them to the newspapers, not left them) but not “specifically trying to help the cops track them down” (but instead to taunt the cops). Does that make sense? IIRC, I think Zodiac claimed that one or more of the cryptograms he sent to newspapers, if solved, would reveal his identity. Don’t think those were ever solved. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/14 "2010-03-22T18:46:41Z")
> [@johnspartan](#): > > I’m thinking of the TV / movie meme of a criminal who leaves puzzles and anagrams and such specifically trying to help the cops track them down. Secret codes that, once decoded, would basically just lead to them being captured? > > Seems to happen in cop movies all the time, I just wonder how many Riddler Copycats are out there. The original case which I beleive created the “Master criminal taunting police” meme was the Jack the Ripper letters (which in fact coined the term “Jack the Ripper”). And that is widely considered to be a hoax (most likely perpetrated by tabloid journalists) There have been several genuine cases over the years however. As well as the Zodiac Killer (mentioned above) [BTK killer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Rader) also left notes (Which I believe eventually incriminated him). ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/15 "2010-03-22T18:57:14Z")
BTK killer was caught because he did not know Word documents can contain the name of the place that owns the software. He sent Word docs and a letter, so the cops looked at the file and found the name of the place he worked. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/16 "2010-03-22T19:18:17Z")
That’s why I prefer to use ASCII when I write taunting letters to the cops. ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/17 "2010-03-22T19:45:14Z")
The killer of [Mikki Jo West](http://unsolvedmysteries.wikia.com/wiki/Mickey_Jo_West) left several notes in local shopping malls pretending to be somebody who knew the killer, and named a suspect. Now, the world will never know exactly why Marvin Lee Irvin decided to name himself as the killer, seeing as nobody was looking for him at the time, but maybe he was trying some double bluff. This didn’t exactly fool the authorities, though. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/18 "2010-03-22T19:49:33Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > IIRC, I think Zodiac claimed that one or more of the cryptograms he sent to newspapers, if solved, would reveal his identity. Don’t think those were ever solved. The first batch of letters Zodiac sent were solved. A later ciphered letter has not been solved. I would actually wonder if Zodiac, having established that his first set of letters were genuine, and also having done things like sending the cops a swatch of his victim’s clothing, didn’t just compose a bunch of random nonsense in a later letter to mess with them, knowing that they would take it seriously. If it IS just a cipher, and contains anything like the expected content, you might expect it to have been broken, like the initial one. ---
**Author:** ![Wakinyan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wakinyan/32/352_2.png) [@Wakinyan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wakinyan)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/19 "2010-03-22T19:53:34Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > The original case which I beleive created the “Master criminal taunting police” meme was the Jack the Ripper letters (which in fact coined the term “Jack the Ripper”). And that is widely considered to be a hoax (most likely perpetrated by tabloid journalists. Yes, “Jack the Ripper” is from a pseudonymous letter sent after a couple of the murders in Whitechapel; not to the police but to a news agency. As a matter of fact, the sender wrote more than one, taunting the police. From the first (snipped): > [@](#): > > I keep hearing the police have caught me but they wont fix me just yet. I am down on whores and I shant quit ripping them till I do get buckled. You will soon hear of me with my funny little games. The next job I do I shall clip the lady’s ear off and send to the police officers just for jolly wouldnt you. Good luck. Yours truly, Jack the Ripper After a double murder, snipped: > [@](#): > > I wasnt codding dear old Boss when I gave you the tip. youll hear about saucy Jackys work tomorrow this time. had not the time to get ears for police At this time the letters were published, and the name stuck. Also, the police was drowned in bogus letters from “Jack the Ripper”. One which caught interest though, came with part of a kidney. It was this one that opened with “From hell”, and was signed “Catch me when you can”. It was not signed “Jack the Ripper”, and was not of the same hand writing as the first two. Probably all were hoaxes though, but I do not believe there’s an agreement who wrote any of them. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354/20 "2010-03-22T20:42:28Z")
Maybe my memory is wrong, but didn’t several of the crime scenes (of “Jack the Ripper”) show an attempt to taunt the police? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-actually-deliberately-left-clues-for-police/533354.md?page=2)