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By Khaleda Rahman
National Correspondent
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A self-taught code-breaker says he has identified a single suspect that he believes was behind two of the country’s most infamous unsolved crimes.
Alex Baber, who runs a firm called Cold Case Consultants of America, told the Los Angeles Times that he cracked the Zodiac Killer’s cipher to reveal his name using artificial intelligence and in the process, also solved the "Black Dahlia" murder.
Baber said the name hidden in the cipher was Marvin Merrill, an alias used by Marvin Margolis, who had been considered by Los Angeles detectives as a viable suspect in Elizabeth Short’s murder. Short was posthumously dubbed by the press as the Black Dahlia.
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Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles Police Department told Newsweek that the investigation into Short's murder "remains open."
Newsweek has contacted Baber for comment via email. The San Francisco Police Department and the Vallejo Police Department have also been contacted for comment via email.
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Why It Matters
Short, a 22-year-old Hollywood hopeful was murdered in January 1947. Her body was found the Leimert Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, mutilated and severed in half.
Years later, the infamous Zodiac Killer fatally stabbed or shot to death at least five people in Northern California in the late 1960s, then sent taunting letters and cryptograms to the police and newspapers. The killer referred to himself as Zodiac in some of the letters.
The two cases have shaped American true-crime culture for generations, inspiring films, books and countless theories. If credible evidence and consensus emerges tying Margolis to both crimes, it could demonstrate how modern tools like artificial intelligence can help crack cold cases.
What To Know
According to the Times, Margolis was questioned after Short’s murder but lied about how well he had known her. He later admitted that he had lived with Short for 12 days in an apartment on Hollywood Boulevard, three months before she was murdered.
At the time, he was a 21-year-old pre-med student at the University of Southern California and World War II veteran who wanted to become a surgeon.
But he moved to Chicago and changed his name, complicating further efforts to question him.
Years later, the Zodiac began taunting police with letters and cryptograms. The shortest, and toughest to decipher, was the one he sent to the San Francisco Chronicle in April 1970 that later became known as the Z13 cipher. It said "My name is" followed by a 13-character series of letters and symbols.
Baber told the Times he used artificial intelligence to generate 71 million 13-letter names. He cross-checked those names against military, marriage, census and other public records, he said, using known details about the killer based on witness descriptions.
Eventually, the candidates were narrowed down until he ultimately arrived at "Marvin Merrill," the name Margolis had adopted after Short’s murder.
According to the Times, Margolis lived under that alias until his death from cancer in Santa Barbara in July 1993, though his gravestone at Riverside National Cemetery says Margolis.
Baber told the Times that he approached Margolis' son, Roark Merrill, telling him he was researching his father's military service before revealing his interest in the Black Dahlia case. Merrill told Baber he had inherited a sketch drawn by his father as he was dying of cancer. The sketch, called "Elizabeth," is of a woman naked from the waist up, and depicted with what appears to be a severed nipple and marks that may resemble stab wounds. Hidden in the shading of the drawing is the word "Zodiac."
Baber’s conclusion that Margolis was likely responsible for both Short’s murder and the murders attributed to the Zodiac has drawn support from at least two veteran homicide detectives who once worked for the Los Angeles Police Department, including one who worked on Short’s case.
They say that Margolis left hidden clues connecting both cases, including the drawing that features the words "Elizabeth" and "Zodiac."
Mathematicians who formerly worked for the National Security Agency also endorsed Baber’s work to the Times.
Ed Giorgio, a mathematician who served as the chief codemaker and code-breaker for the National Security Agency, said Baber's work "checked out," while another former NSA crypto-mathematician Patrick Henry said he discovered another link between the two cases: the Zodiac code was apparently generated using the keyword "Elizabeth."
However, some remain skeptical. Larry Harnish, a former Times copy editor who has researched the Black Dahlia case since the 1990s, pointed to an LAPD report that says police interviewed and cleared Margolis. However, that report did not provide details of Margolis' alibi and he remained an active suspect even after leaving the state, according to the Times.
Who Was Marvin Margolis?
Margolis served in the Navy medical corps and had been among the first wave of troops landing on Okinawa in April 1945, according to the Times. He later showed symptoms of severe mental trauma, including recurring battle dreams, depression, and heightened startle responses.
He was discharged from the Navy with a 50 percent disability after he made alarming statements, suggesting he would kill anyone who tried to send him to war again. His time in the Navy prevented him from becoming a surgeon, which investigators believe fueled lasting resentment.
He returned to Chicago in August 1945, where he posed for an article in the Chicago Garfieldian newspaper that described his time caring for the injured as a “pharmacist’s mate” during the war and plans to become a surgeon.
He never fulfilled that dream. Instead, he moved between several states and worked several jobs, including as a builder, architect and portrait painter. He married twice, and had four children.
According to the Times, he “seemed to relish attention” and was the subject of a glowing feature in the Wellington Daily News in Kansas in 1961, this time adopting the alias “Skip Merrill.” In that article, he inflated his military record and claimed he had studied art under Salvador Dali at USC.
In later years, Margolis returned to California. He ran a restaurant in Atascadero and worked as an engineer at Intel in Santa Clara. He ran Bucksavers Automotive Repair & Parts Supply in Oceanside in the early 1970s but received a 30-day jail term as well as three years of probation for defrauding customers.
What People Are Saying
Alex Baber, who runs Cold Case Consultants of America told the Times of his conclusion: "It’s irrefutable.’
Rick Jackson, who was a homicide detective with the LAPD and the San Mateo County sheriff’s office for over three decades, told the newspaper: "In my opinion, these are solved cases."
He added: "There are too many links with both. There’s overwhelming circumstantial evidence. He’s left breadcrumbs all along."
Mitzi Roberts, who worked on the Black Dahlia cold case for the LAPD, said Margolis had been among the top suspects, but "got pushed to the back" because of mistaken assumptions about Short’s final days.
Ed Giorgio, a mathematician who served as the chief codemaker and code-breaker for the National Security Agency, told the Times: "The probability that anything else is correct is orders of magnitude smaller. It is the greatest sleuth story ever told."
What Happens Next
it's not clear whether police will look into Baber's findings.
Roberts told the Times that the LAPD has been made aware of Baber’s findings, but Short’s case is not a current priority.
"I don’t think the LAPD will ever take a position and say it’s solved," Roberts said.
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