FBI wants public help solving encrypted notes from murder mystery

[David Bernier]

Stretto wrote:
>
>
> "Joe Snodgrass" <joe.snod at yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:c37e8e0b-a825-4ac5-9886-8828ab1faf94 at x8g2000prh.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> For larger images of the notes go here. [LINK]
>>
>> If you have an idea how to break the code, have seen similar codes, or
>> have any information about the Ricky McCormick case, write to CRRU at
>> the following address:
>>
>> FBI Laboratory
>> Cryptanalysis and Racketeering Records Unit
>> 2501 Investigation Parkway
>> Quantico, VA 22135
>> Attn: Ricky McCormick Case
>>
>> There is no reward being offered, just the knowledge that you may be
>> solving an intriguing murder mystery, the FBI stated.
>
> No other information about the guy? It might help. If the note is of any
> use then people and places would be in it. If that is the case then it
> would help to know where he lived and some of the names of people he knows.
>
> The note seems like it may not be just encrypted but a sort of
> compression(or rather shorthand/jargon) was used. Was the guy a drug
> dealer? It could be a list of "clients" or information about where he
> sold drugs(the numbers look like street addresses or amounts.
>
> If these kinda notes were so common from this guy then surely the FBI
> should have many more?
>
> Seems like the FBI could do more if they wanted it really solved...

First of all, out of respect for the deceased, Ricky McCormick and
in keeping with a spirit of fairness, I must say that what follows
may be pure coincidence, perhaps a 10% chance of mistaken identity
and a 90% chance of not-mistaken identity.

Background on a Joplin, Missouri 1982 killing/murder
the person killed:   Darrell Ruestman
the killer:          Alan J. Bannister

The prosecution's theory was that AJ Bannister murdered Darrell Ruestman.
This led to AJ Bannister's murder conviction, which was upheld
on appeal.

But see this if you wish for another theory:
< http://pubs.socialistreviewindex.org.uk/sr214/usletter.htm > .

In any case, Darrell Ruestman was killed in 1982.

 From the case:  BANNISTER v. DELO,
< 
http://mo.findacase.com/research/wfrmDocViewer.aspx/xq/fac.%2FFDCT%2FWMO%2F1995%2F19950915_0000019.WMO.htm/qx 
 >

This court opinion mentions three affidavits:
1. Wooten Affidavit
2. Taylor Affidavit
3. Trombley Affidavit  (writer and film maker)

In the Trombley Affidavit, one finds:
"Finally, Trombley's statement about what Bannister says happened directly 
contradicts the testimony of Linda McCormick, Ruestman's girlfriend, who was in 
the trailer at the time of the murder and testified that she heard no 
conversations before hearing the shot. See Tr. III at 49, 65. "

and also:

"For instance, Trombley links McCormick to Wooten and Wooten to Ruestman's 
murder (thereby conflicting with Wooten's affidavit). However, Trombley also 
connects Wooten and Bannister. See affidavit at 9. These facts could support the 
State's theory that Wooten, acting as a middleman for McCormick, hired Bannister 
to murder Ruestman just as easily as they support Trombley's accidental shooting 
theory."

 From another web page:
"On August 20, 1982, Darrell Ruestman was living in a Joplin trailer park with 
Linda McCormick, then married to Richard McCormick. "

So, Richard McCormick was married to Linda McCormick, but it appears they were
separated:

" When Bannister expressed interest, Wooten explained that a man whose wife left 
him for another man wanted to have the latter killed."

-->
< http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/bannister418.htm >
(site sympathetic to alternate theory:  AJ Bannister did not commit
  pre-meditated murder of Ruestman).

===

Out of all this, one Richard McCormick was married but separated
from his wife Linda McCormick, in 1982.  That year, Linda McCormick
was living in a trailer park in Joplin, Missouri, about
250 miles from St. Louis, Missouri.  Linda McCormick is known
to have associated with drug dealers at that time.

Missouri population: 5,987,580  - Jul 2009.

In 1982, the person murdered in 1999, Ricky McCormick,
would have been 24 years old.  Either Ricky McCormick
and Richard McCormick are related, or else they
aren't related.