-
(#1) David Berkowitz
- 06-01-1953
David Berkowitz, aka the Son of Sam, terrorized the people of NYC in 1976-1977. Berkowitz claimed he was told by a demon dog to shoot his victims. He killed 6 people before getting caught in August 1977. Berkowitz received 6 life sentences.
-
(#2) Dennis Rader
- 03-09-1945
Better known as the BTK Killer, Dennis Rader killed 10 people in his native Kansas over a span of almost 20 years starting in 1974. Rader bound, tortured and killed his victims and then sent letters to the police and news outlets bragging about his crimes. He was caught in 2005 and sentenced to life in prison, one life sentence for each murder.
According to Rader's daughter, who has not visited him at the El Dorado Correctional Facility, Rader may have had a stroke in 2018, leading to short-term memory loss and potentially dementia as well.
In 2019, Rader himself listed his health issues and described his daily life in prison, saying he believes he is “the facility ‘pet.’” He has access to phone calls, books, and even some TV, including news and Turner Classic Movies.
-
(#3) Gary Ridgway
- 02-18-1949
Often known as the Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway killed at least 48 people, with the number of victims probably closer to 90. Ridgway lured prostitutes away to be strangled and raped. He dumped the bodies in the forested areas in Washington, but some were also found in the Green River. He was caught in 2001 after nearly twenty years of murders and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#4) Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer known as the Golden State Killer, killed 13 people and raped 50 during a series of break-ins throughout the state. Officials originally thought multiple offenders committed the crimes, but DNA evidence led to the realization it was one person. DeAngelo was arrested in 2018 based on DNA tracing from family members on public genealogy sites.
In June 2020 he pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rapes, and admitted committing other sexual assaults that he wasn't prosecuted for because the statute of limitations expired.
On August 21, 2020, a Sacramento County judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole.
-
(#5) Charles Cullen
- 02-22-1960
While working as a nurse over the course of 16 years, Charles Cullen killed at least 40 victims - although the suspected number is actually in the hundreds. He killed patients through overdoses and medical contamination in New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals. Cullen was arrested in 2003 and sentenced to 127 years in prison.
-
(#6) Wayne Williams
- 05-27-1958
Throughout 1979-1981, Atlanta was terrorized by the Atlanta Child Murders where 29 children were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered. Police began to suspect that he was the dreaded child serial killer in 1981. Although Williams still maintains he is innocent of the child murders, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#7) Kristen Gilbert
- 11-13-1967
Kristen Gilbert worked as a nurse in Massachusetts when she killed four patients by injecting them with epinephrine. The drug caused the patients to have heart attacks. Gilbert allegedly used these medical emergencies to get the attention of a police officer. In 1998, she called a bomb threat into the hospital as revenge for her coworkers suspecting her of murder. In 2001, she was finally convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#8) Beverley Allitt
- 10-04-1968
Beverley Allitt worked as a nurse in an English hospital when she killed four children and tried to kill three more. She also caused many other children to be grievously harmed through her insulin overdoses, although they survived. In 1993, she was sentenced to 13 life sentences.
-
(#9) Paul Bernardo
- 08-27-1964
Along with his wife, Paul Bernardo killed and raped at least 3 young women, raping many more women during his time as The Scarborough Rapist. Together, he and his wife drugged and sexually assaulted her sister, who became their first joint victim. He was caught in 1993 and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#10) Karla Homolka
- 05-04-1970
As the wife of serial rapist and killer Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka was an accessory to a plethora of rapes and murders, many of which she took part in herself. Homolka facilitated the rape and murder of her younger sister and at least two other women. The couple was arrested in 1993. She was released in 2005 after twelve years in prison.
-
(#11) Rosemary West
- 11-29-1953
From 1971-1987, Rosemary West tortured and killed at least 10 women, with the assistance of her husband Fred. West was a victim of frequent sexual abuse by her father from the time she was a child and well into adulthood. In 1995, she was sentenced to life in prison. While her husband killed himself before going to trial, West still lives in prison in England.
-
(#12) Scott Lee Kimball
- 09-21-1966
Colorado serial killer Scott Lee Kimball killed at least 4 people between 2003 and 2004. Although Kimball was caught in 2004, he was allowed out of prison as an FBI informant. During that time, he allegedly killed more people in the West Mesa Murders. Kimball is currently serving his 70-year sentence.
-
(#13) Maxim Petrov
- 01-01-1965
Russian doctor Maxim Petrov was arrested in 2000 for murdering at least 17 people through a lethal drug combination. He stole from them and then set fire to the homes of his victims. He is currently serving a life sentence.
-
(#14) Robert Pickton
- 10-26-1949
Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton was dubbed The Pig Farmer Killer due to his profession as a farmer and tendency to kidnap and murder women. His number of victims is as many as 49 women. He killed from 1983 to 2002, when he was caught and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#15) Russell Williams
- 03-07-1963
Colonel Russell Williams, a decorated military pilot, became one of Canada's most notorious serial killers when it was discovered that he killed, robbed and raped multiple women in 2009-2010. He was sentenced to life in prison in 2010.
-
(#16) Peter Tobin
- 08-27-1946
Peter Tobin killed and raped at least three women in the '90s and early '00s. Tobin had previously served time for raping his teenage neighbors. Tobin is also suspected of being the infamous Bible John serial killer, although he was never officially charged with the crimes. Tobin is currently serving a life sentence.
-
(#17) Hu Wanlin
- 01-01-1949
During the early 1990s, Hu Wanlin was in prison for human trafficking. That didn't stop him from opening a medical practice while jailed. Once he was released after a retrial in 1997, Hu treated hundreds of patients with an herbal remedy that actually contained sodium sulphate. 146 people died of his treatments. He was arrested in 1999 and sentenced to 15 years in prison for practicing medicine without a license.
-
(#18) Steve Wright
- 04-24-1958
Steve Wright, aka the Suffolk Strangler, killed five prostitutes in 2006. The English serial killer was caught ten days after his last murder and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#19) Viktor Sayenko
- 01-01-1988
Viktor Sayenko (at left in photos) and two accomplices were responsible for the deaths of 21 people in 2007. The Ukraine murders became well known across the globe when one of the many video recordings of the horrific crimes was leaked on the Internet. Sayenko was reportedly trying to get rich off of his snuff videos, but that motive was never proven. He is currently serving life in prison.
-
(#20) Junko Ogata
- 01-01-1962
Junko Ogata worked as an accomplice to the famous Japanese serial killer Futoshi Matsunaga. Ogata was harshly abused by Matsunaga, which lead to her helping him kill at least 7 people, including her niece and nephew, in the late 90s. Although Ogata received a death sentence, the sentence was commuted to life.
-
(#21) Catherine Birnie
- 01-01-1951
In the 1980s, Catherine Birnie and her husband David killed four women. These brutal murders were known as the Moorhouse murders, named after their place of residence where they committed the crimes. After trying to kill a 5th victim, the girl escaped and brought the police to her abductors. David killed himself in jail, but Catherine is still serving out her life sentence in an Australian prison.
-
(#22) Kaspars Petrovs
- 01-01-1978
Kaspars Petrovs killed anywhere between 13 to 38 women in Latvia. During his trial, Petrovs claimed did not want to murder his victims and only intended to rob them. He was sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#23) John Bunting
- 09-04-1966
In 1999, 8 bodies were found in barrels filled with hydrochloric acid in Snowtown, Australia. The crimes became known as the Snowtown Murders. John Justin Bunting was one of the four perpetrators caught for the crimes. He was sentenced to eleven life sentences in prison, as the ringleader of the group.
-
(#24) Robert Wagner
- 11-28-1971
Robert Wagner was an accomplice of John Bunting in the Snowtown Murders. He helped Bunting find victims who were acquaintances of the group, many of whom had their social security and bank accounts robbed before they were murdered. Wagner and the rest of the group were convicted in 2003, and he was sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#25) Charles Sobhraj
- 04-06-1944
Charles Sobhraj is responsible for the murder of 12 people, through various methods, including drowning and poison. He was originally arrested in India where he served time from 1976 to 1997. After he was released from prison, he went to France where he was considered a celebrity. However, in 2003 when he entered Nepal he was re-arrested for his crimes and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#26) Robledo Puch
- 01-22-1952
Argentina serial killer Robledo Puch killed 11 people, as well as robbed, raped, kidnapped and sexually abused many more people. His victims were killed through stabbings, shootings and strangulation. His crimes took place over one year before he was caught in 1972 and sentenced to life in prison. He was only 20 years old when he was caught.
-
(#27) Adnan Çolak
- 01-01-1952
Adnan Colak is a Turkish serial killer who raped and killed 11 women between the ages of 68 and 95. He also raped 6 other elderly women. He was caught in 1995, and his trial lasted over 5 years. He was sentenced to death, but when Turkey abolished the death penalty in 2004 his sentence was commuted to life.
-
(#28) Alexander Bychkov
- 01-01-1988
Russian serial killer Alexander Bychkov killed at least 6 men and was caught in 2012. He lured alcoholic and homeless men to his home before stabbing or beating them to death. Bychkov also cannibalized their bodies. He was sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#29) Sergei Martynov
- 05-18-1968
Sergei Martynov killed at least 9 people in Russia between 1992-2010. In 1992, he was arrested for raping and murdering a young girl and spent 14 years in prison for the crime. When he was released in 2005, he went on a five-year long crime spree that took the lives of 8 women. He was caught in 2010 and sentenced to life in prison.
-
(#30) Ondrej Rigo
- 12-17-1955
Ondrej Rigo killed 9 women in Slovakia, Germany and the Netherlands over the course of two years, starting in 1990. He'd beat women to death with a rock, rod, or other object. He was caught in 1992 and sentenced to life in prison, however he's up for parole in 2019.
-
(#31) William Patrick Fyfe
- 02-22-1955
Over 20 years, beginning in 1979, William Patrick Fyfe killed at least 5 women in Montreal, Canada. There are multiple other murders he's suspected of committing, but since he is serving his life sentence in a psychiatric hospital he isn't fit to stand trial.
-
(#32) Peter Moore
- 01-01-1946
Peter Moore was a successful businessman who owned multiple movie theaters in North Wales when he murdered 4 men. The murders took place in 1995. He was sentenced to life in prison in 1996 in Wales.
-
(#33) Peter Dupas
- 07-06-1953
From 1997 to 1999, Australian serial killer Peter Dupas killed at least three people. He was given three life sentences without the possibility of parole.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.