Top 10 Most Infamous Serial Killers

Diving into the chilling and gruesome tales of the most notorious perpetrators of heinous crimes, you might find yourself simultaneously fascinated and repulsed by the world of serial killers. This is a domain where morbidity and tragedy merge, giving rise to stories that seem too atrocious to be true, yet are documented with terrifying precision.

While perusing this collection of the macabre, you'll find that these killers have employed a diverse range of methods and motives. Some were driven by a deranged thirst for blood, others by a deep-seated hatred, and some, alarmingly, by a perverse sense of pleasure. It's a grim reminder of the multifaceted nature of evil and the various forms it can assume.

1. Jack the Ripper

   

   Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who murdered at least five women in the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The case was never solved, and the name became infamous for the brutality of the murders. Numerous theories have been proposed about the killer's identity, but none have been confirmed.

   Rapists are demons, but their murders were nowhere near as heinous as this guy's. He butchered prostitutes as though they were in a horror movie, leaving not a single trace of his real identity. Furthermore, his name has entered pop culture, folklore, and books and is recognized almost everywhere. In terms of instant recognition, his name dwarfs anyone else on this list. There's probably more to point out, too.

   Come on, it's Jack the Ripper. Jacky's number one. I don't plan on ever changing my career choice to serial killer or law officer, so I don't research serial killers.

   I'm pretty ignorant on the subject, but he's definitely the most famous. Oftentimes, a serial killer's main goal is fame, so I guess Jack wins.

2. Ted Bundy

   

   Ted Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped, and murdered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s. He was executed in 1989 after being convicted of killing three women, and he later confessed to many more murders. Bundy remains one of the most infamous serial offenders in United States history.

   He may be good-looking or, surprisingly to others, "handsome." He is a monster who took the lives of beautiful women, old and young. They could've been something in this world, but he took that from them. I'm glad he's gone and hope no one follows in his steps.

   This guy is just a pervert killer. He killed about 30 women, but it is speculated that he killed over 100. He would basically hide suspicion by putting his arm in a sling. He also always escaped and then continued his murder spree.

   People say he looked handsome and normal, but underneath that smile was a monster.

3. The Zodiac Killer

   

   The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He murdered at least five people but claimed to have killed more than 30. He taunted police with letters and cryptic ciphers sent to newspapers, and his identity remains unknown.

   Like Jack the Ripper, we'll probably never know his true identity.

   I want to know who that bastard is!

   Never caught. Name 3 killers other than him and Jack the Ripper that have never been caught.

4. John Wayne Gacy

   

   John Wayne Gacy sexually assaulted, tortured, and murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men between 1972 and 1978 in the Chicago area. He buried 26 of his victims in the crawl space under his house and disposed of others in the Des Plaines River. He was sentenced to death for his crimes and was executed in 1994.

   A gross man indeed. He may have a friendly smile and such, but don't trust it. Never trust someone who's older than you and tries to talk to you. They could be bad people.

   He killed over 33 young men and even worked as a birthday party entertainer while doing so. He was adept at evading trouble but ultimately met his karma.

   He was pretty bad. He killed 33 boys and was quite adept at evading capture. His crimes were of a graphic nature as well.

5. Jeffrey Dahmer

   

   Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. He kept parts of his victims' bodies as trophies and consumed some of their flesh. He was caught in 1991 and sentenced to 16 life terms in prison, where he was killed by another inmate in 1994.

   He looks radically different in every picture of him. It's kind of weird.

   He is the worst. He looks innocent, and then he's not. Totally got my vote!

   This guy is a frickin' cannibal, rapist, and kidnapper. He got 5 life sentences. Bro is too terrible to write about.

6. Ed Gein

   

   Ed Gein was a murderer and body snatcher who exhumed corpses from graveyards and fashioned trophies and keepsakes from their bones and skin in the 1940s and 1950s. His gruesome crimes inspired fictional serial killers like Norman Bates from Psycho and Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He was declared legally insane and died in 1984.

   He technically isn't a true serial killer. Serial killing involves the commission of three or more murders over a period of time. He has only been convicted of killing two people, though this is debatable since he could've started the fire that killed his brother. However, nobody knows for sure if he did.

   He is pretty far out there when it comes to what he did with the corpses. He turned parts of the bodies of deceased women into furniture and tried to create a suit so he could become his mother, who he adored dearly. Ed Gein was also one of the first serial killers I studied, so I've always seen him as one of the most gruesome yet interesting.

   Only killed two people but is still one of the most infamous serial killers of the 20th century.

7. Albert Fish

   

   Albert Fish was an American serial killer and cannibal who raped, murdered, and sometimes ate at least five children in New York between 1928 and 1932. He was executed in 1936 at age 65. His crimes remain among the most disturbing in American history.

   Although he doesn't have the highest quantity of murders like some people on this list, what he did to his victims and to himself should indisputably land him in the top 3. He is one of the most putrid and vile human beings in existence.

   Sickest person who ever lived, and I don't mean that in a good way.

8. Aileen Wuornos

   

   Aileen Wuornos killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. She claimed they acted in self-defense after they raped her while she worked as a prostitute. She was convicted of six murders and executed by lethal injection in 2002.

   She proved that Florida women can be crazy too.

9. H. H. Holmes

   

   H. H. Holmes opened a hotel in Chicago for the 1893 World's Fair that he used to facilitate several murders. Although he confessed to 27 killings, only nine victims were confirmed. He was caught and hanged in 1896.

10. Richard Ramirez

    

    Richard Ramirez was dubbed the "Night Stalker" for invading homes at night and murdering 13 people in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas between 1984 and 1985. He left satanic pentagrams at some of the crime scenes. He died of cancer on death row in 2013.

    I think we should have handcuffed him in a jail cell and then let the families of the people he hurt have their fun with him.

The Newcomers
11. ?

    Kenneth Erskine

    

    Kenneth Erskine (born July 1, 1963) is a British serial killer known as The Stockwell Strangler. He committed the murders of seven to eleven senior citizens in London between April and July 1986. Although originally convicted of murder, his conviction was later reduced to manslaughter on the grounds... read more

12. ?

    Orville Lynn Majors

    

    Orville Lynn Majors was a former licensed practical nurse and serial killer from Clinton, Indiana, who was convicted of murdering his patients. He was convicted of killing six people, though investigators believed he may have been responsible for dozens more deaths. Majors died of heart failure in 2017... read more

The Contenders

13. Elizabeth Bathory

    

    Elizabeth Bathory was a Hungarian countess accused of torturing and killing dozens of young women between 1585 and 1609. Later legends claimed she bathed in their blood to preserve her youth, but this story is not supported by historical evidence. She was never brought to trial and was confined to rooms in her castle until her death.

    You people say Ted Bundy and Ed Gein are sick monsters, but I have to say Elizabeth Bathory takes the cake for this one. She brutally murdered over 650 innocent girls, cut them alive, and dipped her skin in their blood to make herself look younger. But that doesn't mean the other serial killers are innocent. They're sick bastards that deserve to rot in hell.

    She killed more people than anyone else on this list, and her victims suffered the most. And where is Gilles de Rais?

    I just read how she killed and tortured her victims. Let's just say I'm glad I'm not one of them.

14. Fred and Rosemary West

    

    Fred and Rosemary West were an English couple who killed at least 12 young women and girls between 1967 and 1987, many at their home in Gloucester. Most of the victims were dismembered and buried at the house. Their crimes remain some of the most notorious in modern British history.

    As a child, I feel this story made me aware of the dangers on the streets today. Both husband and wife had no reason to kill the innocent children. When Mr. West was a child, it was said that he was sexually abused by his mother and that his family agreed to incest. This is just one of the reasons for his killing those children.

    When Mr. West was younger, he had a fall trying to escape a fire and did some damage to his brain. He was in a coma for 8 days. Then, at age 19, he ran over a 4-year-old child with his ice cream van. This all relates to why he killed those children. This couple was born evil.

    No other serial killer and rapist case has made me feel so appalled. Pure evil is an understatement in describing these demonic freaks. I just wish Fred hadn't cowardly killed himself so he could rot in jail like the vile scum he was.

15. Dennis Rader

    

    Dennis Rader, known as the "BTK Killer," murdered 10 people in Kansas between 1974 and 1991. He sent taunting letters to police signed "BTK," standing for "bind, torture, kill." He was caught in 2005 and given 10 consecutive life sentences.

16. Gary Ridgway

    

    Gary Ridgway, the "Green River Killer," murdered at least 49 women and girls in the Seattle area throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He avoided the death penalty by confessing and was given 48 life sentences. He later admitted to additional murders, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.

17. Andrei Chikatilo

    

    Andrei Chikatilo sexually assaulted, murdered, and mutilated at least 52 women and children in the former Soviet Union between 1978 and 1990. Nicknamed the "Butcher of Rostov," he was convicted and executed in 1994. His crimes exposed major investigative flaws in the Soviet criminal justice system.

18. David Berkowitz

    

    David Berkowitz, known as the "Son of Sam," killed six people and wounded several others in New York City between 1976 and 1977, claiming his neighbor's dog commanded him to murder. He was sentenced to life in prison and remains incarcerated. His case became one of the most widely publicized serial murder investigations of the era.

19. Pedro Lopez

    

    Pedro López murdered at least 110 girls and young women in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru between 1969 and 1980, earning him the nickname "The Monster of the Andes." He was caught, declared insane, and later released in 1998. His current whereabouts remain unknown.

    The worst part is, despite all he did, he was only sentenced to 22-24 years in prison but escaped to God knows where. No one knows if he's even alive.

20. Edmund Kemper

    

    Edmund Kemper murdered 10 people including his grandparents and mother in California in the 1970s. At 6 feet 9 inches tall, he was nicknamed the "Co-Ed Killer" for targeting young female hitchhikers. He turned himself in and remains imprisoned.

21. Belle Gunness

    

    Belle Gunness likely killed more than 40 people including her husbands and children in Indiana at the turn of the 20th century to collect on their life insurance policies. She disappeared after her farmhouse burned down in 1908. Her fate remains unknown.

22. Henry Lee Lucas

    

    Henry Lee Lucas falsely confessed to killing hundreds of people across the U.S. from 1960 to 1983, likely causing the wrongful convictions of over a dozen people. He was serving life for 11 murders when he died in prison in 2001. His exaggerated claims contributed to what became known as the Lucas hoax.

    He has one of the highest body counts in serial killer history.

23. Luis Garavito

    

    Luis Garavito murdered at least 138 young boys in Colombia in the 1990s, luring them to remote areas and killing them by torture and decapitation. Known as "La Bestia," he confessed in 1999 and was sentenced to 1,853 years in prison. He died in 2023 while still incarcerated.

    He is the serial killer with the most kills. He has confessed to killing 138 children and is believed to have killed 172-300+ children in total.

24. Harold Shipman

    

    Harold Shipman was an English doctor who killed at least 215 patients with lethal injections between 1975 and 1998, likely making him one of the most prolific serial killers ever. He hanged himself in prison in 2004 at age 57. Investigators believe his actual victim count may have been higher.

    This individual is a famous sociopath and possibly the most prolific and intelligent serial killer in history, not because he was a doctor. He derived pleasure from killing his so-called patients through poisoning, leading to a total count of 250-457 murders.

25. Mary Ann Cotton

    

    Mary Ann Cotton poisoned to death three husbands and at least 11 children and stepchildren in England between the 1860s and 1870s, likely to collect on their insurance. She was hanged in 1873 for murdering her stepson. Her suspected victim count makes her one of Britain's most notorious serial killers.

    I will admit, from what I have heard, she seems to be quite intelligent.

26. Paul Michael Stephani

    

    Paul Michael Stephani, the "Weepy-Voiced Killer," murdered at least three women in Minnesota in the early 1980s. He gained his nickname for sobbing when calling police to report his crimes. He died in prison in 1998.

27. Gilles de Rais

    

    Gilles de Rais was a fifteenth century French nobleman who raped, tortured, and murdered large numbers of children, most of them boys. His crimes included acts committed before and after death. He was executed by hanging and burning in 1440.