548 avsnitt • Längd: 45 min • Veckovis: Måndag
Get a rare glimpse into the minds and methods of sadistic murderers. From notorious names like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy to lesser-known killers like “Death House Landlady” Dorothea Puente, what turns a regular person into a predator? Serial Killers is a Spotify Original. New episodes Mondays.
The podcast Serial Killers is created by Spotify Studios. The podcast and the artwork on this page are embedded on this page using the public podcast feed (RSS).
When a series of double-homicides struck Virginia in the late 1980s, authorities immediately suspected a serial killer. But it took 35 years – and random chance – to find the missing link.
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Five missing people in five years. And that’s far from the only fact that aroused suspicion of a serial killer operating along the Idaho-Washington border in the early 1980s. While some victims have been found, the hunt for the killer is still on.
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In the fall of 1994, a 13-year-old boy found a human skull in his backyard. Detectives later discovered thousands more bones scattered about his family's estate, a property known as Fox Hollow Farm. The remains belonged to the presumed victims of Herb Baumeister, an alleged serial killer active thought to be active in Indiana for more than a decade. The investigation closed in the late-‘90s without an arrest. 11 unique DNA samples were catalogued and 8 victims identified at the time, but officials suspect the remains belong to as many as 25 people.
In 2022, Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison set out on a brand new investigation to put them to rest.
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In 1960, Sharon Kinne is a typical housewife raising two children in Kansas City. By 1964, she’s the subject of an investigation into the deaths of three people… and an international fugitive.
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For Valentine’s Day we’re going back into the archives to bring you some of the most infamous couples in true crime history.
All Wanda Barzee wanted in life was for someone to take care of her, and in return she promised complete devotion. So when her paramour, self-styled prophet Brian David Mitchell, demanded she help him find a child bride, Wanda aided and abetted the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart.
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For Valentine’s Day we’re going back into the archives to bring you some of the most infamous couples in true crime history.
Kathryn Kelly was running schemes long before she ever met her notorious husband. She hungered to live a life of luxury and decadence. And she’d never apologize for those desires… Or for the things she did to make her dreams come true.
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In 1907, George Soper located the cause of a typhoid outbreak in New York City: a cook named Mary Mallon. Mary didn’t know it, but each and every meal she cooked carried a small chance for her clients to come down with the disease. Finding out the truth could cost Mary her job…and her freedom.
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In the late 1800s, Mary Mallon was a cook for wealthy families in New York City. She thought her job was going well; her clients seemed pleased and she had a reputation as an exceptional chef. But then, the family members started getting sick, and Mary had no idea that she was the cause.
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Mary Bateman had been playing people for fools for years. The problem was, too many of her dissatisfied customers stuck around to complain about her trickery. Her solution? Murder.
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Mary Bateman was an accomplished liar from a young age, and when she grew up, she started using that talent as a way of making money. Passing herself off as a witch, she tricked paranoid and gullible customers into handing over their hard-earned money in exchange for predictions and potions. But unfortunately, not every one of the Yorkshire Witch's customers lived to tell the tale.
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As our Best of 2024 selection, we're featuring our three-part series on notorious serial killer Israel Keyes.
Israel Keyes died having only confessed to a handful of murders and crimes. Researchers and investigators are left piecing together evidence to solve cold cases.
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As our Best of 2024 selection, we're featuring our three-part series on notorious serial killer Israel Keyes.
Over the course of six months in 2012, Israel Keyes sits down with the FBI for a series of interviews. In between toying with investigators and bargaining for what he wants, he confesses to a handful of other crimes — while alluding to a whole lot more.
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [email protected]
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As our Best of 2024 selection, we're featuring our three-part series on notorious serial killer Israel Keyes.
In 2012, Israel Keyes is arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old barista. Prior to that, he’d had just one blemish on his criminal record: a DUI. He’s since been called “the most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of.”
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We're continuing our holiday break, but you won't want to miss the episode we're highlighting this week. In this episode, our friends at Murder in America sit down and for an interview with a man who claims to have killed 30 people. This two-part series digs deep into the life of Nate "Boone" Craft, one of Detroit's most notorious hit men. You can listen to part two now, on the Murder in America feed.
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Happy holidays, listeners! We're starting off our winter break by bringing you an episode from our colleagues at Science Vs about how a notorious murder case was solved with help from an unlikely source: a nuclear weapons lab.
It’s the 1990s at a medical center in California, and patients are dying. At first, this doesn’t seem strange — it’s a hospital, and deaths happen. But then rumors start to circulate about a particular health care worker: difficult or needy patients in his care are ending up dead. The cops get involved, but there’s a huge problem: there’s no hard evidence. Until the so-called “Lab of Last Resort” steps in. Crime Junkie host Ashley Flowers joins us as we speak to analytical chemist Armando Alcaraz, former Detective Sergeant John McKillop, and Dr. Ian Musgrave.
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You may have seen the movie and heard the musical, but do you know the secrets? As we take a break from our regular programming for the holidays, we’re revisiting one of the most influential films of all time. Walk with us as Carter follows the yellow brick road to the dark side.
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Three decades. Eleven states. Over 600 bodies. Across the United States, college-aged men have ended up dead in rivers, lakes, and ponds. The deaths have been ruled accidental drownings, but a team of retired detectives believes a small, smiley-face shaped clue points to something more nefarious: a gang of serial killers. To help dissect the Smiley face Killers theory, Vanessa is joined by producer Chelsea Wood and hosts of the podcast The Murder Sheet, Áine Cain and Kevin Greenlee.
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In May 1999, Hong Kong police found the scattered remains of a young mother in a flat in the city’s Kowloon district. The crime scene was like nothing anyone had seen before: unimaginable brutality set against a backdrop of Hello Kitty memorabilia. Investigators eventually pieced together a harrowing tale of abduction, torture, and immense suffering. But one question remained at trial: did a murder occur?
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Nancy Santomero and Vicki Durian hitchhiked from Arizona to West Virginia in the summer of 1980. They planned to attend the Rainbow Gathering, an annual event where like-minded, free spirits could peacefully gather and celebrate. Just before they arrived, someone killed them. The murder remains unsolved, and the question remains: Were the women killed by West Virginian locals, as law enforcement believed? Or were they victims of serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin?
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Say Candyman’s name five times in a mirror and you’ll summon his vengeful spirit, then he’ll slaughter you with his hook. That’s how the urban legend goes anyway. It was directly inspired by a short story, a series of Hollywood films, and some suspect…a real-life crime. Don’t believe a killer can come through your bathroom mirror? Tell that to Ruthie Mae McCoy.
Ashley Flowers — creator of hit podcasts like Crime Junkie and The Deck Investigates, and author of #1 New York Times bestseller All Good People Here — takes over as guest host for this Halloween special. For more gripping true crime stories, listen to Crime Junkie, and follow Crime Junkie on Instagram @crimejunkiepodcast for even more exclusive content.
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If you’ve babysat, you’ve heard this tale: While her charges sleep, a babysitter receives harassing phone calls telling her to “check the children”. But this urban legend has disturbing real-life parallels, including the case of 14-year-old Karen Slattery. The major difference between truth and fiction? Who dies.
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In a remote area of York County, Pennsylvania, a two-story clapboard house stands in Rehmeyer’s Hollow, aka “Hex Hollow” – where some say the spirit of Nelson Rehmeyer still resides.
Perhaps that’s because his home was also the site of a real-life terror: the 1928 Hex Hollow Murder, which claimed Nelson’s life. The crime made headlines, but it wasn’t just the brutal act itself that shocked the nation…it was the fact that the killers believed Nelson Rehmeyer was a malicious witch whose hexes could only be broken in death.
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According to the urban legends, Highway 666 is a paranormal hotspot in the remote American Southwest. The “Devil’s Highway” is cursed by ghostly hitchhikers, UFOs, and the homicidal “demon trucker” who stalks his prey along the highway.
Highway 666 has since been renamed. And while the demon trucker has never been confirmed, the stories about him pale in comparison to the true case of Robert Ben Rhoades, the “Truck Stop Killer” who abducted victims and tortured them in his sleeper cab as they crossed the U.S.
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In August of 1989, 21-year-old Lyle and 18-year-old Erik Menendez murdered their parents in Beverly Hills after years of abuse. Afterward, they attempted to cover it up, but their stories quickly unravelled.
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Jose Menendez pursued wealth at the expense of everything else in his life, including his relationship with his family. He abused his wife Kitty, and his sons, Lyle and Erik, until tension in the household finally boiled over in 1989.
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On September 13th, 1978, an episode of The Dating Game aired on network television featuring a man named Rodney Alcala as “Bachelor Number One.” The announcer introduced him as a “successful photographer” – but at the time, Rodney had a secret. He’d already killed at least four victims…and he wasn’t done yet.
Be sure to watch Woman of the Hour on Netflix, starting October 18th. Directed by and starring Anna Kendrick, Woman of the Hour tells the story of a woman whose life intersects with Rodney Alcala’s in a surprising way.
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Ted Kaczynski, the man better known to the world as the Unabomber, died in 2023. But his manifesto and the ideas he presented as justifications for his killings have become more mainstream. We sat down with Candice DeLong, one of the FBI agents who helped capture Kaczynski in 1996, as well as Gary Wright, who survived a bombing in 1987.
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Check out Candice’s new podcast Natural Selection: Scott v. Wild Bill. All episodes out now.
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There was no debate over whether Betty Lou Beets killed two of her husbands. But there was great concern over her motivation. Did she do it out of fear or for money?
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All she really wanted in life was freedom. But Betty Lou Beets wound up trapped in abusive marriage after abusive marriage. It was only a matter of time before she would strike back.
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We’re celebrating 500 episodes over at @serialkillerspodcast - come share your favorite episodes and memories from the show, and enjoy some special behind-the-scenes bonus content!
He’s been called many names: the Boogeyman, the Thrill Vulture, the Moon Maniac, the Ogre of Murder Lodge, the Grey Man, the Brooklyn Vampire, and the Werewolf of Wysteria. But in life, he was known as Albert Fish and his gruesome crimes redefined the limits of human depravity.
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After 13 years as a Mafia hit man, he found himself in the crosshairs of the New Jersey Police. There was only one thing left to do: slaughter every last one of his friends before they got the chance to turn on him.
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He killed over a hundred people before the police had even heard his name. So when the Mafia needed a body to drop without getting their hands dirty, there was only one man to call. Richard Kuklinski was quick, vicious, and utterly invisible.
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In August of 2018, Chris and Shanann Watts’ marriage ended in violent tragedy. The trauma left a family broken and a Colorado community reeling, as the public struggled to understand the shocking crime.
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Chris and Shanann Watts seemed to have the picture-perfect life. But in reality, an extramarital affair, financial struggles, and conflicts with extended family were tearing the couple apart, all leading to a shocking, brutal crime that would shock the nation.
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In 1978, Ann Wolbert Burgess was a psychiatric nurse, researcher, and professor at Boston College’s Connell School of Nursing. She and her colleague, Lynda Holmstrom, had recently published their findings on the emotional and psychological effects of sexual assault on survivors. That fall, her work was interrupted by a phone call. The FBI wanted to speak with her. They needed her help.
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Honolulu, on the Hawaiian island of O’ahu, is a quintessential paradise. In 1986, it was also the hunting grounds of a serial killer who was never caught: The Honolulu Strangler. Investigators believe he claimed as many as five victims before seemingly disappearing into thin air. Now, cold case detectives believe they may have some answers in the as-yet-unsolved case.
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George Joseph Smith, the “London Bluebeard,” was said to have hypnotizing eyes that lured women into marriage – and on to their untimely deaths. But it was his strange method of killing them that would eventually lead to his downfall…after his third wife died in the bathtub during their honeymoon.
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When a Missouri real estate tycoon fell sick in 1909, he promised his family a large inheritance. But one in-law was after far more than a piece of the pie. Dr. Bennett Clark Hyde wanted the whole fortune, even if it meant using his medical knowledge for murder.
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By 1938, Philadelphia’s Bolber-Petrillo Murder Ring had collected an estimated $100,000 in insurance payouts. But like many criminals on a lucky streak, they got sloppy. As investigators unraveled the threads of the ring’s vast conspiracy, Dr. Morris Bolber put on one last show.
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In 1930s Philadelphia, self-styled “doctor” Morris Bolber claimed he could fix any ailment – even a broken marriage. His poisonous prescriptions for unhappy housewives killed dozens of men. When the prescriptions didn’t work, Bolber called a pair of conman brothers who were guaranteed to get the job done – as long as they got a chunk of the life insurance money.
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An Italian woman living in Rome during the 17th century sold black-market poison to women who wanted to escape their marriages. She packaged the liquid in glass vials and used labels that claimed it was a healing ointment. It was said to be slow-acting, tasteless, odorless, and completely undetectable. Warnings claimed just four to six drops were “sufficient enough to destroy a man.” But with the right dosage, aspiring widows could prolong their husband’s suffering — long enough for them to, say, get their affairs in order. Is Giulia Tofana history’s most prolific killer?
Vanessa is joined by the hosts of the podcast Women & Crime, Doctors Meghan Sacks and Amy Shlosberg.
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Serial killer or serial liar? Kelly Cochran is guilty of two homicides, which she blames on a pact she made with her husband, Jason. But Kelly’s history of lies and manipulation may have concealed up to thirty-two murders and at least one case of cannibalism.
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In 1974, 17-year-old Carla Walker was abducted from a car in Fort Worth, Texas. Days later, her body was discovered in a remote culvert a few miles away. 46 years later, an arrest was made. But was she Glen McCurley’s only victim?
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At 11, Mary Bell was on trial for not one, but two murders – during which she was often considered a “bad seed” by those who couldn’t comprehend how such a young girl could commit these acts.
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It’s 2004, and Sheila LaBarre has inherited wealth, a massive farm, and animals she adores. She has everything she ever wanted…almost. What Sheila really wants is to find men who sexually abuse children, and kill them.
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Sheila LaBarre’s childhood dreams weren’t out of the ordinary: get out of her small town, become famous, marry a wealthy man. But after a near-death experience, Sheila’s perspective shifts and she sets her sights on revenge.
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April 25 marks National DNA Day in the US, and if you’ve been following true crime stories for a while you know how important DNA can be for solving even the most complicated of cases. In this episode, we’re exploring the first murder case ever solved using DNA analysis, and how it changed a small English town, and forensic science, forever.
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In 1989, Kristen Gilbert started her nursing career at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Northampton, Massachusetts. She impressed medical staff for her quick and skilled reactions to emergencies on her ward and in the ICU. But over the following seven years, so much death occurred during her shifts that she gained the moniker “The Angel of Death.” Was it a coincidence, or was Kristen Gilbert killing her patients?
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In 1975, two young girls, Kate and Sheila Lyon, disappeared from the Wheaton Plaza Mall in Montgomery County, Maryland. Investigators assumed the worst: that they were abducted by a stranger with sexual motivations. But the case went cold without answers — and all these years later, the truth is still complicated.
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All Anthony Garcia ever wanted to be was a successful doctor. When anyone got in his way, he attacked – resulting in four violent murders.
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Israel Keyes died having only confessed to a handful of murders and crimes. Researchers and investigators are left piecing together evidence to solve cold cases.
Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.
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Over the course of six months in 2012, Israel Keyes sits down with the FBI for a series of interviews. In between toying with investigators and bargaining for what he wants, he confesses to a handful of other crimes — while alluding to a whole lot more.
Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.
Keep up with us on Instagram @serialkillerspodcast! Have a story to share? Email us at [email protected]
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In 2012, Israel Keyes is arrested and charged with kidnapping and killing an 18-year-old barista. Prior to that, he’d had just one blemish on his criminal record: a DUI. He’s since been called “the most terrifying serial killer you’ve probably never heard of.”
Special thanks to Josh Hallmark for lending his expertise to today’s episode. Check out True Crime Bullshit, Josh’s investigation into Israel Keyes, as well as his other Studio BOTH/AND podcasts on Spotify or wherever else you listen.
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On September 29, 1982, 12-year-old Mary Kellerman took one Extra Strength Tylenol capsule to ease her sore throat and mysteriously died less than four hours later. The same day, three members of the Janus family ingested Tylenol. Brothers Adam and Stanley died hours later. Theresa, Stanley’s wife, experienced chest pain and was rushed to the hospital, where she passed away two days later.
In that span of time, two more victims – Mary Reiner and Mary McFarland – met similar fates. Shortly after, Paula Prince was discovered dead in her apartment
All seven victims were living in the Chicago area; all seven had taken Extra-Strength Tylenol. Authorities determined the capsules had been laced with deadly potassium cyanide; a task force was promptly assembled; and Tylenol’s parent company, Johnson & Johnson, swiftly removed products from shelves amid growing concern around the country. Soon, they introduced tamper-proof packaging that became ubiquitous for medications and other products.
And yet, the crime remains unsolved to this day.
One name loomed large in the field of suspects connected to the unsolved 1982 Chicago Tylenol Murders: James Lewis. Investigators could never prove he did it, but Lewis held a certain fascination anyway. Why? Who was this man – and could he really have committed such an evil crime? CBS Chicago investigative reporter Brad Edwards decided to trace Lewis’s past to answer those questions for the docuseries PainKiller: The Tylenol Murders, on Paramount Plus.
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In July 2023, Rex Heuermann was arrested and charged with the murders of Megan Waterman, Melissa Barthelemy, and Amber Costello. Additional charges came in January 2024 for the murder of Maureen Brainard-Barnes.
Robert Kolker, author of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery joins the show to talk about the 16-year investigation, the apathy toward sex workers, and the lives and families of the Gilgo Four.
The audiobook edition of Lost Girls: An Unsolved American Mystery by Robert Kolker is available for Spotify Premium Subscribers in our Audiobook catalog, where you can check it out after listening to this episode.
To buy the hard copy, you can visit: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/lost-girls-robert-kolker
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Olivia Hope and Ben Smart were partying with their friends on New Year’s Eve in the Marlborough Sounds of New Zealand. As the party was dying down they accepted an offer from a stranger to come aboard his yacht. They were never heard from again.
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In October 1983, police found Gertrude McCabe dead inside her San Jose home: Who would murder an 88-year-old woman in such a violent fashion?
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This episode is sponsored by ABC’s Will Trent, last season’s most talked-about new crime series. Special agent Will Trent has an eye for the crucial clues that close even the toughest cases. He uses his amazing gift for reading crime scenes to catch kidnappers, murderers – even a serial killer. Watch Season 2 of Will Trent, at its new time, Tuesdays at 8/7c on ABC and stream on Hulu.
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During a 1972 snowstorm, musical prodigy Lee Morgan and his band played a set at Slug’s Saloon in New York City. One minute, he was entertaining the crowd, his trumpet blaring with solo after solo. The next, he was dead.
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Sometimes violence comes from the people you least expect. Annie Elise, host of SERIALously and 10 to Life, joins Vanessa to discuss two shocking murders, overlooked warning signs, and how all of us can prevent future tragedies.
The case of Brenda Delgado and Ricky Paniagua begins at (2:53), and the case of Morgan McCaffery and Gilbert Newton III begins at (17:17). Annie and Vanessa share their final thoughts and the resources available to all of us starting at (28:11).
Visit https://impact.byspotify.com/serialkillers to learn more, get support, and take action on the specific types of abuse in this episode. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence in any form, help is available. The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides free, confidential support 24/7. Call 1-800-799-SAFE, or visit TheHotline.org.
If you need support for a teen or young person experiencing dating abuse, visit the Love is Respect website at https://www.loveisrespect.org/.
For mental health resources and global domestic violence resources, you can visit https://resources.byspotify.com/
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Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores the music references Manson’s followers left at the crime scenes, how the crimes reverberated through the music business, and why Charles Manson blamed the murders on The Beatles.
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Leading up to the Grammys, we’re covering one of history’s most infamous musicians: Charles Manson. Vanessa explores how Manson’s failed music career morphed into a murder cult.
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50 years ago to this day, Dennis Rader, aka BTK, killed four members of the Otero family. These murders were his first of ten, and he would play cat-and-mouse games with media and law enforcement for the next 30 years before his own ego got him captured.
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A fire in the beautiful LaLaurie mansion reveals some ugly secrets. In this episode we recount the events of the night in 1834 when Delphine went from being the queen of Creole society to one of its most reviled citizens.
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Her New Orleans mansion is said to be haunted, but the truth behind the legend of Delphine LaLaurie is much scarier than a ghost lurking in the corner. Join Vanessa as she recounts the life and horror of the infamous mistress.
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Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year.
After Robert Garrow committed his first murder, he retreated to Adirondack Park to hide in the wilderness. But the peaceful atmosphere of the woods only agitated him more, leading him to go on a gruesome murder spree in the Adirondack Mountains. And even after being caught, he still planned to continue killing.
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Happy holidays from all of us at Serial Killers! We will be back with a new episode in January. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy one of our best episodes of the year.
He grew up without any friends and suffered severe head injuries due to abuse from his parents. As Robert Garrow got older, he turned to crimes like larceny and burglary. But eventually, he gave way to darker and more twisted impulses.
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After the fallout at the PNC Bank, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Bill Rothstein scrambled to cover their tracks. But the FBI was already closing in, working to reveal the mastermind behind the entire plan.
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In order to deactivate the bomb, Brian’s co-conspirators set up an elaborate scavenger hunt around Erie, Pennsylvania. But as police started to follow the clues, tragedy struck.
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In August 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Wells strapped a collar bomb to his neck and chest and entered a PNC Bank demanding $250,000 in cash. He thought it was the perfect bank robbery, and that the bomb on his chest was fake. He was wrong on both counts.
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After her sentencing, investigators and the American public thought the case of ‘Bloody Babs’ was finally over. But as Barbara revealed new details about her version of events, her guilt was once again put into question.
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The case of Barbara Graham has mystified people for generations. She was convicted for the murder of Mabel Monahan in 1953, but was she actually guilty? Or just in the wrong place at the wrong time?
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Adolfo Constanzo may be known as the leader of The Narco Satanists cult, but equally deserving of the title was his right-hand woman, Sara Aldrete. Following Adolfo’s recruitment, Sara accompanied him everywhere – from ritual magic to murder.
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For Halloween, we’re presenting an urban legend about a terrifying Texas child-killer… and discussing how real-life cases echo the legend.
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In Hayward, California, in 1988, the unthinkable happened – 9-year-old Michaela Garecht was abducted by a stranger, witnessed only by her best friend. Her mother endures decades of stalled-out investigations and false leads, until the abduction is linked to a possible serial killer.
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The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: Members of Osage Nation are being targeted for their high-priced oil headrights. There’s so many murders that the small local police department can’t investigate thoroughly, so the tribe turns to the newly-formed FBI to get the job done.
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The true story behind Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon: In the early twentieth century, Oklahoma’s Osage Reservation was rich in oil and spread the wealth across the tribe. But in the 1920s, it became clear that someone was killing members of the tribe. Was it a serial killer? A ploy to grab rights to the oil money? Or was it both?
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In the early 2000s, a serial killer attacked at least six young women around Jacksonville, Florida. Though we’re still awaiting official justice, authorities have strong suspicion around convicted murderer Paul Durousseau. Today, Vanessa analyzes how well the Strangler’s crimes line up with Durousseau’s MO.
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You may have heard of ‘boy moms’, but we promise you’ve never heard of one like Sante Kimes. In the final part of our story you’ll hear about how Kimes’ grifts grew in scale and complexity, and how the only person she trusted to carry out her deadly plans was her own son, Kenny Jr.
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What would you steal if you knew you could get away with it? After years of robbery and fraud Sante Kimes moved on to steal something much more sinister than coats and cash: people’s freedom. Specifically, the freedom of service workers and undocumented immigrants who she enslaved in her homeusing terrifying threats and physical violence.
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Sante Kimes grew up with very little, so after she moved in with millionaire real-estate investor Kenneth Kimes, she took advantage of all that his wealth had to offer. Enough was never enough: and once she got what she wanted, she couldn’t stop.
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Rudy Bladel claimed he murdered his coworkers in an act of revenge — but most of his victims were complete strangers. Vanessa examines his life and crimes to understand Bladel’s twisted logic.
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Harvey Miguel Robinson committed his first murder when he was just 17. As the son of a convicted murderer and violent abuser, did he ever have a chance?
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In 1969, a 23-year-old law student at the University of Michigan was found murdered in a cemetery outside of Ann Arbor. Jane Mixer’s death was considered part of a string of violent killings known as the Michigan murders, thought to be the work of a serial killer. That changed when new evidence came to light. But more than 50 years later, doubt remains. Was the right person sent to prison?
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Eliot Ness went to the grave in 1957 without ever convicting the Cleveland Torso Murderer. Decades later, his family would reveal a secret suspect hidden within his notes, that was too well-connected to be accused publicly. This episode originally aired in April 2019.
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When a torso washed up on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in 1937, the police initially assumed a crime of passion. But when the next torso was found, they knew they had a serial murderer on their hands. Nicknamed the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, a notorious killer stalked the slums of Cleveland, killing vagrants he thought no one would miss. This episode originally aired in April 2019.
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In the 1980s, after decades of snowballing violent impulses, Dayton Leroy Rogers began murdering women and leaving their bodies in the Molalla forest in Oregon.
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After a repressive religious upbringing filled with abuse from his fundamentalist father, Dayton Leroy Rogers grew into a rage-filled young man.
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After a 7-month hiatus between 1918 and 1919, the Axeman jumped back into his killing spree. City officials tried to track down the mysterious killer, but their hunt led to nothing but dead ends and wrongful convictions. To this day, the Axeman's true identity remains unknown. This episode originally aired April 2020.
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While the U.S. was wrapped up in the final days of World War I, New Orleans was facing an enemy right in their own backyard. In the early 20th century, a wave of fear rolled through Crescent City as a mysterious man began axing people in the dead of night while they were fast asleep. This episode originally aired March 2020.
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By 1985, the Monster of Florence had claimed 16 lives—but authorities were no closer to catching the killer than when they'd started their investigation, and the trail was getting colder every day.
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One of Italy’s most notorious serial killers has never (definitively) been identified. The mysterious Monster of Florence murdered couples in their cars, beginning in 1974. The crimes were so horrific that all of Florence was on edge, and the hunt for the killer was vast. This episode originally aired February 2021.
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In the so-called murder capital of the world, Terry Childs grew up in the shadows of infamous serial killers. Until he became one himself.
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Following a string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the Zodiac Killer continues to write letters taunting the press and police. This episode originally aired in February 2020.
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In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s. This episode originally aired in February 2020.
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Some hitmen must walk the line between being a family man at home and a killer at work. But Greg Scarpa wasn't your ordinary hitman. He was paid by the FBI as a Criminal Informant and was instrumental in helping them solve crimes. But some think his close relationship with his handler gave him a license to kill.
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Starting in the 1950s, Greg Scarpa killed his way up the ladder to become the Colombo family's main hitman. By the mid-1980s, his children were in on the family secret. And the only thing more surprising than the number of kills he racked up was who else was paying him.
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In 1982, while Richard Biegenwald was on a killing spree along the Jersey Shore, he also groomed a young woman he lived with to be his protégé. But when she ultimately wasn't up to the task, it meant Biegenwald's secret was out. And it would lead to his downfall.
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Before he was even five years old, Richard Biegenwald was diagnosed with schizophrenia. After more than a decade in institutions and reform schools, he finally got the freedom he longed for. But once out in the world, he reverted to old habits and destructive behavior.
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During his twenties, he spent his free time reading books about how to kill a human being. Naturally, a job as a mafia hitman was perfect for Thomas Pitera. But when he went from a cold, calculated killer to slowly torturing his targets, it became harder for him to evade authorities.
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While many know his son, Oscar-nominated actor Woody Harrelson, Charles Harrelson spent most of his adult life on the wrong side of the law. As a contract killer, he successfully killed his first two targets but went to trial for both. Years later, he was back on the streets, ready to make a big payday.
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After Robert Garrow committed his first murder, he retreated to Adirondack Park to hide in the wilderness. But the peaceful atmosphere of the woods only agitated him more, leading him to go on a gruesome murder spree in the Adirondack Mountains. And even after being caught, he still planned to continue killing.
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He grew up without any friends and suffered severe head injuries due to abuse from his parents. As Robert Garrow got older, he turned to crimes like larceny and burglary. But eventually, he gave way to darker and more twisted impulses.
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Hitmen need a certain level of detachment to do their job. They typically think of their victims as targets, not people. So when brothers Steve and Robert Homick were hired to kill Gerald and Vera Woodman, their inability to be cool, calm, and collected led to a series of mistakes and, ultimately, their capture.
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There is an old saying that blood is thicker than water. But on Sept. 25, 1985, Gerald and Vera Woodman were gunned down in the parking garage of their condo — victims of a hit put on them by two of their adult sons.
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By the end of 1993, seven decomposed bodies had been pulled from Australia's Belanglo State Forest. The nation was terrified, and the police force was put on notice: There was a serial killer on the loose. This episode became a Parcast Instant Classic when it initially aired in November, 2020.
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The bodies of two missing backpackers were recovered from Australia’s Belanglo State Forest in 1992. They weren’t the last. This episode became a Parcast Instant Classic when it initially aired in November, 2020.
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Being outside with nature is where he felt most comfortable. That’s why Gary Michael Hilton targeted avid hikers in peaceful, wooded areas. But while he chose his victims carefully, he didn't give the same type of thought to getting away with his crimes.
If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.
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Out in nature, alone with only the trees for company, Gary Michael Hilton found a peace that always eluded him in day-to-day life. Numerous run-ins with landlords, spouses, and law enforcement complicated things in the city. And in October of 2007, he went from petty thief to murderer.
If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.
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Philadelphia’s first Earth Day celebration made him a minor celebrity. When he met 25-year-old Holly Maddux, he knew he had to be with her. They lived together for a few years before Holly started to see the real Ira Einhorn. Just days after she told others she was leaving him, she disappeared.
If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.
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If you were in Philadelphia during the 1960s and interested in the counterculture movement, you probably saw Ira Einhorn storm the stage at the city’s very first Earth Day. While peace and love were the mainstays of his belief system, Ira didn't always practice what he preached.
If you’d like to take action on the climate or learn more about the topics covered in “Dark Green: Earth Crimes and Conspiracies,” visit www.spotify.com/darkgreenresources.
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By early July 1988, he had already tortured, mutilated, and killed two women. Police were stumped until they sent in one of their own undercover. And while his wife and children slept, 30-year-old Steven Brian Pennell took the bait.
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With fear of confrontation and anxiety about disappointing loved ones, Steven Brian Pennell pent up his rage. He'd often drive along Highway 40 in Delaware to clear his head. After killing his first hitchhiker, he realized there was only one way to satisfy his desires.
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While she was a pediatric nurse at Bexar County Hospital, Genene Jones' colleagues were alarmed by how many babies were dying during her shift. When evidence was presented to the hospital's medical director, an investigation was launched. But during that time, Jones stayed on the job, and her patients were still in danger.
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She had experienced her share of tragedy, losing her father and a brother to cancer. That's why Genene Jones went into nursing. She wanted to make a difference. And while she was very devoted to her job in the pediatric ICU, it seemed far more babies were dying during Genene's shifts than any other nurse's.
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His family says that a traumatic brain injury when he was 13 changed Peter Kudzinowski's behavior. But alcohol always made him aggressive. When he was 25 years old, he was found intoxicated on the street in Detroit and put in the drunk tank. He hinted at committing horrible crimes — and the police wanted to know more.
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Imagine knowing who a serial killer is for years but not having enough evidence to prove it. This is what happened to police in Sydney, Australia. During the 1980s, Leonard Warwick was angry when he lost custody of his daughter after his divorce, so he targeted employees of the family court system. And the only way to stop the violence was for his ex-wife to surrender custody.
Today, Vanessa joins Carter Roy for a special crossover episode with Cold Cases.
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With Mir Aimal Kansi safely back in Pakistan, the FBI had to try to find him and bring him home. After a raid on Kansi's family home yielded nothing, authorities realized they were in over their heads, until a raise in the reward money for Kansi's capture led to new tips.
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On the morning of January 25th, 1993, Mir Aimal Kansi carried out an assault on members of the CIA without ever stepping onto the grounds. After killing two and injuring three others, Kansi left the scene and waited to be apprehended at a nearby park. When the FBI didn't come for him, he fled the country.
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Before he earned his nickname in prison, Manuel Pardo Jr was a corrupt cop in Florida during the 1980s. But when law enforcement didn’t let him get the justice he wanted, he took the law into his own hands.
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Holed up in a cabin in Big Bear, California, Christopher Dorner was trapped. A perimeter of 40 officers with guns drawn was waiting in the snowy forest. Police wanted the standoff to end sooner than later. But the method they would use would be controversial.
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In February 2013, a former police officer fired by the LAPD, had a score to settle. His name was Christopher Dorner and his manifesto included a list of people he wanted to kill, many of them cops. But before authorities could stop him, they needed to find him.
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He found a way to fit into his new surroundings everywhere he moved. Terry Rasmussen would change his name, marry someone new, then brutally murder them – only to move somewhere else and do it all over again.
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In 2001 Robert Durst was posing as a woman, hiding from authorities in Galveston, Texas. He befriends a neighbor, Morris Black, who he later kills and dismembers. Though he avoids conviction, over a decade later, he seemingly makes a confession admitting guilt for not only Morris’s fate, but Kathie’s and Susan’s too.
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Before he was the subject of HBO’s “The Jinx,” he was the son of a wealthy real estate developer who had everything at his disposal. As he grows up he finds a best friend in Susan Berman and marries his first wife Kathie. Within decades, they’d both be gone — one vanished, one murdered.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp.
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He was bullied at school and abused by his mother. As an adult, he had violent fantasies of raping and strangling women. But Carroll Cole's first murder was actually as a child. And once he did it, he couldn't stop fantasizing about doing it again.
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By the time he aged out of the foster system, Vincent Johnson had already shown signs of being violent. As an adult, he became increasingly unstable while living on the streets of Brooklyn. Then as his rage grew, he targeted women in his neighborhood, some of whom knew each other.
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No matter where Bill Suff lived, he was seen mainly by neighbors and co-workers as a helpful and happy man. It was a massive shock to them, and especially his wife, when he was indicted on 14 murder counts and one count of attempted murder.
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It was the late 1960s when Bill Suff, the oldest of five children, was forced into a co-parenting role after his dad walked out on the family. His lack of control over the world around him made him angry. And one day, he would let out all that anger in a violent fashion.
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In the weeks after their third murder, Kam McLeod and Bryer Schmegelsky disappear into the woods of northern Manitoba, over a thousand miles away from where their killing spree began. The RCMP throws their resources into the investigation, but the biggest headway comes from a local man named Billy Beardy — an expert hunter and Cree Nation trapper who knows the land better than anyone.
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In the start of a new special series on Serial Killers, we’re delving into the minds of killers on the run — cracking open some of the largest manhunts ever undertaken. Our first episode takes us into the vast wilderness of Northern Canada, where the discovery of three bodies along remote highways begins an unprecedented search for a pair of killers.
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In the 1980s, Richard Angelo was a Long Island native working as a nurse in the ICU. He’d found his passion — emergency medicine — in college. But somewhere along the way, his drive to be a hero took an ugly detour.
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Today Vanessa is joined by Haesue Jo, Licensed Therapist & Head of Clinical Operations at BetterHelp.
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While the Stocking Strangler terrorized a Georgia suburb, another killer stalked military bases in the state. William Henry Hance was an army officer with an eruptive temper who was charged with the murders of three women. Police caught onto his crimes in part because Hance wrote them letters blaming the attacks on an evil cabal named the Forces of Evil.
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After a confession leads police down the wrong path, they establish the Strangling Task Force and redouble their efforts. 27-year-old Carlton Gary keeps up appearances, until he’s arrested for the last time. For police, it’s an open-and-shut case. Yet Carlton maintains his innocence until the very end.
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For several terrifying months in the 1970s, elderly women in a Georgia suburb were turning up dead or brutally injured in their homes. The murders set the community on edge as police reckoned with a serial strangler.
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In 1946, the mysterious Phantom Killer who had terrorized the town of Texarkana for months disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. With little evidence to go on, the police home in on one suspect. But justice proves harder to come by than they'd hoped.
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In 1946, the city of Texarkana was plagued by a series of attacks and murders on couples parked in their cars. Police, however, failed to act quickly enough, potentially giving the murderer enough time to get away.
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The spree continues into Christmas Day and beyond, during which the teen gang murders their third, fourth, fifth and sixth victims. After a tip, police catch the group wearing victims’ clothing, driving a victim’s stolen car, and in possession of the guns they used in their murders.
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In the early hours of Christmas Eve 1992, a senseless murder in Dayton, Ohio, marks the beginning of a rampage. What started as a desire for Christmas cash turns into a three-day killing spree that leaves six people dead. Even more shocking was that the brazen killers were just teens.
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Eddie’s crimes escalated in the ‘90s as he continued to dodge police. By 1996, he had attacked eight people, killing three of them. But unlike the original Zodiac Killer, Eddie didn’t stay anonymous for long.
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Twenty years after the notorious Zodiac Killer terrorized San Francisco, someone else picked up their mantle. Heriberto “Eddie” Seda was a Brooklyn native and one-time street preacher who began targeting victims and taunting police with cryptic letters. His plan: kill twelve people — one of each Zodiac sign.
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Once back in the U.S., Maust serves time for manslaughter before regaining his freedom. He continues befriending teenage boys who fill his need for companionship. But time and again, Maust caves to his violent urges. Despite his guilt, and his spontaneous ability to stop himself mid-murder attempt, he takes four more lives by 2004.
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A volatile childhood and stints in a hospital psych ward set the stage for a violent killer who murdered teenage boys in Germany and the U.S. from the 1970s to the early aughts.
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Over the ages, arsenic has had many lives — beauty fad, household product, medical prescription… and weapon of choice wielded by killers everywhere from Alabama to ancient Rome. Brine your turkey, knead your dough, and listen to our Thanksgiving Special on the regime-changing, assassination-aiding King of Poisons.
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With his caked-on makeup and pathological lies, Charles “Smitty” Schmid cut a distinctive figure among Tucson’s youth. The 22-year-old wanted to draw misfit teens to himself like moths to a flame, before holding a cultish sway over them. Schmid was a corrupting force. And by the summer of 1965, he had killed at least three young women, burying their bodies in the Arizona desert.
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When The Texas Chain Saw Massacre debuted in 1974, audiences had a visceral experience so frightening, many believed what they witnessed was real. Its main villain, Leatherface, slaughtered innocent youths and wore their skin for pleasure. This depiction of violence seemed surreal, but echoed the real-life crimes of a man who inspired some of Hollywood’s most infamous characters: Ed Gein.
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Premiering in 1991, The Silence of the Lambs was anything but your typical horror movie. While it made the name Hannibal Lecter famous, at its core, the film was a psychological thriller that tracked the moves of a murderer at large: Buffalo Bill. But while Bill’s methods may have seemed too gruesome to be true, the inspiration was a combination of three of the most heinous killers of all time.
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In 1996, a new horror movie with an innovative twist would reinvigorate the slasher genre. But behind the fictional Ghostface was an inspiration steeped in reality. A man in a makeshift mask who stalked and tormented teenage girls during a three-day murderous rampage. A man known as the Gainesville Ripper.
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Andrei’s murders don’t go unnoticed. A pattern emerges: young victims, bodies mutilated, left in isolated patches of wilderness. But even with police on high alert, the serial killer eludes capture until 1990 — when his twelve-year reign of terror finally ends.
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In the USSR, an engineer hid a secret he was deeply ashamed of — his inability to have sex with women he dated. His frustration made him withdraw from others, until he developed a proclivity for sexual violence that, at last, could satisfy him.
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In the late 1950s, a Los Angeles native started a crime spree that would stretch into the ‘80s. John Floyd Thomas Jr. spent those decades terrorizing his hometown, targeting women aged 50 and older who lived alone, and occasionally even going to jail for his assaults. But it’s not until the early aughts, and the creation of the Cold Case Homicide Unit, that that LAPD is able to pin him with multiple rapes and murders.
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By 2011, the FBI was ready to reexamine the evidence. A theory emerged: What if the Mad Poisoner was actually the Unabomber? Ted Kaczynski had proven he was a revenge-seeking terrorist, and he had connections to Chicago. Perhaps he traded homemade bombs for poisoned pills. Or maybe the deadly concoctions came straight from the Johnson & Johnson facility itself. In the absence of clear answers, only theories remain… and rumors that someone is still out there, replacing Halloween treats with fatal tricks. This is a crossover special with Conspiracy Theories.
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If Roger Arnold wasn’t behind the murders, who was? Police turn their focus to a new suspect: a disgruntled accountant named James Lewis. But the more police dig into Lewis’s life, the more questions they have. The road ahead is paved with extortion, false identities, and revenge. This is a crossover special with Conspiracy Theories.
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Forty years ago, cyanide-laced Tylenol capsules led to the deaths of seven people all around the Chicago area. America was gripped by paranoia and fear. Why was this happening? Who would be next? Police grasped for suspects who might be the so-called “Mad Poisoner.” We’re joined by Carter Roy from Conspiracy Theories to tell the story.
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In 1972, Schaefer was the newly appointed Deputy Sheriff of Martin County. He used his badge to gain trust and wield authority over teenage girls — particularly hitchhikers, whose sudden disappearances could be explained away. Authorities connected Schaefer to nearly thirty missing persons cases, but he was only ever convicted in the murders of two.
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Obsessed with moral power and control, Gerard Schaefer was a police officer in Florida who targeted teen hitchhikers in the late 1960s and early ‘70s. Schaefer spent his youth nursing deviant sexual urges, taking solo hunting trips to indulge in self-inflicted rope torture and animal necrophilia. But the most damning evidence of his descent into brutality may be the hellish fantasies he recorded in his journals.
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In April 1892, the man authorities now realized was Frederick Deeming was on trial for the murder of his second wife, Emily Williams. But as his story circulated the globe, media began alleging his supposed crimes resembled those of a notorious London criminal — Jack the Ripper. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast.
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In March 1892, investigators in Australia were looking for an Englishman named Albert Williams who had allegedly killed his wife and buried her in their home. Once he was taken into custody, a reporter back in the UK decided to do some digging, and unearthed a terrible secret. This is a special crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast.
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What kind of person confesses to multiple heinous crimes — while innocent? Gerald Stano did just that, until there was nothing left to confess to. But while there was no forensic evidence linking him to the 41 murders he implicated himself in, Stano was sentenced to death three times over.
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After a childhood of being bullied and living with a well below-average IQ, Gerald Stano's need to connect with other people was intense. When police questioned him about the stabbing death of a young woman, he wanted to impress the detective. So he confessed. But did he really kill her?
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Although he had developed a sense of discipline in the military, a traumatic brain injury and deep-rooted rage inched Wayne Adam Ford closer to losing control. In 1997, over a decade after he was honorably discharged, he killed his first victim. He would kill three more over the next year.
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In 1979, Wayne Adam Ford was looking for a fresh start. He arrived at boot camp for the U.S. Marine Corps leaving a childhood of chaos and negligence behind him. While the Marines did teach Ford how to curb his aggression using self-control, they also taught him something else… how to kill.
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Elizabeth Short’s gruesome murder is the LAPD’s most infamous unsolved case. But there’s one person who thinks he’s cracked it — the alleged killer’s own son. Today, we reopen the case against George Hodel, a certified genius and once-celebrated doctor who rubbed elbows with noted surrealists... and had a vile history of abuse and terror, even against his own family.
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In 1940s Hollywood, a 22-year-old aspiring actress is found mutilated and drained of blood. Her body is posed, and her mouth has been carved into a permanent smile. The investigation takes police into the hidden sides of the city — illicit romances and gang-related crimes. But when another mutilated body is found weeks later, the hunt is on for a possible serial killer.
This is a crossover series with Unsolved Murders, looking at the murder of Elizabeth Short and other unsolved cases surrounding it.
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Henry Busch had a love-hate relationship with maternal figures. Perhaps it was because he lacked one growing up. He had already killed a 74-year-old family friend when he saw “Psycho” in 1960. Identifying with the film’s main character, Henry left the screening with his 65-year old date sure of one thing: he needed to kill again.
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Throughout 1989 and 1990, elderly women in Sydney were being preyed upon. But because investigators were wrongly looking for a young man, John Wayne Glover was free to kill without suspicion. Until one day, a simple mistake led police right to him.
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He started by stealing and shoplifting as a teenager in the UK. When he was 24, John Wayne Glover moved to Australia, where he became a peeping tom and eventually escalated into physically assaulting older women. It was an obvious red flag, and yet nobody realized he would become Australia's worst serial killer.
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As an overweight Black kid growing up in a white suburb, Kendall Francois dealt with his fair share of bullying. His parents were hoarders, so he wasn't even allowed to have friends visit. The shame he felt as a child turned to rage as an adult, and he took it out on local sex workers.
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As he got older, Sean Vincent Gillis's impulses got darker. He committed murder, necrophilic rape, and even cannibalism. After eight victims, he finally made a mistake at one of the crime scenes. It was all the police needed to track down the killer.
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As a kid, Sean Vincent Gillis would visit his grandmother's funeral home and sleep in the empty coffins. He'd sometimes hold the bodies' cold hands or fondle them. The corpses gave him precisely what he was looking for: a female partner who wouldn't say "no.”
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For years, people had been disappearing along the Osage Mission Trail. Between their odd behavior and the horrible stench inside their cabin, the Bender family were obvious suspects. So a town trustee led 75 volunteers onto the property. But things didn’t go as planned. .
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In Kansas during the 1800s, people who traveled along the Osage Mission Trail began to disappear. And if people had been paying attention, they may have noticed that those who entered the Bender family cabin never came out.
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In 2005, the disappearance of 22-year-old Tamara Chipman changed everything. Her case brought enough attention to the Highway of Tears that the Canadian government was forced to act. They launched a task force to reexamine cases, hoping to find links between crimes. But despite the momentum, their investigations have stalled out — leaving residents to live under the specter of the next murder.
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Every once in a while, authorities would catch an extraordinary break: In 1985, a tip led to a man responsible for three murders. Then in 2010, a routine traffic stop led to a man responsible for four murders. Even still, there were so many more women unaccounted for. And more cases to come.
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Gloria Moody was 27 years old and the mother of two young children when she was found dead in Williams Lake, British Columbia. She is one of the earliest cases of indigenous women who have been found dead or have disappeared along a lonely stretch of roads known as the Highway of Tears.
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He was a cannibal, a necrophiliac, and even kept his victims' dismembered body parts carefully preserved in his refrigerator. Yet, Jeffrey Dahmer's horrific crimes don't mesh with his timid personality. His pathological fear of being alone meant finding people he could make stay with him forever.
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He kidnapped, raped, and murdered more than 30 women. There's a belief that Ted Bundy got away with these crimes because he was a confident and savvy manipulator. But a look back shows that because he was young, educated, and conventionally attractive, he could hide in plain sight.
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The "Killer Clown" likely contributed to people's fears of makeup-wearing jesters. But the truth is, John Wayne Gacy's personas, "Pogo" or "Patches," didn't harm a soul. It was the successful suburban businessman hiding in plain sight who was preying on young men and boys. This is the second episode in our 5-year anniversary special, looking back on the serial killer boom of the 1970s.
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It’s been five years since the Serial Killers podcast debuted, and to celebrate the anniversary, we’re reexamining a grisly time in America: the serial killer boom of the 1970s. Edmund Kemper was one of the first serial killers to be profiled by the FBI. His deep-rooted issues with his mother, extremely high IQ, and ability to outsmart police allowed him to kill all the co-eds he wanted.
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Even while on the lam, Gary Ray Bowles continued to kill. The FBI posted flyers in gay communities near Interstate 95. Just as the police closed in, he assumed a new identity and went back into hiding. Detectives had to wait for a mistake.
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At age 13, he had his first violent outburst. It was a sign of things to come for Gary Ray Bowles, who preyed on men he met in gay communities. When police traced his first murder back to him, he went on the run. From town to town along Interstate 95, he wanted to kill as many people as possible before the law caught up to him.
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After four horrific murders, a joint task force was no closer to identifying the Last Call Killer. But improvements in crime technology allowed them to send the killer's fingerprints to law enforcement nationwide. The one murder Richard Rogers got away with in Maine wound up putting him behind bars for his other murders.
Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!
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Before he became a cardiac surgical nurse, Richard Rogers killed his grad school roommate and got away with it. Twenty years later, he turned local NYC watering holes into his hunting ground.
Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!
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He was the picture of rehabilitation. After serving 13 years in prison, Mark Goudeau re-entered society with a steady construction job, passed every drug test, and checked in with his parole officer. And he used this new reputation to fly under the radar of law enforcement for years.
Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!
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When the relationship with his live-in boyfriend deteriorated, Donald Harvey took it out on the patients at Daniel Drake Memorial Hospital. But he was tired of killing the same old way. So he switched things up, and it ultimately led to his arrest.
Countdown to the CULTS book release! Parcast’s first book hits shelves July 12th. It’s an unflinching exploration of shame, secrecy, power, exploitation, and destruction. Learn more at www.parcast.com/cults!
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After settling into the gay community of Cincinnati, Donald Harvey did his best to live a normal life. He moved in with a boyfriend and held a steady job. But deep down, that urge to control others still pulled at him. And he satisfied that impulse with poison.
Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!
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He didn’t have control of much growing up in rural Kentucky. His family was poor. His uncle sexually abused him. And his parents were ashamed of his homosexuality. But once Donald Harvey was hired as a hospital orderly, he found he could wield absolute power over the powerless.
Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!
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After years of dead ends and roadblocks, detectives finally tracked down the old man they believed was responsible for kidnapping 10-year-old Grace Budd. His name was Albert Fish, and he would turn out to be one of the most twisted murderers in American history. This is the final episode of a two-part crossover with the hosts of Solved Murders: True Crime Mysteries.
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When a family acquaintance offered to take 10-year-old Grace Budd to his niece’s birthday party, the Budd family warily accepted the old man’s invitation. Little did they know it would be the last time they would see their daughter again. This is a crossover episode with the hosts of Solved Murders, a Parcast show that investigates what it takes to catch a killer.
Parcasters, we have exciting news! Our first book hits bookshelves July 12th. Don’t miss this chilling summer read that takes you deep into the darkest sides of human nature. Learn more and grab your copy at www.parcast.com/cults!
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Fritz Honka was a German serial killer who shared drinks with his victims at his local bar before killing and dismembering them in his Hamburg apartment. He might have gotten away with his crimes if not for a building fire that exposed the bodies in 1975.
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Los Angeles in the ‘70s was a dangerous place to be. The city was menaced by multiple serial killers, and by 1978, yet another one had emerged on the scene. In Skid Row, nearly a dozen identical murders put the area’s homeless residents on high alert. Police put their prime suspect, Bobby Joe Maxwell, in jail — adamant they’d gotten their guy. But ultimately, the charges wouldn’t stick.
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In March of 1991, after the murder of three sex workers in four months, Dallas investigators only had one lead: Charles Albright. The problem was that they had no proof he had been involved in any of the crimes. Their only hope was finding somebody on the street who would talk.
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As a child, Charles Albright developed a penchant for eyes while learning taxidermy. But his most dangerous trait was always his charm. Able to talk his way out of trouble, he rarely suffered any consequences for his actions. How far could his talk take him?
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Two families in mid 20th century America became tragic tales of recurring Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. Over and over, their babies died without any real explanation. Except there was an explanation. By the time authorities caught on, it was too late.
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There's a common belief that all mothers are inherently good. But these two women have something to say about that misconception. Amelia Dyer ran a business where the more kids she killed, the more money she made. Mary Ann Cotton found that it was hard to support all the extra mouths to feed as a working woman, so she poisoned her family. And for years, authorities were none the wiser.
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John Christie felt alive and in control after his first murder. It's no surprise that he would want to recreate that feeling. So he did. Over and over and over. And the bodies started to pile up at 10 Rillington Place.
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John Christie wasn’t good at very much. Not relationships. Not even petty crime. But one evening in 1943, he strangled a sex worker to death and hid her body under the floorboards of his flat in Notting Hill, London. He’d found what he was good at, and he’d keep doing it for a decade.
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Thomas Dillon had a degree, a good job, a house, and a family. But what he wanted more than anything, was to hunt. His prey: people. Dillon would drive through the backcountry of Ohio and fire upon unsuspecting people before driving away.
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He lured young models into his home with promises of fame in true detective magazines. But once they were tied up and photographed, Harvey Glatman would rape them and kill them. Then he would keep the photos of their last moments alive as souvenirs.
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Every time Timothy Krajcir felt the urge to kill, he would find a target and then fasten a blue bandana over his face. He committed these crimes over and over and never felt any remorse. Not for his victims. Not for their families. Not even for the man who went to jail for one of his crimes.
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Believing he had been reformed, the parole board released 31-year-old Timothy Krajcir from prison in 1976 after serving a little over 10 years for attempted murder and rape. He then enrolled in a criminal justice course. Not to start a new career, but to learn how to get away with murder.
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For over a year, Robin Gecht had been leading his own satanic cult composed of three of his own workers. But as they committed more murders, they got sloppy. When a victim left for dead survived her attack, it opened a window for police.
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Robin Gecht lived his public life like a model citizen. He operated his construction company, played with his kids, and went to church every Sunday. But there was a dark side he kept secret from them. One that involved Satan, torture, and cannibalistic acts.
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After committing his first three murders, Joseph's struggle with schizophrenia persisted. He couldn't ignore the voices. And by the time he'd done their bidding, 12 people had died, and he’d been given a new nickname: "The .22 Caliber Killer."
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Two years before he embarked on a killing spree in Buffalo and New York City, Joseph G. Christopher’s friends and family noticed a seismic shift in his personality. The 23-year-old was beset by mood swings and paranoia. His hold on reality was unraveling. In the end, it would prove fatal.
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Thanks to an unsuspecting benefactor, Duncan gets a fresh start in North Dakota. But his blog entries begin leaving chilling clues as to what lies ahead. In 2005, his violent impulses lead him to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho and his worst crime yet.
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A teenage sex offender carried out horrific crimes against young boys in Washington in the late 1970s before being sent to a treatment program, followed by prison. Fourteen years later, Joseph Edward Duncan III was paroled, free to carry out a murder spree that claimed the lives of three kids.
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In the 1970s, after abusing his children and getting away with it, Joseph Kallinger enlists his son in a mission from God that terrorizes the suburbs of Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
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The adopted son of cobblers began having hallucinations as early as 15 years old. They were harmless at first — but tragically, they wouldn’t stay that way.
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After years of charming women into getting engaged to him, Henri Désiré Landru had perfected his system of making his fiances, and all of their wealth, disappear. But when the sisters of two of his victims catch on to his ploy, they threaten the whole complex process.
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In France, a con man charmed women into getting engaged before robbing them and taking them to his country villa. Where they all mysteriously disappeared.
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Numerous childhood traumas led Tsutomu Miyazaki to create a monstrous character in his head named "Rat Man" that eventually took control of his thoughts and actions. "Rat Man" required human sacrifices and his preference was little girls.
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In 2010 a serial killer terrorized an area of Philadelphia known as the Badlands. Police swabbed hundreds of men for DNA before a CODIS backlog revealed they’d had what they needed all along.
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Mack Ray Edwards was proud of his career as a heavy machine operator. It made him important on construction sites. But the very same machine he used to build a series of freeways in Los Angeles would also be used to hide the bodies of his murder victims.
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When Veronica Compton met Kenneth Bianchi, she was working on a play about serial killers. She interviewed the “Hillside Strangler” as part of her process. But then he charmed his way from research subject to love interest, and Veronica found herself wrapped up in a horrifying scheme.
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Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog went from hunting animals to preying on humans. Even as they grew older and settled down, they continued their spree. When they finally faced justice years later, their killer instincts would lead them to turn on one another.
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Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog grew up in the California countryside, hunting for deer and elk. In high school, they turned to methamphetamine to recreate the thrill they once got from hunting. But as their drug use intensified, they needed something stronger to maintain their high. They needed to kill, and this time, their prey was human.
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At a young age, Mikhail Popkov developed a deeply misogynistic view of the world. As an adult, he used his power as a police officer to act on these feelings, murdering women he deemed to be morally defunct. By the time he was finally caught, he’d claimed over 80 lives and become one of Russia’s worst serial killers.
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Police had taken Roger Kibbe into custody numerous times but never had enough evidence to arrest him. Each time he was let go, he went on to claim more victims. But a discovery by a forensics investigator was exactly what authorities needed to put him away for good.
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After killing his first victim, Roger Kibbe decided to keep a low profile. But years later, his urge to kill returned. By mid-July of 1986, he had killed four young women — three of them in the past three months. And he had no intention of quitting.
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Roger Kibbe spent most of his adolescence filled with rage. And while he had a long list of arrests by his mid-30s, it was never for violent crimes. Until one day in 1977, he finally snapped.
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In 1946, the mysterious Phantom Killer who had terrorized the town of Texarkana for months disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared. With little evidence to go on, the police home in on one suspect. But justice proves to be harder to come by than they'd hoped.
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In 1946, the city of Texarkana was plagued by a series of attacks and murders on couples parked in their cars. Police, however, failed to act quickly enough, potentially giving the murderer enough time to get away.
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As a child in the ‘80s, Matthew Macon was thrust into a world of chaos and turmoil. From a young age, he was in and out of federal institutions, but nothing seemed to curb his darker impulses. Eventually, he gave into them, and his killing spree began.
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Viktor Sayenko and Igor Suprunyuk were insecure children, scared of the world around them. As teenagers in the 2000s, they pushed themselves to move past their fears. But in the process, they unlocked something even more terrifying: an uncontrollable desire to kill anything and anyone.
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Glennon Engleman had claimed two lives during his insurance fraud schemes and escaped police detection with ease. His love of deceit and murder propelled him forward as he continued to manipulate those around him. But eventually, his inflated ego would lead to his downfall.
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Glennon Engleman seemed like your average neighborhood dentist, but he was harboring a dark secret. He had a deep desire for money and power, and would do anything to get his way. Even kill.
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He got a taste for killing while he was a soldier. But when the conflict between Iran and neighboring Iraq ended, his desire to kill remained. Only now, the targets were the people who Saeed Hanaei hated the most: sex workers.
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In the early 1900s, a man lured his victims with lonely hearts ads, drained their blood, and stored their bodies in barrels filled with methanol.
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Like many serial killers who get caught, Michael Bruce Ross became more reckless — attacking teenagers and young women in high-traffic areas, and often returning to where he dumped their bodies. He was later deemed to be a sexual sadist, and agreed to be chemically castrated.
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After experiencing severe emotional abuse as a child in the ‘60s, Michael Bruce Ross got a fresh start at Cornell University. But in his senior year, as his relationship with his fiancée began to unravel, he started acting out his perverse childhood fantasies — thrilled by the terror he could instill in his victims.
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In the early 1980s, Larry Eyler haunted the highways of the Midwest, leaving the gay communities of Indianapolis and Chicago paralyzed with fear. But eventually, the people closest to him brought him down once and for all.
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In the 1970s, Larry Eyler seemed like your regular, easy-going guy. Behind closed doors, he was anything but. He had an insatiable appetite to dominate. When BDSM wouldn’t do it, he hit the Midwest highways, offering desperate hitchhikers a ride and leaving behind a trail of dead bodies.
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After serving his first prison sentence, Graham Young entered the world again, ready to start poisoning people once more. And though he largely avoided drawing suspicion — even once his victims started dying — Graham's big mouth and even bigger ego led to his own downfall.
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Graham Young always had an obsessive personality, but when his father bought him a chemistry kit, it unlocked a terrifying interest in poisons. Before long, the teenager was poisoning mice just to see what happened. Then he set his sights on his best friend, and every member of his own family.
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In 1981, Wayne Williams was a 23-year-old with aspirations of putting together the next Jackson 5. But after he’s found leaving the scene of a crime, he’s charged and convicted for two murders — and implicated in a dozen more. Had police finally found the Atlanta Child Murderer? Or was an innocent man about to pay for crimes he didn’t commit?
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In the late 1970s, a killer stalked the streets of Atlanta, Georgia, abducting and murdering young Black kids. The city was paralyzed with fear and theories abounded on the identity and motivation of the killer. But when a suspect was finally apprehended, it wasn’t who anyone expected.
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Todd Kohlhepp’s behavior was growing increasingly erratic. In the real world, he made unsettling comments to his employees and friends. Online, he continued posting a string of disturbing Amazon reviews. And on his private compound, he locked his victims inside a shipping container.
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At 15, Todd Kohlhepp raped his 14-year-old neighbor, and 17 years later, he committed mass murder in broad daylight. Yet somehow, he became a pillar of society, building a successful real estate business from the ground up. He also built a 95-acre compound, where he planned to bring his darkest fantasies to life.
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Benjamin Pedro Gonzales lived in a fantasy world. He’d imagine entire relationships that didn’t exist. And when his so-called “girlfriend” told him to get lost, he went into a murderous rage, leaving a horrific trail of dead bodies in his wake.
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Joe Metheny tended to exaggerate and lie about his own life, but if half the atrocities he confessed to are true, he certainly earned his gruesome moniker.
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When Harvey Carignan’s murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, he no longer faced the death penalty. But he wasted no time returning to his murderous ways. As police start closing in, Harvey goes on the run, starting a horrific killing spree along the way.
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After developing a reputation in the armed forces as a hulking, scowling figure with abnormally strong hands, Harvey Carignan was stationed in Anchorage, Alaska, where his first hyper-violent murder in 1948 stunned locals.
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After 14 years behind bars, Arthur Shawcross struggled to settle into civilian life. He moved from town to town, but a change of scenery didn't change the truth: Arthur was still the same killer. In a matter of a single year, Shawcross would earn the title of the "Genesee River Killer" as he slowly picked off sex workers in the Rochester area.
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Arthur Shawcross was always a little "off." As a boy, he was unsympathetic and violent, exploding with anger at the slightest provocation. When he was older, fighting in the Vietnam War only intensified his aggressive, unpredictable nature. Arthur returned from service traumatized and harrowed by the experience — but that didn't stop him on his hunt for blood.
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Derrick's fixation with stalking, raping, and murdering women leads him to the University of Louisiana campus, where he terrorizes students and locals alike. As police work to crack the case, a false assumption leads them down the wrong path.
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Ever since he was a little boy in the ‘70s, Derrick Todd Lee liked to peep. He would stare through the window of his neighbor's house, watching women undress. But the older he got, the more Derrick realized that peeping wasn't enough for him. He wanted to hold complete power over these women. And soon, that urge turned deadly.
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Love makes us say and do the strangest things. For Turner, it made him jealous, paranoid, and extremely violent. When another relationship comes to an explosive end, he hits the streets of Los Angeles with a vengeance, ultimately becoming one of the city’s most prolific killers.
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When Chester D. Turner moved to the City of Angels, it wasn’t by choice. In fact, Turner pretty much had no say in anything during his adolescence. He had a strict upbringing and was often a victim of bullying. That all changed in the late 1980s, when he started leaving behind a trail of dead bodies all around South L.A.
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In this chilling conclusion to our Working Late series, we're diving into the frightening world of medical professionals who killed again and again. And this wasn't just malpractice — these healers from hell delighted in their power, and got away with it for years.
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In our continuing exploration of the most popular jobs for serial killers, we're taking a deep dive into those murderers who spent time in the military. It's a job that literally taught these men to kill, and they wielded that skill with alarming ferocity.
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The number of psychopaths who hold positions with "CEO" in the title would alarm you… even if it wouldn't surprise you. Today, we're turning our attention to the business world, where a termination doesn't just mean you're losing your job…
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At the halfway point of this Working Late series, we want to look at the people whose work is often overlooked, but that keeps society running. Laborers possess the skills to repair our homes, build roads, and keep us safe — but these same skills can also help them get away with murder.
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You pass them every day in the car, truck drivers hauling things from one end of the country to the other. But do you ever think about how that transient lifestyle makes truckers the perfect serial killers? Well, if you haven't yet, you will now. Welcome to episode two of our Working Late series on the most popular jobs for serial killers.
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This is the first episode in our Working Late series, where we'll be taking deep dives into the most popular jobs among serial killers. We'll look into what makes each of these six professions so perfect for killers, and explore stories of the monsters who twisted their day job to suit their darkest after-hours pursuits.
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By the end of summer, 2000, Joshua Wade had murdered at least one woman, and possibly many more. Despite the evidence against him, and tips from people who knew what he did, Josh got away with the crime, leaving him free to kill again.
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In 1993, a 13-year-old boy was sent to live with his father in Alaska, where he grew into one of the state’s deadliest serial killers. He committed his first murder just a year later — a case that ran cold for well over a decade before a series of confessions revealed more than one ghastly crime.
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As an adult, Cary Stayner finally turned his darkest fantasies into reality. Using TV crime shows as textbooks, he killed his victims, then laid out a path of false clues to confuse investigators. But when he eventually slips up, it all comes crashing down.
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As a troubled teen in the ‘70s, Cary Stayner experienced violent fantasies and compulsions, as well as the traumatic kidnapping of his brother. He found refuge in Yosemite National Park as an adult, but unfortunately, it didn't halt his spiral into murder.
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Timothy Joseph McGhee joined the Toonerville Rifa Gang as a boy, and quickly rose through the ranks. By the year 2000, he had turned the low-level Los Angeles gang into a very real threat. But McGhee’s violent nature went beyond the role he played in the gang. For him, murder was an obsession.
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Carl Großmann’s entire life was marked with an obsession with sexual dominance. As a young man, he violated children and animals as a way to emphasize his own power. But when World War I left Berlin in a state of desperation, Großmann found a new, horrific way to satisfy his murderous cravings.
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After spending much of his early life as a devoted career criminal, Ed Edwards emerged from prison willing to turn things around. But after playing the role of devoted husband and father for a few years, his darker impulses emerged, and he started killing — first for revenge, then for fun, and then for profit.
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Beginning with a traumatic childhood is a common origin story among serial killers. But not every child with a troubled upbringing sets out to become a lifelong criminal. That's what makes Edward Wayne Edwards so unusual — he wanted to be a crook. And there weren’t many lines he wouldn’t cross.
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By the summer of 1984, Leonard Lake finished construction on his fallout shelter. There, Lake and his partner-in-crime, Charles Ng, tortured, raped, and murdered countless female victims. But women weren’t their only targets. Over the course of the next year, the murderous duo even killed off entire families.
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Fearing a nuclear apocalypse was imminent, survivalists Leonard Lake and Charles Ng dreamed of building a bunker in the middle of nowhere. Only, it wasn’t just meant to withstand the nuclear fallout — they wanted to use it to imprison female sex slaves.
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After he killed his friend Cherie in 1980, Randy Woodfield was a clear suspect in the murder — but he still managed to walk free. The failed football star went on to commit a horrifying string of assaults and murders along the West Coast.
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He was a star football player in the early 1970s. A talented athlete with every chance for boundless success. But he developed a nasty temper, and a ferocious sense of entitlement. Whatever Randy Woodfield wanted, he was going to take. By any means necessary.
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After his first three murders, Kenneth McDuff was quickly apprehended and brought to trial. But while it seems like that should be the end of the story, the tale of Kenneth McDuff still had a long way to go…
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Kenneth Allen McDuff led a charmed life. He was an angelic child. At least, that's what his doting mother thought. But in reality, Kenneth concealed a sadistic desire to hurt people, and his first murders left his hometown shaken.
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As a long-haul trucker, Eckert realized his job afforded him the perfect conditions to kill. And claiming victims was the perfect way to finally complete his macabre trophy — a life-sized human doll, complete with a full head of hair.
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From a young age, Volker Eckert displayed a strange fascination with women’s hair. His fetish led him to murder in 1974, when he was just 14 years old. Eckert spent the next decades assaulting women across Western Europe.
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Some serial killers’ reigns of terror are cut mercifully short, due to careless mistakes or careful police work. Pedro Alonso López was not one of those killers. The number of his victims is staggering — but the way his story ends is perhaps the most terrifying of all.
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John Joseph Joubert was plagued by disturbing daydreams, along with a horrifying urge to hurt little boys, and in the 1980s, he finally acted on both. But when he targeted a teacher's young students, her determination signalled the end of his deadly spree.
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Having graduated from brutal assaults to murders, Paul Ogorzow felt untouchable as he rode the rails, throwing his victims off speeding trains. But every train has to stop somewhere, and Paul's was headed for one very specific ending: swift and brutal justice.
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Coming of age alongside Adolf Hitler's political rise, Paul Ogorzow took his cue from the Nazi party, and looked at some of his fellow Germans as little more than rodents to be stamped out. He took advantage of World War II to carry out his terrifying attacks around Berlin.
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There are few criminals so reviled as a child killer. David Elliot Penton was one of them. His crimes were so horrendous, he earned the nickname "The Bogey Man."
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A lifelong drifter and con man, Roy Melanson charmed and manipulated his way into his victims’ lives beginning in the 1960s. As his crimes became more gruesome, his vagabond lifestyle made him virtually impossible to track down.
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Avoiding capture as Amherst’s terrifying “Bike Path Rapist” emboldened Sanchez to commit his first murder in 1990. His crimes were escalating — but inexplicably, after nearly two decades of violence, he vanished. Twelve years later, the Bike Path Killer returned.
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An elusive rapist stalked areas around Buffalo, New York, for decades beginning in the late 1970s. When he moved to a city once dubbed the “Safest City in America,” he began using his signature weapon to not just subdue… but to kill.
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Harry Powers lived a life shrouded in mystery, so tracing his origins is difficult. But here's what we know: he was a conman without a conscience, and he was a ruthless killer whose victim count might be higher than anyone ever imagined...
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In 1973, 7-year-old Susie Jaeger fell asleep in a tent with her siblings while on a camping trip with family. When her siblings woke up, the tent had been slashed open and Susie was gone. A team of profilers believed David Meirhofer was responsible for the kidnapping — they just had to prove it.
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By 1999, Sells had murdered men, women and children in multiple states, and showed no signs of slowing down. He might never have been stopped, had he not attacked a little girl who survived to identify him, and finally put an end to his decades-long murder spree.
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For over 20 years, Tommy Lynn Sells hitchhiked across the U.S., killing indiscriminately and without mercy. What started as a revenge fantasy involving his childhood abuser grew into a deadly impulse that would claim nearly two dozen lives.
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By the beginning of 2011, Bruce McArthur had killed and dismembered two men, hiding their bodies in enormous planters at a client's house. But when police let him slip through their hands, he was free to kill again.
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For most of his life, Bruce McArthur led an unremarkable existence. But in the 1990s, he split from his wife and moved to Toronto's gay village — free to be his true self. Unfortunately, McArthur's true self was violent, bloodthirsty... and murderous.
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After amassing wealth and influence as a spiritual advisor in the 1980s, Adolfo Constanzo set his sights on the lucrative drug trade in Matamoros. To claim a piece for himself, he needed more power. And for that, he turned to one thing: human sacrifice.
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Schooled in the darkest corners of his family’s Afro-Carribean religion, Adolfo Constanzo decided to make his fortune using magic granted through animal sacrifices. In Mexico City, he grew his power and esteem — but he wanted something more. He wanted revenge.
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By 1828, Burke and Hare’s scheme of murdering people and selling their bodies was making them rich. But eventually, one curious woman crashed their entire operation.
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When a tenant at their boarding house died in 1827, William Burke and William Hare found a way to make some extra money: selling bodies to a medical school. But to keep it up, they’d need a fresh supply of dead bodies — and those were hard to come by. Naturally, at least.
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Having moved from break-ins to aggressive sexual assault, David Russell Williams carefully planned his first horrific murder in late 2009. It was not his last. But the high-ranking military officer could only fly under the radar for so long.
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As an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces, David Russell Williams had a spotless record for decades before beginning a breaking-and-entering spree in 2007. Stealing into women’s houses, he photographed himself wearing their underwear, setting the baseline for crimes that would later include rape and murder.
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After his first murder in San Francisco, Richard Ramirez headed back to Los Angeles to begin a killing spree that had the whole city terrified. His brutal attacks came after dark and without warning, earning him the chilling nickname "Night Stalker.”
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A troubled relationship with his father, his religion, and the demonic visions he saw during seizures dominated Richard Ramirez’s childhood in the 1960s. When he witnesses a horrific crime at the hands of a sadistic cousin, he comes face to face with his own dark nature.
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Organized and meticulous, Timothy Wilson Spencer evaded suspicion until a detective began connecting the dots between Arlington’s “Masked Rapist” and Richmond’s “South Side Strangler.” The 1988 case against him helped exonerate a wrongfully convicted man, and made forensic science history.
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Growing up in Arlington, Virginia in the 1960s, Timothy Wilson Spencer displayed an alarming interest in torturing animals and burglarizing homes. With practiced cruelty and stealth, he eventually became known as “The Masked Rapist” for his attacks on women.
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Born in 1935, Florencio Fernández grew up in a region of Argentina nicknamed the “fortress of folklore.” As a teenager, destitute and alone, he watched a film at a local theater that would change his life — and inspire his crimes. That film’s name? Dracula.
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Salvator Perrone’s early life in the 1950s is a murky mystery, but by the time he was in his 60s, the failed fashion entrepreneur had a grudge against the world — and he was ready to exact his revenge.
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By the 1980s, Ted Kaczynski had set off several bombs, causing only minor injuries — but for him, it wasn’t enough. What had started as a plot for revenge grew into an unrelenting need to change the world. To do that, he needed to kill. The reign of the Unabomber had begun.
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Spotting his genius at a young age, Ted Kaczynski’s parents pushed their son to academic excellence — but Ted never found a true home in the hallowed halls of academia. Instead, by 1969, he was a former math professor with a festering hatred for the modern world.
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By Thanksgiving 1986, Gary Heidnik had captured a woman and locked her in his basement, where he intended on making her carry his children. But Gary wanted an entire “birthing harem.” Over the next four months, he lured five more women to his Philadelphia home…
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Estranged from his family, Gary Heidnik’s behavior grew more and more troubling as he grew older. By 1976, no one was around to notice when he started digging a pit in his basement — one big enough to hold a person...
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When a six-year-old girl was brutally murdered in Chicago in 1945, the public and the press demanded answers. Luckily, police found the killer by chance when they arrested a teenage burglar named William Heirens. Or did they?
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Growing up in a family that didn’t have a lot of money, William Heirens turned to burglary to ease his economic anxiety. It became a compulsion he couldn’t control, and got him into trouble with the law in the early 1940s. Then, one day, it changed his life forever.
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Herbert Mullin believed he was saving the world. After all, God had told him that murdering people would prevent catastrophic earthquakes. So, with his heaven-sent mission, he set out to kill and kill again.
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Throughout his childhood in the 1950s and ‘60s, Herbert Mullin's life seemed decidedly idyllic. But tragedy struck when he was 18. In the aftermath, Mullin began hearing voices — and they told him to kill.
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Having killed and dismembered his first victim, Robert Bordella was anxious to take another person captive. He kidnapped and tortured multiple men in succession, drugging them with tranquilizers and documenting his actions in a diary — until someone eventually escaped.
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Inspired by a 1965 horror film called The Collector, Robert Berdella harbored dark fantasies about abuse and control. As a college student, he acted out his sadism on animals, and later, in the early ‘80s, on a teenager named Jerry Howell.
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In November 1997, John Bunting claimed his sixth victim, and successfully passed it off as a suicide. From there, he and his accomplices moved at alarming speed, torturing and killing another six people until police finally caught up.
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Arriving in South Australia in the 1980s, John Bunting surrounded himself with people he could easily manipulate: a small group of men who hated pedophiles and gay men, and were determined to rid their community of both.
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After his first murder, Steven Zelich couldn't bear to let go of his victim, and kept her body close by. But eventually he began to crave the same powerful feeling he'd had the first time, and the hunt for his next target began...
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Once a police officer who loved the authority and respect his position brought him, Steven Zelich's life took a turn in the late ‘90s when the power went to his head. His quest for the thrill of control led him to the world of BDSM… and eventually, murder.
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Once a promising intelligence officer, Ray Fernandez transformed into a career conman, swindling lonely women out of their savings. When he met Martha Beck in 1947, his Lonely Hearts con became a deadly scheme of spiralling jealousies and stolen fortunes.
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If love makes you do something evil, does that make you evil, too? In the late 1970s, Gerald Gallego twisted himself around Charlene’s heart and didn’t let go. The couple, later known as “The Sex Slave Killers,” worked in tandem to kidnap and murder ten women. Was Charlene a victim, too?
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Following a whirlwind romance, Alton Coleman and Debra Brown embarked on a violent rampage that turned the summer of 1984 bloody.
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They say that “love is a many-splendored thing.” But for Ray and Faye Copeland, it was a thing of violence. The couple’s murderous crimes made them two of the oldest people ever sentenced to death in the United States.
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By 1985, the Monster of Florence had claimed 16 lives. Unfortunately, authorities were no closer to catching the killer than when they'd started their investigation, and the trail was getting colder every day...
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One of Italy’s most notorious serial killers has never (definitively) been identified. The mysterious Monster of Florence murdered couples in their cars, beginning in 1974. The crimes were so horrific that all of Florence was on edge, and the hunt for the killer was vast.
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By 1984, Nance had revamped his reputation and settled into a comfortable routine in his hometown. But as he grew fixated on his boss, his nice-guy exterior evaporated, revealing a cold and calculating killer.
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As a teenager, Wayne Nance developed an interest in Satanism that may have led to his first murder. He became obsessed with the idea of making a human sacrifice — and in the spring of 1974, he boasted to a friend: “It’s been done.”
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His victims’ deaths were often ruled “unnatural and accidental,” leaving Gilbert Paul Jordan free to perfect his M.O. — forcing Indigenous women in Vancouver to drink themselves to death. Unable to keep him behind bars, police surveilled the barber until they could catch him in the act.
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An alcoholic from his teenage years onward, Gilbert Paul Jordan spent his young adulthood in 1950s Vancouver tallying up arrests for theft, assault, and drug possession. Then he discovered a crime he wouldn’t be punished for: plying a victim with alcohol until she was poisoned to death.
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By the 1990s, Ángel Maturino Reséndiz was a seasoned murderer using America’s extensive railroad system to strike new victims, then flee. But eventually, authorities caught onto the pattern in his murders. In 1999, their investigation came to a surprising stop.
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After years of incarceration, rejection, and failure, Ángel Maturino Reséndiz's most violent impulses began to surface. Between 1986 and 1999, he traveled the U.S. by freight train, murdering “sinners” in a so-called mission from God.
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In 1984, Wilder went on a weeks-long killing spree across the U.S., abducting, raping and murdering as many young women as he could find. As he targeted malls across the country, the FBI launched a manhunt for the Australian fugitive.
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Posing as a modeling agent in the 1980s, Wilder lured young girls and women to secluded places where he would photograph them in explicit poses before sexually assaulting them.
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By day, Robert Hansen was a devoted husband, devout Christian, and respected member of the Anchorage community. By night, he abducted young women from clubs and drove them deep into the Alaskan wilderness, where he hunted them like prey.
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Bullied from a young age, Robert Hansen’s resentment toward the people in his hometown manifested in different ways — most alarmingly, arson. In 1967, the troubled baker and avid hunter moved to Alaska, and developed a deadly pastime: abducting and assaulting women.
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After his first murder, Keith Jesperson felt unstoppable, and went on something of a killing spree. But eventually, he got annoyed that he wasn't getting credit for his hard work, and started sending authorities chilling notes signed with a happy face.
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Always shy and a little curious, Keith Jesperson lived a troubled childhood. Beaten by his father, and always struggling to make friends, Keith grew up vowing he'd never hurt children. But he made no such promise when it came to women.
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By the end of 1993, seven decomposed bodies had been pulled from Australia's Belanglo State Forest. The nation was terrified, and the police force was put on notice: There was a serial killer on the loose.
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The bodies of two missing backpackers were recovered from Australia’s Belanglo State Forest in 1992. They weren’t the last.
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After killing dozens of people and getting away with it, Alexander Pichushkin got bored with his routine. So, he mixed things up — in brutal fashion. His unchecked maneuvers amounted to at least 48 murders in Moscow.
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One of Russia’s most prolific serial killers was an avid chess player. First introduced to the pastime by his grandfather, the young Alexander Pichushkin finally found something he could excel at. But in 1992, his competitive urges were drawn to a different kind of game…
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In the final few months of 2006, Ipswich was shaken by the strangling deaths of several sex workers. It didn't take long for Steve Wright to relax into his new role as cold-blooded killer. But the bolder — and more bizarre — he became, the closer he got to sealing his own fate.
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He was an unassuming man whose Jekyll and Hyde personality obscured increasingly violent tendencies. And in 2006, in the small English town of Ipswich, Steve Wright began targeting sex workers — abducting, strangling, and dumping the bodies of five women.
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It was called the crime of the century: In 1966, Richard Speck drifted into Chicago, and unleashed a whirlwind of violence and rage onto a group of student nurses.
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In the early 1980s, emergency services in St. Paul, Minnesota began receiving odd calls from a distraught-sounding man. At first reporting brutal attacks on women, he quickly began taking credit for the murders, and begged police to stop him.
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Throughout his shocking rampage that left dozens of people injured or dead, the newly dubbed “Vampire of Düsseldorf” Peter Kürten grew more and more confident — even writing into a local paper with the location of a victim’s body. But his confidence would be his undoing.
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Unfulfilled by bestiality, a young Peter Kürten turned to murder — and discovered his body’s reaction to the sight of blood. As his dark desires festered, he embraced sadism in all its forms. And in 1929, a gruesome killing spree earned him a chilling moniker.
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When British heiresses Dora and Claire Williamson reached out to Linda Hazzard, she might have thought draining their bank accounts would be easy enough. But she didn't count on the sisters’ resilience, or the might of one formidable governess...
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In the early 1900s, Linda Hazzard marketed herself as a doctor, and claimed that she could cure any ailment with her special starvation regimens. Except, instead of curing her patients, she was killing them.
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After spending years in and out of prison, Charles “The Serpent” Sobhraj was determined to make something of himself. To do that, he needed money — only now, he knew better than to leave behind any witnesses.
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Growing up in Vietnam, India and France in the 1940s and ‘50s, Charles Sobhraj never truly fit in anywhere — not even with his family. When they turned their backs on him for good, he became a con man smuggling cars, escaping debts, stealing from tourists… and breaking out of prisons around the world.
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In the years since the Satanic Panic, it's become obvious that the crimes people were accused of never really happened. But while none of the nightmarish stories of ritual abuse in Satan’s name were true, it doesn’t mean there weren’t real victims…
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Emboldened by power- and money-hungry conmen, Evangelical doomsdayers set the stage for an epic showdown of biblical proportions. The fight for the souls of every last American was beginning, they claimed, and Satan was coming to drag us all to hell.
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From Adolfo Costanzo and the Narcosatanists to the gruesome Chicago Rippers, these horrific groups showed that fears of murderous devil-worshipping cults weren't entirely unfounded.
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In the 1980s, “Satanic Panic” was a mass hysteria that consumed communities and ruined lives—all over things that never even happened. In this new five-part series, we’re examining the origins of the panic, tracing back through the decades to see how the fear of Satan’s influence in society swept across North America.
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In the 1980s, “Satanic Panic” was a mass hysteria that consumed communities and ruined lives—all over things that never even happened. In this new five-part series, we’re examining the origins of the panic, tracing back through the decades to see how the fear of Satan’s influence in society swept across North America.
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In the fall of 1977, Los Angeles was on high alert, so 43-year-old Angelo Buono Jr. and 26-year-old Kenny Bianchi knew they had to play it safe. But as their death toll grew even higher, their relationship began to crumble.
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These killer cousins terrorized Los Angeles in the late ‘70s. Despite very different upbringings, Angelo Buono Jr. and Kenny Bianchi both formed sadistic attitudes toward women that led to them cruising the streets of Hollywood, posing as undercover cops, patrolling for victims.
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After their first brutal murder, Suzan and Michael Carson fled San Francisco, intent on continuing their quest to rid the world of witches.
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They set out to murder witches in the early 1980s, moving up and down the coast of the Pacific Northwest. Suzan Carson believed she was destined to rid the world of evil… All she needed was a willing follower to wield the knife.
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On the outside, Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo appeared to be a perfect couple—but they held a dark secret: Paul’s sadistic aggressions were seemingly unstoppable, spurred on by Karla’s compliance. The secrets—and the bodies—piled up.
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When Paul Bernardo met his bride-to-be Karla Homolka in October 1987, he had already raped his first victim. But Paul's sadistic sexual appetite only seemed to deepen Karla's desire for him. And when his sick interest turned toward her 15-year-old sister, Karla let one thing guide her next move: her unrelenting need to please him.
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By torturing and killing his fellow inmate, Robert Maudsley won his escape from Broadmoor Mental Hospital. But when confronted with more pedophiles at Wakefield Prison, he knew he couldn't stay there. Unfortunately, no one was listening to him. And the only thing that had ever gotten him attention was killing...
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Abused by his parents from a young age, Robert Maudsley spent his childhood bouncing around orphanages and foster homes before running away in 1969. He spent years living on the streets of London, where he met a man with a dark secret… and decided that man couldn’t live.
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In 1959, Eric Cooke committed his first murder in the sleepy city of Perth, Australia. And, having gotten away with the crime, it seemed nothing would slow down his bloody rampage.
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Born in 1931 to a caring mother and alcoholic father, Eric Edgar Cooke had a turbulent home life. His string of break-ins and petty thefts were met with sympathetic authorities who gave Cooke second and third chances… But their leniency was cast aside in favor of more violence.
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While Joseph Swango’s patients died at alarming rates, few people seemed capable of connecting the mysterious deaths with the doctor-in-training. The alarm bells only rang once he began poisoning his colleagues…
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As a teenager in the ‘70s, Joseph Swango had an intense fascination with the macabre, even keeping a scrapbook full of newspaper clippings about murder and car crashes. As he got older, he realized that one career in particular would give him daily contact with death: medicine.
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In the late ‘80s, Aileen trolled the highways outside of Daytona, Florida looking for johns. But these days, she was interested in more than sex work. Her johns had always treated her as disposable. Now, armed with a .22 caliber handgun, she was ready to return the favor.
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More abused than loved, Aileen Wuornos suffered through her childhood in 1960s Michigan. She became a sex worker and petty thief, eventually hitchhiking to Florida—where the work that made her an outcast led to the murder that made her infamous.
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For decades, it seemed like Charlie Brandt's first murder was a shocking, unexplainable anomoly—something he would never repeat. But in 2004, another violent crime would make headlines, and unearth secrets no one ever saw coming.
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In January 1971, 13-year-old Charlie Brandt retrieved his father's gun and committed a shocking murder, saying it was like he “was sort of programmed to do it.” After 17 months in a mental health facility, he was free, and everything returned to normal… Or so it seemed.
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By the early 1980s, Watts had stabbed three women to death. As police closed in on him, setting up tails and even bringing him in for questioning—but unable to detain him—he fled to Texas, where he disappeared into the city then known as “The Murder Capital of the U.S.”
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Unable to contain his dark fantasies and suppressed rage, Coral Eugene Watts targeted women in Michigan and Texas starting in 1974, and continuing for nearly a decade. His crime sprees were a reign of terror that for him, brought a perverse kind of relief.
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Still desperate to ignite a race war in the United States, Joseph Paul Franklin sought more prominent targets, hoping to draw attention to his cause. But he also found satisfaction in impulsive, isolated murders. When it seemed no one would ever catch him, he got careless.
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He studied Mein Kampf. Changed his name. And joined white supremacist groups across the country. Fueled by hateful rhetoric and armed with guerilla warfare tactics, Joseph Paul Franklin set out to ignite a nationwide race war—right in the midst of the Civil Rights movement.
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In 1977, Cottingham was married with three kids, two secret girlfriends, and an itch for abusing sex workers. As the years wore on, he developed increasingly bizarre torture rituals, and his crimes escalated in both body count and brutality.
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He had an idyllic childhood in the 1940s and ‘50s, but as Richard Francis Cottingham grew, he began having dark, dehumanizing sexual fantasies about women. When he started working in New York City, he took those violent, twisted dreams and made them a reality.
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In 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris sexually assaulted and murdered five teenage girls. For months, authorities were at a loss to explain the disappearances of their victims, but eventually, Norris and Bittaker got reckless, and the crimes of the Toolbox Killers were revealed to the world.
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They each lived lonely lives, bouncing from jail to jail until a chance meeting in California brought them together in 1978. Bittaker and Norris began a sadistic friendship which evolved into a twisted partnership—one that would eventually claim the lives of five teenage girls.
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At a young age, Moses Sithole was abandoned by his mother, forcing him to go in and out of a traumatic foster care system. As an adult in the ‘90s, he began enacting his revenge on women in a rampage that had South Africa terrified.
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In the early ‘70s, a teenaged Dugan had an encounter with one of the most notorious serial killers in the U.S.—a killer whose infamy Dugan would soon match, with a murder spree throughout Chicago’s rural suburbs.
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In his youth, Walter Ellis was prone to fits of physical violence. But as he grew older, he took on the role of a gentle and unsuspecting neighbor. Over the course of 20 years, it was this persona that allowed the man known as the Milwaukee North Side Strangler to avoid the detection of local police, who were facing a series of eerily similar murders.
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Growing up in the California town of Solvang, Thor Nis Christiansen was the quiet son of Danish immigrants. As he grew older, Thor began harboring dark, disturbing fantasies about women. Before his 20th birthday, he would strike for the first time—and it wouldn't be the last...
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He endured extreme childhood abuse, served in the Marines, and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. Between 1986 and 1996, Andrew Urdiales turned his anger into murder, taking the lives of eight women.
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He spent his life trying to escape jails, mental hospitals, and his urge to kill. From 1961 to 1982, Charles Ray Hatcher murdered at least four people, but he claims to have killed as many as 16 in Missouri, California, and Illinois.
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Sent to a reform school for the remainder of his childhood, Jesse Pomeroy, and his distraught mother, had one shared goal in mind: early release. After only 17 months away, they'd got their wish. And by 1874, Jesse was free to continue his attacks—and this time, he was ready to kill.
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Born in 1859 with a cleft palate, Jesse Pomeroy's father looked upon his son as weak, and brutally abused him throughout his childhood. Tormented at home and at school, Jesse began to entertain violent fantasies about torturing prisoners. By the time he was 12, simply fantasizing wasn't enough—and the “Boy Torturer of Boston” emerged...
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He claimed to be Sweden's first serial killer. Throughout the 1990s, Sture Bergwall made shocking confessions to dozens of brutal murders across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. But his final confession was the most surprising of them all.
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Growing up as one of the few black kids in Warwick, Rhode Island was not easy. By the time Craig Price transitioned from child to teen, the years of racism and bullying had already made a huge impact on his developing psyche. By the time he was 13-years-old in 1986, his anger had reached a boiling point.
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In 1942, Marcel Petiot's fake escape network, Fly-Tox, was operating at full steam. He took his victim's payment, and instead of helping them start new lives in South America, he murdered them and stored the bodies in his basement. But his scheme couldn't escape the attention of the Nazis for long.
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Since childhood, Marcel Petiot flaunted a disregard for the rules. As a doctor, he used his charm and influence to enrich his family and get away with his first murder. But when WWII reached Paris, a deadly new scheme began to brew...
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His first murder in 1944 had gone exactly as planned: the body had dissolved in acid, and he was sure no one would ever find out what he had done. So, with that in mind, John George Haigh set about repeating the process again, and again—always chasing the next big score.
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Born in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century, John George Haigh rebelled against his hyper-religious upbringing and opted for a life of crime. He didn't see the point in earning an honest living when he could con others out of theirs. But Haigh soon realized that he needed a way to swindle people and make sure they stayed silent.
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As his living conditions deteriorated in the late 2000's, so did Anthony Sowell’s state of mind. Investigators were horrified when they finally searched his Cleveland home and found the corpses of his victims decaying in nearly every room.
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Plagued by addiction, Anthony Sowell killed 11 women between May 2007 and September of 2009. As his abuse became worse, so did his living conditions. Eventually Sowell was almost a total recluse, kept company only by the rotting bodies he kept in his home.
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By 1984, after a lifetime spent breaking the law and facing few consequences, John Edward Robinson had finally crossed the line into cold-blooded murder. Having gotten away with it before, he decided that nothing was stopping him from doing it again, and again...
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As a child growing up in Illinois in the 1940s and ‘50s, John Edward Robinson was obsessed with figures from the criminal underworld. When he was grown and married, he began conning his way into jobs he wasn't qualified for. It wasn't long before his scheming ways took a decidedly dark turn...
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In the late 1960s, Donald Henry Gaskins found himself consumed by a ravenous rage. He began stalking the highways of South Carolina, searching for victims. Eventually, he became so violent that even a maximum security prison couldn't stop him from killing.
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Between 1953 and 1982, Donald Henry “Pee Wee” Gaskins murdered at least 14 people, and claimed to have killed over 100. Gaskins began his crime spree early, and went from a young burglar and car thief in South Carolina to one of the most brutal serial murderers in U.S. history.
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In 1989, Danny Rolling had already gotten away with a shocking triple murder. As he tried to stay ahead of the Shreveport cops, he made his way to Gainesville, where he set about terrorizing the University of Florida Campus as the “Gainesville Ripper.”
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It's likely that an abusive, loveless upbringing in the 1960s and ‘70s shaped Danny Rolling’s troubling violent sexual fantasies. After a young life of petty crime in Louisiana and Georgia, one incident set Danny off.
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We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Serial Killers today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time.
For more than a decade, Randy Steven Kraft preyed upon vulnerable young Californian men—torturing, dismembering, and murdering dozens. His killings were made all the worse by the blasé approach authorities took to his case.
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We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Serial Killers today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time.
From 1972 to 1983, the gay community of Southern California was plagued by a vicious killer. His name was Randy Steven Kraft, and he would later become known for the morbid murder "scorecard" that he kept beneath his car rug.
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By the 1990s, he had spent twenty years murdering dozens of women across the United States. Decades after his crimes, Samuel Little was finally brought to justice—and soon revealed to have one of the highest victim counts of all time.
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In 2018, he was serving a life sentence for the murders of three women in California—when he confessed to another. Then, another and another. Soon, Samuel Little had confessed to 93 murders across the U.S. over a period of 30 years.
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After a 7-month hiatus between 1918 and 1919, the Axeman jumped back into his killing spree. City officials tried to track down the mysterious killer, but their hunt led to nothing but dead ends and wrongful convictions. To this day, the Axeman's true identity remains unknown.
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While the U.S. was wrapped up in the final days of World War I, New Orleans was facing an enemy right in their own backyard. In the early 20th century, a wave of fear rolled through Crescent City as a mysterious man began axing people in the dead of night while they were fast asleep.
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As Joseph James DeAngelo's crimes escalated from robbery to murder during the 1980s, he terrified the state of California. Despite the best efforts of authorities, he eluded capture for decades. But he couldn't run forever.
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His crimes earned him the moniker of the “Visalia Ransacker” and the “East Area Rapist.” But Joseph James DeAngelo would become most notorious for his final nickname, the “Golden State Killer.” Between 1974 and 1986, DeAngelo committed untold atrocities, all while leading a seemingly average life as a husband and small town cop.
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He was a freight hopper who rode the rails of the western United States for over a decade. Robert Joseph Silvera Jr. was responsible for more than 30 slayings in that time, most of his victims being fellow transients—earning him the nickname, “The Boxcar Killer.”
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In the mid-1980s, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to nearly 600 murders. While most of those confessions were subsequently disproven, his case led to larger questions about United States interrogation methods.
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In many ways, Jerry Brudos wasn't in it for the kill—he was in it for the body. Between 1968 and 1969, he dressed his victims up and posed them, like living dolls. After killing them, he continued to defile and manipulate the bodies, keeping trophies for himself.
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He developed an obsession with women's clothing from a young age—a fetish which would eventually turn violent. As a teenager, Jerry Brudos started attacking young women… just to steal their shoes. But when footwear wasn't enough to satiate his desires, Brudos graduated from thief to kidnapper. And eventually, murderer.
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Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, taunting them for their inability to catch him. Fifty years later, there is still no confirmed suspect as to the identity of the murderer.
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In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s.
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Between 1891 and 1895, H.H. Holmes embarked on a vicious killing spree across the United States, terrorizing an entire nation in the process. No one knows exactly how many murders he committed. He confessed to twenty-seven, but only nine were confirmed.
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He was the master of the infamous “Murder Mansion,” and often cited as America’s first serial killer. H.H. Holmes began his career as a con artist in Chicago, taking advantage of anyone he could between 1886 and 1894—all the while hiding his darkest motives.
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In 1974, Ted Bundy embarked on a murderous roadtrip across America committing dozens of murders from Colorado to as far as Florida. But after two prison escapes, and multiple trials, Bundy was far from finished. In 1979, he captivated the entire country by representing himself in the first televised murder trial in U.S. history.
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He’s one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century, murdering dozens of young women on a bloody rampage across America that spanned four years. But Ted Bundy’s metamorphosis as a killer began during childhood—long before his first murder.
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In the late 1800s, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was the go-to doctor for Chicago's Red Light District. The women, who grew to trust, admire, and even fall in love with Dr. Cream, would soon become victims of his quiet-but-deadly poisonings.
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In 1984, Bobby Joe Long terrorized Tampa—sexually assaulting and murdering women with alarming frequency. But one 17-year-old girl escaped his clutches, living to see him brought to justice.
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Bobby Joe Long was responsible for the murder of at least 9 Tampa women. Born in 1953, his early life was milestoned by several serious head injuries including a motorcycle accident which would leave him forever changed.
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From 1926-1928, Earle Nelson would roam across North America strangling unsuspecting land ladies. By the end of his rampage, he will kill at least 22 people, a record that would not be broken for another 50 years.
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Reputed to have abnormally long arms and unusually large hands, Earle Leonard Nelson roamed the United States and Canada, strangling unsuspecting landladies in their own homes during the 1920s.
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While on probation after an early release from prison in March of 1990, Jeffrey Dahmer continued his wave of sadistic violence. A chance event would finally lead to his arrest, and a media spectacle would bring Dahmer to the masses.
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It was a murderous rampage that could have possibly been prevented. Although Jeffrey Dahmer failed numerous times to turn his life around, his multi-year killing spree also went ignored by his family, neighbors, sentencing judges, and court-appointed therapists.
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He was one of the most infamous serial killers of the 20th century, murdering 17 young men between 1978 and 1991 through a variety of cruel and unusual methods. But how did Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the era's most monstrous killers, get his start?
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At least 10 people lost their lives at the hands of David Joseph Carpenter between 1979 and 1981. His infamous attacks at popular hiking spots in the San Francisco area and earned him the nickname, "The Trailside Killer."
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Archibald Hall carried out his murderous rampage across the U.K. in 1977 and 1978, killing five people in search of notoriety and wealth. As his clients would soon find out, their affable butler was not all he seemed.
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Obsessed with breaking into the upper crust of society, Archibald Hall would go to any lengths to do so. Between 1977 and 1978, Hall killed five people across the United Kingdom. Each victim was killed a different way, but he knew all of them personally.
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On Christmas Eve 1885, Austin, Texas was again the site of multiple, grisly slayings. Only this time, the victims were not African-American women. They were prominent white women. Did the Annihilator Killer change his M.O. or were there now two serial killers loose in the streets of Austin?
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In 1884, Austin, Texas was shaken to its core when one of America's first serial killers committed a series of gruesome murders in its streets. The killer targeted African American women who worked as servants in the city's wealthier areas.
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Between 2007 and 2016, Elizabeth Wettlaufer killed elderly residents of the long-term care home where she worked as a night nurse. By the time of her capture, she was one of the most prolific killers in Canadian history.
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Born in Canada in 1967, Elizabeth Wettlaufer struggled to accept her sexuality due to her deeply religious and conservative parents. As the years went on, the frustration and guilt of hiding her identity began to build, until eventually, she snapped.
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In early 1994, Dana Sue Gray went on a month-long rampage that claimed the lives of several elderly ladies of Canyon Lake, California. Mixing murder with greed, she would go on extravagant shopping sprees using the credit cards of her victims.
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Growing up in Southern California in the 50s and 60s, Dana Sue Gray developed a troubling childhood petulance, which would ultimately evolve into a homicidal greed. Explore the circumstances leading up to her first murder, and the terror she inflicted on the gated community of Canyon Lake.
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1977 proved to be a turning point for 27-year-old Richard Chase. Killing dogs and rabbits for their blood just wasn’t enough anymore. Only people would suffice, and a half-dozen of his neighbors would soon fall prey to his vampiric appetite.
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He was a strange child—messy, disorganized and prone to random outbursts. As Richard Chase neared his 20s, things got worse… much worse. He convinced himself he needed to drink blood to stay alive.
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In 1946, British ex-pilot Neville Heath had lost everything. His wife left him and he had been dismissed from the airforce. He reacted to his string of failures by spiraling downward. He began suffering from blackouts, and started to become violent. Sadly, two young women would eventually fall victim to his uncontrollable rage.
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Born on June 6th, 1917, Neville Heath would grow up to be one of the most devious killers England had ever known. He developed a talent for deception early on, and used his looks and charm to fraudulently climb the social ladder. But eventually his lies started catching up with him, and he showed the world his inner dark side.
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In the early 1970s, Jack Unterweger was sentenced to an Austrian prison for life after he murdered a young woman. While in prison, he transformed himself into a well-respected author. With Austria’s elite convinced that he was rehabilitated, he was released. But Jack wasn’t rehabilitated, he was simply buying his time to kill again.
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In the early 1970s, Jack Unterweger was sentenced to an Austrian prison for life after he murdered a young woman. While in prison, he transformed himself into a well-respected author. With Austria’s elite convinced that he was rehabilitated, he was released. But Jack wasn’t rehabilitated, he was simply buying his time to kill again.
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With the start of the 1980s, British serial killer Dennis Nilsen was just hitting his stride. His twisted desire for companionship had spiraled out of control, launching him on a prolific killing spree that ended in the murder of a dozen young men and boys in just two years. But as Nilsen struggled to find room for his rotting lovers in the cramped space of his London flat, he would resort to desperate, gruesome measures that would put investigators hot on his trail.
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A hot meal, a stiff drink, or simple companionship. These are the tools Dennis Nilsen would use to lure victims back to his apartment in the late 70s and early 80s. Driven by loneliness, he keep the corpses of his victims, and even sit them down across the dinner table as he ate. Nilsen would claim at least a dozen victims this way, making him one of the most prolific killers in the UK.
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Five years into her killing spree, a team of financial detectives started to catch wind of Anna Marie Hahn’s dealings. With at least five confirmed victims by 1937, she showed no signs of stopping. Upon her arrest, police would discover a large cache of arsenic and various poisons.
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In 1932, at the age of 26, Anna Marie Hahn came up with a morbid get rich quick scheme...murder. The German native would offer her services as a live-in caretaker for elderly men in Cincinnati, and used her expertise in poisons to get rid of her clients while claiming their life insurance.
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By 1986, David Parker Ray was 46 years old, and had been abducting, raping, torturing, and killing women throughout the American Southwest for over 30 years. He would continue his reign of terror well into 1999, when one of his final victims would defy the odds and escape his torture, in horrific and dramatic fashion.
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Born on November 1st, 1939, David Parker Ray would grow up to be one of the most sadistic serial killers the world has ever seen. He started abducting, sexually assaulting, and killing women when he was only 15 years old, and he continued his crimes for decades, leaving bodies all throughout the New Mexico desert.
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Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, while capturing the imaginations of terrified onlookers across the country. Fifty years later, there is still no confirmed suspect as to the identity of the murderer.
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In the summer of 1969, newspapers in Northern California began receiving coded letters from a person who would come to identify themselves as "The Zodiac." The author of the letters taunted the police by giving clues related to a series of unsolved murders, but did the cryptic messages truly come from the mind of the killer?
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At first, many gay men in 1970s San Francisco were dazzled by a handsome young artist who drew their caricatures on cocktail napkins. But as time went on, and the bodies started piling up, word spread. Avoid the Doodler at all costs.
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Ronald Dominique didn't feel any remorse as he dumped his twenty-third victim in the Louisiana swamp in 2006. Instead, he only felt sorry for himself. He made the long drive back to his mobile home and did the only thing that made him feel better. He plotted another murder.
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He never caught a break growing up. He was mercilessly bullied, and no romantic prospects ever gave him a chance. In 1997, Ronald Dominique decided to take matters into his own hands. He would take what he wanted, no matter who got in his way.
Parcasters - How do you delegitimize a queen? Ensnare her in a diamond heist, of course! Tune in to GONE this week to hear about the plot to steal Marie Antoinette's diamond necklace. Listen to GONE on Spotify or wherever you get your Parcast Originals!
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Just before he strangled a victim, Joel Rifkin could hear laughter ringing in his ears. The sounds of his high school bullies had never really left him and that residual shame stuck with Joel as he cruised Manhattan for over two years, murdering at least 17 women by 1991.
Parcasters - This week on The Dark Side Of we dig into the trial of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, and the media frenzy that followed. You might think you know the story, but the truth is much darker! Available now on Spotify or wherever you listen to Parcast!
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When relentless high school bullies started dunking Joel’s head in urine-filled toilets, and throwing eggs at him after class, he needed a way to regain control. And unfortunately for 17 women around the Long Island area in 1989, he found a drastic outlet for his aggressions.
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In the early 90s, vulnerable women around Vancouver were disappearing at an alarming rate, but the authorities had yet to recognize the crisis, or even admit that there was a likely killer on the loose. Meanwhile, “Willie” Pickton’s nefarious reputation continued to grow in his hometown.
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This Canadian grew up on a pig farm in the 1970s, so slaughtering livestock became second nature. His pig meat was the most sought-after in the county... until the meat started arriving dark, blackened and stringy.
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After his candy store closed in 1968, Dean Corll needed a new way to bring in young victims from the greater Houston area. So, he recruited two teenage boys to lure their friends to his apartment, where he would drug and kill them.
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In 1962 he took over the family candy shop outside of Houston and was only too happy to give away treats to the children who would come 'round after school. Of course, nobody suspected that the local Candyman, Dean Arnold Corll, was also abducting said children, killing them, and burying them under the shed.
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After successfully murdering four women in Eastern Michigan without a whiff of suspicion in 1969, John Norman Collins began to believe he would never be caught. He grew increasingly brash, returning to crime scenes and toying with police.
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By 1967, he seemed to be a well-adjusted college student in Ann Arbor, Michigan. But the real reason for John Norman Collins' confidence lay far from the local college campus. Rather, in an abandoned farmhouse deep in the woods, where he could visit his victims again and again, admiring his handiwork.
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By 1996, he settled down in a small village in Ukraine with his girlfriend, and was a loving father-in-law to her children. But the voices in Anatoly Onoprienko’s head would not let him rest. His ruthless, random violence launched the largest manhunt in Ukranian history--and even then, police could not put an end to the killer they called The Terminator.
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He wanted to be remembered. He had spent a life cast aside and forgotten by his parents, siblings and peers. He hated the world that seemed so eager to forget him. So in 1989 Anatoly Onoprienko began killing whole families at random, seeking notoriety and revenge. And thanks to the fall of the USSR, this former Soviet was able to operate for years, as evidence of his crimes were swept under the rug.
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Eliot Ness went to the grave in 1957 without ever convicting the Cleveland Torso Murderer. Decades later, his family would reveal a secret suspect hidden within his notes, that was too well-connected to be accused publicly.
Parcasters - In the mood for more mystery? You won’t want to miss the case of the disappearing genius, Physicist Ettore Majorana this week on Unexplained Mysteries. Available Thursday at parcast.com/unexplained
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When a torso washed up on the banks of the Cuyahoga River in 1937, the police initially assumed a crime of passion. But when the next torso was found, they knew they had a serial murderer on their hands. Nicknamed the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, a notorious killer stalked the slums of Cleveland, killing vagrants he thought no one would miss.
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In early 2009, when Christine Ross set out on her morning walk in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the last thing she expected was to stumble across human remains. But within a matter of hours, the abandoned work site near her house had been turned into one of the most expansive crime scenes in history.
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In this special crossover episode with Sami from Female Criminals, we find out that Amelia Dyer’s desire to murder babies was about more than the money. In the mid-1880s, Dyer was enjoying it so much, she left her home, her family, and even faked her own death to continue killing England's unwanted infants.
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Cunning, smart, ruthless, Amelia Dyer began a baby-farming business in 19th century England. Poverty-stricken mothers placed their children in her care trusting that she would find them loving homes. Instead, she pocketed the money, starved and strangled the babies before throwing them in the Thames river.
Parcasters - If you haven’t already checked out our recent episodes on Female Criminals covering Diane Downs, check them out! Downs staged a murder involving her own children, listen now at parcast.com/criminals
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It seemed as though no one would be able to save Sanford from his uncle. Sanford had lived with him in Wineville, California from 1928-1929, only to now have to stay quiet about his uncle holding two young boys captive in his chicken coop. When Sanford's sister Jessie showed up on the chicken farm looking for answers, Sanford worried that she, too, would never leave the ranch alive.
Hostage! Check out Parcast's other Podcast Hostage now! Thank you Carter and Irma for joining today's episode.
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This Serial Killers and Hostage crossover covers Gordon Stewart Northcott, who held his nephew captive and forced him to participate in the murder of at least three boys. Northcott would restrain his victims in a chicken coop before eventually murdering them. The small town of Wineville, California changed its name in 1930 to disassociate from the killings.
Parcasters - If you found yourself fascinated by this story of captivity and crime, check out our podcast HOSTAGE, wherever you get your shows. Listen to our new episode on John McCain now at parcast.com/hostage
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In 1996, he was honorably discharged from active duty in the U.S. Army. Yates would resume serving his country by enlisting in the National Guard two years later. Few people in the Spokane, Washington metropolitan area would suspect this decorated veteran and family man could be capable of such heartless destruction.
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He lived a seemingly normal life. A father of five children and army veteran, Robert Lee Yates, was well regarded in the Spokane, Washington community. All of that changed when he went on a murder spree, killing 17 women between 1975 and 1998 in the back of his van.
Parcasters - If you haven’t heard we have a new podcast coming out! We know you like the mystery and murder of Serial Killers, so you’ll love the deadly trysts we discuss in CRIMES OF PASSION. Listen now at parcast.com/passion
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Sent to his first mental institution at the age of 17, Fritz Haarmann had a troubled childhood full of trauma. He went on to murder close to 30 people between 1918 and 1924. His massive killing spree left a lasting legacy on both his hometown and the entire country of Germany.
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He didn't just love to kill his victims; Fritz Haarmann liked to bite into their Adam's apples and tear out their throats. His "love bites" earned him the nickname The Werewolf of Hanover, Germany. From 1918-1924, Fritz murdered as many as 50 children before police finally realized that the Werewolf was one of their own.
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After suffering multiple miscarriages, she begins to see her children less as a blessing and more of a burden. Mary Ann Cotton’s severe struggles with PTSD and postpartum depression caused her to disconnect from her own thoughts and commit unthinkable crimes around England during the 1850s and 60s. Many of the people closest to her did not survive the wrath of her anger.
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She was determined to pull herself out of poverty, but the path towards financial freedom meant murdering her three husbands, 13 children, and family friends, who dared to stand in her way. This 19th century killer became known as Britain's Black Widow Killer, and the first female serial killer in England.
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In the summer of 2005, innocent people were being gunned down in the streets of Phoenix, Arizona with no suspects, no witnesses, and no plausible motives. Dale Hausner and Sam Dieteman were ruthless murderers killing anyone they saw fit. The pair lived for the chaos, creating a game out of murdering innocent bystanders.
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In an instant, Dale Hauser's family was gone. He was left broken, isolated, and enraged. In 2005, his anger would boil over. He would begin stalking the streets of Phoenix, looking to create random chaos, and steal the lives of others as quickly as his own children had been taken.
Parcast News - Be sure to check out Parcast’s first fictional crime show MIND’S EYE at Parcast.com/MindsEye!
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Working as a photographer, he obsessively documented his crimes. Naso’s journals included more than 250 detailed descriptions of assaults, accompanied by thousands of photographs of his victim. He strangled at least six women to death between 1977 and 1994.
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A routine home inspection in 2010 uncovers heinous crimes committed by Joseph Naso. Dating back to the late 1970s, Naso was responsible for deaths in California, Nevada and possibly one of the most famous unsolved murder sprees in New York State history.
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Many of the details surrounding the murder of 16 women in Long Island remain a mystery, the only connection is that the women all used Craigslist. Investigations have yielded no concrete suspects. Only 35 miles from Manhattan, a serial killer remains at large.
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Ten bodies were found on Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach in Long Island in 2010 all linked to one person. The killer primarily targeted sex workers who charged about $200 an hour via Craigslist. The Long Island Serial Killer’s murders go as far back as 1982, yet he still hasn’t been caught.
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Edmund Kemper despised his mother so much, he tried to destroy everything she had ever loved. As Edmund began to express his hatred, the trail of bodies he left in his wake between 1964 and 1973 would earn him the name of the Co-Ed Killer.
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Verbally abused and psychologically tortured by his mother, young Edmund Kemper's mind turned towards vicious daydreams and perverted nightmares. Before he even reached adulthood in California, Kemper showed the world how truly violent he could be. The Co-Ed Killer went on to murder ten people between 1964 and 1973.
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Can detective Stuart Clifton find enough evidence to lock up the serial killer known as the, “Angel of Death” away for life? Or will Beverley Allitt’s mental illness affect the verdict in the UK?
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A sweet and loving pediatric nurse was secretly torturing and murdering children at a England hospital in in the early 1990s. We’ll explore Beverley Allitt’s turbulent childhood, mental illness and what caused her turn into such a violent monster.
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A man hungry for murder, and other things… The Cannibal Kid invites you to his famous BBQ, but this isn’t your standard Fourth of July celebration. Scheduled around the satanic calendar, human flesh will be on the menu.
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He was either one of the most prolific killers of all time, or a compliant interviewee taken advantage of by the police to clear their cold case files. Which story will you believe?
Subscribe now to our new podcast HOSTAGE, featuring the riveting story of Patty Hearst's abduction by the Symbionese Liberation Army.
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A chance meeting with child killer Gary Marcoux inspired Olson Jr. to commit his own string of murders. What measures would law enforcement have to take to identify and locate the victims of his crimes?
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After his release from prison, Olson Jr. would go on a vicious killing spree and ultimately be convicted of eleven murders. Why would somebody who didn’t have a violent past suddenly turn into a monster?
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What if you picked out a book at the library and found a taunting note to police from a serial killer? As the BTK Killer, he loved when the media gave him attention. But his need for attention would also be his downfall and eventually lead to his capture.
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By all accounts, he was a loving family man, Scoutmaster, and church leader. None of his family members or colleagues ever suspected that he was also a sadistic killer. His M.O. was simple. He would bind, torture, and kill his victims. And that’s how Dennis Rader got his nickname.
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Fred and Rose each came from abusive homes and each showed signs of being abusive as they became adults. But together, they would start a new life and collectively be responsible for nine murders over a span of decades.
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Fred and Rose each came from abusive homes and each showed signs of being abusive as they became adults. But together, they would start a new life and collectively be responsible for nine murders over a span of decades.
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From the years 1969 to 1981, a serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper freely roamed the streets of Yorkshire, England. Police were so determined to find him, they interviewed over 250,000 people. Sutcliffe had been brought in for questioning on nine separate occasions and each time he walked out a free man. How would they eventually catch him?
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Serial killer Peter Sutcliffe claimed he was directed by voices of God to kill innocent women. Naturally, he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the charges that he slaughtered over a dozen women. Was his psychosis real or did he develop a deep hatred of women in childhood?
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Dorothea Puente ran a boarding house in Sacramento, California. She had perfected a technique of taking in tenants who were on government assistance, murdering them, and then fraudulently cash the checks. All the while, neighbors had no idea that dead bodies were being buried in her backyard.
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This is a crossover special with the hosts of Serial Killers and Female Criminals.
Dorothea Puente didn’t set out to become Sacramento, California’s most notorious female serial killer. But she did have a criminal streak that grew more sinister, culminating in the deaths of almost a dozen residents of the boarding house she ran. How was she able to evade detection from family members and social workers? And how did she get away with her first murder? Listen to part 2 now on the Female Criminals feed. Part 2 will not be on the Serial Killers feed. Thanks!
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From summer of 1976 through summer of 1977, David Berkowitz went on a year long killing spree that terrorized the New York City boroughs of Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. Young women with dark hair were being targeted and anybody near them was in harms way. Find out how David Berkowitz got his nickname “Son of Sam” and how he was ultimately caught by police.
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Plagued by the voices of monsters and demons since adolescence, serial killer David Berkowitz set over a thousand small fires throughout his youth and early adulthood. But his later involvement in devil worship and the occult, paired with his deep hatred for women, ultimately led him down the gruesome path to murder.
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Like many serial killers, Maury Travis became over-confident. In the summer of 2002, after reading a story in the newspaper about one of his victims, he mailed a letter to the local newspaper offering them information on the location of another. He was careful not to leave any fingerprints or DNA evidence before mailing it, so how did they track him down?
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There was no evidence in Maury Travis’ childhood of arson or animal abuse, often seen as early warning signs for serial killers. And he didn’t appear to have been a victim of abuse from either of his parents. So what made this seemingly normal kid turn into a man who would rape, torture and murder as many as twenty women?
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Amy Archer-Gilligan owned and operated a home for elderly residents in Windsor, Connecticut, but fell deeply into debt. Over time, she developed a deadly business model - stealing money from residents, then poisoning them - ultimately killing more than two dozen victims over a two-year span.
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Amy Archer-Gilligan opened a nursing home in Connecticut in 1907. By portraying herself as a kind and religious woman, she was able to recruit new residents. She was beloved in her neighborhood which is exactly why nobody suspected that she was a cold, calculated killer.
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In the summer of 1980, Carol Bundy helped Douglas Clark sexually assault a young girl and murder over a half-dozen women. Her extreme desire to please Clark evolved into a murderous partnership, and finally a killer in her own right.
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After years of abuse as a child at the hands of her parents, Carol Bundy suffered through the same fate as an adult at the hands of various boyfriends. When she met Douglas Clark, she thought things would be different. But he had dark sexual fantasies and she would do anything to stay with him. Even kill.
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Luis Alfredo Garavito raped, tortured, and killed well over 100 children. Find out how he lured away his victims and avoided detection from authorities before eventually being apprehended and tried.
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Luis Garavito was born in Colombia in 1957 to an abusive, alcoholic father and a time of civil unrest. At the age of sixteen, Garavito was kicked out of the house. This sparked a transient lifestyle and murder spree during which Garavito raped, tortured, and murdered over one hundred victims.
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Henry Lee Lucas served only 10 years for killing his abusive mother. After being released early due to overcrowding, he longed for a sense of family and befriended fellow murderer Ottis Toole. Lucas moved in with Toole and his family. Once together,they spent most of their time together, working as roofers, and killing innocent victims. Or did they?
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Henry Lee Lucas, is one of history’s greatest liars. After his arrest in the 1980s, Lucas claimed to have murdered over 3,000 people across the U.S. His numerous confessions lead to his moniker, the “Confession Killer.” So what led Lucas to confess to so many different murders? And how many of these supposed crimes did he actually commit?
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Carl Panzram didn't start out a murderer. He started with smaller crimes like robbery and arson and quickly worked his way up to more violent crimes. But most kids with his background grow up to not be serial killers. What happened to Carl Panzram that pushed him from regular felon to violent serial killer?
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Even as a child, Carl Panzram often found himself in trouble. He spent his teenage years either homeless, on the run, or imprisoned. From robbing former president Taft to setting churches and jails on fire, Panzram was always on the hunt for trouble. But what made the mischievous teenager turn into a serial killer?
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After his girlfriend Maria was murdered by gang members, Pedro Rodrigues Filho made it his mission to avenge her death, and kill as many criminals as possible. In popular culture, this kind of vigilantism is celebrated, in real life it leaves a brutal path of bodies in the wake of a man who appointed himself judge, jury, and executioner. In this episode, we explore the life of “Killer Petey” and his blood soaked search for justice.
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After being admitted to Bridgewater State Hospital, Albert DeSalvo began confiding in other patients, bragging about his crimes and admitting he was the Boston Strangler. But was that a lie for attention? Or was DeSalvo truly the killer behind the crimes of the Boston Strangler?
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There’s a special sense of security within our own homes. But from 1962 to 1964, Albert DeSalvo took advantage of this trust. He swayed women into letting him through the front door, only to leave them as victims of “The Boston Strangler.”
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After luring in victims using a false sense of security, Patrick Wayne Kearney earned his title as “The Trash Bag Killer” by murdering a confirmed 21 young men and leaving their remains in trash bags along Southern California freeways during the 1970's. But when he targeted 19-year-old Tony Stewart, everything changed.
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Patrick Wayne Kearney was born in Los Angeles, California in 1939. As a child, he was tormented relentlessly by schoolmates, and found happiness in slaughtering animals. We examine how he transitioned from a bullied child to a violent killer who left dozens of men in garbage bags alongside California freeways.
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Many people innocently dream of having super powers. But Ahmad Suradji’s dreams led him to become a murderous “Sorcerer from Hell” who killed 42 women in his quest to become invincible. We explore Suradji’s path to killing, including a disturbing dream that inspired him to kill women and drink their saliva.
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In 1986, Ahmad Suradji had dreamed of becoming a mystic healer in his community. But this dream also led him to believe he could become invincible… by murdering young women and slurping their saliva. We dive deep into the life of Ahmad Suradji, and examine how he pursued his gruesome dreams to become the Sorcerer from Hell.
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During his 25-year medical career, Harold Shipman rose to be a respectable family doctor who treated his patients with outstanding care. But behind closed doors, he operated as Dr. Death, and injected his victims with deadly doses of diamorphine. We look into how this man, who may have killed more than 200 people, managed to get away with it for so long.
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What happens when a doctor, someone we should trust, becomes a killer? Harold Shipman, later known as Dr. Death, terrorized Britain for 25 years, killing over 200 of his patients. We look into Shipman’s life to learn how someone who went through years of medical training could become a killer hidden in plain sight.
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Elizabeth Bathory was a cruel, widowed noblewoman who earned the title “The Blood Countess” from the rumors she bathed in the blood of her victims. We continue to dive deep into her torture and murder of young servants, as well as investigate the many accomplices who only helped her fulfill her lust for blood.
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In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, young peasant girls who went to the Castle Cachtice were being led to death at the hands of the Blood Countess. Although much of her life is shrouded in mystery, it’s no secret that Elizabeth Bathory was a sadist responsible for dozens, perhaps hundreds of murders. Her position as one of the most blood-thirsty, notorious killers of all time has influenced stories for centuries, including the classic Dracula.
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After murdering two women, robbing graves, and decorating his home with human body parts, Ed Gein found himself arrested and in the media’s spotlight. We look into his trial, institutionalization, and the public’s fascination with him… a fascination that still lives on today.
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We explore the twisted mind of Ed Gein, whose gruesome killings inspired horror movies Pyscho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs. Gein was known for years as the local handyman in Plainfield, until it was uncovered in 1957 that he killed two women and robbed the graves of multiple other women.
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After a childhood filled with abuse, poverty, and shame, Jane Toppan (born Honora Kelley), left her foster home and pursued nursing. To many, she seemed like a loving nurse who cared deeply for her patients. But for years, she used her nursing skills to experiment with medicines...and kill the people who trusted her the most.
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We continue to look into the conflicted identity of John Wayne Gacy, who terrorized Chicago in the 1970s. Known as the “Killer Clown,” Gacy tortured and then murdered at least 33 teenage boys. But for many years, he appeared to be an outstanding member of his community...all while hiding his victims’ bodies underneath his house.
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John Wayne Gacy, or the “Killer Clown,” was named the worst serial killer in the United States after he murdered 33 teenage boys in the 1970s. Gacy lived a contradicting life as a celebrated community member, who then used his reputation to pursue secret, violent interests. We look into Gacy’s crimes and how the abuse from his father and his own feelings of alienation created a killer.
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Ian Brady & Myra Hindley shared a deep, dark passion for murder that led to the death of multiple children in England from 1963 to 1965. Their horrific actions made them two of the most infamous serial killers in modern history. In part two of the Moors Murders, Greg and Vanessa explore the couple’s crimes and their ultimate demise.
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When Myra Hindley, an ambitious, yet violent, young woman met Ian Brady, an unemotional man with a twisted mind, their deepening love became a source of tragedy. From 1963 to 1965, the duo acted on their dark desires by murdering children in England. Greg and Vanessa explore the bone-chilling dynamics of serial killer couples like Ian and Myra.
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After William Bonin took the life of his first victim, his killings only escalated in frequency and violence. In part 2, Greg and Vanessa dive into Bonin’s need for validation, and how the loneliness resulting from his traumatic childhood likely led him to invite multiple accomplices along on his killing spree. After the rape, torture, and murder of at least 21 men and boys, William Bonin’s accomplices became the key to his capture and conviction.
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William Bonin drove California’s freeways, picking up hitchhiking men and boys and driving them to their deaths. As a child, he was abused by almost everyone he met--family, classmates and authority figures - leading to complete desensitization. Greg and Vanessa discuss Bonin’s hunger for power and addiction to torture, rape, and murder.
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Andrei Chikatilo killed with increasing frequency over twelve years. Greg and Vanessa explain how the Soviet system of criminal profiling allowed a monster like Chikatilo to evade the police, even as his killing became more frequent, and more gruesome. They examine how a psychiatrist helped crack the case, Chikatilo’s attempt to plea insanity, and the horror of tracking down a killer who’s victim profile is “anyone they can get their hands on”.
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One of the most prolific serial killers ever to live, Andrei Chikatilo murdered 53 people between 1978 and 1990. Greg and Vanessa examine how Chikatilo was molded by the horrors of World War II in Ukraine and then the Soviet Union. Driven by his impotence, he could only be satisfied by killing women and children.
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He was never caught. So why did Jack the Ripper stop killing? In the finale, Greg, Vanessa, Carter, and Wenndy follow the years-long search for Jack the Ripper, ranging from bloodhound trials to DNA testing. Then our hosts discuss Jack’s last victims, his pop culture influence, and a few major suspects; finally pinpointing the person they believe was Jack the Ripper.
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One of the first serial killers to write letters to the authorities, Jack the Ripper’s mail was memorable, to say the least. Our resident Ripperologists examine Jack’s odd correspondence and determine which letters were fakes and which were truly penned by the Ripper. They also examine the “Double Event” murders and how sensational journalism and media coverage influences active killers.
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He's the world's most famous killer. But how could a series of crimes committed in a few weeks in 1888 still be so famous nearly 130 years after the fact? In the first episode of this special series, Unsolved Murders Hosts Carter and Wenndy join Serial Killers hosts Greg and Vanessa to explore the most infamous anonymous killer the world has ever known: Jack the Ripper.
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In the case of the Lethal Lovers, Gwen Graham was charged with five murders, and Cathy Wood charged as her accomplice. But was that truly their relationship, or was Cathy blackmailing Gwen to use her as a scapegoat? Greg and Vanessa piece through the lies to discover who was really culpable in the Alpine Manor killings- Gwen Graham, Cathy Wood, or both women?
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After meeting at Alpine Manor in Michigan, nurses’ aides Gwen Graham and Cathy Wood began a romantic relationship that eventually earned them the nickname “The Lethal Lovers.” Motivated by dark erotophonophilia, Graham and Wood’s dangerous “pranks” soon escalated to what they dubbed “The Murder Game”.
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Bible John left gruesomely specific crime scenes. This week, Greg and Vanessa scrutinize this killer’s disturbing methods for any semblance of meaning. Were the kills sadistic, predatory, or spurred by rage at encountering an “unclean” menstruating woman? And how, despite the fact that the Glasgow police interviewed over 20,000 people, did Bible John evade capture?
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Glasgow’s Barrowland Ballroom was meant to be a place for people to dance and enjoy themselves. Instead, Bible John, one of Scotland’s most infamous serial killers, used the dance hall as a hunting ground. Vanessa and Greg investigate the motives of this mysterious murderer who may have used the Bible as justification to target menstruating woman.
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Charles Cullen was one of the deadliest serial killers in American history. As a nurse, he went from hospital to hospital, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Greg and Vanessa investigate how the New Jersey hospitals that employed the killer nurse ignored evidence of his murders. Yet despite the mounting deaths, the one person capable of bringing Cullen to justice was his only friend.
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Nurses are trained to save lives. But this nurse killed. Charles Cullen overdosed his elderly patients on digoxin and insulin, passing off over 40 deaths as natural before authorities finally got involved. Greg and Vanessa examine how Cullen’s depression, feelings of victimhood and drug abuse led him to abuse drugs on others.
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A fire rages at black widow Belle Gunness's murder farm, where her many victims lie buried below her hog pen. After deputies find a headless woman's body in the ashes, authorities believe that Belle was murdered by her jealous farmhand. But Greg and Vanessa think that’s exactly what Belle wanted them to believe. Why would a serial killer fake her own death? And what would drive her to do so? Greg and Vanessa investigate.
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Norwegian immigrant Belle Gunness was one of America's deadliest black widows. Suitors answering her personal ads seeking romance found themselves at the wrong end of Belle's meat cleaver. Join Greg and Vanessa as they investigate the motives behind Belle's prolific murders. Was early-life trauma to blame? Or did simple greed drive Belle to kill?
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What makes someone evil? And how evil is Gary Ridgway, serial killer and necrophiliac? Greg and Vanessa discuss Ridgway’s sex addiction, how he lured his victims, and the great lengths he went to in order to evade the police for nearly twenty years.
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Struggling with a low IQ, Gary Ridgway always wanted to be the best at just one thing. That one thing turned out to be serial murder. The most prolific American serial killer, Ridgway claims to have killed almost eighty women. Greg and Vanessa discuss the formative events and possible Oedipal complex behind the Green River Killer.
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Behind the cheerful demeanor of a sweet southern grandma, lurked a vicious killer. Nannie Doss poisoned her husbands, killed her children, and even went after her own mother. This week, Greg explores Nannie’s use of the lonely hearts columns to find victims, and Vanessa examines how social conformity and societal norms helped this killer fly under the radar for so long.
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“The Giggling Granny”, Nannie Doss’ home cooked meals were served with a side of poison. Was she suffering from Munchausen-by-Proxy, or did she just feel trapped by mid-20th century society? Greg and Vanessa examine how a troubled childhood, brain damage, and an abusive husband led this killer to snap and go after everyone who was closest to her.
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Lonnie Franklin Jr. offered rides to Los Angeles women, only to kill them, photograph them, and leave their bodies to be found like trash on the street. “The Grim Sleeper” had a deep-seated need to degrade women, ending at least ten lives before new breaks in forensic technology helped the police to catch him. Greg and Vanessa discuss Franklin’s change in MO, his police interrogation, and the remaining task of identifying the unknown women in his Polaroids. Join us after the episode for an exclusive interview with Hart Hanson, creator of the TV series BONES. We’ll talk about his new crime novel, The Driver.
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He targeted and killed multiple women in the 1980’s; then mysteriously disappeared. Fourteen years later, he started killing again. Why would he stop? And why, after so long, would he come back? Greg and Vanessa examine what made “The Grim Sleeper” different from other serial killers operating in the area at the same time, as well as the psychology behind his “trophies.”
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A lust killer who dreamed to be known as an outlaw, Paul John Knowles sought infamy. He was so desperate to be remembered; he recorded his own confession to multiple murders while still a free man, and shared the tapes with his lawyer. Knowles killed indiscriminately, occasionally allowing writers to live—so they could chronicle his story. This week, Greg and Vanessa follow Knowles’ cross-country murder spree to its shoot-out conclusion.
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He had no pattern. No victim type. No consistent MO. And he killed across the country. Nicknamed the “Casanova Killer” for his good looks, Paul John Knowles confounded the police. Greg and Vanessa dig into Knowles troubled childhood and disrespect for authority, then try to unpack a confusing man who described himself as both Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Bonnie and Clyde.
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“The Boogey Man”, AKA Albert Fish, attacked over 100 children, many of them unidentified. A traumatic childhood created a twisted old man, tormented by religious delusions and sick sexual fantasies. Greg and Vanessa explore the kidnapping and murder of Grace Budd, which led to Fish’s downfall, his shocking confessions, and his eventual execution.
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Every Monday we take a psychological and entertaining approach to provide a rare glimpse into the mind, methods and madness of the most notorious serial killers.
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Albert Fish preyed on young children in the early 1900s, molesting, murdering, and even cannibalizing them. He wasn’t caught until the 1930s, when three of his most horrifying crimes came to light. This week, Greg and Vanessa discuss Fish’s tumultuous childhood, his paraphilic disorders, and two of his most infamous victims.
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En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.