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Jeffrey Dahmer -

From 1978 to 1991, a notorious Milwaukee cannibal and serial killer committed the gruesome acts of murdering, dismembering, and eating 17 boys. Dahmer's capture occurred when he was caught in the act of his next intended killing, which ended when the boy escaped and reported him to authorities. After only two years in prison, Dahmer met his end at the hands of a fellow inmate who brutally beat him to death. This grim story was told in the Netflix series "Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story."

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Ted Bundy -

Bundy, notorious for luring his victims from public areas to isolation, gained infamy as both a serial killer and rapist. Despite being apprehended, he managed to escape multiple times and continued his killing spree. In 1989, Bundy was sentenced to execution by electric chair.

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Donald Henry Gaskins -

 Mutilating hitchhikers along the Southern coast, Gaskins claims to have killed 80 to 90 people. He was caught in 1975 when a fellow criminal told authorities he witnessed Gaskins murder two young men. While on death row in a high-security penitentiary, Gaskins was able to kill a fellow inmate, the only case of this kind in history. He was sentenced to death by electrocution in a South Carolina prison in 1991 at the age of 58.

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Edmund Kemper -

The Santa Cruz necrophile and murderer gained notoriety as the "Co-ed Killer." He brutally killed and defiled six female hitchhikers, as well as his own mother and grandparents, in the region. The disturbing tale was recently portrayed in the Netflix series, 'Mindhunter'.

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Charles Ng and Leonard Lake -

The duo committed acts of torture and murder in Calaveras County, CA. Lake took his own life shortly after being arrested in 1985. Ng, on the other hand, was first apprehended for shoplifting but later tried to flee to Canada. After a long extradition process, he was ultimately found guilty in 1999.

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David Berkowitz -

The individual responsible for a string of shootings in New York City during the summer of 1976, came to be known as  "Son of Sam" and the ".44 Caliber Killer."

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Anthony Allen Shore -

Shore became known as the "Tourniquet Killer" and emerged as the primary suspect in a string of murders occurring in a Texas field, approximately one mile from Interstate Highway 45.

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Amy Archer-Gilligan -

This killer poisoned her elderly victims at the nursing home she worked at, allegedly for monetary gain.

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Larry Bittaker and Roy Norris -

The pair became known as the "Tool Box Killers" for their gruesome acts of luring women, torturing them, and subjecting them to horrifying deaths inside their van. In 1981, Bittaker was given the death penalty and died in prison while awaiting for his execution. Norris, who testified against Bittaker, avoided execution and received a 45-year prison sentence.

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Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono -

The cousins gained infamy as the "Hillside Stranglers" for their horrific crimes committed between 1977-88, where they targeted and strangled young women in the hills near Los Angeles.

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Richard Ramirez -

This individual, who admitted to worshiping Satan, gained notoriety as the "Night Stalker" because he unlawfully entered the residences of his victims. Following extreme acts of torture and mutilation, Ramirez would construct pentagrams on the walls nearby. His year-long reign of terror ended with his arrest in 1985.

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Peter Manuel -

Between 1956 and 1958, a killer from America instilled fear in Southern Scotland. The authorities were able to establish Manuel's culpability when he was apprehended using the banknotes belonging to his victims at nearby pubs. Manuel took the lives of 18 individuals and, ultimately, faced capital punishment at Barlinnie Prison. This execution marked one of the final instances before Scotland banned such sentences.

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Fred and Rose West -

Between 1967 and 1987, the married couple committed the heinous acts of rape and murder, victimizing at least 11 innocent young women and girls. In 1994, law enforcement authorities conducted a search of their residence, unearthing human bones that were clandestinely buried beneath the floorboards and in the garden. Fred West hanged himself before conviction.

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John Wayne Gacy -

John Wayne Gacy, a notorious serial killer, would entice his victims by offering them jobs, only to subject them to a horrifying fate. Strangulation proved to be his preferred method of murder, claiming the lives of 33 individuals. Concealing their remains within his Chicago residence, he eventually discarded them in the Des Plaines River. In 1994, Gacy faced capital punishment through lethal injection.

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Tommy Lynn Sells -

This Texas serial killer claimed to have killed over 70 people between 1985 and 1999. Sells was eventually arrested after stabbing a 10-year-old girl in her bedroom and leaving her for dead. Despite multiple injuries, the girl managed to alert her neighbors. Sells was executed by lethal injection 2014.

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The Bender Family -

"The Bloody Benders" earned their notoriety as a family of serial killers residing and functioning in Labette County, KS.

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Gard Ridway -

Ridgeway, arrested in Washington State, admitted to the slayings of a minimum of 70 women during the 80s and 90s. He came to be known as "The Green River Killer" due to discarding his victims' remains in the Green River.

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Dennis Raider -

This individual, known as "BTK" which stands for bind, torture, and kill, gained notoriety as a serial killer in Kansas. Prior to stalking and killing his victims, he would send provocative letters to the local police. After seemingly disappearing in 1988, Raider resurfaced and sent a floppy disk with his signature threats to police; it was then that authorities were able to arrest and charge him.

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Dean Corll, David Brooks, and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. -

These three individuals were behind a string of murders in Houston, TX between 1970 and 1973, which later gained infamy as the "Houston Mass Murders." The shocking revelation of their involvement in the 28 atrocious killings occurred when Henley took the life of Corll.

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Herbert Mullin -

Claiming that the voices in his head were making him kill to prevent an earthquake, Mullin killed 13 people throughout California, including an old high school friend.

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Donald Harvey -

Working in a hospital, this serial killer pronounced himself "The Angel of Death." Using painful poisons to allegedly end his victims suffering, Harvey claims he murdered over 80 people.

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Patrick Kearney -

Kearney gained notoriety as "The Trash Bag Killer," causing chaos from 1965 until his capture in 1977.

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Raymond Martinez Fernandez and Martha Beck -

Fernandez and Beck are accused of committing multiple murders from 1947 to 1949, predominantly targeting individuals found through newspaper ads. Despite their alleged actions, they were only charged for one case.

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Joel Rifkin -

Rifkin is believed to have murdered 17 drug addicts and sex workers in New Jersey from 1989 to 1993.

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Paul John Knowles -

Knowles asserted that he had murdered 35 individuals in a span of one year in 1974. After being caught, he was shot and killed in the backseat of a police car while attempting to escape.

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Carl Eugene Watts -

Watts became known as "The Sunday Morning Slasher," and reeked weekly havoc from 1974 to 1982. He is suspected of killing over 100 people.

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Robert Lee Yates -

Currently on death row, Yates allegedly murdered 13 female sex workers in Washington, though was only convicted of killing two.

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Earle Nelson -

A serial killer, known as "The Dark Strangler," targeted single landladies. He would rent a room from them and then strangle them. He was apprehended and executed in 1927.

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Jane Toppan -

Between 1885 and 1901, this nurse killed more than 30 people.  After capture, Toppan admitted that her utmost desire was to become the most successful murderer in history. Though she fell short of achieving this ambition, she did manage to poison not only her patients, but also her landlords and even her foster sister.

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Robert Hansen -

Between 1971 and 1983, Hansen brutally murdered no less than 17 women in Alaska, inflicting great horror.

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Ronald Dominique -

From 1997 to 2006, Dominique engaged in a series of attacks and murders targeting homosexual men whom he believed would be open to exchanging money for sexual services. He is currently serving eight back-to-back life sentences.

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William Bonin -

Also referred to as "The Freeway Killer," Bonin murdered a minimum of 21 young men on the highways of Southern California.

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Wayne Williams -

Williams has spent the last 40 years in prison, convicted of the murder of two men, while being found guilty of the murder of 22 children, also known as the Atlanta Child Murders, from 1979 to 1981. Even though he is still in prison, Williams is still trying to clear his name.

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Juan Corona -

This serial killer brutally took the lives of 25 migrant co-workers while working on a fruit ranch in Sutter County, CA.

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Maury Travis -

From 2000 to 2002, Travis murdered 17 women in Missouri. After a local news station covered his crimes, he responded by sending a letter along with a map providing instructions to the location of the burial site.

See also: The differences between psychopaths and sociopaths

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