America’s Famous Serial Killers!

Note: This article on America’s famous serial killers was originally published on September 7, 2008 and has since been updated to include profiles of additional American serial killers.

In our original look at some of America’s famous serial killers, we looked at thirteen of the most notorious serial killers in American history. But those murderers are far from the only serial killers our nation has seen.

Now let’s add five more names to the list — more American serial killers you might (or might not) have heard about.

Dean Corll

Credit: US Military (via Wikimedia)

Dean Corll, also known as “The Candy Man,” didn’t act alone. He worked with two accomplices — Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks. Corll is thought to have murdered at least 28 boys in the Houston area from 1970 through 1973. The boys were beaten and raped while tied to a plywood “torture board.” Victims were killed with a gun or by strangulation.

Dean Corll wasn’t prosecuted for his crimes. He was killed by one of his accomplices (Henley). While Henley was convicted of six murders, he wasn’t charged with killing Corll. That was ruled to be self-defense.

Amy Archer-Gilligan

Credit: Desconocido (via Wikimedia)

Amy Archer-Gilligan ran a convalescent home in Connecticut. Oddly, her murders inspired the comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace.” She killed residents of her nursing home by poisoning them with arsenic and strychnine shortly after they’d paid her large sums of money. It’s also believed that she killed her wealthy second husband for the inheritance. According to the New York Daily News, “it’s estimated that at least 20 people, and some estimate as many as 100, including her husbands, died by her hand.”

She was only tried for one murder — that of Franklin R. Andrews. She was found guilty and sentenced to death in 1917 and was granted a new trial on appeal. This time she pleaded insanity. She was again found guilty and this time sentenced to life imprisonment. She was moved to a hospital for the insane in 1924. She died there in 1962.

Juan Vallejo Corona

Credit: Doc9871 (via Wikimedia)

Juan Vallejo Corona is a Mexican American serial killer who preyed upon the workers he supplied to fruit ranches in California. It is believed that Juan Vallejo Corona killed at least 25 laborers whose bodies were found buried in the orchards they worked at. No clear motive was ever given for the killings.

Corona was found guilty of the 25 murders in 1973 when he was issued 25 life sentences. His conviction was overturned in 1978 and he was tried again in 1982. He was again convicted of the crimes. He is still serving time at the Corcoran State Prison in California.

The Boston Strangler

Albert DeSalvo — Credit: FBI (via Wikimedia)

The Boston’s Strangler’s true identity still hasn’t been confirmed, although Albert DeSalvo confessed to being the notorious northeast killer. This unknown serial killer murdered at least 13 women in Boston between 1962 and 1964. Most of the women were sexually assaulted before being strangled, although one elderly victim died of a heart attack and at least two victims were stabbed. Victims’ ages ranged from 19 to 85.

Albert DeSalvo confessed to the stranglings in 1964 after being caught and charged with other sexual assaults (where the victims were not murdered). He was sentenced to life in prison, later escaped but turned himself in, and was ultimately stabbed to death while he was incarcerated.

Many people still believe DeSalvo lied about being The Boston Strangler however, due to inconsistencies and inaccuracies in his claims, DNA evidence that would seem to clear him in at least one case, and the belief that the crimes were too different to all be committed by the same person.

The Zodiac Killer

Credit: Fredy.00 (via Wikimedia)

The Zodiac Killer, who has never been identified, attacked couples around San Francisco in the late 1960s. The Zodiac Killer claimed to have committed 37 murders in total, but only seven have been confirmed so far. They included three young couples and a young man. The known victims were either shot or stabbed.

The killer himself came up with the “Zodiac” name when he used it in letters to the press. He sent them four coded messages (cryptograms). Only one of them has been definitively solved — by a high school teacher. In that letter, the killer expressed his joy in killing, calling it “so much fun.” And he claimed that the people he murdered would become his slaves in the afterlife.

Read on for our original list of America’s famous serial killers or leave a comment to tell us about a serial killer we haven’t covered here.

Update: Please also check out another list of Notorious Serial Killers

Serial killers — you’d be hard-pressed to spot them in a crowd. They look just like everyone else. In fact, most of them are soft-spoken and polite. Their monstrous nature comes through only when you delve deeper into their personalities, actions and habits.

Reading the gruesome tales of serial killers sends a chill up the spine.  Most of them seem to have had a dysfunctional family setting and were abused as children — emotionally, sexually or verbally. It’s as if this activates some psychological trigger in their minds, increasing the feelings of inadequacy or worthlessness, and causing them to seek out their own heinous form of release.

There have been hundreds of serial killers in the history of America, and there are a few that tend to stay in the minds of citizens, becoming “famous.”

Here are just a few of the (in)famous serial killers that have walked the streets of our nation, in no particular order. There may be many others that are notorious or have killed more people, but we picked a few of the more famous killers that truly shocked us.

Ed Gein (Killings between 1947 and 1957)

Known as history’s most inspirational killer, his character became a central element in many films, including Alfred Hitchcock’s thriller Psycho and the character of Buffalo Bill  in The Silence of the Lambs, among others.

Modus Operandi

Gein was a serial killer who skinned his victims, exhumed corpses, and decorated his home with parts of his victims’ bodies. Human skin was used to make dust bins, furniture, and even clothes.

Background

Gein was born in 1906 as the younger of two boys. He had a weak alcoholic father and a domineering mother who was deeply religious. He was said to be very attached to her. She taught them about immorality and the evils of women and sex and discouraged their sexual desires. He turned into an effeminate and shy boy.

His father died as a result of his alcoholism and later his brother Henry, who used to criticize his mother about Gein’s unhealthy attachment to her, died in a mysterious fire. The younger boy was later suspected.

Fantasies

With nobody to control him after his mother passed away, Gein became obsessed with sexual fantasies and female anatomy. Fascinated by the human experiments performed in Nazi camps, he started robbing graves to perform experiments of his own, including exhuming his own mother’s body. The experiments became gruesome and cannibalistic. He had the desire to turn himself into a woman and would create breasts out of human skin and drape them over himself. He believed that for a sex change, he would need fresh bodies and thus started his killing spree, which was said to be because of his love-hate relationship with his mother.

House of Horrors

When police finally caught up with him, they found a variety of gruesome sights — hanging corpses with their throats and heads missing, bowls made of skulls, pieces of jewelry made of human skin, hanging lips, skin upholstery for chairs, and masks made of facial skin and vulva (including his mother’s) that were painted silver. The most shocking discovery was perhaps his mother’s heart, which was found in a pan on the stove.

Killings and Sentence

Police counted 15 women as his victims. Gein told the police that he never had sex with any of the dead women as “they smelled too bad.” His fascination with women was because of the power they held over men. Gein was admitted to Waupan State Hospital and died of cancer at the age of 78.

Ted Bundy (Killings between 1974 and 1978)

Ted Bundy proved that even the devil can be attractive. Bundy was one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. He was handsome, charming and cultured, all traits playing a role in his ability to rape and murder numerous young women. He even engaged in necrophilia (sexual attraction or involvement with corpses).

Modus Operandi

Bundy had unique techniques of luring his victims. He would drink alcohol before approaching potential victims, even in a crowd or in broad daylight, and gain their trust by faking an injury with his arm in a fake cast or a sling. He would at times act as a policeman or fire department personnel. After luring victims to his car, he would hit them on their head with a crowbar. He then raped and assaulted them sexually before strangling and mutilating them.

This good looking maniac used to visit the corpses several times at the Taylor Mountain body dump site, apply makeup to them, and sleep with them till they putrefied.

Background

One of the theories says that he started killing people as early as 14 years old. Many of his victims are said to have a physical resemblance to his first girlfriend.

Bundy was born Theodore Robert Cowell in 1946 in Burlington, Vermont to an unmarried mother of 22. He gets his name from his stepfather. He was made to believe by his grandparents that he was their son and that his mother was actually his sister.

He was a good student, and like most young people devastated when his first love left him. Bundy didn’t deal with the grief as most people do though. He spent years trying to get her back, and when he did he started killing innocent people and then dumped his girlfriend just as she dumped him.

Killings and Sentence

He was executed in 1989 after confessing to 40 murders.

Before his execution, he revealed that his addiction to pornography led him to do what he did. He said that there are many people out there who were addicted and nothing is being done about them.

One of Bundy’s famous quotes – “We serial killers are your sons, we are your husbands, we are everywhere. And there will be more of your children dead tomorrow.”

David Berkowitz – Son of Sam (Killings between 1976 and 1977)

Better known as the Son of Sam or the .44 killer, David Berkowitz is a New York City serial killer who killed six people and wounded many others. His crimes became famous because of his letters to the media and the police, in addition to the reason he committed these crimes.

Reason for Killing

Berkowitz gave an odd reason for killing – he claimed that to keep the demons quiet, he started doing what they wanted. When dogs howled, he started believing that these dogs were demons asking him to kill women. He was convinced that his house owners, Jack and his wife, were part of the demon conspiracy and Jack was the commander in chief of all the dogs.

Later he shifted into another apartment but was still controlled by the demons in his mind. His new neighbor, Sam Carr, had a black Labrador which Berkowitz believed was possessed. He shot the dog. That did not provide any relief as he began believing that Sam Carr was possessed by the biggest demon, and perhaps Satan himself. Each night these demons told Berkowitz to kill and quench their thirst for blood.

He also used to write letters to the police and media, essentially taunting them with details of his killings.

Background

David Berkowitz, born 1953, was an adopted son of a middle class family in the Bronx. Although his parents loved him, Berkowitz carried a lot of anger and guilt inside him as he felt responsible for the death of his natural mother, who he was told died giving birth to him. Experts believe that could be the reason for his aggressive behavior.

He was devastated when his mother died of cancer and his father remarried and relocated to Florida, leaving him behind when he was 18.

Later he found out that his natural mother was alive and that he had a sister. There was a reunion, butit was too late for him by then as he preferred his isolation and delusions.

Killings and Sentence

Berkowitz received a 365 year prison sentence and told the FBI that he invented the “Son of Sam” stories to convince the court that he was out of his mind. He then said the real reason he killed was partly because he hated his mother for leaving him and partly his failure with women. He felt sexually aroused when he killed women, and he killed six of them.

John Wayne Gacy (Killings between 1972 and 1978)

A respected member of the Junior Chamber of Commerce, a precinct captain in the local Democratic party, the owner of a contracting business and a performing joker at children’s parties, John Wayne Gacy seemed as normal as they come.

He came to be known as one of the most prolific serial killers in U.S. history.

Modus Operandi

Gacy lured his victims into handcuffs in the pretext of showing them a pair of trick handcuffs he used in his clown act. He’d then dare the youth to free themselves. Once the boys were handcuffed, he would use either a rope or a board across their throats to kill them while he raped them.

Background

Gacy was born into a blue-collar family in 1942 and had two sisters. His father was an abusive alcoholic who verbally and physically abused his children. Gacy deeply loved his father and strived to please him, but failed.

He had the ability to persuade an manipulate people, likely because of how normal and harmless he seemed on the outside. He later got married and had two kids of his own, but his wife left him when he was arrested for trying to coerce a fellow employee into homosexual acts.

Another thing to note is that he injured his head by falling off a swing when he was 11 years old. He suffered from blackouts until he was 16, and then was diagnosed with a blood clot and the condition was corrected.

Killings and Sentence

When Gacy realized that police were about to arrest him, he surrendered himself. He told them, “There are four Johns” (similar to multiple personalities) — one was a contractor, another a clown, one a politician, and the fourth went by the name Jack Hanley, and he did evil things.

Gacy confessed to more than 24 murders and drew a map to 28 graves under his house and garage. He also said he threw five others into the Des Plaines River.

He was executed with a lethal injection on May 10, 1994. His last meal consisted of fried chicken, Coke, French fries and strawberry shortcake. His last words were, “Kiss my ass.”

Jeffrey Dahmer – Monster (Killings between 1978 and 1991

This Milwaukee serial killer murdered boys of Asian and African descent. His murders were gruesome and involved torture, forced sodomy, dismemberment (removing their limbs), necrophilia, and cannibalism.

He was arrested first when caught fondling a 13-year-old boy in Milwaukee and was sentenced to one year in a work release camp. After serving ten months, he was released on probation for his good behavior. That’s when his killing spree began.

He committed his first murder at the age of 18, shortly after being released, and his first victim was a 19-year-old hitchhiker.

There was a much-talked about story about a 14-year-old boy who almost escaped Dahmer in 1991. He wandered into the streets without clothes, with Dahmer in pursuit. Police believed Dahmer’s story that the boy was 19 years old and was his partner, and took the boy to Dahmer’s house. In spite of noticing a weird smell there, they left without investigating. Soon after, the boy was killed and Dahmer kept his skull as a souvenir.

Background

Dahmer was the son of an analytical chemist, and as a child he had a fascination with dissecting dead animals. By the time he was a teenager, he was an alcoholic and a loner. He dropped out of college and his father forced him to enlist in the Army. After just two years, he was discharged because of his heavy drinking. Since he did not want to face his father, he moved in with his grandmother and lived with her for six years. His grandmother asked him to move out when he was arrested for exposing himself in public.

Killings and Sentence

Dahmer was caught by the police when a would-be victim escaped and alerted them. He was held responsible for 15 murders, sentenced to 15 life terms. Dahmer then expressed remorse and wished death upon himself. He was beaten to death by a fellow inmate and died of severe head trauma.

Gary Ridgway – The Green River Killer (Killings between 1982 and 1984)

“I hate most prostitutes. I did not want to pay them for sex. I also picked prostitutes as victims because they were easy to pick up without being noticed. I knew they would not be reported missing right away, and might never be reported missing.” These were the words of one of the worst slayers in American history, who was said to have killed more women than any other serial killer — Gary Ridgway.

The Green River Killer drama unfolds at Aurora Avenue on the banks of the Green River where hundreds of prostitutes hang around, and where on July 15, 1982 the body of a 16-year-old prostitute was found. She was the first victim of the infamous Green River Killer and was raped and strangled to death. He had the habit of finding a landmark and leaving a group of dead bodies in ‘clusters,” to remember easily. Driving by these clusters and remembering them gave him a high.

The killings continued and police couldn’t find a clue, so the “Green River Taskforce” was formed in 1984. The death toll had reached 26 by then.

Ted Bundy’s Help

Another serial killer, Ted Bundy (who was sitting on a death row), offered to assist the police and gave them several clues into the working of a serial killer’s mind until the time he was executed.

Background

Ridgway was born in Salt Lake City, Utah and he had two brothers. He had a domineering mother who constantly yelled at their father and controlled Ted completely, and she was never pleased with what he did. Ridgway’s IQ was 80, which signified a slight mental deficiency. He had a troubled adolescence and stabbed a six-year-old kid when he was 16. He always had an obsession with prostitutes.

He was married for fourteen years and he managed two totally different identities: one the life of a wonderful husband going on romantic vacations, and the other of the infamous serial killer.

Killings and Sentence

The Green River Killer caused mayhem for two and half years during the 1980s. He pleaded guilty to 48 charges in 2003, but claimed to have killed 71 women. A controversial plea bargain he entered into spared him execution in exchange for helping to locate the remains of all of those women by providing details. This created a lot of controversy as many people believed that a person who murdered so many people should not be spared the death sentence.

He was sentenced to 48 life sentences and is currently incarcerated in Washington at the Washington State Penitentiary.

Belle Sorenson Gunness (Killings between 1900 and 1908)

Unlike many other female killers, Gunness didn’t poison her victims — she slaughtered them. She was a 42-year-old Norwegian immigrant who purchased a property in La Porte, Indiana using her first husband’s insurance after his death. Her husband and two of her children were said to have died mysteriously, although she wasn’t suspected. After moving to La Porte with the rest of her children, she married Peter Gunness who died after just nine months. She collected another insurance payment. Over the next few years, other men that came into her life vanished without trace.

She became famous for being a black widow — killing several of her husbands, ranch workers and adopted children.

Modus Operandi

She would place matrimonial ads in newspapers and promised men marital bliss and a life filled with love. Several hopefuls traveled to La Porte carrying their life savings with them. She would then drug them and cut them up as she cut her hogs. She would then wrap them up with oilskin and bury them at her farm.

A letter she wrote reads – “My heart beats in wild rapture for you, My Andrew, I love you. Come prepared to stay forever.”

Background

There are various accounts of her background. She was said to be one of eight children and was born in Stoersetgjerdet in Norway. One story goes that she got pregnant with a man and he kicked her in her stomach in public causing her to lose her child. He disappeared soon after. According to her sister, Belle was said to be crazy for money.

Missing Mysteriously

In 1908, Gunness’ farmhouse caught fire and burned to the ground. When it was put out, the remains of several people were discovered — men, children, and even a woman. The children were identified as hers. The woman was assumed to be Gunness herself, although there was no head. It was thought she died in that fire.

Many butchered bodies were found around her property, carved like turkeys. The heads were cut off, arms removed, and legs sawed off at the thigh.

Despite the assumption that she died, her ranch hand and lover, Lamphere, claimed that he helped Belle fake her own death and run away when he was arrested. Officially, she was presumed dead.

She was said to have killed 49 people.

Charles Manson (Killings in 1969)

Called the “most dangerous man” and the “devil,” Charles Manson was the terror of the 60s.

Background

He was born in 1934 to a 16-year-old mother who was a troublemaker. She left him with his aunt or grandmother most of the time. She was arrested on armed robbery charges and sent to a penitentiary, leaving Manson to live with his aunt and uncle. Even after she was released, his mother didn’t want the responsibility of looking after him. She was even willing to trade him for a drink. His father was never in the scene from his birth.

Manson turned out to be a troublemaker himself, and he was sent to a reform school at the age of nine. By the time he was 26, he was charged with rape, drug charges, stealing, pimping, and more.

He was religious and used this to manipulate people into following him. When he was 34, he formed the “Charles Manson Family” by attracting a group of followers — mostly young women with troubled pasts. He used amphetamines to alter their personalities and they started calling him “Jesus Christ” and did everything he wanted, including physical favors.

He was a music lover who believed that the “Beatles’” were prophets sent to earth to warn of an upcoming revolution. Manson focused on an Armageddon, where the blacks would rise to power and kill all whites and the Manson family would be the only white family living. He felt the blacks wouldn’t be able to stay in power because of an inferiority complex and that the Manson family would then rule the world.

When this did not happen, he started having people killed by his “family” members.

Killings and Sentence

His first murder was that of Sharon Tate, wife of director Roman Polanski. The next was the LaBianca family. He was sentenced to death but later reduced to life imprisonment, when California Supreme Court eliminated death penalties temporarily. He is currently an inmate at Corcoran State Prison.

Albert Fish (Killings between 1919 and 1930)

Albert Fish may have been America’s most vile pedophile, serial killer, and cannibal. He is known by many names — Gray Man, Brooklyn Vampire, The Boogeyman, and the Werewolf of Wysteria. He was a gentle-looking and benevolent grandfather, a total contrast to the monster within him. His wife considered him a wonderful husband and his children believed he was a model father. Some of his crimes seem unbelievable.

Background

Hamy Fish (his birth name) was born in Washington D.C. as the youngest of four children. Several of his family members had mental health problems. After his father’s death, he was put in an orphanage by his mother and he was whipped at the orphanage frequently. That’s said to be when he began to realize that he enjoyed physical pain and felt aroused by it. Then he entered into homosexual relationships at the age of 12 and was introduced to other perverse practices of drinking urine and coprophagia. His weekends were spent visiting public baths to watch boys undress. This led to male prostitution, which continued even after his marriage and the births of his six children.

Turning into a Psycho-Masochist

He also developed an unusual interest in castration and visited brothels where he got himself whipped and beaten. He pushed needles into his body, including his genitalia. X-rays later revealed a total of 27 needles inside him.

It was at the age of 55 that he started experiencing hallucinations. He believed God ordered him to castrate young boys. This was diagnosed as religious psychosis and is what led to the several mutilations and murders he committed.

Killings and Sentence

Although he was a suspect in five killings, he stated that he “had” around 100 children in all states. Nobody knew whether he was talking about cannibalization or molestation. He was executed on an electric chair.

Herman Webster Mudgett – Dr. Holmes (Killings between 1893 and 1895)

Mudgett’s criminal career started as a medical student who stole corpses from the University of Michigan. He used those corpses to collect insurance money on policies taken under fictitious names. He then started a drug store empire and constructed a huge hundred-room mansion with trap doors, lime pits, fake walls, acid vats, and secret entrances.

Modus Operandi

He would rent rooms to visitors and then try and collect the insurance when they were killed there. He also used to lure women to his “torture castle,” promising marriage. He would then throw them down the elevator shaft and gas them to death. But before he did that he would force them to sign all their life savings over to him.

Background

Herman was born in New Hampshire and his father was very strict, often bullying his son. He had a well-known fear of the local doctor’s office and because of this other students in his school would often force him to touch human skeletons. What was meant to be a scare turned out to be a fascination, which led to him stealing corpses while in medical school.

He started using the name “H.H. Holmes” after moving to Chicago and got engaged in a lot of shady activities. He is also a bigamist, married a second time and a third time while still married to the first wife. He was known to be a charmer and a ladies’ man.

Killings

His huge castle with secret passages had a drugstore and other shops on the ground floor and the upper areas were used as his office. There were more than a hundred rooms without windows, and there were doorways that opened into brick walls. There were also stairways to nowhere, doors that could not be opened from the inside and several other such oddities. This was to become his killing den.

It was here that the killing spree sprouted over a period of three horrible years. Female victims were mostly his employees who were required to take a life insurance policy where Holmes would pay the premiums. Soundproof rooms with gas lines fitted in were used to kill people. These victims were asphyxiated and their screams went unnoticed as they suffocated. There was a chute that took the bodies to the basement, where some bodies were dissected, flesh removed and turned into skeletal models. He sold these skeletons and other organs to medical schools.He also performed illegal abortions in the castle and many of his patients died.

Sentence

Eventually police grew suspicious about the activities in the castle and when he knew he was getting caught, he burnt the castle and vanished. Remains of more than two hundred people were found in the charred debris. He was later caught and hanged.

Coral Eugene Watts – (Killings between 1974 and 1982)

Watts was the first known serial killer in the nation’s history to have legally acquired immunity, and at one point it even looked as if he would be released in 2006 in spite of having committed between 80-100 murders. When a detective said that he did not have enough fingers and toes to count all the murders he committed, Watts replied that there were not enough fingers and toes in the room. (There were four men in the room.)

Usually serial killers are said to kill people of their own race. However Watts, who was an African American, killed whites mostly.

He admitted to killing females because he saw evil in their eyes. He drowned women in a bathtub in order to prevent their spirits from escaping.

He was not caught for many years because he killed in different jurisdictions and different states. DNA tests also didn’t prove anything because he did not dally with his victims, unlike other serial killers.

Modus Operandi

Watts would drive a couple of hours to commit his murders.  He stalked women in his car, would park ahead of them, get out of the car, and then approach them. He killed females between the ages of 14 and 34 by strangulation, drowning, and stabbing. Occasionally he also used tools and other metal objects.

He started killing at the age of 20 but did not rape them, and some of his murders occurred without him even touching the women. For him, the thrill came from the hunt and attack.

Background

Watts’ parents divorced when he was two and he lived with his mother and step-father. He was said to act weird when he was a kid. He was never good at academics but excelled in boxing.

He started having morbid dreams when he was 12, always revolving around killing women. In his dreams, he would punch their evil spirits and he usually fell off his bed. When asked by psychiatrists later whether these dreams disturbed him, he said, “No, I feel better after having them.”

These dreams slowly turned into reality when he started watching, stalking, and looking into the eyes of women to find evil. By the age of 15, he began hitting and choking them. Ultimately it wasn’t enough for him to hurt those women — he had to kill them.

Killings and Sentence

Due to lack of evidence of murder, a plea bargain granted immunity from murder if he confessed to his murders and gave details. Due to this and his good behavior, Watts could have been released in 2006. However, after Watts confessed to about 80 murders, the Michigan authorities refused to go in with the deal and got witnesses to come out and speak about a couple of murders. Watts was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. However, he died of prostate cancer in 2007.

Richard Angelo (Killings between April 1987 and October 1987)

Angelo was a killer with a different mindset from all others. He made the entire nation scared of hospitals. The desire to be a hero in others’ eyes made him a monster. He was 26 when he went to work at the Good Samaritan Hospital on Long Island in New York. He was a former Eagle Scout and always tried to do good things and help others.

His inability to achieve the level of praise he always desired made him a dangerous serial killer of a totally different kind.

Modus Operandi

He took advantage of the graveyard shift at the hospital to satisfy his desires. He would inject Pavulon and Anectine into patients and bring them to a near-death states. He would tell them that he was giving them drugs that would make them feel better. After injecting these drugs, the patients begin feeling numb and their breathing became constricted. They also lost their ability to communicate with the doctors and nurses. Then he would show his heroism by helping to save his victims, impressing everyone in the hospital.

Death came upon many of these patients as he was unable to intervene and save them from his deadly injections.

Background

Angelo was a former boy scout and always wanted to be a hero. He was said to crave for attention from his parents and everyone else around him.

Killings and Sentence

He is said to have killed 25 people and was caught when one of his victims managed to use the call button for assistance after being injected. One of the nurses then took his urine sample and the test proved positive for the drugs, Anectine and Pavulon, which had not been prescribed by the doctors. All the bodies of suspected victims were tested and found positive for drugs.

Angelo confessed and said, “I had no confidence in myself. I felt very inadequate.”

He was charged for second-degree murder on multiple counts and sentenced to 61 years to life imprisonment. He is currently in the Clinton Correctional Facility in New York.

Andrew Cunanan (Killings between April 1997 and July 1997)

Andrew Phillip Cunanan, a soft-spoken intellect who had a flair for languages and discussing world affairs, was a handsome, lavish and boastful young man who associated himself only with the social elite. He earned many dubious distinctions. One was for killing the famous fashion designer, Gianni Versace, and the other is being listed by the FBI on their Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. He was the first person from San Diego to get onto the “prestigious” list.

Modus Operandi

There was no modus operandi discovered for Cunanan. In the beginning he killed his former lovers who he felt were having an affair behind his back. The others that were killed may also have had connections with him, but nobody knows for sure. They were killed differently and with different weapons.

Background

Cunanan was born in National City, California and was a homosexual since high school. He was known for his erratic ways. He graduated in 1987. He was also rumored to be a lover to older and wealthy gay men. His mother called him a “high-class homosexual prostitute.” However his father denied his homosexuality, calling him “an altar boy” who has a good Catholic upbringing.

It is said that in homosexual circles, once a person crosses mid-20s he is considered old. When Andrew turned 28, he was deserted by his wealthy lovers. He was left to pay off credit cards which exceeded limits, and this left him broke. He stopped taking care of his usually very trendy appearance and gained a lot of weight.

At this point another emotion reared its ugly head — jealousy. He spotted two of his young lovers seeing each other behind his back. Another thing that bothered him was the fact that both of them had reached great heights professionally while he remained stagnant.

The jealousy grew to such an extent that he eventually went to visit them, killing both of them just days apart from each other, beginning his life as a serial killer.

Killings and Sentence

One of his victims was Gianni Versace, the Italian designer. The FBI found Andrew, as he left his name signed on the pavement in front of Gianni’s house. The FBI felt that it was his way of trying to get attention, saying “Look at me. I’m the one that did this.”

He led authorities on a massive manhunt for his killings. He killed himself eight days after killing Gianni Versace. He shot himself to avoid capture.

Conclusion

What you have witnessed here is just a fragment of the world of savage and sadistic minds who have transformed this act of murder from a monstrous anomaly into an everyday horror. These mythic monsters capture the attention of the entire nation and end up as terrifying household names.

Looking into the psyche of a serial killer, doctors say that every individual develops positive attitude towards life and people in their early years, and this attitude is rendered negative with abuse — physical and emotional. That abuse can also come in the form of refusal to acknowledge the boundaries of an individual through excessive expectations, possessiveness, and doting, all of which are as abusive as incest or beatings.

Researchers attempting to understand how fantasies warp the serial killer’s mind say that bizarre fantasies thrive in isolation and eventually the killers feel the need to live them out. They dwell on the murder act for days before committing it, completely caught up in their fantasy. But they find that even murder never fulfills the fantasy completely, and this leads to the serial nature of their crime — always looking for satisfaction they never actually find. Many of these serial killers also keep souvenirs of their crime which helps refuel the fantasy.

Hasan

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  • @Juliette: You can't argue with me because you don't have anything to argue and so you presented me a bogus website.

    Let's concentrate on this topic of SK's.

    Great read!

  • I have a lot to argue, but don´t you think to argue about the Jews and Arabs in this way is a little silly? One never can write everything down. So that´s why I told you I do´t want t argue about this middle east thing. And that video you saw is not bogus, but I can understand, people don´t like to know the truth, sometimes the truth hurts.

  • Yeah the candy man. What about david ray, he was a mean son of a gun was he not? I saw a clip with that woman who helped him and she was asked "being a woman yourself how did you feel when david ray was torturing them?" She said "nothing really, it wasnt as if he was beating them to a pulp and there wasnt ant blood or anything"" I thought to myself "she has got a fair point there, not as if he was cutting their tits off or slicing them open jack the ripper style. Know wot i mean?

  • @Bill: the thruth is written in the holy Bible, the King James version, the one and only reliable bible. Start reading the Bible and you will find out the truth about this whole Middle East thing with the Jews. Finito!!

    • Right Juliette the truth is in the Bible. Not one time does God or any of the angels of heaven call the Jews the chosen or the chosen Jews, Not once again do the angels or God call Jesus a Jew. The word "Jew" is a 1700 English inventive word given to the Kharzarres, so therefore it could have never been in any bible unless inserted by the many Jewish translators who have perverted the word of God for their gain.

      In Hebrew there was no "J" or "J" equivalent in the language. The "J" was invented by the French in the 1600's and given to America to use. That is the only time the "J" was ever used in history and thusly began the series of "J" words.
      For instance In Hebrew the word "ISSAC" is pronounced "SACC" for they never pronounced the "I". Sacc had a son and at that time it was common to call the child by the fathers name plus the word "SON" ie, Saccs Son of Saccson. Thusly the Saccsons were born. The JEws perverted the word in the 1600's referring to Gods chosen tribe the Saccsons to the perverted word SAXONS which was devised to throw true Israel off as to whom they really are. Thusly the Jews could now steal the heritage of the chosen ones the Saxons. The real Biblical term is Saccsons not Saxons.

      1Thes :2:14 "For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judaea are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they [have] of the Jews:

      Here the Bible states that many have suffered because of the Jews

      2:15 Who (JEWS) killed the Lord Jesus, and the prophets, and have persecuted us; and they please not God, and are contrary to all men:

      This verse of the KJV says the JEWs killed the prophets and Jesus the Christ. They are contrary to all men! Does this mean they are not men as described in Genesis of the Bible ? Yes it does , they , according to the bible do not fall into the man scheme of Gods word in the bible. And lastly the Bible says the "JEWS" please not God. How can they be chosen and not please God? God is exposing them while they teach you the opposite!
      Titus 1:10
      For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
      OF the Jews
      1:11 Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.

      1:12 One of themselves, [even] a prophet of their ( JEWS) own, said, The Cretians [are] alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.

      1:13 This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them (JEWS) sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;

      1:14 Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, who pervert the truth.

      Here we see that Gods word tells us that Jews are cretins and liars always who are in everything only for filthy lucre (moneys ) sake. NOt to mention that the Bible states they are "EVIL BEAST" which therfore wholds the truth that they are not MEN as in the creation of man in the Bible.

      The bible again tells us non Jews to rebuke then SHARPLY and to never give heed to anything that comes from their mouths because they are full of "FABLES" is lies, untruths such as the Holocaust hoax.And this same bible verse tells us that the Jews pervert the truth! What is the truth but the bible? Thusly God is telling us that they pervert Gods truth and word.

      John states: Jhn 18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

      Here God is telling the Jews who are about to crucify him what He feels about them. Note also that Jesus makes it perfectly clear that NONE of His servants were present during the murder of Jesus then He also makes it perfectly clear that Jesus Himself is not of the Jews nor they of Him.

      Jesus is actually telling the Jews that if His servants were present they would have killed every last Jew to save Jesus. Are you a servant of Jesus? Proof that no Romans were present and this is merely another addition the Jews put into our Bibles . remember that Jesus said the Jews would pervert the truth.

      Note also that Jesus makes it very clear that He was delivered unto the Jews for crucifixtion... none else! lastly God makes the final statement which should tell all men the truth That is that he is not of the Jew nor they of him, When God ( Jesus is God in the flesh) makes the statement to the Jews that his kingdom is not from "Hence." It means that He is not Jew nor is the Jew of Him . The word "hence means not the source of or not coming from or that neither are they from the source which is God. look up the word!

      In John 8:21 Jesus said unto the Jews "Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither I go, ye cannot come.

      Here He is stating that He is going to heaven and the Jews can NEVER go there......not ever!

      Then Jesus says " And he said unto them, Ye are from beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world.

      Ye are from beneath means Hell!!Not of God nor heaven!

      They (Jews) answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?

      And Jesus answered: :I know that ye say ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

      Here Jesus makes it clear that they say they are Abraham's seed but He rebukes them in their lie knowing that they are not the seed of Abraham. Jesus makes it clear to all that the Jews are saying this but makes it clear He knows it is not truth.

      Jesus to the Jews: I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.

      If God is not their father then who is? Satan of course!

      They (JEWS) answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

      Again Jesus rebukes the lie that the Jews are of Abraham.He said IF YOU WERE ABRAHAM'S CHILDREN meaning even Jesus knew they were not!

      Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, [even] God.

      Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

      Jesus is referring to the Jews as not of GOD. Telling them they do the works of their father satan.

      And finally Jesus rebukes them fully and state who they really are in John 8:44

      "Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

      Your Father the Devil is literal not symbolic as the Jew would have you believe. No demon can enter heaven and Jesus said earlier that no Jew can enter heaven. Thusly Jews are the enemy of God and all mankind. Historically they are the anti-Christ which never is intended to be a singular meaning but to mean many such as an entire race......, the Jew!

      I could go on for thousands of pages in this proof but now it is time for you to seek truth!

      • It's funny cause you guys are talking about the bible on a page of serial killers.
        Seriously. I don't think half the people on this page care.

      • This was so stupid that I could hardly read past the first few lines, and I'm honestly not certain as to why I'm responding, but here goes:

        Yes, you're right, there is no word for "Jew" in any of the bibles. Every Jewish person educated in their history knows as much, as do most well-educated Christians, atheists, or any other individuals who have an interest in biblical history. The bible was not written with regards to "the Jews," the majority of the stories concern the "Israelities," those deemed as such for when one of the Judeo-Christian religions' "forefathers" was renamed "Israel," or "Yisrael" in Hebrew, meaning having fear and awe of God. Later, there were "twelve tribes of Israel," with "Yehuda" being one of them, and those who belonged to Yehuda were known as "Yehudim," which is simply the plural. It is from "Yehuda" that the modern term "Jew" has arrived, as supposedly the only tribe that was not "lost" in the Roman diaspora was the tribe of Yehuda.

        (To be most archaeologically accurate, Israelites are largely considered no different than Canaanites until after the fall of the neo-Assyrian empire and the weakening of Egypt's economic and trade power over the region - later there was a division between the Israelites and the Phoenicians; later than that, the Punic peoples, each descending from the Canaanites. This is opposed to the traditional story read in the bible about the Israelites escaping Egypt and the Canaanites being idolatrous. At least, this is what we know from old records kept in languages ranging from Egyptian to Ugaritic, various Aramaic dialects and so forth). You cannot separate the ontology of "Jew" from the ontology of "religion" as a concept and practice in Western history - the term "Jew" evolved along with evolving notions of religion. Thus, until after Napoleon in Europe, "Jews" were considered officially to be a separate nation living in exile within European domains, but never allowed to become citizens. Even if they converted, you can read in old Inquisition records statements such as, "My name is Abraham, I was born in Lisbon, am of the Hebrew Nation, and of the Catholic faith." Nationality, religion and citizenship were very different notions than they are in the post-Napoleonic world, as Napoleon began the tradition of allowing "people of the Hebrew" nation to become part of the nation in which they were born, so long as they only considered their other designation a "religion" but otherwise espoused allegiance to their home country and followed that country's laws.

        Thus, I don't see why you're presenting this as though it's some sort of novel discovery that will discredit "the Jews." This is basic history that you're trying to warp as a means of discrediting a people's historical and cultural background, let alone religious faith. Likewise, the whole "letter J" thing is just...stupid. Of course there is no J in Hebrew, there was no J in any ancient Semitic language. However, "J" was not '"invented by the French and given to America," or however, you worded it. The "J" sound has existed in countless geographies and time periods - for example, it's an extremely common consonant in Sanskrit, both ancient and classical Sanskrit. Likewise, it was a Germanic and Slavic consonant as well, and later it entered into romance languages. The letters "I," "Y," and "J," have often changed pronunciation throughout Western linguistic history and have often been used interchangeably or for transliteration purposes. There's still no "J" in modern Hebrew, and in English, we translate the Hebrew words of "Yerushaliyim" to be "Jerusalem," and "Yisrael" to be "Israel."

        Finally, Isaac is NOT prounced Saac in Hebrew, it's pronounced "Yitschaak," with a guttoral "ch" noise, and the "Y" is definitely pronounced. Again, it's just a matter of linguistics as to how the J/Y/I is pronounced or differentiated.

        And...the rest of your post doesn't warrant any sort of argumentation, it's just stupid. Not that your attempt at pseudo-historical, pseudo-linguistic propaganda was not stupid, but that was information that some people may actually not know and possibly take your word for, whereas the rest of your post is some sort of silly biblical-textual-folkloric argument to justify bigotry. Anyone with half a brain can see through that without needing any sort of historical background information, as it's not based on anything tangible, contextual or falsifiable.

        Here's just a few citations so you can check yourself:

        Albright, W. F. (1975) Chapter 33: Syria, the Philistines and Phoenicia. Pp. 507–536 in I.E.S. Edwards et al. The Cambridge Ancient History. Third Edition. Cambridge: University Press.

        Astour, M.C. (1965) The Origin of the Terms “Canaan,” “Phoenician,” and “Purple.” Journal of Near Eastern Studies 24:346-50.

        Dever, W.G. (2001) What Did The Biblical Writers Know, And When Did They Know It? What Archaeology Can Tell Us About the Reality of Ancient Israel. William B. Eerdmans Pub.

        Dever, W.G. (2003) Who Were the Early Israelites, And Where Did They Come From?
        William B. Eerdmans Pub.

        Finkelstein, I. (2006) David and Solomon: In Search of the Bible’s Sacred Kings and the Roots of the Western Tradition. Free Press.

        Jigoulov, V. (2007) The Phoenician City-states of Tyre and Sidon in Ancient Jewish Texts. Of Diachrony and Ideology. Scandinavian Journal Of The Old Testament 21.1: 73-105.

        Noll, K. L. (2007) Is the Book of Kings Deuteronomistic? And Is It a History? Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament 21.1: 49-72.

        Redford, D.B.(1992) Egypt, Canaan, and Israel in Ancient Times. Princeton University Press.

        Stern, E. (2001) Archaeology of the Land of the Bible, vol. II: The Assyrian, Babylonian
        and Persian Periods 732 – 332 BCE. New York: Anchor Bible Series. [n.b. ch. 4].

        Eds. and trans. Richard L. Kagan and Abigail Dyer. (2004) Inquisitorial Inquiries: Brief Lives of Secret Jews and Other Heretics. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

        • Nevele - I first had this argument with 'Rick' over a year ago. I don't think he/she's going to let it go.

    • you mean the bible that was written by man who supposedly "heard the words from god himself"
      give me a break... when you can prove that god really does exist then maybe we will believe you, until then, enjoy your bedtime stories cause thats all the bible is!

  • Umm..for everyone that's asking about serial killers from other countries, read the article of the article.. it's called AMERICA'S famous serial killers.... that is all! ^_^

    BTW! Good article! ^-^ Kept my interest and is, most likely, going to be quoted in my essay for English! =D

  • Oh yeah I totally forgot that the Bible is 100% true. I wonder when they discovered that out, because last time I knew maybe some of it was proven true..to me the Bible is like a Harry Potter book..it's a good read and has good morals..but at the end of the day, it's all fairy tale..good god Juliette.

  • You liberal m****s don't have any idea. what you are talkng about. We are in a war against people who murder civilians and spread terror. 94% of civilian casualties in the war are due to car bombs and suicide bombers. America and Bush are not to blame for the actions of al'quida or other various islamic extremists. all you people do is watch msnbc 24/7. you do no research, none whatsoever.

  • oh and Bill. the jews do not control the banking system, the media or any of the other things you mentioned. you have no REAL evidence for any of this. The jews are a religious minority in america. they are one of the least influential groups of people in europe or the US. you are just too brainwashed to see past the palestinian propaganda and lies to see reality. It is so sad that people can be so backward.

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