The most prolific modern serial killer is arguably doctor Harold Shipman, with 218 probable murders and possibly as many as 250 (see "Medical professionals", below). However, he was actually convicted of a sample of 15 murders.
1. Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Murderer. Jack the Ripper is probably the most infamous serial killer of all time. There are many serial killers who have a higher count of victims, but what makes him unique is the fact that very little is known about him.
The most prolific modern serial killer is arguably doctor Harold Shipman, with 218 probable murders and possibly as many as 250 (see "Medical professionals", below). However, he was actually convicted of a sample of 15 murders.
Eight-year-old Amarjeet Sada was all smiles when he was brought to the police station in 2007 in connection with the murder of an infant. Sada, known as the world's youngest serial killer, was held after three murders, two of which went unreported.
Numbers peaked in the 1970s when there were nearly 300 known active serial killers in the U.S. In the 1980s, there were more than 250 active killers who accounted for between 120 and 180 deaths per year. By the time the 2010s rolled around there were fewer than 50 known active killers.
While the origin of the term "serial killer" may be slightly ambiguous, it is quite clear which country is home to the highest number of serial killers. The United States is the runaway leader in this category, with more documented serial killers in its history than the next ten closest countries combined.
The FBI did not recognize female serial killers until the 1990s. They called these crimes sexual killing, and sexual killing is almost always indicative of a male murderer. But there are well-known women who murdered far more victims than men did. Jolly Jane Toppan was a nurse in Boston in the late 1800s.
Aileen Wuornos: The Selling of a Serial Killer (1993) Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003)
New York. Coming in at number one, we have New York. As of 2023, New York has been home to 18 serial killers, and has a total number of 677 serial killer victims. David Richard Berkowitz, known as “The Son of Sam,” is New York's most infamous serial killer.
Some murderers, such as Albert Fish, Boone Helm, Andrei Chikatilo, and Jeffrey Dahmer, are known to have devoured their victims after killing them.
In addition, 82 percent of American serial killers were white, 15 percent were black, and 2.5 percent were Hispanic.
The Phillipines have never spawned a documented a verified serial killer, though some have made claims that they are serial killers. No evidence has supported these claims. There is no question that serial killers, while found in many countries, are more prolific in Western countries.
The most common myths about serial killers encompass such factors as their race, gender, intelligence, living conditions and victim characteristics. Myth #1: All Serial Killers Are Men. Reality: This is simply not true but it is understandable why the public would hold this erroneous belief.
A serial killer is conventionally defined as a person who murders three or more people in a period of over a month, with a “cooling down” time between murders. For a serial killer, the murders must be separate events, which are most often driven by a psychological thrill or pleasure.
Serial murders are further defined as those committed by one or two individuals, excluding instances where groups are responsible for deaths. Serial killings are rare, accounting for less than 1% of total homicides.
H.H. Holmes, byname of Herman Mudgett, (born May 16, 1861?, Gilmanton, New Hampshire, U.S.—died May 7, 1896, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), American swindler and confidence trickster who is widely considered the country's first known serial killer.
Aileen Wuornos, 46, was executed by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002, for the deaths of six men along Central Florida highways in 1989 and 1990. She was known as America's first female serial killer. Wuornos appears in court in December 1991.
Charles Manson experienced several periods of abandonment as a child. How might his mother's repeated abandonment have contributed to his later criminal activities and establishment of a cult?
On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Bell strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in an upstairs bedroom of a derelict house located at 85 St. Margaret's Road. She is believed to have committed this crime alone.