It is no surprise that society has always been captivated by serial killers and their twisted minds. That’s why there have been a lot of TV shows, documentaries, and even podcasts that present the most horrific crimes in the country over the past 60 years. Among the most recent is the Netflix series Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, which quickly became one of the most popular after its release.
But here comes our question: Who are the worst serial killers in history? Should it be Ted Bundy or Nannie Doss? Read on to find some of the most notorious killers who committed some of the most gruesome crimes in the United States.
1. John Wayne Gacy
Like many other well-known serial killers, John Wayne Gacy was a beloved figure in his community in Chicago, known as the “funny clown” that everybody invited to their children’s parties. But one thing his neighbors didn’t know about John is that he was a convicted criminal and served some time in jail for sexually assaulting a teenager.
A couple of years later, one of the local boys vanished in 1978, and witnesses claimed that Gacy was the last person they had seen him with. When the authorities obtained a search order for his home, they initially discovered some clothing that belonged to youngsters who had previously gone missing.
They discovered a little crawl space beneath the house after doing more research, primarily due to the smell coming from there. They also found some decayed remains of his previous victims there.
Gacy raped and killed a total of 29 boys. For years, he kept the bodies there, hidden. In 1994, he was executed.
2. David Berkowitz
Another well-known killer that brought terror and fear to the streets of New York City in 1976 was David Berkowitz, also known as the Son of Sam. In the middle of the 1970s, Berkowitz claimed to have been driven by demons as he ignited approximately 1,500 fires in New York City, according to his diaries. He frequently targeted couples, killing a total of six people and injuring a lot more.
Furthermore, he sent a couple of letters to local newspapers under the pen name “Son of Sam” referring to Sam Carr, his next-door neighbor, and his black Labrador puppy. He thought the dog was possessed by a demon.
He was finally arrested in 1977, 11 days after his last crime, and he confessed to all the things he did. He’s currently serving a life sentence in a New York prison.
3. Belle Gunness
Unlike other killers on the list, Belle Gunness was known as “Hell’s Belle,” and she is suspected of killing at least 14 people, but a lot of sources dare to say the number of her victims goes up to 40. Gunness relocated from Chicago to an Indiana pig farm in the late 1800s.
After she killed two of her husbands for life insurance, her foster daughter’s body would later be discovered alongside numerous other mutilated corpses buried in her hog pen.
Because she had a big farm and needed some men to provide her with their help, Gunness advertised for rich men to invest in it, but basically, every one of them disappeared not long after arriving at the location. Did you know about Belle Gunness? Tell us in the comments.
4. Jeffrey Dahmer
One of the most notoriously known killers in our country is definitely Jeff Dahmer, who was also known as “The Butcher of Milwaukee.” He was accused of killing and dismembering 17 boys and young adults between 1978 and 1991. According to various sources, Jeffrey Dahmer had a normal childhood, but things gradually changed after his parents got divorced when he was almost 18 years old.
Right after graduation, he killed his first victim, and according to his confession, he did that simply because Hicks refused to stay a longer while in his house. After this incident, almost 9 years would come to pass before Dahmer would kill again.
Even if a lot of neighbors called plenty of times to complain about the stench that came from his apartment, police did nothing until 1991, when a man named Tracy Edwards managed to escape from Dahmer’s place and was found by police running down the street with his hands cuffed.
When police eventually went to Dahmer’s residence, they discovered photo albums of severed bodies, human heads in the refrigerator and freezer, several skulls, a 57-gallon drum with decomposing carcasses inside, and photo albums of dismembered bodies.
Additionally, the police discovered proof that Dahmer may have consumed some of his victims. More frequently, Asian, Latino, or black men and boys were Dahmer’s main victims.
5. Dennis Rader
Dennis Rader, dubbed “BTK” because he “bound, tortured, and killed his victims,” was a serial killer who terrorized Kansas and its surrounding areas for nearly three decades. His first victims were some members of his family, including two kids.
Despite his crimes, he was one of those killers who was known for his loving nature because he was a very loving father and husband. Later, in 1970, he wanted some more attention for his actions. That’s why he wrote a letter to a local TV station and asked them, “How many people do I have to kill before I get a name in your paper?”
He was arrested and convicted in 2005 after he confessed that he had killed 10 people. The “BTK” killer got a life sentence in a Kansas prison.
6. Aileen Wuornos
Aileen Wuornos is one of the most well-known female serial killers to ever exist. She was convicted of murdering six men between 1989 and 1990. She admitted to shooting hitchhiking males in self-defense after accusing them of beating or raping her. This was a charge she later renounced.
Two years after her crimes, she was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in 2002. Her story, with a bit of a twist, was presented in a movie where Charlize Theron played her role.
7. Ted Bundy
One of the most charming and infamous killers America has had is definitely Ted Bundy. He was often described as intelligent and good-looking, and that helped him lure his victims into sexually assaulting them. That ended up killing most of them. Bundy confessed that he killed almost 36 women across Florida, Washington, Colorado, Utah, and Oregon between 1974 and 1978.
He was first arrested in 1975, but shortly after, he was released because nothing linked him to the possible crimes. In 1977, he was arrested again for a traffic violation, and he ended up in the electric chair in 1989.
8. Richard Ramirez
In the 1980s, Richard Ramirez was the man who scared Los Angeles residents for more than a year. He would enter people’s homes and rape or kill whoever was inside, occasionally both. He killed anybody who was in the house when he broke in because he did not choose his victims.
He was called “The Night Stalker” since most of his crimes were committed during the night. A lot of people believed that he was part of some kind of cult because there were a lot of pictures of him pointing out a pentagram drawn in the palm of his hand.
What do you think about these killers? Do you know something about them that we forgot to mention? Tell us in the comments.
If you liked our article about serial killers, you should definitely subscribe to our page! And for some interesting historical facts, we recommend you also read: 8 Weird Facts About the US Civil War That Made Us Wonder.
