A serial killer is commonly defined as someone who murders at least two people in separate incidents at different times. Though “serial murder” isn’t codified in a single legal definition, certain cases have seized public attention because of the number of victims, the brutality of the crimes, or the baffling methods used.
Active in London’s Whitechapel district in 1888, the killer known as “Jack the Ripper” is one of history’s most infamous unidentified murderers. Five sex workers are widely accepted as canonical victims; their bodies were mutilated in ways that led investigators to speculate the killer had surgical skill. The case produced taunting letters to the press and a decades-long mystery: despite many suspects proposed over the years, the Ripper’s identity remains unknown.
Jeffrey Dahmer began killing in 1978 and was arrested in 1991 after a would-be victim escaped. Police found evidence in Dahmer’s Milwaukee apartment that revealed numerous homicides. Dahmer was convicted of 17 murders, mostly of young men, and was killed by a fellow inmate in 1994 while serving life sentences.
A British general practitioner, Harold Shipman is believed to have murdered an exceptionally large number of his patients over decades of practice in Greater Manchester and surrounding areas. Investigators later estimated he may have killed around 250 people, mostly elderly patients. Suspicions grew after irregularities in death certificates and cremation paperwork; Shipman was convicted in 2000 and died in prison in 2004.
John Wayne Gacy presented a friendly public face — he did charity work and performed as a clown at events — but he preyed on young men and boys. In 1978 authorities discovered the remains of scores of victims on Gacy’s property and under his house. He was convicted on multiple counts of murder and executed in 1994.
H. H. Holmes, a con man and sometime pharmacist, built what has been described as a “murder castle” in Chicago in the run-up to the 1893 World’s Fair. The building contained hidden passages and traps that facilitated his crimes. Holmes later admitted to a number of murders and was convicted of multiple homicides; he was executed in 1896. Estimates of his victims vary, and some claims were likely exaggerated by Holmes himself.
Pedro López, often called the “Monster of the Andes,” has been linked to more than 300 murders across Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. After graves of many young victims were discovered, López confessed to a large number of killings and was convicted in Ecuador of 110 murders. He was released in 1998 and his whereabouts in later years have been uncertain.
Ted Bundy terrorized parts of the western United States in the 1970s, kidnapping and murdering numerous young women. Charismatic and media-savvy, Bundy exploited public attention — even acting as his own attorney at one point — until his final arrest and trial. He was convicted and ultimately executed in 1989.
