Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, Gilles de Rais; these are just a few names that tend to send shivers down the spine of a person aware of what these people have done. Guilty of killing people with no motivation other than personal gratification, serial killers are people who have killed three or more people. Most serial killers tend to kill due to an element of sexual gratification attached to the act of murder. They need the excitement of killing someone like a normal person would require food or water. Serial killers commit murders in a similar fashion and this becomes their signature mark. The victims of serial killers also have a common link which may be their sex, physical appearance, occupation, etc. Serial killers are not the same as mass murderers or spree killers. A look at a list of serial killers and a comparison of their modus operandi and the time span in which they commit murders will tell you that most serial killers tend to have a cooling off period between two murders.
A study of the serial killers psychology tell us that most of them share some characteristics. Studies have shown that serial killers generally have a high IQ but they tend to have trouble keeping jobs. They usually belong to households where the father figure is absent and their familial life tends to be disturbed. Most of them have a violent history and are generally victims of abuse themselves. From an early age, serial killers with a sexual fascination with victims tend to be interested in fetishism, pornography, and sadomasochistic behavior. In this article we give you a list of serial killers, both male and female, who have terrorized and murdered on multiple counts.
List of Male Serial Killers
A look at the list of famous serial killers will tell you that most serial killer are male. This may be because of the general sexual motivation of the crime. But this is just a theory. Famous serial killers also include murderers who committed murders in order to relive a situation, delve into some sort of fantasy, or just because of a pathological interest in death.
List of Serial Killers (Male)
Name Nationality
Cayetano Santos Godino Argentina
Carlos Eduardo Robledo Puch Argentina
David Birnie Australia
John Justin Bunting Australia
Robert Joe Wagner Australia
James Spyridon Vlassakis Australia
Eric Edgar Cooke Australia
Paul Charles Denyer Australia
Peter Norris Dupas Australia
Leonard John Fraser Australia
John Wayne Glover Australia
Mark Jefferies Australia
William MacDonald Australia
Ivan Milat Australia
Arnold Karl Sodeman Australia
Christopher Worrell Australia
James Miller Australia
Johann Unterweger Austria
Marc Dutroux Belgium
András Pándy Belgium
Abraão José Bueno Brazil
Pedro Rodrigues Filho Brazil
Edson Isidoro Guimarães Brazil
Anísio Ferreira de Sousa Brazil
Paul Kenneth Bernardo Canada
Wayne Clifford Boden Canada
John Martin Crawford Canada
Léopold Dion Canada
William Patrick Fyfe Canada
Gilbert Paul Jordan Canada
Allan Legere Canada
Clifford Robert Olson Canada
Robert William Pickton Canada
Peter Woodcock Canada
Gong Rumbo China
Huang Yong China
Shen Changyin China
Shen Changping China
Yang Xinhai China
Pedro Alonso López Colombia
Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos Colombia
Vinko Pintarić Croatia
Václav Mrázek Czech
Petr Zelenka Czech
Dagmar Johanne Amalie Overbye Denmark
Daniel Camargo Barbosa Ecuador
Aleksandr Rubel Estonia
Antti Olavi Taskinen Finland
Matti Haapoja Finland
Pierre Chanal France
Michel Fourniret France
Guy Georges France
Francis Heaulme France
Henri Désiré Landru France
Émile Louis France
Thierry Paulin France
Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot France
Gilles de Rais France
Joseph Vacher France
Jürgen Bartsch Germany
Volker Eckert Germany
Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann Germany
Fritz Honka Germany
Friedrich Heinrich Karl Haarmann Germany
Joachim Georg Kroll Germany
Peter Kürten Germany
Stephan Letter Germany
Norbert Poehlke Germany
Peter Stumpp Germany
Charles Papa Kwabena Ebo Quansah Ghana
Antonis Daglis Greece
Lam Kor-wan Hong Kong
Lam Kwok-wai Hong Kong
Béla Kiss Hungary
Thug Behram India
Raman Raghav India
Auto Shankar India
Charles Sobhraj India
Rajendra Jakkal India
Dilip Dhyanoba Sutar India
Shantaram Kanhoji Jagtap India
Munawar Harun Shah India
Ahmad Suradji Indonesia
Mohammed Bijeh Iran
Saeed Hanaei Iran
Nicolai Bonner Israel
Wolfgang Abel Italy
Marco Furlan Italy
Donato "Walter" Bilancia Italy
Roberto Succo Italy
Lewis Hutchinson Jamaica
Sataro Fukiage Japan
Hiroshi Hidaka Japan
Miyuki Ishikawa Japan
Yoshio Kodaira Japan
Genzo Kurita Japan
Hiroshi Maeue Japan
Futoshi Matsunaga Japan
Tsutomu Miyazaki Japan
Seisaku Nakamura Japan
Akira Nishiguchi Japan
Kiyoshi Ōkubo Japan
Nikolai Dzhurmongaliev Kazhakstan
Kaspars Petrovs Latvia
Vlado Taneski Macedonia
José Luis Calva Zepeda Mexico
Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo Mexico
Raúl Osiel Marroquín Reyes Mexico
Arnfinn Nesset Norway
Javed Iqbal Mughal Pakistan
Karl Denke Poland
Zdzisław Marchwicki Poland
Władysław Mazurkiewicz Poland
Stanislaw Modzelewski Poland
Leszek Pękalski Poland
António Luís Costa Portugal
Ion Rîmaru Romania
Valery Asratyan Russia
Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo Russia
Sergey Golovkin Russia
Vasiliy Kulik Russia
Name Nationality
Maxim Vladimirovich Petrov Russia
Alexander Yuryevich Pichushkin Russia
Sergei Vasilyevich Ryakhovsky Russia
Anatoly Yelemianovich Slivko Russia
Alexander Nikolayevich Spesivtsev Russia
Silvo Plut Slovenia
Metod Trobec Slovenia
Sibusiso Duma South Africa
Maoupa Cedric Maake South Africa
Jimmy Maketta South Africa
Johannes Mashiane South Africa
Elifasi Msomi South Africa
Nicholas Lungisa Ncama South Africa
David Randitsheni South Africa
Samuel Sidyno South Africa
Norman Avzal Simons South Africa
Moses Sithole South Africa
Sipho Mandla Agmatir Thwala South Africa
Cornelius Gerhardus van Rooyen South Africa
Stewart Wilken South Africa
Elias Xitavhudzi South Africa
Christopher Mhlengwa Zikode South Africa
Yoo Young-Cheol South Korea
Francisco Garcia Escalero Spain
José Antonio Rodríguez Vega Spain
Manuel Delgado Villegas Spain
Thomas Quick Sweden
Adnan Çolak Turkey
Özgür Dengiz Turkey
Anatoly Yuriyovych Onoprienko Ukraine
Serhiy Tkach Ukraine
Vladislav Volkovich Ukraine
Vladimir Kondratenko Ukraine
Robert Black United Kingdom
Ian Brady United Kingdom
William Burke United Kingdom
William Hare United Kingdom
George Chapman United Kingdom
John Reginald Halliday Christie United Kingdom
Robert George Clements United Kingdom
Dr. Thomas Neill Cream United Kingdom
Frederick Bailey Deeming United Kingdom
John Duffy United Kingdom
David Mulcahy United Kingdom
Vladimir Kondratenko United Kingdom
Kenneth Erskine United Kingdom
Steven John Grieveson United Kingdom
John George Haigh United Kingdom
Archibald Thomson Hall United Kingdom
Anthony John Hardy United Kingdom
Trevor Joseph Hardy United Kingdom
Philip Herbert United Kingdom
Colin Ireland United Kingdom
Michele Lupo United Kingdom
Patrick Mackay United Kingdom
Peter Thomas Anthony Manuel United Kingdom
Robert John Maudsley United Kingdom
Peter Moore United Kingdom
Raymond Leslie Morris United Kingdom
Robert Clive Napper United Kingdom
Donald Neilson United Kingdom
Dennis Andrew Nilsen United Kingdom
Colin Campbell Norris United Kingdom
Vladimir Kondratenko United Kingdom
William Palmer United Kingdom
Harold Frederick Shipman United Kingdom
George Joseph Smith United Kingdom
John Thomas Straffen United Kingdom
Peter William Sutcliffe United Kingdom
Peter Britton Tobin United Kingdom
Thomas Griffiths Wainewright United Kingdom
Frederick Walter Stephen West United Kingdom
Steven Gerald James Wright United Kingdom
Graham Frederick Young United Kingdom
Joseph D. Ball United States
Herbert Richard Baumeister United States
Kenneth Alessio Bianchi United States
William George Bonin United States
Anthony Ray Briley United States
James Briley United States
Linwood Briley United States
Theodore Robert Bundy United States
Richard Trenton Chase United States
Dean Arnold Corll United States
Elmer Wayne Henley United States
Juan Vallejo Corona United States
Charles Edmund Cullen United States
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer United States
Ronald Joseph Dominique United States
Donald Leroy Evans United States
Raymond Fernandez United States
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. United States
Donald Henry Gaskins Jr. United States
Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard Jr. United States
Robert Christian Hansen United States
Donald Harvey United States
Charles Ray Hatcher United States
Dr. Henry Howard Holmes United States
Patrick Wayne Kearney United States
Paul John Knowles United States
Randy Steven Kraft United States
Leonard Lake United States
Charles Chi-Tat Ng United States
Henry Lee Lucas United States
Orville Lynn Majors United States
Earle Leonard Nelson United States
Carl Panzram United States
Richard Ramírez United States
David Parker Ray United States
Angel Maturino Reséndiz United States
Gary Leon Ridgway United States
Gerard John Schaefer United States
Tommy Lynn Sells United States
Gerald Eugene Stano United States
William Lester Suff United States
Joseph Michael Swango United States
Carl Eugene Watts United States
Wayne Bertram Williams United States
Robert Lee Yates Jr. United States
Randall Brent Woodfield United States
Dorangel Vargas Venezuela
List of Female Serial Killers
Female serial killers are very rare and most of their crimes tend to be either for material needs or are crimes of passion. It is more difficult to point out the psychology that drives women to go on a serial killing spree. While studies have shown that most women who are serial killers tend to suffer from Münchausen syndrome, this observation may not be true for every serial killer. Given below is a list of serial killers who were women.
List of Serial Killers (Female)
Name Nationality
Catherine Birnie Australia
Kathleen Folbigg Australia
Caroline Grills Australia
Martha Rendell Australia
Elfriede Blauensteiner Austria
Irene Leidolf Austria
Marie Fikáčková Czech
Raya Egypt
Sakina Egypt
Marie Brinvilliers France
Hélène Jégado France
Christine Malèvre France
Jeanne Weber France
Gesche Gottfried France
Marianne Nölle Germany
Anna Zwanziger Germany
Elizabeth Ecsed Hungary
Junko Ogata Japan
Juana Barraza Mexico
Delfina González Mexico
María González Mexico
Maria Swanenburg Netherlands
Williamina Dean New Zealand
Vera Renczi Romania
Darya Saltykova Russia
Daisy De Melker South Africa
Francisca Ballesteros Spain
Enriqueta Martí i Ripollés Spain
Beverley Gail Allitt UK
Name Nationality
Mary Ann Britland UK
Myra Hindley UK
Mary Ann Cotton UK
Amelia Elizabeth Dyer UK
Amelia Sach UK
Annie Walters UK
Rosemary West UK
Catherine Wilson UK
Mary Elizabeth Wilson UK
Amy Archer-Gilligan USA
Suzan Carson USA
Cynthia Coffman USA
Carroll Cole USA
Nannie Doss USA
Martha Beck USA
Charlene Gallego USA
Kristen Gilbert USA
Gwendolyn Graham USA
Cathy Wood USA
Dana Sue Gray USA
Belle Sorenson Gunness USA
Anna Marie Hahn USA
Waneta Ethel Hoyt USA
Genene Anne Jones USA
Rhonda Bell Martin USA
Marie Noe USA
Marybeth Tinning USA
Jane Toppan USA
Aileen Carol Wuornos USA
The list of top 10 serial killers also includes names like Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac killer. These names though are not included in this list as their true identity remains unknown till date. This list in America, UK, Russia and other countries lists those murderers who were convicted for their crimes and proven guilty.
