Here we have compiled a list of the world’s most infamous serial killers, ranked by kill count. In many cases, the exact number of victims assigned to a serial killer is not known, and even if that person is convicted of a few, there can be the possibility that he/she killed many more.
America’s most prolific killer of all time. Gary has murdered a numerous amount of women over the decades, from a confirmed date range between 1982 to 1998, but could stretch to as late as 2001. Most of Ridgway’s victims were women in vulnerable situations from prostitutes to underage runaways.
Gary would take these women, and as soon as they got comfortable, he would murder his victims by strangulation, some by hand and some by ligatures. After his first five victims were found in Washington state’s Green River, the media gave him the nickname, the “Green River Killer.”
After killing his victims, he would spread the whereabouts of his victims across King County, a green , overgrown forest -like area, where he would return in order to have sexual intercourse with the deceased bodies.
On November 30, 2001, Ridgway was arrested while leaving his job site after DNA evidence linked him to the death of four women. While in custody Ridgway revealed where the bodies were dumped and claimed he killed way over the amount documented, but was tried for 49 victims.
As part of a plea bargain wherein he agreed to disclose the whereabouts of still – missing women, he was spared the death penalty and received a sentence of life imprisonment without parole. Gary was spared the death penalty and is now serving life in prison without the chance of parole.
Anatoly comes from the land of Ukraine. After the death of his mother, and being passed along to another family member by his father, and eventually ending up in an orphanage, Anatoly resented his father for his actions.
In a period of just a little over six years, Anatoly killed a total of 52 people from 1989 to 1996. It all started in 1989 where Anatoly was responsible for the deaths of a family of 10 people in a robbery gone wrong. From there on out he went on a killing spree.
From entire families to home invasions, beating women and children with hammers, to murdering an entire family with a shotgun including an 11-year-old boy sleeping in a car,this guy was ruthless. He would usually eliminate the evidence by arson, setting fire in the homes and to the victims he so mercilessly claimed.
All these murders led to his nicknames “The Beast of Ukraine, “ “The Terminator,” and “Citizen O.” Anatoly was caught after a vicious manhunt, he made his mistake when he attempted to move in with his stash of guns and artillery were found. The relatives kicked him out of the residence and an anonymous tip led to his whereabouts.
When finally arrested by police, Anatoly was found to be in possession of a total of 122 items, including a sawed – off T02-34 shotgun, a number of other weapons, which matched the murder weapons used in several of the killings, and a number of items which had been removed from murder victims
While in custody, he claimed that he killed in response to commands he was given by inner voices. Anatoly received life in prison after the Ukraine had just abolished the death penalty a year prior in 1995. Anatoly died in prison of heart failure . . . justice was served by the powers that be.
Andrei Chikatilo, was also known as the “Red Ripper,” the “Butcher of Rustov,” and the “Rustov Ripper.” From 1978 to 1990, Andrei was responsible for the sexual assault, mutilation, and murder of a minimum of 52 women and children.
His first murder was of a 9 -year-old girl, Yelena Zakatnova, whom he had lured to a house he secretly purchased. After failing to rape the girl due to erectile dysfunction, he choked and stabbed the girl three times in the abdomen causing him to ejaculate. He later threw her body into a nearby river where her body was found two days later.
The majority of Andrei’s victims were prostitutes and homeless women he would lure in with the promises of money and alcohol. After gaining their trust he would stab his victims to death beyond recognition after sexually assaulting them.
Andrei stated that he had initially believed in an old superstition that the image of a murderer is left imprinted upon the eyes of the victim. He was convinced this was simply an old wives’ tale and he had ceased to gouge out the eyes of his victims. He also informed detectives he had often tasted the blood of his victims.
In September of 1984, Andrei was arrested after being observed by an undercover cop trying to lure them away from a local bus stop. After not being able to prove that he committed theft in a separate case opened by a former co-worker, Andrei served three months in prison and was released.
On November 14, 1990, police put Andrei under surveillance after numerous amounts of suspicious behavior, where he would approach young women and children. He was finally arrested by an undercover officer.
After admitting to a total of 56 deaths, Andrei was convicted for the mutilation and murders of 53 women and children and sentenced to death. He was executed in February of 1994.
This particular psychopath is of the middle east variety. Abdul Djabar , originally from Afghanistan, was suspected of murdering over 300 men and boys. Abdul’s upbringing, past, and even date of birth, isn’t common knowledge and remains unknown.
Unlike the majority of the demented on this list, Abdul solely targeted males. Unfortunately his reasoning and method is just as disturbing as the rest. Abdul would strangle his victims with a turban while raping them.
Abdul was able to get away with this with at least 65 people and possibly a ton more. Two innocent people were executed for Abdul’s sick crimes before he was brought to justice. Luckily Abdul was arrested while in the midst of trying to kill his next victim. He was tried and sentenced to death by hanging. The execution was publicly displayed on October 21, 1970.
Yang Xinhai holds the title as China’s most prolific killer ever, being held responsible for 67 murders, and 23 rapes in a span of only four years, from 1999 to 2003. Yang had a prior history of crime in both 1988 and 1991. He was sent to labor camps for theft crimes.
In 1996, he was sentenced to five years in prison for attempted rape, but was released two years early in 1999. In the same year, where it all started , he would enter the victim’s homes in the middle of the night and hack entire families to pieces with axes, hammers, and shovels.
This brutal way of killing led to his media given nickname, the “Monster Killer. “ He would get away by wearing brand new clothes and large shoes at each home invasion. In 2002, Yang killed a father, a six -year -old girl, and raped the pregnant mother, who survived the attack but had severe head injuries.
Yang was caught after acting extremely suspicious during a routine traffic stop. After officers were informed that he was wanted for murder in four provinces, he was taken in. DNA from several crime scenes matched his.
Yang confessed to 65 murders, 23 rapes, and five attacks causing serious injury: 49 murders, 17 rapes, and five attacks in Henan; eight murders and three rapes in Hebel; six murders and two rapes in Ahul; and two murders and one rape in Shandong. Later it was discovered that Yang contracted HIV from one of his victims.
On February 1, 2004, Yang was found guilty of 67 murders and 23 rapes, and sentenced to death in Luothe City Intermediate People’s Court, Henan. At the time of his sentencing, official Chinese media believed he had carried out China’s longest and grisliest killing spree. Yang was executed on February 14, 2004, by shooting.
Kampatimar Shankariya – 70 Victims
Kampatimar Shankariya did most of his damage in the late 70s. He holds the title of India’s most prolific serial killer in history. He was responsible for the deaths of at least 70 innocent people. Kampatimar did all of his murders in a span of only one year, from 1997 to 1998.
He wasn’t too methodical with murdering method as well. He would hammer people to death with repeated blows to the head. His intentions are also very skewed, and his background is unknown to the general public.
Kampatimar was caught and sentenced to death by hanging. These were his last words before being executed : “I have murdered in vain . . . Nobody should become like me .”
Pedro Rodrigues Filino was born on a farm with head injuries due to his father striking his mother during pregnancy. Pedro said his first urge to kill happened at the age of 13. At the age of 14 he committed his first murder by killing the vice – mayor of Alfenas, Minas Gerais, all because he fired his father from a job over theft.
While on the run he met a women named Maria Aparcida Olympia, who ended up being killed by some gang members. In search of her killer, Pedro tortured and murdered several people in an attempt to find out who killed Maria.
By the age of 18 he had racked up 10 bodies to his murder count. In a local prison, Pedro killed his own father, cut out a piece of his heart, chewed it, then spit it out. His reason? His father had killed his mother with a machete.
In May of 1973, Pedro was arrested, and while incarcerated killed 47 other inmates. Pedro claimed he killed over 100 victims, but was tried for 71, and sentenced to 128 years in prison. Due to the crimes he committed in prison, his sentence was bumped up to 400 years.
Unfortunately, after 34 years he was released on April 24, 2007. He traveled to Brazil’s northeast where he was arrested for inciting a riot and other crimes. On September 15, 2011, local media from Santa Catarina published that Pedro had been arrested at his home, in the rural area, where he worked as a house – keeper at Baleano, Santa Catarina coastline.
According to a news channel, Pedro will serve time for accusations such as riot and false imprisonment.
This serial killer started his killing spree over the span of two different South American countries, both Columbia and Ecuador. Daniel Carmargo is responsible for the deaths of 72 to a possible 150 young girls. Daniel began his crime spree with petty theft, but was arrested and sentenced to eight years in prison after raping five young women using sodium – based sleeping pills.
He and his female accomplice, Esperanza, would lure young girls into their apartment where he would commit his crimes. He served his full sentence and was yet to kill a single victim. After being deported from Brazil for being undocumented, he returned to Columbia where he committed his first rape and murder.
In 1977, he was arrested and sentenced to 25 years for the crime. In 1984, he escaped prison via boat and the media and police claimed he was lost at sea or ate by sharks. Unfortunately, Daniel drifted to Ecuador where he continued raping and killing by strangulation, sometimes stabbing his victims if they would resist.
Daniel was caught when two officers were doing a routine patrol and noticed him acting strangely. He was caught with a bag containing bloody clothes and the clitoris of the last victim he killed just minutes ago.
In 1989, Daniel was sentenced to only 16 years, Columbia’s maximum amount sentence at that time. Daniel had claimed to convert to Christianity but was killed in jail.
Pedro Lopez was a Columbian born serial killer. Pedro took it one step further than Daniel Carmago. Not only did he rape and murder in his home country of Columbia, he added Ecuador and Peru. It all started when his mother caught him fondling his little sister and banished him from their home, where he then ran away to Bogota, Columbia.
He was picked up by a man there and was repeatedly sodomized in a deserted house. At 18 he started stealing cars, which led him to be arrested later in life. Supposedly, during his incarceration he was gang raped, and ended up killing everyone who gang raped him while still incarcerated.
After his stint in prison, Pedro went on a murderous raping spree in Peru. He was caught by a local tribe there. They were preparing to execute him when an American missionary intervened and saved him. He was turned over to police who released him.
He then moved to Columbia then Ecuador, claiming that he would kill about three girls a week. Pedro targeted young girls from ages 8 to 12, and after a failed attempt to abduct a girl, he was trapped in by market traders.
Pedro became the “Monster of the Andes “ in 1980, when he led police to 53 Graves in Ecuador, all of the girls were around 9 to 12 years old. In 1993, he was found guilty of the murders of 110 girls in Ecuador confessing to a further 240 murders in Columbia and Peru.
Pedro confessed to over 300 murders, and after a flash flood uncovered a mass grave, caught the attention of authorities. He was arrested in 1980 and released from a psychiatric wing of a Bogota hospital in 1998 on a $50 bond. A fresh murder popped up in 2002, and we’re still unsure if he had anything to do with it.
The number one spot goes to another Columbian serial killer rapist by the name of Luis Garavito, also known as “La Bestia” or “The Beast.” Luis was also a fan of murdering children. The majority of his victims ranged from 8 to 16, and were street children living in terrible conditions.
Luis would gain their trust by offering them gifts or small amounts of money. He then would walk with them to a remote location where they would get exhausted from walking. That’s where he would strike.
He would rape, slit their throats , and dismember their bodies. The majority of the bodies found showed signs of extensive torture from the perverted psychopath. On April 22, 1999, he was captured and confessed to the murders of 140 children, but was tried for 172.
His victims, based on the locations of skeletons listed on maps that Luis drew in prison, could eventually exceed 300 in number. He was found guilty on 139 counts, which is a total of 1,853 years and nine days, but Columbia’s maximum sentence is only 40 years.
Also, since he helped authorities find some of the bodies , his sentence was reduced to 22 years. He was also eligible for early release for good behavior. Many Columbians criticized the possibility of Luis’ early release.
Columbians have increasingly felt that Luis’s sentence was not sufficient punishment for his crimes. Some have argued he deserves either life in prison or the death penalty, neither of which exist in Columbia.
Columbian law had no provision or method to impose a sentence longer than what Luis received, which was seen as a deficiency in the law caused by the failure to address the possibility of a serial killer in Columbian society. The law has since increased the maximum penalty for such crimes to 60 years in prison
Seriously Columbia needs to adjust some laws, especially since they made the top three on the list. With the number of victims that each serial killer on this list has, it’s a wonder that these killers got away with it as long as they could. Some of the killers had dozens of victims before anyone discovered that a single crime has been committed, while others were hunted by police for years.
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