History is filled with a number of horrendous serial killers. These criminals had no limits when it came down to doing evil things. While some killed an unbelievable number of people, others liked to decapitate their victims. But there was one thing common between them: they liked inflicting pain on their victims and showed no mercy.
While a number of killers have come and gone over the period of years, some of them are still remembered because of their extremely gruesome acts. Here are some of them.
1. Ted Bundy: The Lady Killer
Being one of the most infamous criminals of the late 20th century, he was a serial killer, kidnapper, rapist and necrophile. He later confessed to killing 30 women, decapitating about 12 of his victims and kept their heads as trophies in his house. He used to revisit the crime scenes and indulge in sexual acts with their corpses. In 1989, he died on the electric chair at the age of 42.
2. Charles Sobhraj: The Bikini Killer
Being a prolific criminal, he loved fame and money. From 1975 to 1976, he murdered about 12 people to fund his flamboyant lifestyle. He used to gain the trust of potential victims by rescuing them from problems that he had created and then used to defraud them. In 2003, he was arrested in Kathmandu for travelling with a false passport and for murdering a tourist in 1975. He’s currently 77 years old and has had several heart surgeries in prison.
3. Tsutomu Miyazaki: The Human Dracula
As his nickname suggests, he did some unbelievable and brutal crimes. He used to abduct little girls, kill them and had sex with their corpses. He not only drank the victim’s blood but also ate her hand once. He used to preserve his victim’s body parts as souvenirs. In 2008, he was hanged at the age of 45.
4. Raman Raghav: Sindhi Dalwai
From 1965 to 1968, this serial killer killed more than 41 people. His murder weapon was a steel rod and he used to hit his victims, who were majorly slum-dwellers, on the head. During his interrogation by the police, he didn’t relent until he was given the chicken curry he was craving.
5. Ahmad Suradji: The Black Magic Killer
This ritual murderer was a cattle-breeder who killed 42 girls and women between 1986 and 1997. It is said that he used to bury his victims waist-deep with their heads facing his house, in order to gain more spiritual power as he believed that these ritual murders would boost his abilities. In 2008, he was sentenced to death by a firing squad.
6. Dr. H.H. Holmes: The Torture Doctor
This notorious killer used to kill people for their properties. He even built a three-story castle that included a torture cell fully equipped with soundproof rooms, gas lines, a trap door and a surgical table to torture his victims. The entire castle was a confusing maze that no one could easily escape. His primary victims were young women, whom he would first suffocate with poisonous gas and then cut them open. He also used to skin his victims and sell their skeletons to local medical schools. In 1896, he was hanged till death.
7. KD Kempamma: Cyanide Mallika
Being India’s first convicted female serial killer, she murdered about six women between 1998 and 2007. She would look for vulnerable women who were going through hardships in life around the temples and claim to be a mandala pooja expert that can help them. Once her victims believed her, she would ask them to come to an isolated place donning all of their expensive jewellery. Then, she would make them drink ‘holy water’ laced with cyanide. She would then steal their jewellery and escape.
8. Albert Fish: The Boogey Man
This serial killer was obsessed with cannibalism. He confessed to murdering, dismembering and raping 100 children. Once, he sent a disturbing letter to the mother of his 10-year-old victim describing the gruesome acts he did with her. He wrote, “First, I stripped her naked. How she did kick, bite and scratch. I choked her to death and then cut her into small pieces so I could take the meat to my rooms, cook and eat it. It took me 9 days to eat her entire body.” In 1936, he was executed on the electric chair.
Checkout: Indian Serial Killers
9. Mohan Kumar: Cyanide Mohan
Between 2003 and 2009, he killed about 20 women. All the victims, who were dressed in wedding clothes but without jewellery, were found in the washrooms of the bus stands. He used to lure his victims by promising to marry them, have sex with them and then convince them to take a birth control pill which he used to lace with cyanide. He would ask them to go into the washroom since they might feel unwell after taking the pill. Once they got unconscious, he would disappear with their jewellery. In 2013, he was sentenced to death.
10. John George Haigh: Acid Bath Murderer
This professional conman, who operated during the 1940s, used to lure wealthy people by his charm into a warehouse. He not only shot them, but also used to dissolve their bodies in sulphuric acid later. Then, he used to forge papers for selling their possessions and collect his victim’s life savings. He claimed to have killed 9 people. In 1949, he was hanged till death.
11. Andrei Chikatilo: Butcher of Rostov
He was responsible for sexually assaulting, killing and mutilating 53 young women and children between 1978 and 1990. He stabbed his victims with a knife and even admitted later that it was the only way he could achieve orgasms.
12. The Zodiac Killer
This serial killer, who operated in the late 1960s, brutally murdered people and even used to tease the policemen over phone calls and letters. He claimed to have killed 37 victims and his last letter stated: Me- 37 and SFPD – 0. He also left four cyphers to be decoded and only one was solved. People still know very little about him— including his name!
