The most prolific modern serial killer is arguably doctor Harold Shipman, with 218 probable murders and possibly as many as 250 (see "Medical professionals", below). However, he was actually convicted of a sample of 15 murders.
Serial killers. Australians convicted of multiple murders: Catherine Birnie, rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986. David Birnie (1951–2005) rape and murder of four women in Perth in 1986.
Joseph Hakan Ayik, also known as Hakan Reis (born 31 January 1979) is a Turkish - Australian drug trafficker. He has an estimated net worth of 1.2 billion dollars, and was described in June 2021 as "Australia's most wanted man".
The dark man : Australia's first serial killer / Jason K. Foster | National Library of Australia.
Eight-year-old Amarjeet Sada was all smiles when he was brought to the police station in 2007 in connection with the murder of an infant. Sada, known as the world's youngest serial killer, was held after three murders, two of which went unreported.
Numbers peaked in the 1970s when there were nearly 300 known active serial killers in the U.S. In the 1980s, there were more than 250 active killers who accounted for between 120 and 180 deaths per year. By the time the 2010s rolled around there were fewer than 50 known active killers.
The FBI did not recognize female serial killers until the 1990s. They called these crimes sexual killing, and sexual killing is almost always indicative of a male murderer. But there are well-known women who murdered far more victims than men did. Jolly Jane Toppan was a nurse in Boston in the late 1800s.
Some murderers, such as Albert Fish, Boone Helm, Andrei Chikatilo, and Jeffrey Dahmer, are known to have devoured their victims after killing them.
While the origin of the term "serial killer" may be slightly ambiguous, it is quite clear which country is home to the highest number of serial killers. The United States is the runaway leader in this category, with more documented serial killers in its history than the next ten closest countries combined.
It has been said that the average person can unknowingly walk past 36 murderers in their lifetime.
New York. Coming in at number one, we have New York. As of 2023, New York has been home to 18 serial killers, and has a total number of 677 serial killer victims. David Richard Berkowitz, known as “The Son of Sam,” is New York's most infamous serial killer.
While five known victims have been linked to the Zodiac killer, it is believed more than 20 people fell victim to the murderer. The FBI maintain that the case remains unsolved, as it was as open as recently as October 2021.
Serial murders are further defined as those committed by one or two individuals, excluding instances where groups are responsible for deaths. Serial killings are rare, accounting for less than 1% of total homicides.
H.H. Holmes, byname of Herman Mudgett, (born May 16, 1861?, Gilmanton, New Hampshire, U.S.—died May 7, 1896, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), American swindler and confidence trickster who is widely considered the country's first known serial killer.
Aileen Wuornos, 46, was executed by lethal injection on Oct. 9, 2002, for the deaths of six men along Central Florida highways in 1989 and 1990. She was known as America's first female serial killer. Wuornos appears in court in December 1991.
The "Zodiac Killer," a self-given pseudonym of an unidentified serial killer who operated in Northern California in the late 1960s, and whose crimes are widely considered the most famous unsolved murder case in American history.
The Bender family, more well known as the Bloody Benders, were a family of serial killers in Labette County, Kansas, United States, from May 1871 to December 1872. The family consisted of John Bender, his wife Elvira, their son John Jr., and their daughter Kate. While popular retelling of the story holds that John Jr.
A spree shooting by Martin Bryant. The deadliest mass shooting in Australia. Led to the National Firearms Agreement between Australia's states, territories and federal government, mandating licenses and registration for gun owners and users, and banning semi-automatic long guns in most cases. See Gun laws in Australia.
A woman once branded "Australia's worst female serial killer" has been pardoned after new evidence suggested she did not kill her four infant children. Kathleen Folbigg spent 20 years in prison after a jury found she killed sons Caleb and Patrick and daughters Sarah and Laura over a decade.
Over the 17-year life of the NHMP, there have been 5,743 known homicide offenders and 5,617 victims in a total of 5,226 known homicide incidents in Australia. Serial murders account for one percent of this total, with 11 groupings of serial murders committed by 13 known offenders and a total of 52 known victims.