美國聯調局(FBI)對連環殺手(serial killers)的定義是:謀殺至少3個人,並在作案期間存在“冷卻期”,與短時間內,在同一地點展開大屠殺的大規模殺手(mass murderers),又或四處逞兇殺人的瘋狂殺手(spree killers)有別。所謂“冷卻期”,就是指兩宗謀殺間隔的那段時間,連環殺手這段喘息的時間長短不一,短的可為1、2天甚至是幾個小時的,長的有1個月甚至數月,通常連環殺手通過一次“謀殺體驗”使自己興奮情緒達至一個高峰後,需要一段時間平靜下來,回味並總結這段亢奮經歷,改良行兇方法。
已查明的連環殺手大部分都是有組織型和反社會型的,他們通常智商很高,從外表根本無法判斷他們是殺人狂。連環殺手一般都是單獨行動,殺害的都是陌生人,且多是在無人知曉的情況下殺人。他們作案並不是一時興起,動機也不是出於嫉妒或貪婪。
受害者計數,殺人醫生,殺手雙人組,
受害者計數
這個列表是現代連環殺手的最高的可核查的謀殺,排除醫療殺人和雙人作案。
路易斯·加拉維托(Luis Garavito) | |||
作案日期 | 1990年-1999年 | 被稱為“野獸”(The Beast) 他的受害者多為貧窮的流浪年輕少女。他會在街上給予他們食物和金錢,在取得信任之後,他會以為她們找住所為理由帶她們走很長時間的路。在受害者疲倦的時候他會藉機把她們謀殺,然後棄屍荒野。 最後他以涉嫌謀殺400餘名女童的罪名起訴,並以殺害139名少女的罪名定罪。 雖然他被判處1853年有期徒刑,但是由於哥倫比亞的法律,他只獲得最高處罰:有期徒刑30年,並由於獄中表現良好,並協助調查,減刑到22年。 此後哥倫畢業政府宣布最高有期徒刑由30年增加到60年。 | |
出生日期 | 1957年1月25日 | ||
逮捕日期 | 1999年4月22日 | ||
襲擊目標 | 流浪年輕少女 | ||
作案國家 | 哥倫比亞 | ||
證實數目 | 138人 | ||
可能數目 | 172人-400人+ | ||
佩德羅·阿隆索·洛佩茲 (Pedro Alonso López) | |||
作案日期 | 1969年-1979年 | 被稱為“安德斯怪獸”(The Monster of the Andes) 在1969-1980年間殺死了110名女童,年齡均為8-12歲。 1983年佩德羅被哥倫畢業警方抓捕,並以謀殺110名孩童的罪名被起訴,不過他自己承認殺害了超過240名秘魯失蹤的女童。 雖然他的惡名昭彰,死十次都是輕的,不過因為哥倫比亞的法律,最後他只被判處有期徒刑30年,其後減刑至25年。至今這位殺人魔仍逍遙法外。 | |
襲擊目標 | 女童 | ||
作案國家 | 哥倫比亞/厄瓜多/秘魯 | ||
證實數目 | 110人 | ||
可能數目 | 300人+ | ||
丹尼爾·卡馬戈·巴爾博薩 (Daniel Camargo Barbosa) | |||
出生日期 | 1930年1月22日 | 小時候繼母的虐待及毆打造就了這位聰明絕頂的殺人狂。 在1970年第一次殺人後,在12年裡他先後殺死了多達72名孩童,多數為年輕處女。 他在1974年因殺害一名9歲女孩被判刑30年,不過此時他已成為殺害80餘名女童的嫌疑犯。 隨後他從哥倫比亞越獄並逃到厄瓜多繼續進行殺戮。 他在1989年在厄瓜多再次被捕,並與當時被稱為“安德斯怪獸”的佩德羅·阿隆索·洛佩茲成為獄友。 因厄瓜多的法律,最多只能被判處30年有期徒刑。在1994年他在監獄中被一名受害者的表兄殺死。 | |
作案日期 | 1974年-1986年 | ||
作案國家 | 哥倫比亞/厄瓜多 | ||
證實數目 | 72人 | ||
可能數目 | 150-人180人 | ||
佩德羅·羅德里格斯·菲洛(Pedro Rodrigues Filho) | |||
作案日期 | 1967-2003年 | 他第一次殺的人讓他惡名遠揚。在他14歲的時候,他殺死了當時的副市長,僅因為他炒了他父親的魷魚。 之後他逃到聖保羅的一個小鎮,殺死了幾個毒梟,並遇見了他的女友。他們同居一直到黑社會團伙把自己女友殺死為止。 為了復仇,佩德羅先後拷問並謀殺了十餘個黑社會成員,並試圖逼出殺害女友的兇手。 之後他親手殺死了自己的父親,原因是母親被父親殘忍的殺害。為了尋找復仇的快感,他殘忍的挖出自己父親的心臟並吃掉。 1973年他終於被捕。在獄中他先後殺死了47名犯人。 在2003年,他被判處128年有期徒刑。不過因為巴西但是的法律,最高處罰不能超過30年,因此這名殺人狂至今尚在。 | |
人物結局 | 被判處有期徒刑 | ||
作案國家 | 巴西 | ||
證實數目 | 71人 | ||
可能數目 | 100人+ | ||
楊新海(Yang Xinhai) | |||
作案日期 | 2000年-2003年 | 曾先後到過山西、河北等地,在一些煤礦、建築隊上打工,期間因盜竊、強姦被2次勞教,1次判刑。 從2000年9月起直至2003年8月,楊新海曾橫跨皖豫魯冀4省,瘋狂作案26起,殺死67人,傷10人,qj23人。 2003年這位殺人魔終於被捕,被多達363頁的訴訟狀起訴,並在2004年2月14日被執行死刑。 | |
作案國家 | 中國 | ||
傷人數目 | 10人 | ||
證實數目 | 67人 | ||
可能數目 | 67人 | ||
哥闊(gekuo) | |||
作案日期 | 1987年-1991年 | 受害者都是他以做生意為由騙到家中殺害的。只有一位是他的小姨子,有一次他小姨子來他家玩半夜起來上廁所發現廚房亮著燈就進去看剛好砬到“哥闊”在廚房挖坑準備埋剛殺的一個人,“哥闊”就殘忍的將他小姨子殺死然後將兩人埋在廚房的灶台下面。 1991年警察將“哥闊”抓獲後他交待了犯罪事實。並交待了他殺人後埋屍地,隨後警察在他廚房挖出兩人上面說過的那兩人,在他臥室的床底下挖出兩人,在寧明江邊他自家的菜地里挖出27人,他的菜地只有幾分地卻被他埋了27個人,在他被帶去現場指認埋屍地時,他能清楚的指明那個地方並按排列順序說出那些受害者姓名。 哥闊”被抓後不久就被槍斃。 | |
逮捕日期 | 1991年 | ||
地理行為 | 領域型 | ||
作案國家 | 中國 | ||
證實數目 | 54人 | ||
可能數目 | 56人+ | ||
安德烈·奇卡提羅(Andrei Chikatilo) | |||
出生日期 | 1936年10月16日 | 俄羅斯籍連環殺手。他在1978年至1990年之間共殺害53名女子及小童,他亦是俄羅斯最有名的殺人犯。 因為其大部分受害者均在羅斯托夫州遇害而有“羅斯托夫屠夫”、“紅色撕裂者”及“羅斯托夫撕裂者”之稱。 在這之前,由於烏克蘭警方的失職,有3人因為他的罪行而被執行死刑,導致社會反映強烈。這也是隨後的亞歷山大·皮丘希金出乎意料的寬刑(終身監禁)的原因。 | |
作案日期 | 1978年-1990年 | ||
逮捕日期 | 1990年11月20日 | ||
作案國家 | 前蘇聯 | ||
襲擊目標 | 女子,兒童 | ||
證實數目 | 53人 | ||
可能數目 | 56人+ | ||
加里· 里奇韋(Gary Ridgway) | |||
出生日期 | 1949年2月18日 | 加里·里奇韋堪稱美國歷史上殺人最多的連環殺手,由於最初的5 名受害者遺體是在美國西雅圖市南郊的綠河附近被發現,外界稱他為“綠河殺手”。加里在1980 到2000 年間被確認至少殺死了48 名受害者,他自己供述的人數達到71人,但警方認為還有至少20 名受害者下落不明。 加里·里奇韋於2001 年被逮捕,但他整整兩年隻字不提自己的任何犯罪事實,直到2003 年為求法庭從死刑改判終生監禁,才鬆口供認罪行。“綠河連環殺人案”是20 世紀80 年代美國最令人震驚的大案。由於兇手加里·里 | |
作案日期 | 1982年-1998年 | ||
襲擊目標 | 女子 | ||
逮捕日期 | 2001年11月30日 | ||
證實數目 | 49人 | ||
可能數目 | 71人-90人 |
殺人醫生
Name | Country | Years active | Proven victims* | Possible victims | Miscellaneous information |
Harold Shipman | 1975 to 1998 | 218 | 250 | Convicted of 15 murders and responsible for the deaths of 218 patients identified byinquirybut is believed to have killed up to 250 people.He injecteddiamorphineinto his patients and then falsified the medical records, reporting that his patient had been in poor health. Known (after his arrest only) as Doctor Death.Hanged himself in prison. | |
Hu Wanlin | 1997 to 1999 | 146 | 150+ | Ran hospitals inShanxi,Shaanxi, andHenandespite lacking a license or any kind of medical formation, where he administered poisonous "miracle cures" that contained high amounts ofsodium sulphate. | |
Miyuki Ishikawa | 1940s | 103+ | 169 | Killed more than 103 newborn children. As a maternity nurse she killed infants born to parents unwilling to care for them during the prohibition of abortion in Japan. Arrested in 1948 and sentenced to 4 years in prison. | |
Steven Massof | United States | 2003 to 2008 | 100+ | Massof, who worked atKermit Gosnell's abortion clinic, testified that he snipped the spines of more than 100 babies after seeing them show signs of life. | |
Louay Omar Mohammed al-Taei | Iraq | 2005 to 2006 | 43 | Medical doctor found to have killed 43 wounded policemen, soldiers and officials inKirkuk; was a member of aninsurgent cell. | |
Daniela Poggiali | 2014 | 38 | Nurse who killed 38 of her patients. | ||
Donald Harvey | United States | 1970 to 1987 | 37 | 57–87 | Self-professed Angel of Death. Worked as an orderly in Cincinnati-area hospitals and preyed on his patients. Claims to have killed 87 patients starting at age 18. Active 1970–1987. Serving 28 life sentences in Ohio. |
Jane Toppan | United States | 1885 to 1901 | 31 | Nurse that confessed to poisoning 31 patients for her own sexual gratification. After overdosing them she would get in bed and lie with them as they died. Found not guilty by reason of insanity and interned in a mental institution until her death in 1938. | |
Stephan Letter | 2003 to 2004 | 29 | 29+ | Nurse who killed 29 patients; Sentenced to life on November 20, 2006. | |
Anders Hansson | 1978 to 1979 | 27 | A Nurse Aide who poisoned victims with gevisol and ivisol. His actions were called "The Hospital Murders" (Swedish:Sjukhusmorden). | ||
Marcel Petiot | France | 1926 to 1944 | 26 | 63 | Active 1926 and from 1942 to 1944. Petiot is suspected of having killed up to 63 in total. Executed in 1946. |
Arnfinn Nesset | Norway | 1983 and earlier | 22 | 27–138+ | Norwegiannurseand most prolific known serial killer in Scandinavian history, convicted on 18 March 1983 of poisoning at least 22 patients withCuracit; however he initially confessed to 27 murders; after he retracted his confessions and he told he had killed 138 patients. Was released from prison in 2004 after serving 21 years, the maximum punishment possible by Norwegian law. |
Charles Cullen | United States | 1988 to 2003 | 18–29 | 35–400+ | Nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania who murdered at least 29 patients between 1988 and 2003, but experts believe the number could be as high as 400. Cullen has admitted to more murders, which authorities believe are likely, but the murders cannot be verified due to lack of records. |
Maxim Petrov | 2000 to 2002 | 12 | 19 | Doctor who killed his patients inSt. Petersburg. Suspected of 19 murders. | |
Joan Vila | 2009 to 2010 | 11 | 15 | Nursing homeworker who fatally poisoned 11 elderly residents or more inOlot. In the trial he claimed they weremercy killsintended to spare the victims of further suffering, although three of them were administered caustic cleaning materials that caused severe burns and a long agony. | |
Ann Arbor Hospital Killer | United States | 1975 | 10 | Poisonings of ten patients at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in 1975. Filipino nurses Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez were tried for the crimes. | |
Frederick Mors | United States | 1914 to 1915 | 8 | 8+ | Born Carl Menarik, Austrian who killed 8 elderly patients by poisoning in New York. Sent to an asylum and escaped. Never caught. |
Marianne Nölle | 1984 to 1992 | 7 | 17 | Nurse who was convicted of killing seven patients between 1984 and 1992; suspected of killing 17; sentenced to life imprisonment in 1993. | |
Petr Zelenka | Czech Republic | 2006 | 7 | 21 | Killed his victims with alethal injectionofheparinfrom May to September 2006. Ten people survived his murder attempt. Suspected of up to 14 additional murders. |
Orville Lynn Majors | United States | 1993 to 1995 | 6 | 130 | LPN in Vermillion County Ind., Preyed on elderly patients—thought to have killed many of them with injections of potassium chloride. Serving 360 years in Indiana. |
Efren Saldivar | United States | 1989 to 1997 | 6 | 50+ | Respiratory therapist who killed six patients, possibly as many as 120. |
Christine Malèvre | France | 1998 and earlier | 6 | 30 | Nurse who killedterminally illpatients claiming that they had asked her to help them die, something denied by their families. Sentenced to 12 years in prison for 6 murders and suspect of 30. |
Kristen Gilbert | United States | 1990 to 1996 | 5 | 70+ | Nurse at aMassachusettsVeterans Medical Centerwho injected male patients withepinephrine, causingheart attacks. Sentenced to life without parole. |
Amy Archer-Gilligan | United States | 1910 to 1917 | 5 | 48+ | A nursing home proprietor believed to have poisoned as many as 60 patients from her homes and her second husband. Charged with 5 murders originally, this was lowered to just one following her admission of guilt, and was found guilty of second degree murder. Died in a mental hospital in 1962. |
Aino Nykopp-Koski | Finland | 2004 to 2009 | 5 | Nurse who killed five elderly patients using sedatives and opiates in Finland. | |
Kimberly Clark Saenz | United States | 2008 | 5 | Killed five patients by using syringes to inject bleach into their dialysis lines. | |
Michael Swango | United States | 1981 to 1997 | 4 | 35–60+ | Murderer and serial killer suspect. |
Kermit Gosnell | United States | 1989? to 2011 | 4 | 100+ | Gosnell, who ran anabortion clinic, was charged with 8 and convicted of 4 murders. Three babies were born alive, then killed by cutting the infant's spine with scissors. One mother died due to complications. Testimony indicated hundreds of similar procedures carried out by Gosnell and his staff. |
Edson Izidoro Guimaraes | Brazil | 1999 and earlier | 4 | 5-131 | Nurse who injected patients withpotassium chlorideor took their oxygen masks off. Confessed to 5 murders which he claimed to be mercy kills and was convicted of 4 in 2000, sentenced to 76 years in prison. Some believe that he might have killed as many as 131 patients for money, as he was paid $60 for informing localfuneral homesof a patient's death so that they could contact the deceased's relatives first. |
Richard Angelo | United States | 1987 | 4 | 25 | Known as "The Angel of Death". New York nurse convicted of four murders, linked to 6 other deaths. Suspected of killing up to 25 people. |
Beverley Allitt | 1991 | 4 | A nurse, Allitt attacked 11 children in her care during a period of 59 days, killing four of them. Some of the victims were overdosed withinsulin, others were injected with air bubbles. Imprisoned for life since 1993. | ||
Abraao Jose Bueno | Brazil | 2005 | 4 | Nurse who injected young children with sedatives until they stopped breathing. He would then alert doctors in an attempt to earn the respect of his colleagues for being the first one to notice that something was wrong. Convicted of 4 deaths and 4 more murder attempts to 110 years in prison. | |
Marie Fikáčková | Czechoslovakia | 1957 to 1960 | 2 | 10+ | Nurse who was executed by hanging in 1961 for murdering babies. |
Felícitas Sánchez Aguillón | 1930 to 1941 | 1 | 50+ | Known as "The Ogress of Roma neighborhood"; Nurse, midwife and baby farmer responsible for an unknown number of murders number during the 1930s, maybe 50 victims, in Mexico City. | |
Genene Jones | United States | 1971 to 1984 | 1 | 50+ | Pediatric nurse who poisoned infants in her care; convicted of only one murder but suspected many more. |
Linda Hazzard | United States | 1908 to 1911? | 1 | 13–40+ | Self-declared doctor and fasting specialist, which she advertised as apanaceafor every medical ailment. Up to 40 patients could have died of starvation in her "sanitarium" ofOlalla, Washington. Imprisoned for one death in 1912, wasparoledin 1915 and continued to practice medicine without a license inNew Zealand(1915–1920) andWashington(1920–1935). Died in 1938 while attempting a fasting to cure herself. |
Robert George Clements | 1920 to 1947 | 1 | 4 | Believed to have murdered his four wives, all of whom died young and had their death certificates signed by Clements himself. Clements committed suicide with amorphineoverdose when police came to arrest him for the murder of his fourth wife, who had died of the same cause. |
殺手雙人組
Name | Country | Years active | Proven victims* | Possible victims | Miscellaneous information |
Philadelphia Poison Ring | United States | 1938 and earlier | 114 | Gang of 16 that poisoned Italian immigrants witharsenicin order to collect theirlife insurance. The leaders, cousins Herman and Paul Petrillo, were executed on theelectric chairin 1941 while the rest were given life sentences. | |
Delfina & María de Jesús González | 1955 to 1964 | 91+ | Two sisters who ran a brothel in Mexico, hired numerous prostitutes and murdered at least 80 of them after they were deemed useless during the span of ten years. They also killed 11 men. Probably the work of four of the sisters, sentenced to 40 years in prison. Body count varies due to the combined work of the sisters being impossible to assign to them individually. | ||
Angel Makers of Nagyrév | Hungary | 1911 to 1929 | 50 | 300+ | 26 women who poisoned their husbands (sometimes also their parents, lovers and children) witharsenicunder the guidance ofmidwifeJúlia Fazekas and her accomplice, Susi Oláh. |
Dean Corll,David Owen BrooksandElmer Wayne Henley | United States | 1970 to 1973 | 28 | 29+ | Corll, known as "The Candy Man", killed at least 28 teenage boys and young men inHoustonbetween 1970 and 1973. Corll was then shot and killed by one of the two teenage accomplices he recruited to assist him in the abductions of the victims on August 8, 1973. This accomplice, Elmer Wayne Henley, informed the police of the trio's murders the same day Corll was murdered. |
Adolfo ConstanzoandSara Aldrete | 1987? to 1989 | 25+ | "The Godparents ofMatamoros". Leader and second in command of acultthat abducted men to performhuman sacrifices. | ||
Igor Suprunyuck and Viktor Sayenko | Ukraine | 2007 | 21 | Also known as "The Dnepropetrovsk Maniacs". Killed random people over a two-month period and tortured dogs and cats, received lifetime imprisonment. | |
Surinder KoliandMoninder Singh Pandher | 2005 to 2006 | 19 | 30+ | Between 2005 and 2006, businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his domestic servant, Surender Koli, kidnapped, raped, murdered, and dismembered 19 people (mostly children). Convicted. | |
Anísio Ferreira de Sousaand followers | Brazil | 1989 to 1992 | 19 | Satanicring that abducted, mutilated and sacrificed children inAltamira, Brazil. The leader, Ferreira de Sousa, was convicted for four murders and two more attempts to 77 years in prison. | |
Ripper Crew | United States | 1981 to 1982 | 18 | ||
John Allen MuhammadandLee Boyd Malvo | United States | 2002 | 17 | Killed seven people from February to September 2002 and ten in theBeltway sniper attacksof October 2002. | |
Vladyslav Volkovich and Volodymyr Kondratenko | Ukraine | 1991 to 1997 | 16 | 20+ | "TheNighttime Killers". Murdered homeless men and lone drivers with a variety of weapons. |
Death Angels | United States | 1973 to 1974 | 16 | Fourblack supremaciststhat killed 16 white people and injured between 8 and 10 inSan Francisco(Zebra murders). | |
Lainz Angels of Death | 1983 to 1989 | 15 | 49–200+ | Known as the "Lainz Angels of Death"; Waltraud Wagner, Irene Leidolf, Stephanija Mayer, and Maria Gruber were nurses at the Lainz General Hospital in Vienna who admitted to murdering 49 patients. | |
José Miculax Bux and Mariano Macú Miculax | Guatemala | 1946 | 15 | Cousins who killed 15 boys in 1946. | |
Fred WestandRosemary West | 1967 to 1987 | 12 | 20 | Mainly targeted young females but were also found guilty of the murder of their own daughter. Also found guilty of raping another daughter. Buried the victims around their house and local area. Shortly before he committed suicide on New Year's Day, 1995, Fred West said there were more victims. | |
Briley Brothers | United States | 1971 to 1979 | 12 | Three brothers and an accomplice responsible for 12 murders in the 1970s in Richmond, Virginia. | |
Mailoni Brothers | Zambia | 2007 to 2013 | 12 | Three brothers who killed at least 12 people from 2007 to 2013. Killed byZambia ArmyCommandos in 2013. | |
Leonard LakeandCharles Ng | United States | 1982 to 1985 | 11 | 25 | Abducted women, used them as sex slaves, and then murdered them, together with any men, women, and children who got in their way. Lake committed suicide upon arrest, but Ng was later convicted of killing 11 people. Between 1982 and 1985, Lake and Ng were believed to have abducted and killed as many as 25 victims, as evidenced by human remains found on Lake's California ranch. |
Shen Changyin and Shen Changping | 1999 to 2004 | 11 | Found guilty of the murders of 11 prostitutes. | ||
Wolfgang Abel and Marco Furlan | 1977 to 1984 | 10 | 27 | The victims, seemingly chosen at random and killed by different methods, were found next to letters written in Italian, signed "Ludwig" and containingNaziimagery, that gave a reason for why the murder had been committed. Abel and Furlan were arrested inCastiglione delle Stivierewhile dousing a crowded discothèque with gasoline and sentenced in 1987 to 30 years in prison for all crimes (later reduced to 27). | |
Joshi-Abhyankar serial murderers | 1976 to 1977 | 10 | FourPunecommercial artstudents (Rajendra Jakkal, Dilip Sutar, Shantaram Kanhoji Jagtap and Munawar Harun Shah) that broke into random people's homes and businesses and strangled them with anylonrope. Hanged in 1983. | ||
Gerald and Charlene Gallego | United States | 1978 to 1980 | 10 | Killed ten victims in Sacramento, California. Gerald Gallego died of cancer before his death sentence could be carried out. Charlene Gallego was released July 1997. | |
Viña del Mar psychopaths | 1980 to 1981 | 10 | Jorge Sagredo and Carlos Topp committed ten murders and four rapes from 5 August 1980 to November 1, 1981 in the city ofViña del Mar. Executed by firing squad on January 29, 1985, they became the last people executed in Chile. | ||
National Socialist Underground | 2000 to 2007 | 10 | Neo-Nazigroup who killed tenethnic Turksin theBosphorus serial murdersfrom 2000 to 2007. Most victims were small business owners killed in broad daylight with a gunshot to the face. Two of the suspects committed suicide and a third,Beate Zschäpe, was apprehended in November 2011. | ||
The Hernández Brothers Sect | 1963 | 8 | Originally a scam intended to extort money and sexual favors from the poor, illiterate inhabitants of the small village of Yerba Buena, who were promised favors from "Incagods" in the mountains, the cult came to includeAztec-inspiredhuman sacrificesafter prostituteMagdalena Solístook over as high priestess. 15 people were sentenced to 30 years in prison for their participation in the ritual murders of seven villagers and one police officer. | ||
Rudolfo Infante and Anna Villeda | 1991 | 8 | Responsible for 8 murders. | ||
Dale Hausner and Samuel Dieteman | United States | 2006 | 8 | Known as the "Serial Shooter". Responsible for 8 murders in random drive-by shootings in 2006 in Phoenix, Arizona. | |
Futoshi MatsunagaandJunko Ogata | 1993 to 2002 | 7 | 9 | Under Matsunaga's leadership, who had a long history of conning (and possibly murdering) women, the couple abducted, tortured and disposed of the bodies of six relatives of Ogata and one neighbor in their condominium ofKitakyushu. Matsunaga was sentenced to death and Ogata to life in prison in 2007. | |
Christopher Worrell and James Miller | 1976 to 1977 | 7 | Known as the "TruroMurderers"; convicted of killing seven victims inSouth Australia. | ||
Auto Shankar's Gang | 1988 to 1989 | 6 | 9 | Nine men who collaborated to abduct and murder at least 6 teenage girls inChennai; their bodies were cremated and thrown into the sea or buried under residential homes. Leader Auto Shankar and two accomplices were sentenced to death by hanging in 1991, his brother Auto Mohan to three consecutive life sentences in prison and five other collaborators to six months in prison. | |
Gert van Rooyenand Joey Haarhof | South Africa | 1988 to 1989 | 6 | 8 | Their victims were never found; the pair shot dead a police officer and then committed suicide when faced with arrest after the escape of their last kidnap victim. |
Hermann Duft and Hans Wilhelm Bassenauer | 1969 | 6 | |||
David Alan Gore and Fred Waterfield | United States | 1981 to 1983 | 6 | Cousins connected to the murders of six females. Gore was executed in 2012 and Waterfield was sentenced to life imprisonment. | |
Artyom Alexandrovich Anoufriev and Nikita Vakhtangovich Lytkin | 2010 to 2011 | 6 | Teenaged thrill-killers of random people. | ||
Ray and Faye Copeland | United States | 1986 to 1989 | 5 | 12 | Oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States at the ages of 75 and 69; convicted of killing 5 men; modus operandi was to hire unskilled drifters as farm hands and later kill them. |
Ian BradyandMyra Hindley | 1963 to 1965 | 5 | 5+ | The "Moors Murderers". Abducted children in northern England. They were found guilty of two and three murders respectively. | |
TheSkin Hunters | Poland | 2002 and earlier | 5 | Unknown | Hospital crew that killed patients in order to get bribes from nearby funeral homes. Two doctors and two paramedics were convicted for the murder of five patients, but the investigation is still going on with over 40 remaining suspects. |
Gwendolyn Graham and Catherine May Wood | United States | 1987 | 5 | Nurses who killed five elderly women in Grand Rapids, Michigan. | |
Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris | United States | 1979 | 5 | Known as "The Tool Box Killers". Kidnapped, tortured, raped and murdered five girls in 1979. | |
James Gregory Marlow and Cynthia Coffman | United States | 1986 | 5 | Killed four women and one man in 1986. | |
Chijon family | South Korea | 1993 | 5 | South Korean gang of cannibals that was sentenced to death for killing five people. | |
Loren Herzog and Wesley Shermantine | United States | 1984 to 1999 | 4 | 19+ | Known as the "Speed Freak Killers"; California duo initially convicted of 4 murders from 1984 to 1999. |
David and Catherine Birnie | 1986 | 4 | 4–8 | Australian couple who raped and murdered four women in their home and attempted to murder a fifth in Perth in 1986. Both were sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole; David Birnie hanged himself in prison on October 7, 2005. | |
Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck | United States | 1947 to 1949 | 3 | 20 | Known as the "Lonely Hearts Killers", Fernandez and Beck extorted women Fernandez met throughlonely hearts advertisements. Both were arrested in Michigan in 1949 for the murders of a woman and her 2-year-old daughter, but Michigan authorities waived prosecution and extradited the pair to New York to face trial for a murder that occurred there because New York had the death penalty while Michigan did not. They were convicted of that murder and executed on March 8, 1951. |
Michael Bear Carson and Suzan Carson | United States | 1981 to 1983 | 3 | 3+ | Nomadic hippie killers involved in the counter-culture movement; sentenced to life imprisonment for three San Francisco Bay Area murders in 1983. |
Joseph and Michael Kallinger | United States | 1974 to 1975 | 3 | Joseph Kallinger murdered three people and tortured four families with his 13-year-old son Michael in New Jersey. | |
John Duffy and David Mulcahy | 1985 to 1986 | 3 | Raped dozens of women in train stations (beginning in 1982) before switching to murder. | ||
Beasts of Satan | 1998 to 2004 | 3 | The members of this group committed three notorious ritual murders over six years. | ||
Silvia Merez Cult | 2009 to 2012 | 3 | Ritually murdered three people in sacrifices toSanta Muerte. | ||
Raya and Sakinaand their husbands | 1919-1920 | 2 | Unknown | Gang of four that rented a house for women and killed them to rob their money and jewellery. Raya and Sakina were the first women executed in the modern state of Egypt, in 1921. |