Who was the first serial killer in America?
H.H. Holmes, America's first serial killer | The Indianapolis Public Library | BiblioCommons.
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 photos: Serial killer executed for deaths of 6 men, inspired 'Monster' film. Aileen Wuornos, born Feb. 29, 1956, was sentenced from Volusia County on Jan.
- Jack the Ripper. We call him “Jack the Ripper,” but we don't really know who the person behind one of the older and most notorious murder sprees was. ...
- Jeffrey Dahmer. ...
- Harold Shipman. ...
- John Wayne Gacy. ...
- H.H. Holmes. ...
- Pedro Lopez. ...
- Ted Bundy.
Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was executed in Florida in 1989 and was linked to a string of murders of young women in several states during the 1970s. He confessed to 35 murders before his execution. He would often win over women with his good looks before attacking them.
But both Hitler and Stalin were outdone by Mao Zedong. From 1958 to 1962, his Great Leap Forward policy led to the deaths of up to 45 million people—easily making it the biggest episode of mass murder ever recorded.
Before the BTK Killer, before Ted Bundy and the Boston Strangler and in the wake of London's Jack the Ripper, the man popularly known as “America's First Serial Killer,” H. H. Holmes, committed his most atrocious crimes.
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.
# | State | Serial Killers |
---|---|---|
1 | New York | 18 |
2 | California | 15 |
3 | Texas | 8 |
4 | Illinois | 7 |
- Aileen Wuornos (aka "That chick from Monster), 1956-2002. Crime: Found guilty of killing six men between the years of 1989-1990. ...
- Genene Jones, 1950-Present. ...
- Griselda Blanco, 1943-2012. ...
- Delphine LaLaurie, 1775-1842. ...
- Nannie Doss, 1905-1965. ...
- Andrea Yates, 1964-Present.
Who is the scariest serial killer of all time?
- Ted Bundy. Ted Bundy was an American serial killer and rapist who was active in the 1970s. ...
- Jeffery Dahmer. ...
- John Wayne Gacy. ...
- Ed Gein. ...
- Andrei Chikatilo.
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.

Ted Bundy: America's Most Evil Serial Killer (True Crime Casefiles)
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. From 1976 to 1977, Berkowitz murdered six people and wounded 11.
- 20 Countries with the Most Documented Serial Killers:* United States — 3,204. ...
- United States — 3,204. When it comes to the sheer volume of serial killers, the United States leads by a vast margin. ...
- England — 166. ...
- South Africa — 117. ...
- Canada — 106. ...
- Italy — 97. ...
- Japan — 96.
The American Civil War is the conflict with the largest number of American military fatalities in history. In fact, the Civil War's death toll is comparable to all other major wars combined, the deadliest of which were the World Wars, which have a combined death toll of more than 520,000 American fatalities.
Over a period of three years, John Wayne Gacy, Jr. sexually tortured and murdered 33 boys.
His true victim total is unknown and likely significantly higher. Burlington, Vermont, U.S. Florida State Prison, Raiford, Florida, U.S. Bundy was often regarded as charismatic and handsome, traits he exploited to win the trust of both his victims and society as a whole.
...
Top murderer names in the United States:
- Alan.
- Harold.
- Russell.
- Daniel.
- Justin.
One of the most iconic fictional serial killers is Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film Psycho, who, to this day, remains the best Hitchcock villain. The interpretation of the character in Bates Motel is an interesting angle that shows his early life with his mother, running a motel together.
How old is the youngest killer?
Craig Price
Price was just 13 years old when he committed the first of the murders, and he was eventually sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. According to news reports, Price murdered his victims with a knife or other sharp instrument, and showed no remorse for his actions.
- Evan Peters in Monster: The Jeffery Dahmer Story. Jeffrey Dahmer has been one of the most widely documented serial killers in history. ...
- Michael Shannon in The Iceman. Michael Shannon is a terrific actor full stop. ...
- Michael Rooker in Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
1. Alaska. The most dangerous state in the USA is Alaska, as it has the highest combined violent and property crime rate out of any state. Out of a population of 736,081, Alaska's crime rate was 32.14 per 1,000 people in 2022, making it the state with the highest crime rate.
Most Dangerous States In America
The most dangerous state in America is California with 3,498 homicides. Coming in the second position is Texas with 2,993 homicides. The third most dangerous state in the US. is Florida with 2,087 homicides. Ranking fourth in the country is North Carolina with 1,192 homicides.
There has been around 60 notorious female serial killers in United States history.
Name | Date of birth | Date of killing(s) |
---|---|---|
Carl Newton Mahan | September 22, 1922 | May 18, 1929 |
Dedrick Owens | 1993 | February 29, 2000 |
Lizzie Cook | 1892–1893 | February 27, 1899 |
Unnamed boy | ? | June 2, 1910 |
...
Lavinia Fisher | |
---|---|
Conviction(s) | Highway robbery |
Criminal penalty | Death |
Details | |
Country | United States |
Some murderers, such as Albert Fish, Boone Helm, Andrei Chikatilo, and Jeffrey Dahmer, are known to have devoured their victims after killing them.
- #6 PENNYWISE THE CLOWN (It, 1990) ...
- #5 CANDYMAN (Candyman, 1992) ...
- #4 PINHEAD (Hellraiser, 1997) ...
- #3 FREDDY KREUGER (A Nightmare on Elm Street, 1984) ...
- #2 MICHAEL MYERS (Halloween, 1978) ...
- #1 JASON VOORHEES (Friday the 13th: Part 2, 1981)
What type of serial killer is hardest to catch?
The Organized Killer
This type of serial killer is the most difficult to identify and capture. They are usually highly intelligent and well organized to the point of being meticulous.
The infamous California serial killer has still not been found. Decades later, the Zodiac killer remains a fixture in American true-crime culture. Seldom has a cold case been kept so "warm" by public interest.
...
Donald Henry Gaskins | |
---|---|
Criminal penalty | Death (1976 and 1983) |
Details | |
Victims | 15 confirmed (110 claimed) |
Span of crimes | 1953–1982 |
Jesse Pomeroy | |
---|---|
Born | November 29, 1859 Charlestown, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Died | September 29, 1932 (aged 72) Bridgewater State Hospital, Bridgewater, Massachusetts, U.S. |
Other names | The Boston Boy Fiend The Boy Torturer The Demon The Red Devil |
Criminal status | Deceased |
On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Bell strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in an upstairs bedroom of a derelict house located at 85 St. Margaret's Road. She is believed to have committed this crime alone.
- 1 Genocide. Purposeful killing of a certain ethnic group because of stereotypes is ridiculous, cruel, and by far one of the most stupid things humans have done. ...
- 2 Murder. There are so many ways you can murder. ...
- 3 Torture. ...
- 4 Terrorism. ...
- 5 Rape. ...
- 6 Animal Cruelty. ...
- 7 Slavery. ...
- 8 Human Trafficking.
A serial killer is conventionally defined as a person who murders three or more people in a period of over a month, with a “cooling down” time between murders.
Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 – August 8, 1973) was an American serial killer and sex offender who abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered a minimum of twenty-eight teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston and Pasadena, Texas.
The World Population Review's latest report has placed Venezuela in the first place with the highest crime rates recorded in 2023, followed by Papa New Guinea, South Africa, Afghanistan and Honduras.
At any one time, it's believed that there are around 25-50 active serial killers lurking in the dark corners of the USA, stalking the streets and highways for their next potential victim.
When was the first serial killer?
The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper, who has been called the first modern serial killer, killed at least five women, and possibly more, in London in 1888. He was the subject of a massive manhunt and investigation by the Metropolitan Police, during which many modern criminal investigation techniques were pioneered.
Four types of serial murderers are identified: the 'visionary,' the 'mission-oriented,' 'hedonistic,' and 'power/control-oriented.
# | State | Serial Killers |
---|---|---|
1 | New York | 18 |
2 | California | 15 |
3 | Texas | 8 |
4 | Illinois | 7 |
Samuel Little was born as Samuel McDowell on June 7, 1940, in Reynolds, Georgia. Little claimed that his mother, Bessie Mae Little, was a teenage prostitute who had abandoned him; authorities believe that she might have given birth to him while she was in jail.
Name | Date of birth | Date of killing(s) |
---|---|---|
Carl Newton Mahan | September 22, 1922 | May 18, 1929 |
Dedrick Owens | 1993 | February 29, 2000 |
Lizzie Cook | 1892–1893 | February 27, 1899 |
Unnamed boy | ? | June 2, 1910 |
Serial killers differ in many ways, including their motivations for killing and their behavior at the crime scene. However, attendees did identify certain traits common to some serial murderers, including sensation seeking, a lack of remorse or guilt, impulsivity, the need for control, and predatory behavior.
Up until the 1970s in the U.S., serial killers were generally called mass murderers by both the criminal justice system and the media.
- Joe "Deke" Deacon — 'The Little Things' (2021) ...
- Naia Thulin — 'The Chestnut Man' (2021-) ...
- Dale Cooper — 'Twin Peaks' (1990-1991, 2017) ...
- Robert Graysmith — 'Zodiac' (2007) ...
- Lincoln Rhyme — 'The Bone Collector' (1989)
Some of the earliest functional neuroimaging studies that examined homicide offenders concluded that murderers were characterized by reduced activity in brain areas including lateral and medial prefrontal cortex (Raine, Buchsbaum, & LaCasse, 1997; Raine et al., 1994; Raine et al., 1998), as well as medial temporal ...
As a psychoanalyst, Stone's specialty is personality disorders so it is not surprising that most of the mass murderers in his study were diagnosed with antisocial, psychopathic, narcissistic or paranoid personality disorder.
What is the least common type of serial killer?
3 Place-Specific Killers Killers who rather than hunting their victims, repeatedly kill in the same environment, i.e. place of work or at home. Visionary Type of offenders is the least common of the serial killers.
References
- https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/serial-murder
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- https://news.abplive.com/crime/amarjeet-sada-worlds-youngest-serial-killer-bihar-murder-most-shocking-crime-1597311
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Bundy
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- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Henry_Gaskins
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_serial_killers_by_number_of_victims
- https://studyfinds.org/scariest-serial-killers/
- https://www.nhmagazine.com/peering-into-the-darkness-the-first-serial-killer/
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell
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