https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dean_Corll

Not sure how common it is for serial killers to have accomplices but this guy might have never been known if he wasn't killed by one of his helpers

Harold Shipman - fairly similar to Högel (recentish, and in the medical profession).

A lot of these guys were in the the military, hmm, I wonder why that is?

Some say we have a great defense system, I don't think so, our military acts more like an offense. Does that make some men a little ****ed in the head?


USA#1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_Strangler

Albert DeSalvo, America's first serial killer of the modern era.

13 women killed between June, 1962 and January 1964. Young and old. Not all were strangled, some were sexually assaulted.

The 1968 film The Boston Strangler starred Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo. Henry Fonda co-starred.

If you want interesting, then this case is right up your alley.

Wide range in women. Sexually assaulted a 19-year old and a 75-year old women. Interesting that he escaped jail and turned himself into the authorities.

This might be the sickest one yet. Corll was Gacy'ing before Gacy, all the way down to handcuff tricks and guessing about how many unknown victims this sick **** killed. I can't believe I've never heard of this super disturbing case.

Yea, that is fair. I agree with you.

LOL no. Not even close. Even a dumbass with an average IQ can kill someone and drive the corpse 3 states away and bury it.

Not that easy or there would be no solved murders.

You need to kill a person.

Then you need to get their body into your car which isn't going to be easy and being unseen. Yes, you can prepare it so it doesn't smell. You need to drive hours and hours without being caught in APB.

You then have to arrive at a foreign place and dispose of the body. Making sure the body is never discovered isn't that easy either. All this without being discovered.

I doubt that many people could accomplish this task without being found out. And best of luck if this is your modus operandi as a serial killer.

Albert DeSalvo is considered controversial within the SK scholar community - there's some credible evidence to suggest it wasn't him. He was undoubtedly a serial rapist ("The Measuring Man") but some do think his confession to the murders was false. I've never delved deeply enough into the case details to have a firm opinion either way, and he is the one the record conviction for the Boston Strangler series.

As far as which SK is the most interesting, I do think you have to give strong consideration to Manson. Not because the Manson murders were particularly gruesome within the incredibly high most gruesome thing you can imagine category (and the murders were brutal, the victims subject to multiple assaults and abject terror since most didn't die instantly, but no cannibalism or torture for the sake of torture or trophy collecting so in that sense they were "ordinary"), and certainly not because 7 is a particularly high body count.

He is particularly interesting because Manson himself wasn't even there for the killings - at least, he was not present at the scenes when the killings occurred, although he was outside the LaBianca house and sent in the killers, and he was physically involved in other murders not included in the infamous Manson case. He somehow warped and brainwashed enough people that they were willing to kill in his name, for his weird race war Helter Skelter cause.

There have been plenty of other killers who have done some really ****ed up **** to their victims, and had far more victims, and Manson has some "peers" as it were in war crimes or criminal syndicates, but in traditional serial killer crimes, there was really nothing even close to being like the Manson murders.

I love that there is a SK scholar community.

I don't view Manson as an SK. Directing people? He certainly can't be considered a traditional SK.

I would vote for Bundy. He pretty much had the rare buttons nailed. Multi-state. "Value" citizens. Huge number of killings. And charming enough where a judge wished him well.

Second would be Berkowitz. Terrorized a major city and got people to change their hair and where they would congregate. He taunted the police and media. And he said the orders were coming from a neighbor's dog.

When I was in high school and learned that Manson was still alive it really surprised me. Because none of the other names were. And he's still ****ing alive today, didn't he almost like a year ago?

He is a lot of celebrity death pools.

He keeps on ticking.

Definitely infamous. I just don't move him as a SK. You should have to actually commit the murders vs. directing them or being an accessory. He is definitely guilty. Although you can say his weapon was directing people to do his work.

I know people who currently work with him in prison. Some of my patients spent time with him in prison years ago, as well. Everyone I know who has ever met and interacted with him say he is beyond crazier than people can imagine. He is just in a complete league of his own on the psychopathy scale. And yes, he is in poor health.

Also, he gets bags and bags of "fan mail" everyday. Some letters have very graphic sexual offers to him from both men and women of all ages (sadly, that includes very confused teenagers and tweens). The guy is just so fascinating to so many people on so many levels.

Any examples of recent lunacy?

Yeah, I'd agree Manson can't be considered a traditional SK but I'm not really sure what else to call him. He's kind of his own category.

Gacy also killed a decent number of value citizens - while there were some hustlers and homeless/addict/street kid victims in his pool, a lot were just teens/young men who happened to stumble across his path and had loving, middle class homes, reported missing almost immediately, all that jazz. I've always had a certain "fondness", if you can call it that, for the Gacy case, and it was the one that got me interested in serial killers. My intro to CJ professor assigned Killer Clown as one of our texts for the semester. I finished it in two weeks and was hooked on the genre.

As for Manson being alive, he lucked out, as it were, on the timing of his crimes. He was sentenced to death, but then California's death penalty was ruled unconstitutional and his sentence was commuted. Of course once his sentence was reduced that was it, even after the death penalty was reinstated his death sentence couldn't be reinstated.

The fact someone hasn't killed him in prison just for the notoriety is fairly surprising but at his age/health level he probably isn't out and about much.

The unabomber killed only three people as I recall it. He injured about 20 more.

Killed only three and injured 23. Largest manhunt in history I believe. It just shows how much resources we will spend if you kill high-value people.

New Manson movie.

According to ROTTEN TOMATOES (July 14, 2017):

"In the past, director Quentin Tarantino has mentioned an interest in possibly directing a horror film. This week, we discovered that for his ninth (and potentially penultimate) film, Tarantino is indeed adapting a true story very well suited for the genre. For his first feature film based on a true story, Tarantino will write and direct a film based on the infamous “Manson Family Murders” of actress Sharon Tate and other house guests (and more people the next night)."

Lots of big names up for roles, Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Lawrence.

I don't know if it will be produced or do well. A lot of people will be against anything glorifying these murderers. Plus, there are lawyers for those convicted in jail that are up for parole that will be against this movie being released, especially if it is not factually accurate.

Interesting article about myths about serial killers https://www.scientificamerican.com/a...rsist-excerpt/
Not as many smart, white and male as people seem to think.

If you don't feel like reading it all, they do talk about intelligence towards the end

"The image of the evil genius serial killer is mostly a Hollywood invention. Real serial killers generally do not possess unique or exceptional intellectual skills. The reality is that most serial killers who have had their IQ tested score between borderline and above average intelligence. This is very consistent with the general population. Contrary to mythology, it is not high intelligence that makes serial killers successful. Instead, it is obsession, meticulous planning and a cold-blooded, often psychopathic personality that enable serial killers to operate over long periods of time without detection."

Wow, just yesterday I was thinking we were about due for a Manson movie!

Kaczynski was also a math prodigy.

Was posted earlier, and at least in the later years he didn't kill his victims.

Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer. Proven body count of like 7, though had 1000+ photographs of women who were almost certainly also rape / murder victims. Investigators familiar with his case assume his body count to be well north of 100.

He's the Dating Game Killer because he was a contestant on The Dating Game during the time he was actively hunting women. I'd link a video but suck too bad at the internet on my phone.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodney_Alcala