20th Century Murderers

Rank the Most Wicked 20th Century Murderers

Right IconThis ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.

 1 
Jeffrey Dahmer
(American Serial Killer and Sex Offender)
Jeffrey Dahmer
414
Birthdate: May 21, 1960
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Died: November 28, 1994

One of the most notorious serial killers ever convicted in America, Jeffrey Dahmer terrorized the Milwaukee region in the 1980s. He targeted young men and boys, who he would lure to his house on some pretext before torturing and killing them. Finally arrested and imprisoned in the early 1990s, he was killed by a fellow inmate in 1994.

 2 
Ted Bundy
(Serial Killer)
Ted Bundy
402
Birthdate: November 24, 1946
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Burlington
Died: January 24, 1989

Ted Bundy was an American serial killer who kidnapped, raped and murdered a number of women and girls during the mid and late 1970s. He ultimately confessed to his crimes and was sentenced to death by electric chair. Later, the life of one of the most notorious criminals of the late 20th century inspired a number of books and movies.

 3 
Charles Manson
(Led the Manson Family, a Cult Based in California)
Charles Manson
173
Birthdate: November 12, 1934
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Died: November 19, 2017

Criminal and cult leader Charles Manson was the leader of the notorious Manson Family, a criminal cult that committed a series of murders in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was arrested and imprisoned many times in his life and died in 2017 while serving his life sentence at California State Prison.

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 4 
Zodiac Killer
(Serial killer)
Zodiac Killer
166
Birthplace: United States

Zodiac Killer was an the unidentified American serial killer who spread terror in the northern California from late 1960s to early 1970s. In his letters to police and press, he claimed to have killed 37 people, out of which five were confirmed. Though he was never caught, his case inspired numerous books, films and television series including Clint Eastwood’s classic Dirty Harry.

 5 
John Wayne Gacy
(Serial Killer & Sex Offender)
John Wayne Gacy
281
Birthdate: March 17, 1942
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: May 10, 1994

John Wayne Gacy was a sex offender and a serial killer. He assaulted, raped and murdered at least 33 boys and young men in 1960s and 1970s. He tortured and killed all his victims inside his ranch house near Norridge, a village in Norwood Park. He was given death sentence in March 1980 and was executed in May 1994.

 6 
Richard Ramirez
(Serial Killer)
Richard Ramirez
311
Birthdate: February 29, 1960
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: El Paso, Texas, United States
Died: June 7, 2013

American serial killer, rapist, and burglar, Richard Ramirez terrorised the people of California, primarily Los Angeles, between 1984 and 1985 before being eventually captured by the police. The brutal criminal, also known as Night Stalker, was finally found guilty of 43 charges, including 13 murders and was sentenced to death. While on a death row, he died of cancer. 

 7 
Bonnie Parker
(Bank Robber)
Bonnie Parker
101
Birthdate: October 1, 1910
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Rowena, Texas, United States
Died: May 23, 1934

Best known as part of the legendary criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker was infamous for her bank robberies with her partner Clyde Chestnut Barrow. They apparently murdered several policemen, too. Their crimes were romanticized in many movies including a 1967 film starring Faye Dunaway as Bonnie.

 8 
Ed Gein
(Murderer, Suspected Serial Killer & Body Snatcher)
Ed Gein
123
Birthdate: August 27, 1906
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: La Crosse County, Wisconsin, United States
Died: July 26, 1984

Popularly known as the Butcher of Plainfield, Ed Gein was a murderer and body snatcher. His spine-chilling life insane acts like exhuming corpses and making keepsakes and trophies from their skin and bones, inspired films like The Silence of the Lambs, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and Psycho.

 9 
Christopher Scarver
(Serial Killer)
Christopher Scarver
157
Birthdate: July 6, 1969
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Christopher Scarver is a convicted murderer whose physical assault on Jesse Anderson and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer at the Columbia Correctional Institution resulted in the death of both Anderson and Dahmer. Already sentenced to life for killing a man named Steve Lohman, Christopher Scarver received two more life sentences for killing Anderson and Dahmer.

 10 
Ronald Kray
(Gangster Involved in Organised Crime in the East End of London, England, from the late 1950s to 1967)
Ronald Kray
52
Birthdate: October 24, 1933
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Haggerston, London, England
Died: March 17, 1995

Ronald Kray was a British criminal involved in organized crime in the East End of London in the 1950s and 1960s. Along with his twin brother, Reggie, he ran a gang that was notorious for committing murders, armed robberies, and arson among other criminal activities. The brothers were arrested in 1968 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

 11 
Whitey Bulger
(Crime Boss)
Whitey Bulger
26
Birthdate: September 3, 1929
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Died: October 30, 2018

Whitey Bulger was an Irish-American FBI informant and organized crime boss. His arrest and subsequent trial exposed FBI handler John Connolly who had helped Bulger in return for the latter's information about the Patriarca crime family. Bulger's life and work inspired the 2015 film Black Mass. Many fictional TV and film characters have also been inspired by Whitey Bulger.

 12 
Lee Harvey Oswald
(U.S. Marine Veteran Who Assassinated John F. Kennedy)
Lee Harvey Oswald
61
Birthdate: October 18, 1939
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died: November 24, 1963

Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested for killing Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit. Further investigation suggested that he had murdered US President John F. Kennedy about 45 minutes before murdering Tippit. Though he denied the accusations, he was charged with the murder of Kennedy. While in police custody, Oswald was shot dead by Jack Ruby, a nightclub owner.

 13 
John Gotti
(American Gangster and Boss of the 'Gambino Crime Family')
John Gotti
53
Birthdate: October 27, 1940
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bronx, New York, United States
Died: June 10, 2002

John Gotti was the boss of the Gambino crime family, described as America's most powerful crime syndicate. It made millions per year from criminal activities like racketeering, loan sharking, drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion, pornography and illegal gambling. The FBI convicted him in 1992 and he was sentenced to life in prison without parole and later died of throat cancer.

 14 
Joseph James DeAngelo
(Serial Killer)
Joseph James DeAngelo
90
Birthdate: November 8, 1945
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bath, New York, United States

Joseph James DeAngelo is an American serial killer, rapist and burglar who carried out his crimes for many years in 1970s and 1980s and was finally captured by the police in 2018. The former police officer and auto mechanic, who was known by various names like Golden State Killer and Visalia Ransacker, was sentenced to life in prison in 2020.

 15 
Jack Ruby
(American Nightclub Owner Who Murdered Lee Harvey Oswald)
Jack Ruby
28
Birthdate: April 25, 1911
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: January 3, 1967

Jack Ruby was a Dallas nightclub owner who shot Lee Harvey Oswald, the alleged assassin of the 35th US President, John F Kennedy. Jack Ruby was charged with first-degree murder. He died of cancer in January 1967 in a hospital just after The Texas Court of Appeals had reversed his death sentence and was slated to grant him a new trial.

 16 
Scott Peterson
(Murderer)
Scott Peterson
37
Birthdate: October 24, 1972
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: San Diego, California

Former salesman, Scott Peterson, is a convicted murderer who is imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison. Peterson was convicted for the murder of his seven months pregnant wife, Lacy, and unborn son, Connor. Though Lacy’s family initially thought him to be innocent, evidence gathered later proved otherwise. The case attracted tremendous media attention and even inspired numerous movies and documentaries.

 17 
John List
(American Mass Murderer)
John List
20
Birthdate: September 17, 1925
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Bay City, Michigan, United States
Died: March 21, 2008
John List murdered his mother, wife, and three children at their house in New Jersey in 1971. He then relocated to Denver, as Bob Clark, became an accountant, remarried, and even joined a Lutheran congregation. He was arrested and convicted through an America's Most Wanted episode, after 18 years.
 18 
James Burke
(Mobster)
James Burke
13
Birthdate: July 5, 1931
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: April 13, 1996
 19 
Mary Bell
(Murder Convict)
Mary Bell
31
Birthdate: May 26, 1957
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England
Mary Bell was convicted of strangling 4-year-old Martin Brown and 3-year-old Brian Howe in 1968, when she was just 11. She committed the second crime with a 13-year-old friend named Norma Joyce Bell. After she was released in 1980, after 12 years, she took up various pseudonyms.
 20 
Patricia Krenwinkel
(American Convicted Murderer and Member of the Manson Family)
Patricia Krenwinkel
20
Birthdate: December 3, 1947
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, United States

A former member of the notorious Charles Manson's "Family," Patricia Krenwinkel is a criminal who has participated in multiple murders. She was part of the gang that murdered actress Sharon Tate, who was pregnant at the time of her death. Krenwinkel has been denied parole fourteen times and is currently incarcerated at the California Institution for Women.

 21 
Richard Kuklinski
(Criminal and Convicted Murderer)
Richard Kuklinski
45
Birthdate: April 11, 1935
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Jersey City, New Jersey, United States
Died: March 5, 2006
Richard Kuklinski, known as The Iceman, was a contract killer who worked for various mafia families. He earned his nickname after he froze the body of a victim. He received a life sentence for killing two gang members and two associates and later received 30 more years for another murder.
 22 
James Earl Ray
(Assassin)
James Earl Ray
43
Birthdate: March 10, 1928
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Alton, Illinois, United States
Died: April 23, 1998

James Earl Ray was charged with assassinating Martin Luther King, Jr. in Memphis on April 4, 1968 and was convicted and sentenced to 99 years in prison in 1969. He served 29 years of his sentence before he died at the age of 70 from problems related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C.

 23 
Richard Speck
(Murderer)
Richard Speck
21
Birthdate: December 6, 1941
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Kirkwood, Illinois, United States
Died: December 5, 1991
Richard Speck sent shockwaves across Chicago when he killed eight student nurses in the Jeffery Manor neighborhood, in 1966. He strangled or stabbed all his victims, also raping one, while a ninth lady escaped by hiding. Speck was sentenced to death, but his sentence was later commuted to 400-1200 years. 
 24 
Diane Downs
(American Criminal Who Murdererd Her Daughter and Attempted to Murder Her Other Two Children)
Diane Downs
24
Birthdate: August 7, 1955
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Diane Downs killed her own daughter in 1983. She also tried killing her other children and then made up a story about how a man had tried carjacking her and had shot her children. She was sentenced to life plus 50 years but is eligible for parole at age 65. 
 25 
Darlie Routier
(Murderer)
Darlie Routier
33
Birthdate: January 4, 1970
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Altoona, Pennsylvania, United States
Darlie Routier was convicted of stabbing her 5-year-old son Damon to death in 1996 and sentenced to death by lethal injection. She was also charged with killing her other son, 6-year-old Devon, but not tried for it. Following multiple appeals by her, fresh DNA tests were ordered and are pending.
 26 
Vincent Gigante
(Mobster)
Vincent Gigante
16
Birthdate: March 29, 1928
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
Died: December 19, 2005
Height: 6'0" (183 cm)
 27 
Susan Smith
(Murderer)
Susan Smith
44
Birthdate: September 26, 1971
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Union, South Carolina

Susan Smith is an American murderer who was convicted for murdering her children, Michael and Alexander, who were three-year-old and 14-month-old respectively. She falsely claimed that her kids were kidnapped by a black man before being adjudged guilty of the crime. Sentenced to life in prison, Smith is currently incarcerated at the Leath Correctional Institution in South Carolina.

 28 
Albert Anastasia
(One of the Founders of the Modern American Mafia and Co-founder of 'Murder, Inc' Crime Group)
Albert Anastasia
14
Birthdate: February 26, 1902
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Parghelia, Italy
Died: October 25, 1957
Italian-American mobster Umberto "Albert" Anastasia, or Anastasio, co-founded the American Mafia and later co-established Murder, Inc. Nicknamed The One-Man Army, he later became the boss of the Gambino crime family and also began controlling the New York waterfront. He was killed on the orders of Carlo Gambino and Vito Genovese.
 29 
Stanley Williams
(Criminal)
Stanley Williams
22
Birthdate: December 29, 1953
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Shreveport, Louisiana, United States
Died: December 13, 2005
 30 
Issei Sagawa
(Japanese Murderer, Cannibal and Necrophile)
Issei Sagawa
24
Birthdate: April 26, 1949
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Kobe, Hyogo, Japan

Issei Sagawa is a Japanese murderer, necrophile, and cannibal. He garnered international attention when he murdered, mutilated, cannibalized, and raped Renée Hartevelt's corpse for several days in Paris in 1981. Although he was arrested, Sagawa was released two years later after being found legally insane. Issei Sagawa has been the subject of many documentary films.

 31 
Derek Bentley
(Epileptic British Man Convicted and Hanged for the Murder of a Policeman, at the Age of 19)
Derek Bentley
6
Birthdate: June 30, 1933
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Southwark, London, England
Died: January 28, 1953

Derek Bentley was 19 when he was hanged for murdering a policeman during a burglary attempt. An illiterate, he had the mental age of 11 and also suffered from epilepsy. The controversial case led to a 45-long battle for a posthumous pardon, which was granted, and then a reversal of the murder charge.

 32 
Robert Maudsley
(Serial Killer)
Robert Maudsley
22
Birthdate: June 26, 1953
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Toxteth, Liverpool

Robert Maudsley is an English serial killer currently serving life imprisonment at Wakefield Prison, England. He committed three of his four murders in prison, forcing the authorities to keep him in solitary confinement. Maudsley's case was sensationalized as it was claimed that he had eaten part of the brain of one of his victims, although the PCC refuted such claims.

 33 
Richard Loeb
(Murderer)
Richard Loeb
3
Birthdate: 1905 AD
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: 1936 AD
 34 
Robert Stroud
(US Convicted Killer Who Became an Ornithologist and an Author in Prison)
Robert Stroud
5
Birthdate: January 28, 1890
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Seattle, Washington, United States
Died: November 21, 1963

Better known as the Birdman of Alcatraz, US convicted killer Robert Stroud was also an ornithologist and an author. Starting his career as a pimp in his teens, he killed a man. While in prison for manslaughter, he killed a guard. He spent most of his later life in solitary confinement and studied birds.

 35 
Susan Atkins
(American Murderer and Member of Charles Manson's Crime Family)
Susan Atkins
46
Birthdate: May 7, 1948
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: San Gabriel, California, United States
Died: September 24, 2009

Susan Atkins was an American murderer who was convicted for participating in eight killings, including the infamous Tate murders, carried out by members of the Manson Family. Sentenced to life imprisonment, Atkins was the longest-serving female inmate in California history at the time of her death. 

 36 
Ruth Ellis
(The Last Woman to be Hanged in the UK)
Ruth Ellis
18
Birthdate: October 9, 1926
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Rhyl, Denbighshire, Wales
Died: July 13, 1955

Ruth Ellis began her career as a nightclub hostess as a teen and was also a nude model for a while. She later also worked as an escort. She became the last woman in the UK tot be hanged after she shot and killed her lover, race-car driver and affluent socialite David Blakely.

 37 
Leonard Peltier
(Activist)
Leonard Peltier
7
Birthdate: September 12, 1944
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Anishinabe (Chippewa) Turtle Mountain Reservation, North Dakota, USA
 38 
Nathan Leopold
(Murderer)
Nathan Leopold
7
Birthdate: November 19, 1904
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died: August 29, 1971
 39 
John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
(English Peer Accused of Murdering the Nanny of His Children)
John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
8
Birthdate: December 18, 1934
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Marylebone, London, England
Died: November 8, 1974

John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan was an English peer who disappeared on 8 November 1974 after being suspected of murder. Lucan's personal problems, gambling losses, and mounting legal expenses had a dramatic effect on his life. In 1974, the nanny of Lucan's children, Sandra Rivett, was bludgeoned to death and Lucan went missing, never to be seen again.

 40 
Tommy Lynn Sells
(Serial Killer)
Tommy Lynn Sells
16
Birthdate: June 28, 1964
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Oakland, California, United States
Died: April 3, 2014
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 41 
Cleveland Torso Murderer
(Serial Killer)
Cleveland Torso Murderer
10
Birthplace: United States
 42 
Richard Cottingham
(Serial killer)
Richard Cottingham
16
Birthdate: November 25, 1946
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: The Bronx, USA
 43 
William Heirens
(Serial Killer)
William Heirens
10
Birthdate: November 15, 1928
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Evanston, Illinois
Died: March 5, 2012
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 44 
Armin Meiwes
(German Convicted Murderer)
Armin Meiwes
16
Birthdate: December 1, 1961
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Essen, Germany
Armin Meiwes, also known as "The Master Butcher," was a computer repair man who killed and ate engineer Jürgen Armando Brandes, who had voluntarily offered himself to be eaten, in response to an advertisement on an online cannibalism-oriented forum. Armin is now serving a life sentence for murder.
 45 
Karla Faye Tucker
(American Convicted Murderer)
Karla Faye Tucker
12
Birthdate: November 18, 1959
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Houston, Texas, United States
Died: February 3, 1998

Karla Faye Tucker was a convicted criminal who killed two people with a pickaxe during a burglary. She committed the crime with a few accomplices in 1983. She was convicted of murder the following year and sentenced to death. She was executed by lethal injection in 1998. She was the first woman to be executed in US since1984. 

 46 
Leslie Grantham
(Best Known for His Role of 'Dirty Den Watts' from the BBC Soap Opera 'EastEnders')
Leslie Grantham
5
Birthdate: April 30, 1947
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Camberwell, London, England
Died: June 15, 2018

Best known as the villain Dirty Den from the BBC soap EastEnders, Leslie Grantham initially worked as a soldier with the Royal Fusiliers of the British Army. Convicted of the murder of a cab driver in Germany, he spent a decade in prison. He later attempted suicide as aftermath of a sex scandal.

 47 
Martha Beck
(Serial Killer)
Martha Beck
17
Birthdate: May 6, 1920
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Milton, Florida, United States
Died: March 8, 1951
 48 
Randall Woodfield
(Serial killer)
Randall Woodfield
16
Birthdate: December 26, 1950
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Salem, Oregon, United States

Randall Woodfield is a serial killer and rapist linked to a total of 18 murders and is suspected of having killed up to 44 victims. He was dubbed the I-5 Killer or the I-5 Bandit by the media. He began committing sexual assaults and robberies in 1975 and started murdering people in 1980. He was finally arrested in March 1981.  

 49 
Joseph Massino
(Criminal)
Joseph Massino
6
Birthdate: January 10, 1943
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: New York City, USA
 50 
Joey Merlino
(Crime boss)
Joey Merlino
4
Birthdate: March 16, 1962
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States