21st Century Criminals

Rank the Most Wicked 21st Century Criminals

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 
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.

 2 
Richard Ramirez
(Serial Killer)
Richard Ramirez
309
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. 

 3 
Joaquín Guzmán Loera
(Drug lord)
Joaquín Guzmán Loera
99
Birthdate: April 4, 1957
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: La Tuna, Mexico
Height: 5'5" (165 cm)
Recommended Lists:
 4 
Ted Kaczynski
(American Domestic Terrorist)
Ted Kaczynski
88
Birthdate: May 22, 1942
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States

From a brilliant mathematician and an assistant professor at University of California, Theodore Kaczynski became the notorious American criminal—Unabomber—who was responsible for mail bombs that killed three people and injured 23 in eighteen years. He was eventually caught and sentenced to life imprisonment after his anti-technology essay sent to the media was recognised by his brother.

 5 
Edmund Kemper
(Serial Killer)
Edmund Kemper
110
Birthdate: December 18, 1948
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Burbank, California

Edmund Kemper is a serial killer, rapist and a necrophile. He was charged, convicted and sentenced to eight concurrent life sentences in 1973 for murdering ten people, including his paternal grandparents and mother. Most of his victims were female college students and hitchhikers, whom he lured into his vehicle and then killed them. He later decapitated and violated them.

 6 
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.

Recommended Lists:
 7 
Jordan Belfort
(Author of 'The Wolf of Wall Street')
Jordan Belfort
61
Birthdate: July 9, 1962
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: The Bronx, New York, United States
The former stock broker, who was convicted for stock-market manipulation and cheating several investors, Jordan Belfort spent 22 months in prison before he was released and altered his way of living. Using his life experiences, he became a motivational speaker and also authored two memoirs, one of which, The Wolf of Wall Street, was adapted into an award winning film.
 8 
Frank Abagnale
(Impostor, Fraudster)
Frank Abagnale
63
Birthdate: April 27, 1948
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Bronxville, New York, United States

Frank Abagnale’s life story inspired the film Catch Me If You Can. He was a con man, imposter and did check forgery from the age 15 to 21. He assumed the identities of an airline pilot, a physician and a lawyer, among others. He was eventually arrested and after spending few years in prison started working for the federal government.

 9 
Dennis Rader (BTK Killer)
166
Birthdate: March 9, 1945
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Pittsburg, Kansas, United States
Dennis Rader, better known as BTK, an abbreviated form of “blind, torture, kill,” is an American serial killer. He murdered 10 people and then sent letters to the police and the media, explaining his crimes. Following a 10-year hiatus, he began sending letters again, leading to his arrest and conviction.
 10 
David Berkowitz
(Serial Killer)
David Berkowitz
99
Birthdate: June 1, 1953
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

A convicted serial killer, David Berkowitz is believed to have killed six people and wounded seven others. He eluded the police for several months before being captured. He is currently serving six consecutive life sentences in the maximum-security prison, Shawangunk Correctional Facility. He was popularized by the media under the name “Son of Sam.”

 11 
Gary Ridgway
(Serial Killer)
Gary Ridgway
108
Birthdate: February 18, 1949
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Salt Lake City, Utah, United States
Nicknamed “the Green River Killer,” Gary Ridgway is a serial killer convicted of killing 49 women by driving them to remote locations, strangling them, and then disposing of their bodies in the Green River. DNA technology helped the police nab him. He had served in the Vietnam War earlier.
 12 
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.

 13 
Joseph James DeAngelo
(Serial Killer)
Joseph James DeAngelo
89
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.

 14 
Griselda Blanco
(Colombian Drug Lady of the Medellín Cartel)
Griselda Blanco
68
Birthdate: February 15, 1943
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Cartagena, Colombia
Died: September 3, 2012
Griselda Blanco, also known as La Madrina and the Black Widow, was the first billionaire female drug lord. As part of the Medellin Cartel, she smuggled cocaine from Colombia into Miami, New York, and Southern California. She spent 15 years in jail and was shot dead by an unidentified motorcyclist.
 15 
Peter Sutcliffe
(British Serial Killer)
Peter Sutcliffe
85
Birthdate: June 2, 1946
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Bingley, England
Died: November 13, 2020

English serial killer Peter Sutcliffe was dubbed the Yorkshire Ripper as he was likened to the infamous unidentified serial killer, Jack the Ripper, by the press. Convicted of killing 13 women and injuring nine other, Peter Sutcliffe was sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2000, ITV aired a crime drama miniseries based on Peter Sutcliffe's murders titled This Is Personal.

 16 
Henry Hill
(American Mobster Who was Associated with the Lucchese Crime Family)
Henry Hill
45
Birthdate: June 11, 1943
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: June 12, 2012
Henry Hill was a mobster from New York’s Lucchese crime family, who later testified against his former associates. His life inspired the book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family and the film Goodfellas. He was associated with crimes such as gambling, drug trafficking, and high-profile robberies at the JFK Airport.
 17 
Karla Homolka
(Canadian Serial Killer)
Karla Homolka
145
Birthdate: May 4, 1970
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Port Credit, Mississauga, Canada

Karla Homolka raped and killed three minors along with her ex-husband Paul Bernardo. After their arrest, Bernardo was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Homolka served 12 years in prison following a plea bargain. Although she had claimed that she was an unwilling accomplice to the killings, a videotape that surfaced after the plea bargain suggested otherwise, resulting in public outrage.

 18 
George Jung
(American Drug Trafficker and Smuggler)
George Jung
26
Birthdate: August 6, 1942
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA
George Jung, nicknamed Boston George and El Americano, smuggled cocaine into the U.S., as part of the Medellín Cartel, in the 1970s and the 1980s. He served a 20-year prison term for his crimes. He inspired the biopic Blow and contributed to the fictional account of his life story, Heavy
 19 
Richard Wershe Jr.
(FBI Informant, Drug Dealer)
Richard Wershe Jr.
33
Birthdate: July 18, 1969
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Michigan
Richard Wershe Jr. became the youngest FBI informant when he was around 14 to 16 years of age. He had started selling cocaine as a teenager and was arrested at 17. He was sentenced to life but was granted parole later. He inspired the 2018 movie White Boy Rick.
 20 
Carlos Lehder
(Drug Lord)
Carlos Lehder
35
Birthdate: September 7, 1949
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Armenia, Colombia

German-Colombian drug kingpin Carlos Lehder, co-founder of the Medellín Cartel, which smuggled cocaine into the U.S., formed the Muerte a Secuestradores, to fight against the kidnappings of his cartel members. He escaped from the kidnappers but spent a 33-year sentence in the U.S., following which he was released.

 21 
Dennis Nilsen
(Scottish Serial Killer and Necrophile)
Dennis Nilsen
75
Birthdate: November 23, 1945
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Fraserburgh, Scotland
Died: May 12, 2018

Dennis Nilsen was a Scottish necrophile and serial killer who killed at least 12 boys and young men between 1978 and 1983. Also known as the Muswell Hill Murderer, Nilsen committed these crimes in London, England, where he would lure his victims into his house before strangulating them to death. He was convicted in 1983 of six counts of murder.

 22 
Charles Salvador
(British Criminal Who Has Been Referred to in the British Press as the 'Most Violent Prisoner in Britain')
Charles Salvador
25
Birthdate: December 6, 1952
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Luton, Bedfordshire, England

Former bare knuckle boxer Charles Salvador, also known as Charles Bronson, is also a highly infamous criminal, who was once convicted for an armed robbery. Known for his violent temper, he later penned several books, one of them on fitness. He is also a talented painter and poet.

 23 
David Parker Ray
(Serial Rapist, Serial Killer)
David Parker Ray
72
Birthdate: November 6, 1939
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Belen, New Mexico
Died: May 28, 2002
David Parker Ray was said to have killed 60 women from Arizona and New Mexico. He earned the nickname “Toy-Box Killer” for using a sound-proof truck full of items of sexual torture, which he named his “toy box.” Though convicted of kidnapping and torture, he escaped a murder conviction.
 24 
Robert Pickton
(Serial killer)
Robert Pickton
19
Birthdate: October 24, 1949
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Port Coquitlam
Canadian serial killer Robert Pickton was convicted of murdering six women and later charged with the murders of 20 more women, mostly from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The latter charges were stayed. He received a life sentence without parole for 25 years. He wrote a controversial autobiography, too.
 25 
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.

 26 
Larry Hoover
(Criminal)
Larry Hoover
50
Birthdate: November 25, 1950
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Gang leader Larry Hoover, also known as King Larry, established the Chicago street gang known as the Gangster Disciples. He later named the gang Growth and Development and focused on community service. He is currently in prison, serving six life sentences, including one for a murder committed in 1973. 
 27 
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.
 28 
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.

 29 
Pee Wee Kirkland
(Basketball player)
Pee Wee Kirkland
9
Birthdate: May 6, 1945
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Harlem, New York, United States
 30 
Rodney Alcala
(American Serial Killer and Sex Offender)
Rodney Alcala
66
Birthdate: August 23, 1943
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Died: July 24, 2021
Rodney Alcala received a death sentence for five murders in the 1970s, and 25 years for two more murders. Known as “The Dating Game Killer” for his appearance on the show The Dating Game in the middle of the murders, Alcala also collected explicit photos of his victims.
 31 
Warren Jeffs
(Covicted Child Sex offender)
Warren Jeffs
15
Birthdate: December 3, 1955
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States

Wareen Jeffs is the Leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ. He is currently in jail after being convicted of sexual assault on minors. Like his father, Warren Jeffs is also notorious for polygamy and presiding over murky affairs at his church. Born prematurely, he appeared in the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted List in 2006 following allegations of arranging marriages of underage girls.

 32 
Luka Magnotta
(Canadian Former Adult Film Star Who Was Convicted of Murdering Chinese Student Jun Lin)
Luka Magnotta
49
Birthdate: July 24, 1982
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Scarborough, Toronto, Canada

Luka Magnotta is a Canadian convicted murderer and former pornographic film actor. He was arrested for murdering Jun Lin, an international student from Wuhan. The murder was sensationalized by the media as Luka Magnotta mailed the victim's feet and hands to federal political party offices and elementary schools. The murder inspired a three-part documentary series titled Don't F**k with Cats.

 33 
Ross Ulbricht
(Drug Trafficker)
Ross Ulbricht
33
Birthdate: March 27, 1984
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Austin, Texas
Ross Ulbricht, or "Dread Pirate Roberts,” created the dark market site Silk Road, which let people make anonymous drug deals, using bitcoins. He was eventually convicted of a number of crimes, including hacking and money laundering, and was sentenced to a double life imprisonment plus 40 years without parole.
 34 
Tsutomu Miyazaki
(Japanese Serial Killer)
Tsutomu Miyazaki
52
Birthdate: August 21, 1962
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Itsukaichi, Tokyo
Died: June 17, 2008
Japanese serial killer, rapist, and cannibal Tsutomu Miyazaki, better known as the Otaku Murderer or the Little Girl Murderer, kidnapped and killed four girls, from ages 4 to 7, and then dismembered the bodies and indulged in necrophilia. He was convicted in 1997 and hanged to death in 2008.
 35 
Dawood Ibrahim
(Criminal)
Dawood Ibrahim
97
Birthdate: December 27, 1955
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Khed Ratnagiri, Bombay State

A mobster and drug dealer most wanted by India, Dawood Ibrahim heads the organized crime syndicate popularluy known as D-Company. He was named No.3 on The World's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives by the FBI in 2011. He is wanted on the charges of terrorism, murder, targeted killing, extortion, and drug trafficking among other crimes.

 36 
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. 
 37 
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.
 38 
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.

 39 
Wayne Williams
(Serial Killer)
Wayne Williams
34
Birthdate: May 27, 1958
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Wayne Williams is an American serial killer currently serving life imprisonment for the murders of two men in Atlanta, Georgia. Although he is convicted of only two murders, Wayne Williams is suspected to have committed at least 23 of the 30 murders that took place in Atlanta between 1979 and 1981. His chilling story has inspired TV series and films.

 40 
Omar al-Bashir
(Former President of Sudan)
Omar al-Bashir
34
Birthdate: January 1, 1944
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Hosh Bannaga, Sudan

Omar al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician who served as the seventh president of Sudan. A former military officer, he is the founder of the National Congress Party that remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. He was deposed in a coup d'état the same year and subsequently arrested and convicted on multiple corruption charges.

 41 
Joseph Kony
(Ugandan militant)
Joseph Kony
13
Birthdate: September 18, 1961
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Protectorate of Uganda

Ugandan insurgent, Joseph Kony, is the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), a guerrilla group. He is a self-proclaimed spokesperson of God and a spirit medium. Government entities have accused him of abducting children to make them child soldiers and sex slaves. He was indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity in 2005 by the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

 42 
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.

 43 
John A. Gotti
(Gangster)
John A. Gotti
15
Birthdate: February 14, 1964
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: New York, New York, United States
 44 
Carmine Persico
(American Mobster and Boss of the Colombo Crime Family)
Carmine Persico
12
Birthdate: August 8, 1933
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States
Died: March 7, 2019

Gangster and mafia boss Carmine Persico, also known as The Snake, Junior, and Immortal, led the New York-based Colombo crime family for a long time. He had been convicted for a number of crimes, including racketeering and loan-sharking and was serving a 139-year sentence when he died in 2019.

 45 
Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo
41
Birthdate: August 1, 1930
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Badiraguato Municipality

Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo is a convicted Mexican drug lord. He led a now-defunct criminal group called the Guadalajara Cartel alongside Rafael Caro Quintero and Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo. In 1982, the Drug Enforcement Administration indicted him in a money laundering operation, but he fled back to Mexico where he was finally arrested in 1985.

 46 
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.

 47 
Lee Boyd Malvo
(American Serial Killer)
Lee Boyd Malvo
38
Birthdate: February 18, 1985
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Kingston, Jamaica

Lee Boyd Malvo was involved in the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002, which killed 10 people and injured three in the Washington Metropolitan Area. He had befriended his accomplice in the act, John Allen Muhammad, as a juvenile. Malvo is currently serving multiple life sentences at a supermax prison.

 48 
Popcorn Sutton
(American Appalachian Moonshiner and Bootlegger)
Popcorn Sutton
26
Birthdate: October 5, 1946
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Maggie Valley, North Carolina, United States
Died: March 16, 2009

Popcorn Sutton was an American bootlegger and moonshiner whose autobiographical guide to moonshining production made him a popular figure. He also released a home video showcasing his moonshining activities before he was sentenced to prison for offenses related to illegal firearm possession and moonshining. After his death by suicide, a new company and its whiskey brand were named after him.

 49 
Sammy Gravano
(American Mobster Best Known as the Underboss of the 'Gambino Crime Family')
Sammy Gravano
27
Birthdate: March 12, 1945
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, United States
Sammy Gravano, also known as “Sammy the Bull,” was initially part of the Colombo crime family and later the underboss of the Gambino crime family. He became a government witness against John Gotti, the Gambino family boss. He was also involved in the murder of Gambino boss Paul Castellano.
 50 
Alexander Pichushkin
(Serial Killer)
Alexander Pichushkin
16
Birthdate: April 9, 1974
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Mytishchi

Known as the Chessboard Killer, Alexander Pichushkin set out to kill people matching all the 64 squares on his chessboard, and would cross out a square with every kill. Mostly targeting elderly people, he managed to kill about 48 to 60 people and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment.