Male Serial Killers

Rank the Most Wicked Male Serial Killers

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
412
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 
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.

 4 
John Wayne Gacy
(Serial Killer & Sex Offender)
John Wayne Gacy
280
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.

 5 
Richard Ramirez
(Serial Killer)
Richard Ramirez
310
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. 

 6 
Jack the Ripper
(Unidentified Serial Killer Active in the East End of London in 1888)
Jack the Ripper
105
Birthplace: England

Jack the Ripper was anl unidentified serial killer who predominantly targeted female prostitutes living and working in the ghetto of the East End of London. Since the murders were never solved, Jack the Ripper became infamous folklore in England. The murders were so cleverly done that the authorities were not even able to ascertain the killer's gender.

 7 
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.

 8 
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.

 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 
H. H. Holmes
(American Serial Killer and Con Artist)
H. H. Holmes
85
Birthdate: May 16, 1861
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Gilmanton, New Hampshire, United States
Died: May 7, 1896
American serial killer H.H. Holmes was sentenced to death for the murder of his accomplice Benjamin Pitezel but confessed to 27 murders and might have killed almost 200 people. He had set up a hotel, later known as the Murder Castle, specifically for this purpose. He inspired a bestselling book.
 11 
Dennis Rader (BTK Killer)
167
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.
 12 
Billy the Kid
87
Birthdate: November 17, 1859
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Manhattan
Died: July 14, 1881

Billy the Kid was a gunfighter of the American Old West whose notoriety grew when he escaped from jail after killing two sheriff's deputies. He remains one of the most notorious personalities of the American Old West, whose life has been often dramatized in popular culture. His story has inspired over 50 films, including Billy the Kid, and The Outlaw.

 13 
David Berkowitz
(Serial Killer)
David Berkowitz
100
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.”

 14 
Gary Ridgway
(Serial Killer)
Gary Ridgway
109
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.
 15 
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.

 16 
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.

 17 
Harold Shipman
(Serial Killer)
Harold Shipman
121
Birthdate: January 14, 1946
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Nottingham
Died: January 13, 2004

One of history’s most infamous serial killers, Harold Shipman was a British GP who is believed to have killed over 200 patients before being nabbed by the police. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment for 15 murders but later committed suicide in prison. The case led to grave concerns about powers and the responsibilities of the Britain’s medical community.

 18 
Albert Fish
(Serial Killer)
Albert Fish
74
Birthdate: May 19, 1870
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., United States
Died: January 16, 1936

Albert Fish was an American cannibal, child rapist, and serial killer. Fish confessed to three murders out of the five murders for which he was suspected. However, he claimed to have victimized about 100 people and boasted of having children in every state. His crimes and the subsequent execution by electric chair were dramatized in the film The Gray Man.

 19 
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.

 20 
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.
 21 
Dean Corll
(American Serial Killer and Pederast)
Dean Corll
59
Birthdate: December 24, 1939
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States
Died: August 8, 1973
Dean Corll, also known as the “Candy Man” and the “Pied Piper,” was a serial killer who, along with accomplices David Brooks and Elmer Henley, was responsible for the grisly Houston Mass Murders. The group kidnapped, assaulted, and strangulated or shot at least 28 young men and boys. 
 22 
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.
 23 
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.
 24 
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.
 25 
Andrei Chikatilo
(Soviet Serial Killer)
Andrei Chikatilo
42
Birthdate: October 16, 1936
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Yabluchne, Ukraine
Died: February 14, 1994
Andrei Chikatilo, known as the “Butcher of Rostov” and the “Rostov Ripper,” was a Russian serial killer who confessed to killing 56 people, from the 1970s to the 1990s, and was sentenced to death for 52. He also sexually assaulted his victims, who were all either women or children.
 26 
Fred West
(Serial Killer)
Fred West
78
Birthdate: September 29, 1941
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Much Marcle, United Kingdom
Died: January 1, 1995

Fred West was a serial killer who derived pleasure from acts, such as voyeurism, sexual assaults, murder, and various sexual fetishes that pushed his victims beyond their sexual limits. He committed murders and sexual assaults along with his wife Rose, who worked as a prostitute at their residence. Fred committed suicide at HM Prison Birmingham in 1995.

 27 
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.

 28 
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.

 29 
Gilles de Rais
(15th Century French Serial Killer of Children)
Gilles de Rais
20
Birthdate: 1404 AD
Birthplace: Champtocé-sur-Loire, France
Died: October 26, 1440

Gilles de Rais was a French lord and knight who served as a leader in the French army. Rais' achievements as a military man are often overshadowed by the fact that he was convicted of killing several children. A confessed serial killer, Gilles de Rais was sentenced to death and hanged on 26 October 1440.

 30 
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.

 31 
Nannie Doss
(Serial Killer)
Nannie Doss
26
Birthdate: November 4, 1905
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Blue Mountain, Anniston, Alabama
Died: June 2, 1965
 32 
Marc Dutroux
(Belgian Serial Killer)
Marc Dutroux
15
Birthdate: November 6, 1956
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Ixelles, Belgium
In 2004, the notorious Belgian serial killer Marc Dutroux was convicted on charges of murder, kidnapping and rape and was sentenced to life imprisonment. Earlier, his case aroused widespread public outrage at the inefficiency and corruption of the Belgium’s law enforcement agency and led to the White March which was one of the largest demonstrations in Europe since WWII. 
 33 
Tommy Lynn Sells
(Serial Killer)
Tommy Lynn Sells
15
Birthdate: June 28, 1964
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Oakland, California, United States
Died: April 3, 2014
Height: 5'9" (175 cm)
 34 
Cleveland Torso Murderer
(Serial Killer)
Cleveland Torso Murderer
10
Birthplace: United States
 35 
Robert Hansen
(American Serial Killer)
Robert Hansen
68
Birthdate: February 15, 1939
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Estherville, Iowa, United States
Died: August 21, 2014

One of America’s most notorious serial killers, Robert Hansen was called ‘The Butcher Baker’ as he owned a bakery. He is said to have killed seventeen women and raped many others in and around Anchorage, Alaska, during the 1970s and 1980s. Most of his victims were strippers and sex workers. He was sentenced to 461 years in prison in 1984.

 36 
Richard Cottingham
(Serial killer)
Richard Cottingham
16
Birthdate: November 25, 1946
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: The Bronx, USA
 37 
Moses Sithole
(South African Serial Killer and Rapist)
Moses Sithole
15
Birthdate: November 17, 1964
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Vosloorus, South Africa

Moses Sithole is a South African rapist and serial killer who killed at least 38 people between 1994 and 1995. Nicknamed the ABC Killer, as he started murdering women in Atteridgeville before continuing his killing spree in Boksburg and then in Cleveland, Sithole was imprisoned in 1997 and is currently incarcerated in Bloemfontein at the Mangaung Correctional Centre.

 38 
Marcel Petiot
(French Medical Doctor and Serial Killer Who Was Convicted of Multiple Murders)
Marcel Petiot
15
Birthdate: January 17, 1897
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Auxerre, France
Died: May 25, 1946

While he was diagnosed with mental illness as a child, French physician Marcel Petiot or Doctor Satan, allegedly killed almost 60 people later. He targeted Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied France, injected them with poison, stole their belongings, and hid their bodies in his basement. He was guillotined for his crimes.

 39 
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)
 40 
Axeman of New Orleans
(Serial Killer)
Axeman of New Orleans
7
Birthplace: United States
 41 
Phantom Killer
(Serial Killer)
Phantom Killer
18
Birthplace: United States
 42 
Robert Ben Rhoades
(Serial killer)
Robert Ben Rhoades
14
Birthdate: November 22, 1945
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Council Bluffs, Iowa
 43 
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.  

 44 
Gary M. Heidnik
(Serial killer)
Gary M. Heidnik
11
Birthdate: November 22, 1943
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Eastlake, Ohio, United States
Died: July 6, 1999
 45 
Cary Stayner
(Serial Killer)
Cary Stayner
32
Birthdate: August 13, 1961
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Merced, California

Cary Stayner is a serial killer convicted of the murders of four women in 1999. He had a troubled childhood. His brother Steven was a kidnap victim, and Cary himself was allegedly molested as a young boy. As a young man, he became involved with drugs and entered the world of crime. He is currently on death row.

 46 
Leonard Lake
(Former Serial Killer whose conviction estimated eleven to twenty-five victims at a remote cabin near Wilseyville, California)
Leonard Lake
10
Birthdate: October 29, 1945
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: San Francisco, California, United States
Died: June 6, 1985
 47 
Carroll Cole
(Serial killer)
Carroll Cole
5
Birthdate: May 9, 1938
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Sioux City, Iowa, United States
Died: December 6, 1985
 48 
John George Haigh
(English Serial Killer Nicknamed 'The Acid Bath Murderer')
John George Haigh
14
Birthdate: July 24, 1909
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Stamford, Lincolnshire, England
Died: August 10, 1949

Known as the Acid Bath Murderer, John George Haigh was Known for shooting or beating his victims to death and then dissolving them in sulphuric acid. To his friends, he seemed to be a wealthy man of culture. Though he initially got away with 5 murders, he was caught after his 6th murder.

 49 
Ahmad Suradji
(Serial Killer)
Ahmad Suradji
24
Birthdate: January 10, 1949
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Medan
Died: July 10, 2008

Ahmad Suradji’s dead father apparently asked him to collect the saliva of 70 women to gain invincibility, in a dream. This made him kill 42 girls and women, and then bury their bodies in a sugarcane plantation. The Indonesian serial killer was eventually convicted and executed by a firing squad.

 50 
Harvey Glatman
(Serial Killer)
Harvey Glatman
8
Birthdate: December 10, 1927
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: The Bronx, New York City, New York
Died: September 18, 1959