Serial killers are defined as people who kill at least two people in a series of incidents over a period of time. The media and the general public have frequently picked up on serial killers' acts, especially when there are several victims or the murders are carried out in a cruel or inhumane way.

Despite the alarming rate of crimes committed by such individuals, there are some individuals who have seized the spotlight for their horrific violations of human rights. We take a look at some of the most renowned serial killers in the world in the following list.

The Zodiac Killer

Among the four cryptographic protocols he provided to the Bay Area Press, only one was able to be decoded as a result of the Zodiac Killer's threatening message. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the assassin operated in California.

His first murder was committed in 1966 in Riverside, California, when he stabbed an 18-year-old student to death. In one of his letters, he stated: "Me-37 and SFPD-0" He claimed to have killed 37 people, but only seven were confirmed to be dead. The incident inspired the iconic 1971 action movie Dirty Harry and the highly acclaimed 2007 thriller Zodiac. As of 2022, the case is still open.

Donald Henry Gaskins

Pee Wee Gaskins was arguably one of South Carolina's most famous serial killers in the late 1970s. In spite of this, he was not portrayed as a cold-hearted murderer. 80 to 110 people are alleged to have been tortured and mutilated by the assassin. In 1969, he began killing hitchhikers mainly on coastal highways in the American South.

He was seen killing two young males by a gangster associate, and he testified to authorities. After being sentenced to death, his sentence was commuted to life in prison without parole. In addition to assassinating a death-row inmate, Gaskins committed a number of other murders.

Tsutomu Miyazaki

Tsutomu Miyazaki tops the list of unsettling and terrifying serial killers. His terrible actions earned him a number of nicknames, such as Dracula Miyazaki and The Otaku Murderer.

A young girl was kidnapped, and murdered, and then her body was treated inhumanely. Besides eating the victim's hand, he also ate their blood. He sent postcards detailing the murders to the families of the victims, reportedly keeping body parts as souvenirs. As a result of strangulation, Miyazaki's 45-year-old dad committed suicide in 2008.

Ted Bundy

Among Ted Bundy's crimes were serial killings, kidnappings, necrophilia, and rapes. His case has inspired several novels and films about serial killers, including "The Stranger Beside Me". Over the years, he has "worked" in more than a dozen states across the country and admitted to killing 30 women. A number of intimate encounters took place at the murder scenes after he returned to the crime scenes.

At least 12 victims were beheaded by Bundy and their heads were stored in his home as souvenirs. At the age of 42, Bundy died in the electric chair. According to his defense attorney, Ted embodied uncaring wickedness.

Jack the Ripper

From 1888 to 1991, Jack the Ripper was one of London's most notorious serial killers. In the Whitechapel district of London, he murdered prostitutes. As of 2022, the Ripper is still unsolved; he is one of the most renowned unsolved crimes in history.

It was assumed that he possessed some skill in butchery or surgery because of his precise inhumane treatment of his victims' corpses. People today are drawn to the Ripper killings because of the classical nature of the story. At least five women were murdered for no apparent reason, and he disappeared without a trace.

Luis Garavito

Approximately 400 children and teens were murdered by Luis Garavito between October 1992 and April 1999 in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. He is considered one of the world's most brutal serial killers, known as Le Bestia (The Beast) in the media.

Additionally, 147 boys were admittedly tortured, raped, and murdered by him.
139 charges were brought against the killer and he was sentenced to 1,853 years in prison. Colombian law, however, limits it to 30 years, which he received in 1999. In 2021, he received a proposal for early release, so if he cooperates and acts responsibly, he might receive an early release.

Ahmad Suradji

Indonesian cattle farmer Ahmad Suradji is a serial murderer. He assassinated almost forty women between the late 1980s and early 1990s. Also known as Nasib Kelewang, he performed black magic and worked as a sorcerer.

Girls and women were strangled with cords and buried up to their waists in graves as part of a ritual. The remains of his victims were found near his house on the outskirts of Medan in 1997, after he had been on a murdering spree for 11 years. In 2008, he was convicted of execution by firing squad. Three of his wives were also convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Alexander Pichushkin

His victims were homeless men he enticed to his residence with alcohol. He was known as the "Chessboard Killer" and "Bitsa Park Maniac". It is believed that he murdered 49 people, most of whom he killed with several hammer blows to the head and then put a vodka bottle into the opening in their skull.

According to him, he planned to kill 64 people and fulfil a checkerboard square pattern. Moreover, he may have competed with another Russian serial killer, Andrei Chikatilo, who was jailed in 1992 for 53 murders. Alexander began killing the same year.

Andrei Chikatilo

It was Andrei Romanovich Chikatilo, aka The Butcher of Rostov, who once said he felt in some way secure whenever he used his knife because he knew he was destined to fail. Between 1978 and 1990, the assassin molested, murdered, and tortured 53 women and children.

In 1994, he was executed by firing squad after being captured in 1992. Not only is his story notable for the sheer number of murders he committed, but also for Soviet authorities' efforts to warn the public during their investigation. According to the government's ideology, mass killings are unimaginable in communist countries.

Charles Edmund Cullen

Former nurse Charles Cullen is a serial killer from the United States. Over the course of his nursing career, he has admitted to murdering 40 victims. More than 400 patients are believed to have been killed by Cullen, according to police. As a child, he had a difficult and unstable mentality, and he attempted suicide at age nine.

By administering a medication overdose, the killer killed multiple individuals in many hospitals. He confessed to having committed other killings before being captured and accused of one murder. It will be more than 100 years before he will be eligible for parole as of 2022.

Patrick Wayne Kearney

The 'Trash Bag Killer' was Patrick Wayne Kearney, a serial killer who operated between 1975 and 1977. His first verified murder occurred in 1968 while he resided in Culver City, California. The killer had a high IQ, but admitted to killing 32 gay individuals after he was apprehended. His nickname comes from the way he dumped their remains along California freeways in garbage bags.

Despite being acquitted of 21 murders, the assassin was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1977 for confessing. In addition to this, he was a necrophile who disposed of his victims in the desert and buried them in a structured manner.

Dennis Raider

From 1974 to 1991, Dennis Raider killed ten people in Wichita, Kansas. BTK stands for "Bind, Torture, Kill.", which he used to address letters to police officers. He stalked his targets before entering their homes to bind their legs and choke them. After disappearing in 1988, he reappeared in 2005 thanks to a floppy disk sent to the media, which led to his arrest.

According to the killer, he murdered animals as a child and fantasized about bondage as a child. Rader admitted to his crimes and is serving ten consecutive life sentences, with the earliest release date set for February 26, 2180.

John George Haigh

A search of John George Haigh's workshop in West Sussex took place in February 1949. The killer was acquitted of six murder charges, but claimed to have killed nine people. He was also known as "The Acid Bath Murderer" during the 1940s.

In his basement, he shot dead wealthy individuals who he enticed with charm and deception. After melting their corpses in sulfuric acid, he would forge paperwork to sell their belongings and take their savings. In 1949, he was arrested, sentenced to death, and executed for his troubled youth.

Paul Knowles

Because of his appearance, elegance, and engagement, Paul John Knowles was considered a cross between Robert Redford and Ryan O'Neal. There are at least 18 people who were killed by him, and there could be many more. Among his victims were men, women, and children, and everyone else saw him as their worst nightmare.

An assassin with no structure and no care for anyone but himself, he was a cold-blooded killer. While attempting to escape from Raiford Prison in Florida, known as the Florida State Prison as of 2022, Knowles was shot by an FBI agent while serving his prison sentence.

William Bonin

William Bonin, also known as the "Freeway Killer," assaulted, tortured, and killed a total of 21 young men from 1979 to 1980. In South California, the killer would dispose of the victims' remains along roadways. Upon examining the deceased bodies, investigators discovered that many of them had been victimized by horrible physical assaults, including stabbings and strangulations that are hallmarks of serial killers.

In 1996, Bonin was executed by lethal injection after being accused of 14 murders, which were legally confirmed. While in prison, he kept in touch with the families of several of his victims to learn how their children reacted to his abuse.

Aileen Wuornos

During her teen years, serial killer Aileen Wuornos was violently abused and expelled from her home. Having been involved in past run-ins with the law, she became a female escort on Florida's highways before murdering a man who had taken her away in 1989.

Before she was apprehended, convicted, and sentenced to death, she assassinated at least five additional men. Wuornos was executed by lethal injection in 2002, despite doubts about her sanity. Charlize Theron received an Academy Award for her role in 2003's "Monster," a documentary, novel, and musical about her life.

Jeffrey Dahmer

It is widely believed that Jeffrey Dahmer is one of the most horrific serial killers in the history of America. Seventeen men and boys died between 1978 and 1991 as a result of his actions. As a result of confessing to the assault, death, dismemberment, and eating up of many victims, the killer received 15 life sentences in succession in 1992, but only survived for two years.

The fact that Dahmer did not receive the death penalty for his vile acts undoubtedly makes you curious about how he ended up dead. At the Columbia Correctional Institution, two years later, in 1994, a fellow inmate stabbed him to death when he was apprehended after a potential victim overpowered him.

John Wayne Gacy

Chicago was the home of John Wayne Gacy's practice from 1972 to 1978. A total of 33 boys and men were brutally abused and murdered by him. Pogo the Clown or Patches the Clown was a clown who made appearances at treatment centers and philanthropic events. Before strangling them with a tourniquet, he promised his captives labor or money.

In the basement beneath his house, the Burial King interred 26 corpses before disposing of their remains in the Des Plaines River. Prior to his lethal injection on May 10, 1994, he had been on death row for 14 years.

Tommy Lynn Sells

The police suspect Tommy Lynn Sells of murdering at least 22 people, as he claimed to have murdered more than 70 people. In 2015, he attempted to assassinate Krystal Surles, ten, and executed Kaylene 'Katy' Harris, 13. His execution took place in April 2014 after he was sentenced to death in 2000 for the murder.

Additionally, the Brutal Texan obtained a jail sentence for the 1997 murder of Stephanie Mahaney, for which he was sentenced in 2003. Due to contradictions in his statement, the state's attorney in Jefferson County, Illinois, did not prosecute him for the 1987 Darden family killings despite his accusations.

Pedro Rodriguez Filho

The death of at least 71 victims was attributed to Pedro Rodriguez Filho, who was detained in 1973 and convicted in 2003. A sentence of 128 years in prison was imposed on him. In retaliation for the murder of his girlfriend while he was in jail, the Brazilian Maniac killed his first victim at 14 years old.

It is even believed that he assassinated his own father while he was in jail for murder. During his confinement, Filho murdered at least 47 prisoners. As a result of his ongoing killings, his sentence has been increased to 400 years in prison. According to Brazilian law, the longest prison term is 30 years, so he was released in 2018.