Serial Killers

INTRODUCTION

This page looks at the world's 100 most prolific serial killers of the 20th and 21st centuries. It looks where serial killers come from. Not all countries are equally able to track and identify serial killers so many serial killers, especially from developing countries, would have gone unnoticed. So when comparing countries and regions of the world, this factor should be considered. However, we can still get a fairly good idea of which regions of the world and countries tend to produce more serial killers.

Charts

1. 100 Most Prolific Serial Killers in World by Country, Years active, Proven victims and Possible victims, Main Method, Main Victim Group and Penalty

2. Region of Birth of Serial Killers with 5 or More Proven Victims

3. Most Common Country of 100 Most Prolific Serial Killers

Data Table

4. Most Prolific Serial Killers in World by Country, Years active, Proven victims and Possible victims

The 3 regions of the world which produce the most prolific serial killers are North America, Latin America and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Most notable is Latin America which is mostly not a developed region so it wouldn't necessarily have identified all possible serial killers. To a lesser extent this is true for eastern Europe and the Soviet Union.

Luis Garavito, from Colombia, is the most prolific serial killer of all time with 138 proven victims. His victims were boys who were living on the streets. His main method of killing was stabbing with a knife or screwdriver. His murders were carried out in his home country of Colombia but also Ecuador and Venezuela.

When looking at known serial killers with 5 or more proven victims, there are far more from North America than Latin America. The reason for this is likely to be due to the greater rate of detection than there actually being more. We can infer this because there are similar number of known serial killers when looking at the previous chart for the most prolific serial killers with far more than 5 victims. Western Europe is also notably higher percentage of known serial killers among the less prolific serial killers. Again, this is due to the higher rate of detection in a more developed country.

While far from the top of the list, Ted Bundy is arguably the most famous serial killer of the 20th century. His fame stems partly from him being American in a US-centric world but also due to the unique character traits he possessed. He is often considered an example of a pure psychopath rather than the disturbed individual more typical among serial killers.

USA and USSR / Russian Empire are the two countries which have produced by far the most of the top 100 serial killers. Both are large and developed or fairly developed countries so they would be expected to be on the list but their dominance is notable and suggests both have a significant serial killer problem over the 20th century. It's likely that the low population density of both countries is a factor in how many serial killers they have had. South Africa is notable as it is not a large country but has produced 10 of the top 100. Colombia and Iran are also notable for being significantly overrepresented compared to their population size.

4. 100 Most Prolific Serial Killers in World by Country, Years active, Proven victims and Possible victims, Main Method,
Main Victim Group and Penalty

Name	Country	Years Active	Proven Victims	Possible Victims	Main Method	Main Victim group	Penalty
Luis Garavito	Colombia Ecuador Venezuela	1992 to 1999	138	172 - 300+		Boys	Life in Prison
Pedro López	Colombia Peru Ecuador	1969 to 1979	110	300		Girls	16 years Ecuador; freed after 14 years; committed to hospital Colombia; freed after 1 year
Javed Iqbal	Pakistan	1998 to 1999	100	100	Strangling	Boys	Death
Mikhail Popkov	Russia	1992 to 2010	83	83	Variety of Instruments	Women	Life in Prison
Daniel Camargo Barbosa	Colombia Ecuador Brazil(alleged)	1974 to 1986	72	180	Strangling	Girls	25-year sentence, 16-year sentence
Pedro Rodrigues Filho	Brazil	1967 to 2003	71	100		Criminals
Kampatimar Shankariya	India	1977 to 1978	70	70	Hammer	Men and Women	Death
Yang Xinhai	China	2000 to 2003	67	67	Axes, Hammers & Shovels	Farmers	Death
Samuel Little	United States	1970 to 2005	60	93		Women	Life in Prison
Andrei Chikatilo	Soviet Union	1978 to 1990	53	56		Women and Children
Anatoly Onoprienko	Soviet Union Ukraine	1989 to 1996	52	52		Families	Death: Commuted to Life
Florisvaldo de Oliveira	Brazil	1982	50	50	Shooting (probably)	Criminals	113 years' imprisonment, released after 27 years
Willy Pickton	Canada	1983 to 2002	49	49		Women	Life imprisonment
Gary Ridgway	United States	1982 to 2000	49	71-90+	Strangling	Women (Sex Workers)	Life imprisonment
Alexander Pichushkin	Russia	1992 to 2006	48	60
Wang Qiang	China	1995 to 2003	45	60
Ahmad Suradji	Indonesia	1986 to 1997	42	70-80+	Strangling	Girls and Women	Death
Raman Raghav	India	1965 to 1968	41	41	Bludgeoning	Pavement and hut dwellers	Life imprisonment
Tiago Henrique Gomes da Rocha	Brazil	2011 to 2014	39	~39		homeless people, women and homosexuals	25 Years
Moses Sithole	South Africa	1994 to 1995	38	38	Strangling	Women	2,410 years' imprisonment
Serhiy Tkach	Soviet Union Ukraine	1984 to 2005	36	80-100	Suffocated	Girls	Life imprisonment
Gennady Mikhasevich	Soviet Union	1971 to 1985	36	43-55+	Strangling	Women	Death
Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi	Morocco	1906 and earlier	36	36		Women	Death
Vera Renczi	Kingdom of Romania Yugoslavia Hungary?(alleged)	1920 to 1930	35	~35	Arsenic Poisoning	Men	Life imprisonment
Ted Bundy	United States	1974 to 1978	35	36-100+		Women and Girls	Death
Clementine Barnabet	United States	1911	35	35	Axe	Families	Life imprisonment: Later Released
John Wayne Gacy	United States	1972 to 1978	33	34	asphyxiation�or�strangulation�	Young Men and Boys	Death
Ali Asghar Borujerdi	Ottoman Empire Iraq Iran	1907 to 1934	33	33			Death
Vasili Komaroff	Soviet Union	1921 to 1923	33	33	Axe, sometimes throat slit	Men	Death
Fernando Hern�ndez Leyva	Mexico	1982 to 1999	33	100			60 Years imprisonment
Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour	Egypt	1999 to 2006	32	32		Children, mostly boys	Death
Volga Maniac (Radik Tagirov)	Russia	2011 to 2012	32	32	Strangling	Elderly Women
Karl Denke	Germany	1900 to 1924	30	42		homeless vagrants & poor travellers
Francisco das Chagas Rodrigues de Brito	Brazil	1989 to 2003	30	42			580 Years
Luis Gregorio Ram�rez Maestre	Colombia	2010 to 2013	30	30			34 Years
David Thabo Simelane	Swaziland	2000 to 2001	28	45			Death
Zhang Jun	China	1993 to 2000	28	28			Death
Cedric Maake	South Africa	1996 to 1997	27	35
Mariam Soulakiotis	Greece	1939 to 1951	27	27
Bruce George Peter Lee	United Kingdom	1973 to 1979	26	26			Life imprisonment
The Stoneman	India	1985 to 1989	25	25
Juan Corona	United States	1971	25	25	Stabbed/Slashed	Men (farm workers)	25�life sentences�with possibility of parole
Fritz Haarmann	Germany	1918 to 1924	24	27			Death
B�la Kiss	Austria-Hungary	1912 to 1916	24	24	Strangling	Women	Never Apprehended
Majid Salek Mohammadi	Iran	1981 to 1985	24	24		Women
Yvan Keller	France Germany (suspected) Switzerland (suspected)	1989 to 2006	23	150
Ronald Dominique	United States	1997 to 2006	23	23	Strangling	Men and boys	Life imprisonment
Juan Fernando Hermosa	Ecuador	1991 to 1992	23	23	Shooting	Homosexual men and taxi drivers	4 years imprisonment
Earle Nelson	United States Canada	1926 to 1927	22	25	Strangling	Middle Aged Landladies	Death
Mikhail Novosyolov	Soviet Union Russia Tajikistan	1977 to 1995	22	22	Bludgeoning		Civil Commitment
Manuel Octavio Berm�dez	Colombia	1999 to 2003	21	50	Strangling	Children	40 Years Imprisonement
Patrick Kearney	United States	1965 to 1977	21	43		Young Men	Life imprisonment
William Bonin	United States	1979 to 1980	21	36	Strangling	Boys and Young Men	Death
Vasile Tcaciuc	Romania	1917 to 1935	21	26	Axe		Shot by Police
Yoo Young-chul	South Korea	2003 to 2004	21	26	Bludgeoning	Sex workers and wealthy old men	Death
Francisco Guerrero P�rez	Mexico	1880 to 1908	21	21	Strangling	Female Prostitutes	Death
Abdullah Shah	Afghanistan	1990s	20	20			Death
Jos� Paz Bezerra	Brazil	1960s to 1970s	20	20	Strangling	Women	60 Years imprisonment
Bulelani Mabhayi	South Africa	2007 to 2012	20	20	Axe or Panga	Women and Children	25 years to�life imprisonment
Mohan Kumar	India	2005 to 2009	20	20	Cyanide poisoning	Women	Death
Alexander Spesivtsev	Russia	1991 to 1996	19	82		Street children and young women
Larry Eyler	United States	1982 to 1984	19	23	Stabbed/Slashed	teenage boys and young men	Death
Surinder Koli	India	2005 to 2006	19	30		Young girls
El Psic�pata	Costa Rica	1986 to 1996	19	19		Single women or couples
Sergei Ryakhovsky	Soviet Union Russia	1988 to 1993	19	19
Yevgeny Chuplinsky	Russia	1998 to 2006	19	19		Prostitutes	Life imprisonment
M. Jaishankar	India	2008 to 2011	19	19	Machete	Women
Ansis Kaup?ns	Latvia	1920 to 1926	19	19			Death
Vadim Ershov	Russia	1992 to 1995	19	19		Young girls and elderly women
Velaphi Ndlangamandla	South Africa	1998	19	19			137 years imprisonement
Yavuz Yap?c?o?lu	Turkey	1994 to 2002	18	40	Screwdriver		40 Years Imprisonement
Paul John Knowles	United States	1974	18	35
Thierry Paulin	France	1984 to 1987	18	21		Elderly Women
Randall Woodfield	United States	1979 to 1981	18	44
Umesh Reddy	India	1996 to 2002	18	18		Women	Death
Christopher Mhlengwa Zikode	South Africa	1994 to 1995	18	18	Shooting		140 years in prison
Asande Baninzi	South Africa	2001	18	18
Huang Yong	China	2001 to 2003	17	25	Strangling	Teenage boys	Death
Pedro Pablo Nakada Lude?a	Peru	2005 to 2006	17	25	Shooting		35 years in prison
Darbara Singh	India	2004	17	23
Sergei Dovzhenko	Ukraine	1992 to 2002	17	19		Random	Life imprisonment
Donato Bilancia	Italy	1997 to 1998	17	17	Shooting	Random	13 terms of�life imprisonment
Irina Gaidamachuk	Russia	2002 to 2010	17	17	Axe or hammer	Elderly Women	20 years
Randy Steven Kraft	United States	1971 to 1983	16	65?67	strangulation,�asphyxiation, or bludgeoning	Young Men	Death
Mohammed Bijeh	Iran	2004	16	20		Young boys	Death
Michel Fourniret	France ?Belgium	1987 to 2001	16	19			Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole
Sipho Agmatir Thwala	South Africa	1996 to 1997	16	19	Strangling and bludgeoning	Women	Life imprisonment
Saeed Hanaei	Iran	2000 to 2001	16	19
Jeffrey Dahmer	United States	1978 to 1991	16	17		Men and boys	Life imprisonment
Jos� Antonio Rodr�guez Vega	Spain	1987 to 1988	16	16		Elderly Women	440 years
Elias Xitavhudzi	South Africa	1950s	16	16		Whites	Death
Jimmy Maketta	South Africa	2005	16	16
Jack Mogale	South Africa	2008 to 2009	16	16			Life imprisonment
Robert Lee Yates	United States	1975 to 1998	16	16	Shooting	Women
Carroll Cole	United States	1948 to 1980	16	16	Strangling	Women	Death
Charles Ray Hatcher	United States	1969 to 1982	16	16			Life imprisonment
Yuri Ivanov	Soviet Union	1974 to 1987	16	16		Girls and Women	Death
Vladimir Mirgorod	Russia	2003 to 2004	16	16	Strangling		Life imprisonment
Lee Choon-jae	South Korea	1986 to 1994	15			Women and young girls	Life sentence for murder and rape (eligible for parole after 20 years)
Dor�ngel Vargas	Venezuela	1997 to 1999	15

OTHER PAGES ABOUT MURDER

Mass Killings

Sources:

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

https://www.wikipedia.org/

Charts created using OpenOffice Calc.

SERIAL KILLERS

INTRODUCTION

4. 100 Most Prolific Serial Killers in World by Country, Years active, Proven victims and Possible victims, Main Method, Main Victim Group and Penalty

OTHER PAGES ABOUT MURDER

4. 100 Most Prolific Serial Killers in World by Country, Years active, Proven victims and Possible victims, Main Method,
Main Victim Group and Penalty