I want to write about something a bit outside of my "comfort zone" today. I want to delve deeper into the deranged and maniacal minds of some of America's most infamous serial killers. The term "serial killer" is defined as anyone who kills three or more people and is usually due to a psychological condition that causes personal gratification from murder. Since the time for sick psychos is drawing near, here are the top 10 United States serial Kk
10. David Berkowitz
Aliases: "The Son of Sam" or "The .44 Caliber Killer"
Arrested: New York City, 1977
Crime: Berkowitz was guilty of killing six people with a 44-caliber revolver and sending several taunting letters to authorities. He was arrested in 1977 and was given 25 years for each murder he committed. He will likely never be released.
9. John Wayne Gacy
Aliases: "Pogo the Clown"
Arrested: 1980
Crime: If you didn't hate clowns before, you sure will now. John Wayne Gacy was known as Pogo the Clown and was often invited to children's birthday parties. He would lure teenage boys to his house before strangling them with a tourniquet. Gacy claimed over 30 victims before being captured due to the rancid odor emanating from beneath his house. Gacy was executed in May of 1994.
8. Ted Bundy
Executed: 1989
Crime: Ted Bundy is one of, if not the most infamous names in serial killing. Bundy was known for luring his female victims to secluded spots where he would assault and then murder them. Bundy also was documented to have kept 12 of his victims' severed heads as trophies. He was executed via electric chair in 1989.
7. Dennis Rader
Aliases: The BTK Killer
Arrested: 2005
Crime: Dennis Rader, known as the BTK Killer (Bind Torture Kill) was responsible for claiming the lives of 10 people between 1974 and 1991. Rader would stalk, bind and strangle his victims to death. He was known for sending taunting letters to police due to their inability to catch him. In 2005, Rader sent a floppy disk to authorities that they traced back to his home. He is currently serving 10 consecutive life sentences with a release date set for 2180.
6. Tommy Lynn Sells
Aliases: None
Crime: Sells claims to have killed at least 70 people and is regarded as one of America's most dangerous criminals. Sells once stabbed a girl 16 times before leaving her to die. He is currently awaiting execution on death row in Livingston, Texas.
5. Richard Ramirez
Aliases: The Night Stalker
Arrested: 1985
Crime: Ramirez was not only a murderer, but also a rapist and a Satanist. He claimed the lives of 14 people between 1984-85 and was most widely noted for smearing pentagrams on the walls of his victims' homes. Ramirez died in his cell in 2013.
4. Donald Henry Gaskins
Arrested: 1975
Crime: Gaskins perpetrated a series of highway murders in the late sixties and early seventies, killing hitchhikers he picked up in the coastal areas of the Southern United States. Gaskins was eventually turned in by a criminal cohort. He was sentenced to death in 8 killings but his sentence was commuted to life without parole. He is the only man to ever kill a fellow death row inmate.
3. Edmund Kemper
Aliases: The Co-Ed Killer
Arrested: 1973
Crime: Kemper began killing at an early age, claiming his grandparents as his first victims when he was 15 years old. Kemper claimed 10 victims before turning himself in. Kemper is notable because of his monstrous size and his incredible intelligence. At the time of his arrest, Kemper stood six-foot-nine and weighed in at over 300 pounds. His tested IQ was in the 140 point range making him a borderline genius. Kemper has appeared in numerous interviews including "Murder, No Apparent Motive" in 1984. Kemper was also the inspiration for the Buffalo Bill character in "Silence of the Lambs." Kemper remains in the general prison population of California Medical Facility in Vacaville.
2. Gary Ridgway
Aliases: The Green River Killer
Arrested: 2001
Crime: One of the most prolific serial killers in history, Gary Ridgway was convicted of 48 separate murders, but claims to have taken double that amount of victims. Ridgway began his killings in 1982 along the Pacific Highway, claiming prostitutes and runaways as his victims. Between 1982 and 1984, Ridgway claims to have killed so many people that he actually lost count of his victims. Ridgway was sentenced to 48 life sentences without the possibility of parole. He is currently in solitary confinement in a Federal Prison in Colorado.
1. Jeffrey Dahmer
Aliases: The Milwaukee Cannibal; The Milwaukee Monster
Arrested: 1991
Crime: Jeffrey Dahmer was a serial killer, cannibal and sexual deviant, claiming the lives of 17 people between 1978 and 1991 prior to his apprehension. Dahmer's first victim was dissolved in acid and his bones were smashed with a sledgehammer and strewn in the woods behind his family home. Dahmer would actively seek out victims in gay bars to bring home and sexually assault before dismembering their corpses. Dahmer was sentenced to 16 consecutive life sentences before being bludgeoned to death by fellow inmates.
