List of Famous Serial Killers

William George Heirens was an American convicted of murder who confessed to three murders in 1946. Heirens was called the Lipstick Killer after a notorious message scrawled in lipstick at a crime scene. At the time of his death, Heirens was reputedly Chicago's longest-serving prisoner, having spent 65 years in prison.

Kenneth Eugene Parnell was an American convicted sex offender, child rapist, and kidnapper infamously known for perpetrating the abductions of seven year-old Steven Stayner and five year-old Timothy White in Merced, California. He was convicted in 2004 for attempting to purchase a child for sex and died in prison.

Kenneth Alessio Bianchi is an American serial killer, kidnapper, and rapist. He is known for the 1977-79 Hillside Strangler murders committed with his cousin Angelo Buono Jr., as well as for murdering two more women in Washington by himself. Bianchi is currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Washington State Penitentiary for these crimes.

Carl "Charlie" Brandt was an American serial killer. A former resident of Fort Wayne, Indiana and longtime resident of the Florida Keys, Brandt shot his parents on January 3, 1971 when he was 13, killing his pregnant mother. His father survived. He spent one year at a psychiatric hospital before being released, and was never criminally charged. 33 years later, on September 13, 2004, Brandt stabbed his wife and niece to death and then hanged himself in his niece's garage. This incident, Brandt's efficiency in killing his wife and niece, and his hidden obsession with human anatomy led investigators to look into the possibility that he had committed other murders since moving to Florida in 1973. The police have linked at least two homicides to Brandt.

Scott Lee Kimball is a convicted serial killer from Boulder County, Colorado. He is serving a 70-year sentence after pleading guilty in 2009 to the murders of Kaysi McLeod, 19; Jennifer Marcum, 25; LeAnn Emry, 24; and Kimball's uncle, Terry Kimball, 60.

Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard, Jr. is an American serial killer. A former trash company supervisor, Gilyard is believed to have raped and murdered at least 13 women and girls from 1977 to 1993. He was convicted of six counts of murder on March 16, 2007.

Charles Raymond "Charlie" Starkweather was an American spree killer who murdered eleven people in Nebraska and Wyoming between December 1957 and January 1958, when he was 19 years old. He killed ten of his victims between January 21 and January 29, 1958, the date of his arrest. During his spree in 1958, Starkweather was accompanied by his 14-year-old girlfriend, Caril Ann Fugate.

Peter Britton Tobin is a convicted Scottish serial killer and sex offender who is currently serving a whole life order at HM Prison Edinburgh for three murders committed between 1991 and 2006.

Akira Nishiguchi was a Japanese serial killer and fraudster. While engaging in confidence scams, Akira murdered two people, was put on the most wanted list, and killed three others while escaping. The police also regretted that they didn't find Akira, who was found by an 11-year-old girl. A prosecutor called him "the Black Gold Medalist in history". Ryuzo Saki published a book about Akira, which became the basis for the film Vengeance Is Mine. His crimes were the direct catalyst for the creation of the Japanese "Metropolitan Designated Case" system

Gao Chengyong was a Chinese serial killer and rapist. He mutilated the corpses of his victims, leading to his nickname of the "Chinese Jack the Ripper" in Chinese media. He is thought to have killed eleven women between 1988 and 2002.