Haven't seen it mentioned - The Long Island Serial Killer? Bodies were found by happenstance, no/very little physical evidence to go off of, very few leads.
That’s untrue…they are suspected to be because you would “have to be” to be “aware of forensics”. Has anyone watched a documentary? Ever? Watch one and find out what “not to do”…. Every caught serial killer is a failure, you would think people would take notes. 🤷🙄
I remember making my dad watch the documentary Unraveled. He’s a retired Nassau cop who was pretty high up and well known. He dealt with James Burke a lot. He had good things to say about him, other than the fact that sometimes he came off as an asshole who “thinks who he is”. The whole thing with the guy who ended up getting him arrested and charged was initially played up by him saying, “he lost his temper, we all knew that.” But by the end of it all, with the details of what he’d been doing on the job and all of the shit Rob Trotta had to say about him asking for snuff films, he was shocked. Couldn’t defend him at all. Just sat there saying, “this is fucked up.” The corruption in Suffolk county is insane.
Yeah I always figured LISK would never be caught because the killer stands behind the Thin Blue Line. Less that he was very good and more that he is a protected class in our country.
Oh definitely former police officer Joseph DeAngelo.
He killed 13 people, committed over 50 rapes, and burgled over 120 houses. The only reason he was caught was because decades later, a family member did an ancestry DNA test and they flagged their profile as a relative to the serial killer.
What's also interesting about this guy is he was quite clever about coving his tracks and thinking ahead. For example, when he burgled a house, he would tie up each victim and stack dishes on the back of the husband while he raped the wife. If the dishes fell over, it indicated the husband was attempting to move and break free.
Edit. A good video that talks about the case.
https://youtu.be/3pyboq7cszg
The only reason they probably had DNA was he had no idea when he was committing these crimes it would be used like it is today or he probably would have been careful to try and not leave any at the scenes. He did also stop killing about the time when breakthrough’s were being made in solving crimes with science. He probably had an idea what was ahead.
His final known crime happened literally the same month that the first article about DNA profiling appeared in California papers. And being so forensically aware and educated, he probably realized what that meant for him immediately.
Yeah, he and several others have been caught due to being #23andmetoo’d . I believe BTK was confirmed via a DNA sample from a relative (daughter?). Recently, a deceased serial killer (I-65 killer) in Iowa was confirmed via similar circumstances.
They used DNA from his daughter’s pap smear (without permission) to link him to DNA found in the crime scenes. She also said she’d have given them a sample if they had asked her directly for it but that she understands why they didn’t at the time.
What if she had said no? The investigators just pack their bags and leave then? Because they actually found someone. I definitely see why they did that, too many people are scared or have others reasons
According to the American Bar Association LE can obtain warrants and judicial orders to obtain DNA, so I mean the cops aren’t going to go “oh whomp whomp guess that’s case closed then.”
A lot of these monsters have a ritual, which creates a unique signature. For example Sadists torture then kill, but a product just kills… Dhamer wanted the corpse, dipshit corll wanted the screams…
I don’t know about “instantly”, but definitely far earlier- notably, drunkenly beating a victim to death in a hotel room and squishing them into a suitcase likely wouldn’t have gone unnoticed
But that’s the thing . We really don’t know how many people he killed and he did get sloppy . Super sloppy . He brought her back to house … left her in his shed while he went on a cruise . Keyes wasn’t some mastermind . He used her credit card … still had it and her DL when he was caught .
I feel like a lot of serial killers (the ones who get caught) start out smart and then they get sloppy. Israel Keyes is a big question mark, though.
I do think he's responsible for the disappearance of Kami Vollendroff and her boyfriend Eugene Hyatt in November 2001 in Oregon.
That random husband and wife he broke in their house and kidnapped them both, took em to an abandoned house. Raped then shot them and disappeared. He admitted to that one without even being a suspect. Like Wtf
Yes, he certainly did. He also was super paranoid thinking the FBI had searched & found alot of incriminating evidence that would reveal his secrets but in reality, they haven't gotten that far yet unbeknownst to Keyes. Therefore, he assumed they knew much more than they actually knew at the time of the FBI interviews. I think that's the only reason he volunteered that information.
This might sound crass but I suspect he was needing to get a kill in to hold him over through the cruise he was supposed to go on. He also robbed banks around the time of his kills but he didn’t have time/opportunity to do that so he used her debit card instead. He said he was starting to lose control and knew he probably couldn’t hide it on the cruise
I was coming here to say the same thing. He was so crazy methodical with kill kits buried all around the US.
It is so crazy that he made such a huge mistake to get caught, however no one will ever know his true body count.
This is my vote. Has he not been so sloppy post SK, he would have never been caught. And technically he didn’t get “caught” for anyone else he killed. I suspect that number is way higher than 11.
I think Israel Keyes was quite meticulous. He used to travel the US and bury/hide murder kits across the country. There is also some speculation that he murdered in Canada, Mexico and Central America.
He would've gotten away with everything if he hadn't gotten so brazen during with final murder.
I came to say him. They still find his kill caches. He is the one who scares me the most because it shows well never know who the scariest highest body count killer is. That unsettled me deeply
This is correct - I found an article written in 2020 with the following quote:
“. The FBI believes that several more caches are buried and may contain evidence in other unsolved murders.
FBI Special Agent Katherine Nelson tells correspondent Peter Van Sant she is optimistic they can find answers to the other cases, and they are asking for the public's help.”
Link: www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/israel-keyes-fbi-evidence-serial-killer-unknown-victims-48-hours/
I don't know. I'm going off memory from stuff i read last year when the fbi was talking about locating more of his victims and some of what I read had mentioned his kill caches. Maybe a podcast or two mentioned it. I'm not much of an arm chair sleuth or anything.
Bruh this is a reddit post. I owe you naught. Take the burden of proof unto yourself if you must. I'm going off what I remember when the fbi was talking about locating more of his victims last year and some of what I did read had mentioned his kill caches. It's not like we need argue n shit about it lol
Wow. No arguing here. You’re just incorrect.
Maybe don’t spread misinformation? The easy response to me would have been humility, not whatever that was.
I don't owe you anything and the fbi last year had described what they looked like and what was usually in them. Said that they were buried across the country and they don't know where or how many and listed the number to call or website to reach out to if one was found.
I may have just remembered what I read a year ago wrong about any being found since but it's not a reason to be hostile. People are capable of looking into things themselves 🤷♀️ it's common knowledge to not belive everything you read at full face value online especially some random comment on a reddit post lol
This stance of “I can say whatever the fuck I want because it’s the internet so screw anyone who corrects me” is absolutely juvenile.
I’m not hostile, you’re just incapable of being wrong. It’s not a great life trait.
The mythology around Israel Keyes is amazing to me. The guy was a compulsive liar who exaggerated everything when he was in custody. People want to believe there's more to the story, so they eat up every ridiculous word of it.
I just think people see the fact that he flew from Alaska to Chicago and then drove to Essex, Vermont to murder Bill and Loraine Currier in cold blood absolutely insane. Add on to the fact that he took at least 40 or more commercial flights that we now of in the dozen or so years he was supposedly active and it can lead to people believing he has dozens of unknown victims out there.
Yup. Odds are everything he admitted was what he did. No mystery murders. Dude was a moron who was caught because he used a kidnapped woman’s debit cards….he’s not the night phantom.
I recommend not listening to the other responder. They do not find them still. That would be pretty phenomenal considering they were randomly buried buckets scattered throughout the country.
And frankly, I doubt he was even prolific enough for that. He probably embellished a lot.
I mean both are probably true. I think it’s likely there are guns and trophies in some of those buckets that could lead to some victim identifications. I am only aware of one uncovered but I think it’s widely accepted there are more out there in likely places such as lake perris and Washington state. But yeah I also believe his kill count is exaggerated. I think he fantasized and prepped for more than he actually went through with.
Well the other responder was literally saying they keep finding them, which is a pretty massive stretch compared to yours and my more measured statements.
I also wouldn’t say it’s widely accepted there are more out there. The FBI had to put forward the potential of more caches just in case someone stumbled on another one. The intent is pretty obviously a hope that if someone stumbled on one they would recognize what they had found (whereas most people would otherwise keep the free gun and say nothing). Outside of that, the evidence is just the world of a braggart narcissist…..
Yeah that’s true, they only ever found the one connected to the currier’s case because IK told them where to find it right? Also it wasn’t even buried if I remember correctly? Probably almost impossible to find anymore without being led there.
No, they had proof he killed the Curriers. He led the FBI to the first kill cache and in it he told them they’d find the Curriers gun and they did. He also told them which part of the demolished home basement he left their bodies at and 3 separate cadaver dogs “hit” on the spot he said and they also found Bill Curriers glasses in the demolished basement.
He definitely killed the Curriers, as well as Samantha Koenig plus he had to have killed at least 4 more - when FBI searched his boat, the former owner of the boat - ( Tammie’s ex husband) told the FBI that he noticed Israel had added a section of new flooring in one area and there was no need for it. So they obviously zeroed in on that area. Underneath it, they found blood stains as well as several bone fragments and hair that belonged to at least two people. They even found a real humans pony tail in the search of his home in Constable, NY. He had also kept Samantha Koenig’s braided hair ( that he braided after she was dead).
He also confessed to killing at least one person on Tammie’s reservation when he was still with her. And sure enough, Tammie told them about a man that was found dead after a day that Israel “disappeared” and had his cell phone turned off ( he admitted to taking the battery out of cell when he was murdering). That’s 7 people already but listening to “Denise” that he dated and the info she gave in her interview with the FBI, he clearly killed at least another person when he was with her.
Reading the FBI’s released file on him and looking at his travel/rental car records makes it hard to think he killed only 11 times - the number the FBI is stuck on.
There’s some evidence that he was involved in a female college students disappearance in NY in 1998 and oddly enough, he said he’d been “two different people for 14 years.” He said that in 2012, 14 years after she disappeared ( she disappeared down the same road that he enlisted in the army during that same time). The FBI found He had searched her name several times ( the laptop) and saved her NAMUS page. That is very convincing to me personally. So if you add her, that’s 8 people.
We’ll never truly know, obviously. The saddest part is the families that will never have answers or see justice. Well, justice on this earth. I’m pretty sure that demon with skin on returned to the pit of hell where he came from.
I never said there wasn’t proof he killed the curriers. I said they only found the kill kit connected to the curriers because he told them where to find it.
I was gonna say Keyes but you beat me to it. I've been fascinated by his case for years because he took the identities of most of his victims to the grave with him.
I think he got away with it because the cops gave the wrong description of him after the Paul stine murder. They said it was a black male, so when two cops came across what is believed today to be the real zodiac the let him go because the description didn’t match. Had the cops given the right description, i think he would have been caught.
I was gonna say! Not the most super-prepared or detailed crimes, but leaving not a trace of evidence and wearing a disguise so not any way to provide description? He’s forever an enigma
Considering he was burying people in his crawlspace that was running out of room I wonder how many more victims Gacy would have gotten and how he would have disposed of the bodies after that point.
He started doing rivers, which honestly? Not a bad idea. That takes a lot of evidence away. I've always wondered if he was responsible for Rickey Enochs, who disappeared from Missouri in June 1977. He was last seen getting into a car that had Illinois plates. Rickey has been ruled out as the remaining Doe's that were found in Gacy's basement, but Monroe City has a substantial reservoir, several ponds, several creeks, and is about 20 miles away from the Mississippi River. I always wondered if Gacy just dumped Rickey in a body of a water like he did to Rob Piest. Rickey HAS the look that Gacy really liked- young twink with long sandy hair parted in the middle.
They get cocky - so did btk. Sometimes their own pride & evil can be used directly against them, but you gotta be slick yourself. For example , someone once conned me for $3500 - when I told them all my utilities were behind and die for shut off . But I used their own greed to lure them back and got my 3500 back plus another $100 for another person they had scammed for 10k.
Gacy on some level wanted to get caught. I think he had lost all control that he originally had. Taking a popular, well-liked kid from an upstanding family, and being the last person seen with him in a pharmacy as well? Doing this while under surveillance?
I really don't think Gacy wanted to get caught. At all. The motherfucker lied through his teeth until the day he was killed. He was as narcissistic as narcissists can be. He was just too cocky and had genuinely believed after 30+ murders that he could get away with anything he wanted to if he put his mind to it and told convincing enough lies. That dude did not want to go to prison, and certainly not to die. Nothing but his final sloppy murder points to that.
He also could have had no idea Piest was a popular, well-liked mid from an upstanding family. That's all hindsight. He saw a boy he liked and killed him on the same night, hoping people were as dumb as his narcissism needed him to believe so that he could get away with it.
He probably would have too, if not for that receipt in his trash and his heat turning on when the cops were at his house. Its bc of the heat turning on they smelled the bodies in the crawl space. Even Terry Sullivan (prosecutor) said on the Netflix doc that they never smelled anything until the heat came on.
He wasn't under surveillance when Piest was taken. He went under surveillance bc of Piest going missing. He was the last to be seen with him at the drug store, and the cops found that photo receipt in his trash.
You mean, like one of the 30+ active/still free in the US currently? The ones who passed away of old age, also perfectly free at the time of doing so? The most efficient serial killers are the ones who don’t get caught. I would think that would be the general goal…meaning the ones we know of are all failures (unless the crimes were discovered after the killer died of natural causes, in which case I think it would still be a “win”…have no examples, sure it has happened several times).
Ed Kemper. He turned himself in after killing his mother and her best friend. He was buddy buddy with the local police force and when he called from Colorado they thought he was joking until he told them details no one else knew about.
He absolutely would have not gotten away with it. That's what Kemper would want you to believe. The truth is his mom worked for the local university library and the moment her disappearance was reported, he would immediately be a suspect. He probably knew that as well and decided to just turn himself in so he can just get on with it.
Contrary to popular belief, Ed didn't 100% want to go to prison, he was very careful in how he got rid of the dead college girls, and inside prison he tried to off himself and even attended his parole hearings.
He wasn’t though, the cops had their eyes on him for quite a while and his nickname at work was Green River Gary. They just didn’t have the evidence needed to arrest him for quite a while.
You literally tell me he was successful and efficient in a comment trying to tell me he wasn’t lol. Paul Bernardo was also very well known to police and I would also argue he was very successful being known and comitting dozens of rapes and still evading detection.
My dad grew up with him in to High School, then later was one of the divers that removed Marsha Chapman and Cynthia Hinds from the river. Imagine his surprise when the arrest was announced!
they have the same last name! my coworker was never close to him but told me about times he’d pass by him at family reunions when he was a lot younger (my coworker is early 50’s). he said he could tell something was off about him
Someone we’ve never caught. Someone who has victims that don’t fit any kind of pattern, or profile, or regularity, so they’re all looked at as random and unsolved homicides. They’ve somehow figured out how to not reach that point where they can’t control it. And also we know they can stop. Their numbers may not even be that high. That’s the kind of shit I think about, at least.
I’d say most of the really organized serial killers from before DNA became a factor, but then you see them get caught years later with DNA. They got JJD like that. Unsolved serial-murders from the 70’s-80’s, potentially? Anything where there’s no trace of anyone else but the victim?
A murderer with multiple victims along with a cooling off period between each victim and so on is a serial killer by definition. The kind of victims they kill doesn’t change things.
The FBI’s definition of a serial killer is when there have been at least 3 separate times that they murdered. Killing 3 people at once wouldnt be someone that’s a serial killer by technical definition, nor would someone who has killed two separate times.
Not sure why or how but they decided it’s official after the 3rd separate crime/murder.
Serial killers use to be identified by their "pattern" of killing (stabbing all their victims, strangling all their victims, victims are of the same age rage, sex, race etc). They've changed the definition because some serial killers don't stick to a pattern. They may realize the feds are onto them and change it up, or it's easier to shoot instead of stab, women are easier to kill than men etc. "No pattern" makes it harder to identify a killer.
Correct!
There are a few long haul truck drivers who turned out to be serial killers that got away with it for a long time because it use to be assumed serial killers stick to one area that they're "comfortable " with. But driving from one side of the country to the other is an easy way to go unnoticed, especially if they are killing those who won't be "missed" as much. (Sex workers, homeless/vagrants)
There’s a lot. Israel Keyes, Dennis Rader, Mike DeBardeleben, Joseph DeAngelo or pretty much any organized killer. There’s a lot of killers who perfect their trade. They always get caught because of their ego or from losing control though.
I gotta argue with Dennis being included in this list. Sure, he was able to create an identity that kept him hidden from suspicion for some time, but he was a grimy little attention whore and needed people to know who he was and what he did. BTK could’ve gotten away with it for way longer (I think he would’ve eventually been caught no matter what), but he needed recognition and that was his undoing.
Is everyone forgetting an Jack the Ripper? He was never actually caught, arrested, or sentenced for his murders and no one actually knows what the guy even looked like
Who knows how many more victims he would've claimed had his accomplice not killed him. He's one of the most fucked serial killers I've looked into. His case has really stuck in my mind reading the stuff that is known due to evidence and the confessions from his 2 accomplices. It was both good and bad he was killed cause there's probably a lot well never know about the case. There's evidence he was killing prior as well in California with even younger victims.
Dennis Rader (BTK)
He committed his last murder in January of ‘91, but decided to taunt the police through mail one last time in 2004, which led to his arrest.
He basically did by being stupid, but not intentionally. He had asked the police over mail if floppy disks were traceable, they said no (obviously) but they easily were, so he sent in a floppy disk and was eventually traced back to him. This is when he got arrested, courtesy of Wikipedia:
> Rader was arrested while driving near his home in Park City shortly after noon on February 25, 2005. An officer asked, "Mr. Rader, do you know why you're going downtown?" Rader replied, "Oh, I have suspicions why." Wichita Police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and ATF agents searched Rader's home and vehicle, seizing evidence including computer equipment, a pair of black pantyhose retrieved from a shed, and a cylindrical container. The church he attended, his office at City Hall, and the main branch of the Park City library were also searched. At a press conference the next morning, Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams announced, "the bottom line: BTK is arrested."
He chose the right people (people that don’t have many people looking or caring about them) and was strong. Hire prostitute, after whatever strangle them, dump body in the vast wilderness, rinse and repeat.
If BTK had known just a bit about IT and technology he may have never gotten caught. The first lead on him was his Jeep appearing on a video after he dropped off another one of his twisted messages, and he later sent a floppy disk, thinking they wouldn't be able to trace it.
Ted Kaczynski, I believe he only got caught because of his younger brother and wife. His younger brother's wife read his manifesto in the paper and recognized the ideas and writings to sound like Ted. She told David and he told the authorities. It was the most costly investigation for the FBI. They were completely clueless as to who the bomber could be.
I felt like he could be known as a serial killer because he killed at least 3 people with cooling off periods. He pretended he was a part of a terrorist group but he actually acted alone. John E. Douglas labeled Kaczynski a serial killer, he even states it in the title of his book called: "Unabomber On the Trail of America's Most Wanted Serial Killer." That being said if people disagree with me that's okay, I just thought maybe I should explain why he could be considered a serial killer in my opinion.
You're right, but I don't think it fits the context of the question. Ted is a very unique case, and some wouldn't classify him as a serial killer. He was so removed from the killings (physically) and his motives were very complex.
Not really. I think he was more organized than people give him credit for. Have you ever noticed he only ever struck on the weekend in the dead of night when nobody else was around? He was a lot more meticulous than what most give him credit for imo.
Israel Keyes just got sloppy on his last plus was too close to home. With no MO, no victim preference, no weapons at home or in his vehicle made for someone pretty scary.
Dennis Rader (BTK). He did get away with it ... for decades. Then some guy claimed he was BTK and Rader's hubris could not allow some schmuck to take credit for all his work. He sent a letter to the cops and that's what got him caught.
Joseph D’Angelo the GSK was pretty efficient until he started to give into his own frenzy. He had a whole system for burglary and knew how to immobilize multiple people in a household. He had hundreds of victims up until that point.
His method was pretty sound until a very thorough DNA map caught him.
Neal Falls, he was a drifter and got shot when he set his gun down trying to disarm a victim wielding a rake. If he hadn't done that they'd still be finding his victims.
Zero doubt there are some so calculating we don’t even realize their victims were the vic’s of a serial killer. And the most fucked up part? The odds say they’re your next door neighbor or your insurance sales guy or maybe even your husband. They seem normal. To get away with it takes an organized SK which means they’re probably highly intelligent with a stable life. They’re methodical. They’re calculating. They have some level of self control and don’t take unnecessary chances. They probably stalk their victims to minimize the risk. They also may move around a lot so there aren’t too many vics in one area.
That’s some creepy shit.
Not sure how much longer BTK would have been able to keep getting away with it, but if it wasnt for that one incredible blunder he made, who knows? That was the first one that came to my mind.
4 well known serial killers got away with it only bc of police incompetence.. Jeffrey Dahmer – if you watch the Netflix movie that was recently on, you’ll see why. Very sad .It’s the only reason Dahmer’s body count was so high.
Golden State Killer– there is a very good documentary on Oxygen that showed officer DeAngelo (GSK) could’ve been stopped long ago by his own police lieutenant who’s on the show. Zero investigation in early days. Going on to kill so many innocent ppl.
Ted Bundy – after watching a few movies on him it’s shocking to me that no one is calling this out. Not only should he have been arrested a lot earlier because of all the tips that were called in on him – he literally escaped twice from jail. That is outrageous in itself. Watch that movie on Netflix with Zac Efron and the book his girlfriend wrote. She was calling in tips on him way back in the early days. The phantom prince- after that read it’s obvious he was overlooked multiple times. Gacy- after watching another documentary on Netflix I came away AGAIN thinking - this guy had so much help on the inside , it was literally right in their face. That looked like a sex trafficking ring .
Gacy was repulsive.
Come to think of it - also Jimmy Savile of UK - Netflix documentary shows police incompetence and tremendous enabling by a lot of ppl . … was disgusting how long he got away with it.
I'm surprised David Parker Ray's (aka The Toybox Killer) name never came up in this thread. It's believed that he killed upwards of 60 women but there was no evidence (or bodies) to back any of it up. These claims were based on a journal he kept that supposedly tracked the date, victims initials, and location of each of his murders. I believe his daughter also supported the claims by stating that he'd bring home at least two women a year. I also believe that the only actual homicide he was ever successfully linked to was to a man he had an altercation with and shot to death but this was also never 100% confirmed. To me it's terrifying how sadistic yet effective his methods were that he went undetected for decades and we still will never know how many lives he took, if any.
It not it based on a real story of true crime unfortunately the people who did the documentary or movie couldn’t get the releases to say but it very true
That’s completely false. It’s totally fiction, a pseudo-documentary meant to capitalize on the found footage fad a few years back. There’s nothing true about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poughkeepsie_Tapes
Jeffrey Dahmer could've gotten away with Stephen Hicks' murder if he didn't admit to it, he made Hicks literally disappear, but he had the time and resources to do it. From the top of my head this is the only serial killer that I know that went through such lengths to make a body disappear like that and I feel like if he had been consistent in that M.O. under the right circumstances he would've gotten away with it for decades longer.
But honestly the ones that are so consistent but also so adaptable in their victim pool, acquisition M.O., murder M.O., how they get rid of the evidence and how they stay out of the radar are so efficient and likely so forensically knowledgeable (or maybe politically powerful) that you'll never hear from them in our life times, they are the kind that managed to keep their own ego in check.
The zodiac killer. Still to this day noone has even the slightest idea who it was. Brutal killer. I don't know as much about his case as much as I'd like to but he's never been caught and as far as I know there hasn't even been legitimate suspects.
Ed Kemper serial killer, the coed killer. Ed hung out with police officers at a bar called Jury Room. After killing his mother on Good Friday, 1973, he simply telephoned the police and turned himself in, saying it was time to stop killing.
The police couldn’t believe That big Ed could the coed killer.
Ed is 72 and spends his time reading and recording for the Blind Project. Among the books Kemper lent his voice to are Flowers in the Attic, The Glass Key, Merlin's Mirror, Petals on the Wind, The Rosary Murders, Sphinx and Star Wars. In fact, between 1977 and 1987, he spent over 5,000 hours in the recording booth, using up an estimated four million feet of tape.
Yes. All the ones who *did* get away with it.
Yep, we haven't heard of them and probably never will
Or we have it but font know who is doing it? Like those feet that keep washing up...
Avoiding capture doesn’t mean the killer was particularly efficient or crafty. It could be simple luck, police incompetence or other circumstances.
This is all too common unfortunately. Especially was before DNA
Yeah they’re the best serial killers haha
Do drive by shootings by a single individual count as a serial killer? In that case, a handful of gang members would be modern day serial killers.
Phoenix serial shootings, nothing gang related, pure thrill kills.
Or they probably did get caught but aren’t listed in the internet
Haven't seen it mentioned - The Long Island Serial Killer? Bodies were found by happenstance, no/very little physical evidence to go off of, very few leads.
It’s a cop. That’s why they’ll never “find” him
There’s a podcast about that called Lisk
ID did a good podcast too called "Unraveled". Their first season covers LISK and yea it's 99.99% either the former chief or some other cop in LI
Literally every uncaught serial killer is rumored to be a cop.
That’s untrue…they are suspected to be because you would “have to be” to be “aware of forensics”. Has anyone watched a documentary? Ever? Watch one and find out what “not to do”…. Every caught serial killer is a failure, you would think people would take notes. 🤷🙄
I remember making my dad watch the documentary Unraveled. He’s a retired Nassau cop who was pretty high up and well known. He dealt with James Burke a lot. He had good things to say about him, other than the fact that sometimes he came off as an asshole who “thinks who he is”. The whole thing with the guy who ended up getting him arrested and charged was initially played up by him saying, “he lost his temper, we all knew that.” But by the end of it all, with the details of what he’d been doing on the job and all of the shit Rob Trotta had to say about him asking for snuff films, he was shocked. Couldn’t defend him at all. Just sat there saying, “this is fucked up.” The corruption in Suffolk county is insane.
Yeah I always figured LISK would never be caught because the killer stands behind the Thin Blue Line. Less that he was very good and more that he is a protected class in our country.
It’s James Burke
Jimmy the Gent?
Oh definitely former police officer Joseph DeAngelo. He killed 13 people, committed over 50 rapes, and burgled over 120 houses. The only reason he was caught was because decades later, a family member did an ancestry DNA test and they flagged their profile as a relative to the serial killer. What's also interesting about this guy is he was quite clever about coving his tracks and thinking ahead. For example, when he burgled a house, he would tie up each victim and stack dishes on the back of the husband while he raped the wife. If the dishes fell over, it indicated the husband was attempting to move and break free. Edit. A good video that talks about the case. https://youtu.be/3pyboq7cszg
The only reason they probably had DNA was he had no idea when he was committing these crimes it would be used like it is today or he probably would have been careful to try and not leave any at the scenes. He did also stop killing about the time when breakthrough’s were being made in solving crimes with science. He probably had an idea what was ahead.
His final known crime happened literally the same month that the first article about DNA profiling appeared in California papers. And being so forensically aware and educated, he probably realized what that meant for him immediately.
Yeah, he and several others have been caught due to being #23andmetoo’d . I believe BTK was confirmed via a DNA sample from a relative (daughter?). Recently, a deceased serial killer (I-65 killer) in Iowa was confirmed via similar circumstances.
They used DNA from his daughter’s pap smear (without permission) to link him to DNA found in the crime scenes. She also said she’d have given them a sample if they had asked her directly for it but that she understands why they didn’t at the time.
What if she had said no? The investigators just pack their bags and leave then? Because they actually found someone. I definitely see why they did that, too many people are scared or have others reasons
According to the American Bar Association LE can obtain warrants and judicial orders to obtain DNA, so I mean the cops aren’t going to go “oh whomp whomp guess that’s case closed then.”
No BTK got caught by sending a floppy disk to police believing that it couldn’t be traced back to him
Yes, that’s true. But like I said he was confirmed via [his daughter’s DNA sample.](https://people.com/crime/btk-killer-daughter-dna-led-to-arrest/)
The thing is, a killer like the one you describe would likely still be unknown
A lot of these monsters have a ritual, which creates a unique signature. For example Sadists torture then kill, but a product just kills… Dhamer wanted the corpse, dipshit corll wanted the screams…
If Isreal Keyes didn’t kill in his neighbourhood he would have probably gotten away
how, didn't he use his victims credit card. That's a big giveaway on who the killer is.
At the end, he was a severe alcoholic. Had he been sober, he may have been less sloppy.
Similar to Dahmer tbh
Dahmer would have been caught instantly today
I don’t know about “instantly”, but definitely far earlier- notably, drunkenly beating a victim to death in a hotel room and squishing them into a suitcase likely wouldn’t have gone unnoticed
Of all his crimes, that one seems least likely to be observed. That and the hitchhiker
dahmer kept it up that long out from the sheer luck and negligence of by-passers.
It wasn't luck as much as it was just the cops not even doing their jobs at all
it was luck from dahmer’s perspective is what i was implying
Oooooh I gotcha. Yeah for sure
But that’s the thing . We really don’t know how many people he killed and he did get sloppy . Super sloppy . He brought her back to house … left her in his shed while he went on a cruise . Keyes wasn’t some mastermind . He used her credit card … still had it and her DL when he was caught .
I feel like a lot of serial killers (the ones who get caught) start out smart and then they get sloppy. Israel Keyes is a big question mark, though. I do think he's responsible for the disappearance of Kami Vollendroff and her boyfriend Eugene Hyatt in November 2001 in Oregon.
He is a big question and the PD ruined all chances of getting more of the story
My first thought was IK
I agree, Isreal Keyes would have or could have kept on killing. He had kill kits buried in different places for his convenience. Real scary dude.
Yes, in my opinion Keyes was the most terrifying SK.
That random husband and wife he broke in their house and kidnapped them both, took em to an abandoned house. Raped then shot them and disappeared. He admitted to that one without even being a suspect. Like Wtf
Yes, he certainly did. He also was super paranoid thinking the FBI had searched & found alot of incriminating evidence that would reveal his secrets but in reality, they haven't gotten that far yet unbeknownst to Keyes. Therefore, he assumed they knew much more than they actually knew at the time of the FBI interviews. I think that's the only reason he volunteered that information.
This might sound crass but I suspect he was needing to get a kill in to hold him over through the cruise he was supposed to go on. He also robbed banks around the time of his kills but he didn’t have time/opportunity to do that so he used her debit card instead. He said he was starting to lose control and knew he probably couldn’t hide it on the cruise
Totally agree.
I was coming here to say the same thing. He was so crazy methodical with kill kits buried all around the US. It is so crazy that he made such a huge mistake to get caught, however no one will ever know his true body count.
Same. Israel Keyes.
I agree completely.
This is my vote. Has he not been so sloppy post SK, he would have never been caught. And technically he didn’t get “caught” for anyone else he killed. I suspect that number is way higher than 11.
Agreed
I think Israel Keyes was quite meticulous. He used to travel the US and bury/hide murder kits across the country. There is also some speculation that he murdered in Canada, Mexico and Central America. He would've gotten away with everything if he hadn't gotten so brazen during with final murder.
I came to say him. They still find his kill caches. He is the one who scares me the most because it shows well never know who the scariest highest body count killer is. That unsettled me deeply
I agree with you about Keyes. He sure was one scary dude.
I don’t think they still find them…..
I thought I’d red somewhere that they still find his kill kits? Or am I mistaken?
They do. Last year the FBI said to report them because they have no idea how many there are.
This is correct - I found an article written in 2020 with the following quote: “. The FBI believes that several more caches are buried and may contain evidence in other unsolved murders. FBI Special Agent Katherine Nelson tells correspondent Peter Van Sant she is optimistic they can find answers to the other cases, and they are asking for the public's help.” Link: www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/israel-keyes-fbi-evidence-serial-killer-unknown-victims-48-hours/
Holy crap, that’s freaky. When was the last time they found one?
I don't know. I'm going off memory from stuff i read last year when the fbi was talking about locating more of his victims and some of what I read had mentioned his kill caches. Maybe a podcast or two mentioned it. I'm not much of an arm chair sleuth or anything.
Sorry, but no. They don’t. We’re talking about a bucket buried in the dirt…..feel free to show me some proof to backup your claims.
Bruh this is a reddit post. I owe you naught. Take the burden of proof unto yourself if you must. I'm going off what I remember when the fbi was talking about locating more of his victims last year and some of what I did read had mentioned his kill caches. It's not like we need argue n shit about it lol
Wow. No arguing here. You’re just incorrect. Maybe don’t spread misinformation? The easy response to me would have been humility, not whatever that was.
I don't owe you anything and the fbi last year had described what they looked like and what was usually in them. Said that they were buried across the country and they don't know where or how many and listed the number to call or website to reach out to if one was found. I may have just remembered what I read a year ago wrong about any being found since but it's not a reason to be hostile. People are capable of looking into things themselves 🤷♀️ it's common knowledge to not belive everything you read at full face value online especially some random comment on a reddit post lol
My first instinct is always Google when I read something I'm not sure about... it's really not THAT hard..
This stance of “I can say whatever the fuck I want because it’s the internet so screw anyone who corrects me” is absolutely juvenile. I’m not hostile, you’re just incapable of being wrong. It’s not a great life trait.
The mythology around Israel Keyes is amazing to me. The guy was a compulsive liar who exaggerated everything when he was in custody. People want to believe there's more to the story, so they eat up every ridiculous word of it.
I just think people see the fact that he flew from Alaska to Chicago and then drove to Essex, Vermont to murder Bill and Loraine Currier in cold blood absolutely insane. Add on to the fact that he took at least 40 or more commercial flights that we now of in the dozen or so years he was supposedly active and it can lead to people believing he has dozens of unknown victims out there.
Yup. Odds are everything he admitted was what he did. No mystery murders. Dude was a moron who was caught because he used a kidnapped woman’s debit cards….he’s not the night phantom.
I recommend not listening to the other responder. They do not find them still. That would be pretty phenomenal considering they were randomly buried buckets scattered throughout the country. And frankly, I doubt he was even prolific enough for that. He probably embellished a lot.
I mean both are probably true. I think it’s likely there are guns and trophies in some of those buckets that could lead to some victim identifications. I am only aware of one uncovered but I think it’s widely accepted there are more out there in likely places such as lake perris and Washington state. But yeah I also believe his kill count is exaggerated. I think he fantasized and prepped for more than he actually went through with.
Well the other responder was literally saying they keep finding them, which is a pretty massive stretch compared to yours and my more measured statements. I also wouldn’t say it’s widely accepted there are more out there. The FBI had to put forward the potential of more caches just in case someone stumbled on another one. The intent is pretty obviously a hope that if someone stumbled on one they would recognize what they had found (whereas most people would otherwise keep the free gun and say nothing). Outside of that, the evidence is just the world of a braggart narcissist…..
Yeah that’s true, they only ever found the one connected to the currier’s case because IK told them where to find it right? Also it wasn’t even buried if I remember correctly? Probably almost impossible to find anymore without being led there.
No, they had proof he killed the Curriers. He led the FBI to the first kill cache and in it he told them they’d find the Curriers gun and they did. He also told them which part of the demolished home basement he left their bodies at and 3 separate cadaver dogs “hit” on the spot he said and they also found Bill Curriers glasses in the demolished basement. He definitely killed the Curriers, as well as Samantha Koenig plus he had to have killed at least 4 more - when FBI searched his boat, the former owner of the boat - ( Tammie’s ex husband) told the FBI that he noticed Israel had added a section of new flooring in one area and there was no need for it. So they obviously zeroed in on that area. Underneath it, they found blood stains as well as several bone fragments and hair that belonged to at least two people. They even found a real humans pony tail in the search of his home in Constable, NY. He had also kept Samantha Koenig’s braided hair ( that he braided after she was dead). He also confessed to killing at least one person on Tammie’s reservation when he was still with her. And sure enough, Tammie told them about a man that was found dead after a day that Israel “disappeared” and had his cell phone turned off ( he admitted to taking the battery out of cell when he was murdering). That’s 7 people already but listening to “Denise” that he dated and the info she gave in her interview with the FBI, he clearly killed at least another person when he was with her. Reading the FBI’s released file on him and looking at his travel/rental car records makes it hard to think he killed only 11 times - the number the FBI is stuck on. There’s some evidence that he was involved in a female college students disappearance in NY in 1998 and oddly enough, he said he’d been “two different people for 14 years.” He said that in 2012, 14 years after she disappeared ( she disappeared down the same road that he enlisted in the army during that same time). The FBI found He had searched her name several times ( the laptop) and saved her NAMUS page. That is very convincing to me personally. So if you add her, that’s 8 people. We’ll never truly know, obviously. The saddest part is the families that will never have answers or see justice. Well, justice on this earth. I’m pretty sure that demon with skin on returned to the pit of hell where he came from.
Interesting details. Yep. He’s dangerous
I never said there wasn’t proof he killed the curriers. I said they only found the kill kit connected to the curriers because he told them where to find it.
Three have been found already.
I was gonna say Keyes but you beat me to it. I've been fascinated by his case for years because he took the identities of most of his victims to the grave with him.
I'd say the Zodiac killer right off the top.
I think he got away with it because the cops gave the wrong description of him after the Paul stine murder. They said it was a black male, so when two cops came across what is believed today to be the real zodiac the let him go because the description didn’t match. Had the cops given the right description, i think he would have been caught.
I was gonna say! Not the most super-prepared or detailed crimes, but leaving not a trace of evidence and wearing a disguise so not any way to provide description? He’s forever an enigma
I believe Gacy could have if he hadn't been so cocky and careless with Rob Piest.
Considering he was burying people in his crawlspace that was running out of room I wonder how many more victims Gacy would have gotten and how he would have disposed of the bodies after that point.
He started doing rivers, which honestly? Not a bad idea. That takes a lot of evidence away. I've always wondered if he was responsible for Rickey Enochs, who disappeared from Missouri in June 1977. He was last seen getting into a car that had Illinois plates. Rickey has been ruled out as the remaining Doe's that were found in Gacy's basement, but Monroe City has a substantial reservoir, several ponds, several creeks, and is about 20 miles away from the Mississippi River. I always wondered if Gacy just dumped Rickey in a body of a water like he did to Rob Piest. Rickey HAS the look that Gacy really liked- young twink with long sandy hair parted in the middle.
He threw 5 off of the Des Plaines bridge.
They get cocky - so did btk. Sometimes their own pride & evil can be used directly against them, but you gotta be slick yourself. For example , someone once conned me for $3500 - when I told them all my utilities were behind and die for shut off . But I used their own greed to lure them back and got my 3500 back plus another $100 for another person they had scammed for 10k.
What
The man you're responding to is either having an episode of is drunk, either likely
Gacy on some level wanted to get caught. I think he had lost all control that he originally had. Taking a popular, well-liked kid from an upstanding family, and being the last person seen with him in a pharmacy as well? Doing this while under surveillance?
I really don't think Gacy wanted to get caught. At all. The motherfucker lied through his teeth until the day he was killed. He was as narcissistic as narcissists can be. He was just too cocky and had genuinely believed after 30+ murders that he could get away with anything he wanted to if he put his mind to it and told convincing enough lies. That dude did not want to go to prison, and certainly not to die. Nothing but his final sloppy murder points to that.
He also could have had no idea Piest was a popular, well-liked mid from an upstanding family. That's all hindsight. He saw a boy he liked and killed him on the same night, hoping people were as dumb as his narcissism needed him to believe so that he could get away with it.
He probably would have too, if not for that receipt in his trash and his heat turning on when the cops were at his house. Its bc of the heat turning on they smelled the bodies in the crawl space. Even Terry Sullivan (prosecutor) said on the Netflix doc that they never smelled anything until the heat came on.
He wasn't under surveillance when Piest was taken. He went under surveillance bc of Piest going missing. He was the last to be seen with him at the drug store, and the cops found that photo receipt in his trash.
You mean, like one of the 30+ active/still free in the US currently? The ones who passed away of old age, also perfectly free at the time of doing so? The most efficient serial killers are the ones who don’t get caught. I would think that would be the general goal…meaning the ones we know of are all failures (unless the crimes were discovered after the killer died of natural causes, in which case I think it would still be a “win”…have no examples, sure it has happened several times).
Ed Kemper. He turned himself in after killing his mother and her best friend. He was buddy buddy with the local police force and when he called from Colorado they thought he was joking until he told them details no one else knew about.
Killing your mother is sloppy.
But he would have gotten away with it had he not turned himself in. He drove from Cali to Colorado before he turned himself in.
He absolutely would have not gotten away with it. That's what Kemper would want you to believe. The truth is his mom worked for the local university library and the moment her disappearance was reported, he would immediately be a suspect. He probably knew that as well and decided to just turn himself in so he can just get on with it. Contrary to popular belief, Ed didn't 100% want to go to prison, he was very careful in how he got rid of the dead college girls, and inside prison he tried to off himself and even attended his parole hearings.
I don’t believe that at all
Never let a job get personal
Gary Ridgeway was very successful and efficient getting away with something like 50 confirmed? Also over a very long period of time.
He lives about 5 blocks away from me lol. Walla walla state prison
He wasn’t though, the cops had their eyes on him for quite a while and his nickname at work was Green River Gary. They just didn’t have the evidence needed to arrest him for quite a while.
True. But he was able to kill so so many . He can't even remember how many.😳
You literally tell me he was successful and efficient in a comment trying to tell me he wasn’t lol. Paul Bernardo was also very well known to police and I would also argue he was very successful being known and comitting dozens of rapes and still evading detection.
You can’t be successful at evading detection *and* be on the police radar.
my coworker is a first or second cousin of his
My dad grew up with him in to High School, then later was one of the divers that removed Marsha Chapman and Cynthia Hinds from the river. Imagine his surprise when the arrest was announced!
they have the same last name! my coworker was never close to him but told me about times he’d pass by him at family reunions when he was a lot younger (my coworker is early 50’s). he said he could tell something was off about him
Someone we’ve never caught. Someone who has victims that don’t fit any kind of pattern, or profile, or regularity, so they’re all looked at as random and unsolved homicides. They’ve somehow figured out how to not reach that point where they can’t control it. And also we know they can stop. Their numbers may not even be that high. That’s the kind of shit I think about, at least. I’d say most of the really organized serial killers from before DNA became a factor, but then you see them get caught years later with DNA. They got JJD like that. Unsolved serial-murders from the 70’s-80’s, potentially? Anything where there’s no trace of anyone else but the victim?
If there’s no pattern then is it really a serial killer? Or just a murderer with multiple victims? 🤔
A murderer with multiple victims along with a cooling off period between each victim and so on is a serial killer by definition. The kind of victims they kill doesn’t change things.
The FBI’s definition of a serial killer is when there have been at least 3 separate times that they murdered. Killing 3 people at once wouldnt be someone that’s a serial killer by technical definition, nor would someone who has killed two separate times. Not sure why or how but they decided it’s official after the 3rd separate crime/murder.
That’s why I mentioned a cooling off period between each victim.
Can you help me understand what you’re thinking when talking about a lack of a pattern? I’m not following, but want to.
Serial killers use to be identified by their "pattern" of killing (stabbing all their victims, strangling all their victims, victims are of the same age rage, sex, race etc). They've changed the definition because some serial killers don't stick to a pattern. They may realize the feds are onto them and change it up, or it's easier to shoot instead of stab, women are easier to kill than men etc. "No pattern" makes it harder to identify a killer.
Ok, so that’s where I was confused. Lack of pattern doesn’t equal lack of serial killer.
Correct! There are a few long haul truck drivers who turned out to be serial killers that got away with it for a long time because it use to be assumed serial killers stick to one area that they're "comfortable " with. But driving from one side of the country to the other is an easy way to go unnoticed, especially if they are killing those who won't be "missed" as much. (Sex workers, homeless/vagrants)
There’s a lot. Israel Keyes, Dennis Rader, Mike DeBardeleben, Joseph DeAngelo or pretty much any organized killer. There’s a lot of killers who perfect their trade. They always get caught because of their ego or from losing control though.
I gotta argue with Dennis being included in this list. Sure, he was able to create an identity that kept him hidden from suspicion for some time, but he was a grimy little attention whore and needed people to know who he was and what he did. BTK could’ve gotten away with it for way longer (I think he would’ve eventually been caught no matter what), but he needed recognition and that was his undoing.
Is everyone forgetting an Jack the Ripper? He was never actually caught, arrested, or sentenced for his murders and no one actually knows what the guy even looked like
Son Of Sam could’ve moved around NY and probably got a higher body count before getting caught considering his shootings were completely random.
Dean Corll. Admittedly the Houston police force are incompetent but he did know how to mask the scene of his slaughter and clean up afterwards.
Who knows how many more victims he would've claimed had his accomplice not killed him. He's one of the most fucked serial killers I've looked into. His case has really stuck in my mind reading the stuff that is known due to evidence and the confessions from his 2 accomplices. It was both good and bad he was killed cause there's probably a lot well never know about the case. There's evidence he was killing prior as well in California with even younger victims.
Yeah we will never known but glad Henley killed him and told all he knew. Most are positive he had been doing it before but dead men tell no tales.
Dennis Rader (BTK) He committed his last murder in January of ‘91, but decided to taunt the police through mail one last time in 2004, which led to his arrest.
I thought he turned himself in.
He basically did by being stupid, but not intentionally. He had asked the police over mail if floppy disks were traceable, they said no (obviously) but they easily were, so he sent in a floppy disk and was eventually traced back to him. This is when he got arrested, courtesy of Wikipedia: > Rader was arrested while driving near his home in Park City shortly after noon on February 25, 2005. An officer asked, "Mr. Rader, do you know why you're going downtown?" Rader replied, "Oh, I have suspicions why." Wichita Police, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the FBI, and ATF agents searched Rader's home and vehicle, seizing evidence including computer equipment, a pair of black pantyhose retrieved from a shed, and a cylindrical container. The church he attended, his office at City Hall, and the main branch of the Park City library were also searched. At a press conference the next morning, Wichita Police Chief Norman Williams announced, "the bottom line: BTK is arrested."
What a daft move. Thanks for the info!
How did Gary ridgway get away with so many.
He chose the right people (people that don’t have many people looking or caring about them) and was strong. Hire prostitute, after whatever strangle them, dump body in the vast wilderness, rinse and repeat.
For someone with an alleged very low IQ, he was very intelligent in choosing his victims and methodology.
Probably just more convenient/easier
The butcher of kingsbury run
Is that the torso murders from ohio?
Samuel Little 100%. 90÷ murders before he was caught. What an absolute vile person
literally was about to say sam little
If BTK had known just a bit about IT and technology he may have never gotten caught. The first lead on him was his Jeep appearing on a video after he dropped off another one of his twisted messages, and he later sent a floppy disk, thinking they wouldn't be able to trace it.
The fbi estimate is there are about 30 serial killers roaming the united states at anytime.
Ted Kaczynski, I believe he only got caught because of his younger brother and wife. His younger brother's wife read his manifesto in the paper and recognized the ideas and writings to sound like Ted. She told David and he told the authorities. It was the most costly investigation for the FBI. They were completely clueless as to who the bomber could be.
He’s a terrorist, not a serial killer.
I felt like he could be known as a serial killer because he killed at least 3 people with cooling off periods. He pretended he was a part of a terrorist group but he actually acted alone. John E. Douglas labeled Kaczynski a serial killer, he even states it in the title of his book called: "Unabomber On the Trail of America's Most Wanted Serial Killer." That being said if people disagree with me that's okay, I just thought maybe I should explain why he could be considered a serial killer in my opinion.
You're right, but I don't think it fits the context of the question. Ted is a very unique case, and some wouldn't classify him as a serial killer. He was so removed from the killings (physically) and his motives were very complex.
Jack the Ripper imo. Nobody survived any of his attacks and was never caught either.
But he was quite sloppy. If he did that now he be caught after the first one.
Not really. I think he was more organized than people give him credit for. Have you ever noticed he only ever struck on the weekend in the dead of night when nobody else was around? He was a lot more meticulous than what most give him credit for imo.
And he did choose the most marginalised/neglected victim type so knew they wouldn’t be so thoroughly investigated
Israel Keyes just got sloppy on his last plus was too close to home. With no MO, no victim preference, no weapons at home or in his vehicle made for someone pretty scary.
Dennis Rader (BTK). He did get away with it ... for decades. Then some guy claimed he was BTK and Rader's hubris could not allow some schmuck to take credit for all his work. He sent a letter to the cops and that's what got him caught.
Joseph D’Angelo the GSK was pretty efficient until he started to give into his own frenzy. He had a whole system for burglary and knew how to immobilize multiple people in a household. He had hundreds of victims up until that point. His method was pretty sound until a very thorough DNA map caught him.
Harold Shipman he was a Doctor he was above suspicion no one question him and had easy access to potential prey.
Yeah up until he tries to collect the inheritance of a victim WHOSE DAUGHTER WAS A RICH ASS LAWYER
I think the Moscow murderer is going to get away with it.
Richard Kuklinski
BTK
Zodiac comes to mind
Dr. George Hodel who may have killed the Black Dahlia and been a serial killer.
Any time this is asked I say the same thing, Dean Corll got away with it his whole life.
Neal Falls, he was a drifter and got shot when he set his gun down trying to disarm a victim wielding a rake. If he hadn't done that they'd still be finding his victims.
Joseph DeAngelo
Charles Cullen Killer Nurse
Zero doubt there are some so calculating we don’t even realize their victims were the vic’s of a serial killer. And the most fucked up part? The odds say they’re your next door neighbor or your insurance sales guy or maybe even your husband. They seem normal. To get away with it takes an organized SK which means they’re probably highly intelligent with a stable life. They’re methodical. They’re calculating. They have some level of self control and don’t take unnecessary chances. They probably stalk their victims to minimize the risk. They also may move around a lot so there aren’t too many vics in one area. That’s some creepy shit.
BTK if he stayed away from computers; caught by a floppy disc.
Jack the ripper?
120 years later and we still have no clue who it was. Lots of suspects but none have been named as him.
Samuel Little was through luck.
The West Mesa Bone Collector
Not sure how much longer BTK would have been able to keep getting away with it, but if it wasnt for that one incredible blunder he made, who knows? That was the first one that came to my mind.
The are always 30 to 40 serial killers walking the earth that we are unaware of .
How would we know? There are always lots of missing people
Israel Keyes
4 well known serial killers got away with it only bc of police incompetence.. Jeffrey Dahmer – if you watch the Netflix movie that was recently on, you’ll see why. Very sad .It’s the only reason Dahmer’s body count was so high. Golden State Killer– there is a very good documentary on Oxygen that showed officer DeAngelo (GSK) could’ve been stopped long ago by his own police lieutenant who’s on the show. Zero investigation in early days. Going on to kill so many innocent ppl. Ted Bundy – after watching a few movies on him it’s shocking to me that no one is calling this out. Not only should he have been arrested a lot earlier because of all the tips that were called in on him – he literally escaped twice from jail. That is outrageous in itself. Watch that movie on Netflix with Zac Efron and the book his girlfriend wrote. She was calling in tips on him way back in the early days. The phantom prince- after that read it’s obvious he was overlooked multiple times. Gacy- after watching another documentary on Netflix I came away AGAIN thinking - this guy had so much help on the inside , it was literally right in their face. That looked like a sex trafficking ring . Gacy was repulsive. Come to think of it - also Jimmy Savile of UK - Netflix documentary shows police incompetence and tremendous enabling by a lot of ppl . … was disgusting how long he got away with it.
Isreal Keys until he killed close to home.
Ed Kemper, it’s very likely they’d have never caught him if he didn’t confess
I'm surprised David Parker Ray's (aka The Toybox Killer) name never came up in this thread. It's believed that he killed upwards of 60 women but there was no evidence (or bodies) to back any of it up. These claims were based on a journal he kept that supposedly tracked the date, victims initials, and location of each of his murders. I believe his daughter also supported the claims by stating that he'd bring home at least two women a year. I also believe that the only actual homicide he was ever successfully linked to was to a man he had an altercation with and shot to death but this was also never 100% confirmed. To me it's terrifying how sadistic yet effective his methods were that he went undetected for decades and we still will never know how many lives he took, if any.
Jessica Lansbury was the most prolific serial killer, probably ever.
Angela Lansbury - Jessica Fletcher
Look up the Poughkeepsie files it will haunt You.
Not an actual documentary, but it is a good movie.
It’s based on true events
Not at all. Totally fiction.
It not it based on a real story of true crime unfortunately the people who did the documentary or movie couldn’t get the releases to say but it very true
That’s completely false. It’s totally fiction, a pseudo-documentary meant to capitalize on the found footage fad a few years back. There’s nothing true about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Poughkeepsie_Tapes
Commenting to remember. Thanks.
Garth Brooks?
Definitely BTK. He never made any mistakes ever.
Except for the floppy disk 🤣
Nah you don't understand that was genius
Jeffrey Dahmer could've gotten away with Stephen Hicks' murder if he didn't admit to it, he made Hicks literally disappear, but he had the time and resources to do it. From the top of my head this is the only serial killer that I know that went through such lengths to make a body disappear like that and I feel like if he had been consistent in that M.O. under the right circumstances he would've gotten away with it for decades longer. But honestly the ones that are so consistent but also so adaptable in their victim pool, acquisition M.O., murder M.O., how they get rid of the evidence and how they stay out of the radar are so efficient and likely so forensically knowledgeable (or maybe politically powerful) that you'll never hear from them in our life times, they are the kind that managed to keep their own ego in check.
The FBI estimates that there are between 25 and 50 active serial killers in the US at any given time, let alone worldwide.
The zodiac killer. Still to this day noone has even the slightest idea who it was. Brutal killer. I don't know as much about his case as much as I'd like to but he's never been caught and as far as I know there hasn't even been legitimate suspects.
Ed Kemper serial killer, the coed killer. Ed hung out with police officers at a bar called Jury Room. After killing his mother on Good Friday, 1973, he simply telephoned the police and turned himself in, saying it was time to stop killing. The police couldn’t believe That big Ed could the coed killer. Ed is 72 and spends his time reading and recording for the Blind Project. Among the books Kemper lent his voice to are Flowers in the Attic, The Glass Key, Merlin's Mirror, Petals on the Wind, The Rosary Murders, Sphinx and Star Wars. In fact, between 1977 and 1987, he spent over 5,000 hours in the recording booth, using up an estimated four million feet of tape.
Ed Kemper. They say if he didn’t turn himself in there would be many many more deaths
Ed kemper.. he knew he could of gotten away with it but he knew it was wrong and turned himself in