Serial killers are defined as committing a series of murders, sometimes with no apparent motive, in a pattern or specific way. They are often made famous (or rather infamous) in the process because the press and general population become alarmed and focus on them. They appear on the news when news of a serial killer is leaked out or is released to the press by law enforcement. It would be great if serial killers were all fictional and created only on pages of thrillers, but that isn't true.
We all know about Jack the Ripper, H. H. Holmes, Jeffery Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and the Zodiak Killer, but there are current day killers you may not know about. Some of them aren't caught.
2011 - New York State
Police found around 10 bodies while investigating the murder of Shannan Gilbert, most of them sex workers who had advertised on craigslist. Some of the body parts found in the graves were linked to an unsolved case from 1996. While there are some leads, they haven't found the killer.
North Texas Hospital 2000-2001
Vickie Jackson, currently serving a life sentence, may have killed 10 people in North Texas Hospital.
She was a nurse at North Texas Hospital and used a drug, used to paralyze ability to breathe, to kill elderly patients in the hospital. She pleaded no contest, but never admitted her guilt.
Plainfield Ghoul - 1954-1984
Ed Gein became fascinated by death, dismemberment, sexual fantasies, and cannibalism after his parents died in the 1940s. His farm in Plainfield became a house of horrors. By 1954, he went from messing with graveyard corpses to killing older women. 15 women died at his hands. He was put in the state hospital for life and died of cancer in 1984.
The Dating Game killer - 1968
Rodney Alcala was a contestant on the dating game. Fortunately, his date had the good sense to not show up for the date. He killed an 8 year old, raped and strangled, in 1968. He killed four more women after that. Based on photos received from Alcala, it is believed he killed more women. He got the death sentence after conviction of one murder.
Check my facts, blog readers, and if you are interested in any other cases, comment. I looked for less known cases. In review, women, children, and sex workers were and are major targets of serial killers. People on the social fringes are easier to target. You will also notice that few women have been known to be serial killers. If you are writing a serial killer in your novel, these are social patterns you may want to follow or break. Your call, fellow writers.
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