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| [[Francisco Guerrero (killer)|Francisco Guerrero]] || {{flag|Mexico|1823}} || 1880-1908<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeffrey M. |last=Pilcher |title=The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City, 1890-1917 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=GHgF0Xz2fcYC&pg=PA63&dq=francisco+guerrero+chalequero#v=onepage&q=francisco%20guerrero%20chalequero&f=false |accessdate=20 July 2012 |year=2006 |edition=1st|publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=New Mexico, USA |isbn= 978-0-8263-3796-2 |chapter= 2. The Porfirian Jungle |pages=62–65 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Alberto |last=Del Castillo Troncoso |title= Libro Rojo, Vol. 1 |url= http://books.google.com/?id=hTkS8dDnorQC&pg=PA129&dq=francisco+guerrero+el+chalequero#v=onepage&q=francisco%20guerrero%20el%20chalequero&f=false |accessdate=20 July 2012 |language=Spanish |edition= 1st |year=1888 |author2=Gerardo Villadelángel |publisher=Fondo de Cultura Económica |location=Mexico City, Mexico |isbn= 9681686152 |chapter=13. El Chalequero |pages=128–145}}</ref> || 21 || Known as ''El Chalequero'' ("The Vests Man"). An open [[machismo|mysoginist]], between 1880 and 1888 he raped and killed 20 women in [[Mexico City]], often claimed to be prostitutes, strangling them or cutting their throats, and in some cases he also decapitated them. He then threw their bodies in the Consulado river. Tried for one murder and another attempt, his initial death sentence was changed to 20 years in prison and was indulted in 1904. In 1908 he raped and murdered an old woman and was again given the death penalty, but died in prison of natural causes before he could be executed.
| [[Francisco Guerrero (killer)|Francisco Guerrero]] || {{flag|Mexico|1823}} || 1880-1908<ref>{{cite book |first=Jeffrey M. |last=Pilcher |title=The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City, 1890-1917 |url=http://books.google.com/?id=GHgF0Xz2fcYC&pg=PA63&dq=francisco+guerrero+chalequero#v=onepage&q=francisco%20guerrero%20chalequero&f=false |accessdate=20 July 2012 |year=2006 |edition=1st|publisher=University of New Mexico Press |location=New Mexico, USA |isbn= 978-0-8263-3796-2 |chapter= 2. The Porfirian Jungle |pages=62–65 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first= Alberto |last=Del Castillo Troncoso |title= Libro Rojo, Vol. 1 |url= http://books.google.com/?id=hTkS8dDnorQC&pg=PA129&dq=francisco+guerrero+el+chalequero#v=onepage&q=francisco%20guerrero%20el%20chalequero&f=false |accessdate=20 July 2012 |language=Spanish |edition= 1st |year=1888 |author2=Gerardo Villadelángel |publisher=Fondo de Cultura Económica |location=Mexico City, Mexico |isbn= 9681686152 |chapter=13. El Chalequero |pages=128–145}}</ref> || 21 || Known as ''El Chalequero'' ("The Vests Man"). An open [[machismo|mysoginist]], between 1880 and 1888 he raped and killed 20 women in [[Mexico City]], often claimed to be prostitutes, strangling them or cutting their throats, and in some cases he also decapitated them. He then threw their bodies in the Consulado river. Tried for one murder and another attempt, his initial death sentence was changed to 20 years in prison and was indulted in 1904. In 1908 he raped and murdered an old woman and was again given the death penalty, but died in prison of natural causes before he could be executed.
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| [[Martha Needle]] || {{flagicon|Victoria}} Victoria<br>[[File:Flag of the Governor of South Australia 1870-1876.svg|22px]] [[South Australia]] || 1885-1894 || 5 || Poisoned her husband and three children, and her new fiancé's two brothers (one of whom survived) with arsenic. Hanged.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/the-black-widow-of-richmond-martha-needle-killed-five-with-poison/story-fnat7jnn-1226412556420 | title=The Black Widow of Richmond Martha Needle killed five with poison | publisher=heraldsun.com.au | date=July 02, 2012 | accessdate=1 June 2014 | author=Robinson, Russell}}</ref>
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| [[Jane Toppan]] || {{flagicon|USA|1877}} United States || 1885-1901 || 31 || Nurse who confessed to poisoning 31 people in her care and lying in bed with them as they died for her own sexual gratification. [[Insanity plea|Found not guilty by reason of insanity]] and recluded in a mental hospital.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19247994?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com | title=For 10 years, 'Jolly Jane' poured her poison Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19247994?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com#ixzz33QJY1QMt | publisher=lowellsun.com | date=November 2, 2011 | accessdate=1 June 2014 | author=Myers, Jennifer}}</ref>
| [[Jane Toppan]] || {{flagicon|USA|1877}} United States || 1885-1901 || 31 || Nurse who confessed to poisoning 31 people in her care and lying in bed with them as they died for her own sexual gratification. [[Insanity plea|Found not guilty by reason of insanity]] and recluded in a mental hospital.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19247994?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com | title=For 10 years, 'Jolly Jane' poured her poison Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19247994?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com#ixzz33QJY1QMt | publisher=lowellsun.com | date=November 2, 2011 | accessdate=1 June 2014 | author=Myers, Jennifer}}</ref>

Revision as of 21:02, 1 June 2014

The following is a list of known serial killers active before 1900, in roughly chronological order.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Before 1800

Name Country Years active Claimed victims Notes
Liu Pengli Eastern Han Late 2nd Century BC 100+ Prince of Jidong, dispossessed for his crimes in 116 BC. Earliest serial killer attested by historical sources.[1]
Locusta of Gaul[2] Roman Empire 54-55 AD 5-7+[2] Poisoner in the service of Emperor Nero. Executed by Galba in 69 AD.
Zu Shenatir Himyarite Kingdom 5th Century AD Unknown Lured young boys into his home and sodomized them before throwing them out of a window. Stabbed by his last intended victim.[3]
Pierre Burgot and Michel Verdun France 1521 3 Self-proclaimed werewolves that confessed to killing and cannibalizing a woman and two children. Convicted of sorcery (along with a third man) and executed.[4]
Peter Stumpp  Holy Roman Empire c.1564-1589 16 "The Werewolf of Bedburg". Confessed under torture to murdering and cannibalizing 14 children, including his son, and two pregnant women. Broken at the wheel, beheaded and burned.[5]
Peter Niers Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire c.1566-1581 544 Bandit leader that confessed under torture to killing 544 people, including the murder of 24 women and the use of their unborn children in Black Magic. Broken at the wheel and quartered alive.[6]
Björn Pétursson Denmark Dano-Norwegian Iceland 1596 and earlier 9-18 Called Axlar-Björn ("Shoulder-Bear"). Peasant that robbed and killed people who traversed his land. Beheaded.[7]
Werewolf of Chalons Kingdom of France France 1598 and earlier Unknown Also called "The Demon Tailor". Lured children into his Parisian shop where he tortured and raped them before cutting their throats; he then butchered the bodies, cooked and ate their flesh. Barrels full of bleached bones were found in his cellar. All court documents were deliberately destroyed after his execution, causing his name to be forgotten.[4]
Jasper Hanebuth Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire 1652 and earlier 19 Former mercenary in the Swedish Army turned highwayman that was active in Eilenriede forest, then outside Hanover. Usually shot people from a distance, before knowing if they had any money. Confessed to the murder of 19 people including his "robber bride", and was broken at the wheel.[8]
Catherine Monvoisin Kingdom of France France 1660s-1679 1000-2500[4] Known as "La Voisin". Alleged sorceress, fortune-teller, cult leader and poisoner for hire who confessed under torture to the ritual murder of over a thousand infants in black masses.[4] Also tried to poison Louis XIV. Convicted along with 35 others as part of the Affair of the Poisons, and burned at the stake in 1680.
Marie-Madeleine-Marguerite d'Aubrey, Madame de Brinvilliers and Godin de Sainte-Croix Kingdom of France France 1666-1670 3-50+[4] Lovers, they poisoned d'Aubrey's father and two brothers to inherit their states, and an undetermined number of poor people in hospitals. Sainte-Croix died of natural causes in 1672, but d'Aubrey was tried, beheaded and burned at the stake in 1676. Her sensational trial led to the Affair of the Poisons.
Lewis Hutchinson British Jamaica 1760s-1773 43+ Scottish doctor and rancher known as "The Mad Master" and "The Mad Doctor of Edinburgh Castle". Shot and robbed passerbies of all types in his property, sometimes with the help of accomplices, after which his slaves threw the bodies in Hutchinson's Hole where they were devoured by animals. Hanged.[9]
Thug Behram Awadh State[10] 1790-1840 125 Leader of the Thuggee cult of murder-robbers in central India, also known as Buhram Jemedar and the "King of the Thugs". Behram is often cited as one of the most prolific serial killers in History (if not the most) with 931 victims, although he only admitted to have been present for that many murders, committing 125 himself and witnessing 150 or more. Thuggee victims were travellers that the Thuggees latched to and befriended before strangling them with a ceremonial handkerchief or rumal and robbing their belongings. Hanged by officers of the East India Company as part of the British colonial Thuggee and Dacoity Suppression Acts, 1836–1848

1800 to 1850

Name Country Years active Claimed victims Notes
Andreas Bichel Kingdom of Bavaria Bavaria 1806?-1808 2[11]-50+[12] "The Bavarian Ripper". Invited young women into his house under the pretense of showing them a "magic mirror" where they could see their future husbands. He blindfolded and bind their hands behind their back, which he said was necessary for the ritual, and then hit them in the head, stabbed them on the neck and hacked them to pieces while they were still alive, burying their bodies in the mountains or under the woodshed in his own home. He kept his victims' clothing, which ended incriminating him. Sentenced to break at the wheel, later changed to decapitation, and executed in 1809.[12]
Anna Maria Zwanziger Kingdom of Bavaria Bavaria 1808-1809 3 Housekeeper who poisoned her employers with arsenic and nursed them back to health to gain their favor; three died. Sentenced to beheading in 1811, which she welcomed as the only way to keep herself from poisoning people.[13]
John Williams  United Kingdom 1811 7 Irish sailor who murdered two families and their servants in London's East End by bashing their heads with a hammer and cutting their throats. Hanged himself in prison while awaiting trial.[4]

After 1850

Name Country Years active Claimed victims Notes
Lydia Sherman United States United States 1858[14]-1871 10 "The Derby Poisoner". Confesed to poisoning three husbands and seven children with arsenic.[15] Died in prison.
The Bloody Espinosas United States United States 1863 8[16] Gang formed first by Neomexicano road bandit brothers Felipe Nerio and José Vivián Espinosa, and after José Vivián's death by Felipe Nerio and nephew José Vicente, who acted in Conejos County, Colorado. Following a skirmish with the US Army, the Espinosas declared war on the United States and decided to kill as many Anglos as they could, until they were tracked and killed by adventurer Tom Tobin and soldiers of Fort Garland.[16]
Matti Haapoja Finland
Russia Russia		 1867-1894 3-10 Known to have killed 3 in Finland and suspected of 7 more murders, 5 of them in Siberia where he was exiled to in the 1880s. Also wounded 6 people. Killed himself in prison in 1895.[17][18]
Vincenzo Verzini Kingdom of Italy Italy 1870-1871 2+ Ambushed women in the country and strangled them to achieve erection, killing at least two. He then disemboweled them and drank their blood after biting them on the thigh.[12]
Juan Díaz de Garayo Spain Spain 1870-1879 6 Known as El Sacamantecas ("The Fat Extractor"). Strangled women after having sex with them - first willingly, then by force. Garroted in 1881.[19]
Stephen Richards United States United States 1878 6-9 "The Nebraska Fiend". Confessed to killing two men, one woman and her three children, in all cases but one to rob the victims. Hanged in 1879.[20][21][22]
Francisco Guerrero  Mexico 1880-1908[23][24] 21 Known as El Chalequero ("The Vests Man"). An open mysoginist, between 1880 and 1888 he raped and killed 20 women in Mexico City, often claimed to be prostitutes, strangling them or cutting their throats, and in some cases he also decapitated them. He then threw their bodies in the Consulado river. Tried for one murder and another attempt, his initial death sentence was changed to 20 years in prison and was indulted in 1904. In 1908 he raped and murdered an old woman and was again given the death penalty, but died in prison of natural causes before he could be executed.
Martha Needle Victoria (state) Victoria
South Australia		 1885-1894 5 Poisoned her husband and three children, and her new fiancé's two brothers (one of whom survived) with arsenic. Hanged.[25]
Jane Toppan United States United States 1885-1901 31 Nurse who confessed to poisoning 31 people in her care and lying in bed with them as they died for her own sexual gratification. Found not guilty by reason of insanity and recluded in a mental hospital.[26]
Mary Ann Britland United Kingdom United Kingdom 1886 3 Murdered her daughter, husband and the wife of her lover with mice poison. Hanged.[27]
Guadalupe Martínez de Bejarano Mexico Mexico 1887-1892[28][29] 3 Tortured three servant girls until they died of starvation. Died in prison.
Jack the Ripper United Kingdom United Kingdom 1888 5 Unidentified killer who stabbed and mutilated five prostitutes in the Whitechapel district of London.[30]
Johann Otto Hoch United States United States
 Austria-Hungary (alleged)
France France (alleged)
United Kingdom United Kingdom (alleged)		 1888?-1905 1-50+ German con man who married women under false identities, swindled and poisoned them with arsenic. Hanged in 1906 for one murder, but suspected to have committed between 15 and 55.[31]
Frederick Bailey Deeming United Kingdom United Kingdom
Victoria (state) Victoria		 1891 6 Killed his wife and four children (cutting their throats, except one daughter that was strangled) and buried their bodies in concrete under a rented house in Rainhill, England. He then fled with his mistress to Windsor, Victoria, where he bludgeoned her and cut her throat, and also buried the body in concrete in another rented house. The discovery of the last body led to his arrest and the uncovering of the ones in Rainhill, attracting the attention of the international press, which considered him the possible identity of Jack the Ripper. Hanged in 1892.[32]
John and Sarah Makin New South Wales New South Wales 1892 and earlier[33] 12-13 Baby farmers who murdered infants in their care. John was hanged in 1893 but Sarah's death sentence was commuted for life imprisonment and hard labor. She was paroled in 1911 and died seven years later of natural causes.
H. H. Holmes United States United States
Canada Canada		 c.1893-1894 9-200 Notorious for designing and building a "Murder Castle" where he tortured, killed, dissected and incinerated the bodies of people who had come to visit the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Also killed an accomplice and three of his accomplice's children. Hanged in 1896.[34]
Joseph Vacher France France 1894-1897 11-27+ Mentally ill vagrant known as "The French Ripper" and the "Ripper of the South-East", although he was also active in central and northern France. Raped, stabbed and disembowelled women, teenage boys and girls who worked alone in the countryside. Guillotined in 1898.[35]
George Chapman United Kingdom United Kingdom 1897-1902 3 Poisoned three of his mistresses with tartar emetic. Suspected at the time of his execution by hanging in 1903 to be the real identity of Jack the Ripper.[36]

Legendary Serial Killers

The existence of the following serial killers is dubious or contradicts the accepted historical record:

Name Country Time Period Notes
Andrew Christie Scotland Scotland mid-14th century Called "Christie-Cleek". Purported Perth butcher turned road bandit, murderer and cannibal during a severe famine.[37]
Christman Genipperteinga Holy Roman Empire Holy Roman Empire 1568-1581 Claimed German bandit who was executed for 964 murders, according to a 1581 pamphlet. Possibly inspired by real bandit Peter Niers, who confessed under torture to 544 deaths and was executed in the same year, although similar characters appear in German fairy tales and folk songs from before that time.[38]
Sawney Bean's clan Scotland Scotland late 16th century - early 17th century Claimed cannibal family that robbed, killed and ate travellers in a cave of Bennane Head, until their manhunt and execution by James VI. Contemporary documents make no reference to the claimed hundreds of disappearances and murders claimed to have been carried by Bean's clan, which was probably inspired by the earlier legend of Christie-Cleek.[39]
Agnus McVee, Jim McVee and Al Riley Canada Canada 1875-1885 Family claimed to have owned a hotel and store on the Cariboo Road of British Columbia during the Cariboo Gold Rush, where they killed miners for their gold and kidnapped women to make into sex slaves until their arrest and death in prison in New Westminster. The story comes from a single source and there are no denounces of disappearances in the area at the time of the murders nor existing death certificates of the supposed serial killers aprehended.[40]

See also

References

  1. ^ Sima, Qian (2013). Records of the Grand Historian. Columbia University Press. p. 387.
  2. ^ a b Gibson, Dirk C. (2012) Legends, Monsters or Serial Murderers? The real story behind an ancient crime. Praeger, 202 pages.
  3. ^ Lawrence Senelick (1990). "Murderers". In Wayne R. Dynes (ed.). Encyclopedia of Homosexuality (PDF). Williamapercy.com. p. 851. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Ramsland, Katherine (2005) The Human Predator. The Berkley Publishing Group, New York City.
  5. ^ Wagner, Stephen. "The Werewolf of Bedburg".
  6. ^ Wiltenburg (2012), p.81
  7. ^ Harlow, Cathy (2004). Iceland. Hunter Publishing, Inc. p. 185.
  8. ^ Helmut Zimmermann: Hanebuth, Jasper. In: Stadtlexikon Hannover, S. 252
  9. ^ Tortello, Dr. Rebecca (6 November 2002). "Lewis Hutchinson: The Mad Master". Pieces of the Past. Jamaica Gleaner. Retrieved 13 November 2012.
  10. ^ Rubinstein, William D. (2004) Genocide: A History. Pearson Education Limited. p.83
  11. ^ Juan Ignacio Blanco. "Andreas BICHEL". Murderpedia. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  12. ^ a b c Gibson, Dirk C. (2012) Legends, Monsters or Serial Murderers? The real story behind an ancient crime. Praeger, 202 pages.
  13. ^ Juan Ignacio Blanco (1 September 1909). "Anna Margaretha ZWANZIGER". Murderpedia. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  14. ^ Dan (4 February 1998). "Lydia Sherman". 08016.com. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  15. ^ The New York Times
  16. ^ a b Miguél A. Torrez. "America's First Serial Killers: The Espinosa Brothers-1863". New Mexico Office of the State Historian. Retrieved 9 May 2014.
  17. ^ Ervasti, Kaijus: Murhamiehen muotokuva: Matti Haapoja 1845–1895. Helsinki: VAPK-kustannus, 1992. ISBN 951-37-0976-0.
  18. ^ Vasa, Kosti: Poliisimiehen muistelmia, s. 124. Porvoo: WSOY, 1967. ISBN puuttuu teoksesta.
  19. ^ Becerro de Bengoa, Ricardo (1881) El Sacamantecas. Su Retrato y sus Crímenes. Narración escrita con arreglo a todos los datos auténticos. Viuda e Hijos de Iturbe, Vitoria, 58 pages.
  20. ^ The Nebraska Murderer. A cool confession of his many crimes. The New York Times, January 2, 1879
  21. ^ Stephen D. RICHARDS - Murderpedia. Retrieved June 1, 2013
  22. ^ Ramsland, Katherine M. (2006) Inside the minds of serial killers. Greenwood Publishing Group, 199 pgs
  23. ^ Pilcher, Jeffrey M. (2006). "2. The Porfirian Jungle". The Sausage Rebellion: Public Health, Private Enterprise, and Meat in Mexico City, 1890-1917 (1st ed.). New Mexico, USA: University of New Mexico Press. pp. 62–65. ISBN 978-0-8263-3796-2. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  24. ^ Del Castillo Troncoso, Alberto; Gerardo Villadelángel (1888). "13. El Chalequero". Libro Rojo, Vol. 1 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Mexico City, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica. pp. 128–145. ISBN 9681686152. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  25. ^ Robinson, Russell (July 02, 2012). "The Black Widow of Richmond Martha Needle killed five with poison". heraldsun.com.au. Retrieved 1 June 2014. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Myers, Jennifer (2 November 2011). "For 10 years, 'Jolly Jane' poured her poison Read more: http://www.lowellsun.com/ci_19247994?IADID=Search-www.lowellsun.com-www.lowellsun.com#ixzz33QJY1QMt". lowellsun.com. Retrieved 1 June 2014. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  27. ^ Abbott, Geoffrey (2006). Amazing Stories of Female Executions (PDF). Summersdale Publishers Ltd. pp. 41–43.
  28. ^ Sánchez González, Agustín; Martínez Roca (2011). Un dulce sabor a muerte (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Mexico City, Mexico: Planeta Mexico. ISBN 978-607-07-0141-2. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  29. ^ Chávez Castañeda, Ricardo; Gerardo Villadelángel (1892). "15. El País de la madre". Libro Rojo, Vol. 1 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Mexico City, Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica. pp. 173–182. ISBN 9681686152. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  30. ^ "Jack the Ripper Biography". biography.com. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  31. ^ Lydersen, Kari (31 October 2006). "Infamous Piece of Chicago History Goes on the Block". Washington Post. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  32. ^ Jones, Barry O. (1981). "Deeming, Frederick Bailey (1853–1892)". Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8. MUP. pp. 268–269. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
  33. ^ Kidd, Paul B. "The Baby Farmers". TruTV.com. p. 2. Archived from the original on 2 October 2012. Retrieved 20 July 2012.
  34. ^ Did Dr. Henry Holmes kill 200 people at a bizarre "castle" in 1890s Chicago? from The Straight Dope
  35. ^ Lane, Brian; Wilfred Gregg. "The Encyclopedia of Serial Killers". Retrieved 7 January 2013. 'Yes, I committed the crimes ... I committed them all in moments of frenzy.'
  36. ^ The two unsolved questions that have never been answered to support the theory that Chapman was Jack the Ripper is whether or not he could speak English when he arrived? Could the murders change so drastically from physical mutilation to poisoning? Peter De Loriol (2010). Murder and Crime in London. History Press Limited. p. 61, 62. ISBN 978-0-7524-5657-7.
  37. ^ Wilson, John Mackay (1851). "Wilson's historical, traditionary and imaginative tales of the borders and of Scotland". Robert Martin. pp. 225–230. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  38. ^ Herber, Caspar (1581). Erschröckliche newe Zeytung Von einem Mörder Christman genant, welcher ist Gericht worden zu Bergkessel den 17. Juny diß 1581 Jars. Mainz: Caspar Herber. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  39. ^ Maine, Charles, Eric (1967). The Worlds Strangest Crimes. Hart Pub. Co., 1967. p. 30.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  40. ^ "108 HOTEL OF MURDER". historical.bc.ca. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
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