Imprisoned Killers

Herbert William Mullin became one of California's most infamous serial killers after murdering 13 people in and around Santa Cruz between October 1972 and February 1973. Mullin later claimed he believed the killings were necessary to prevent catastrophic earthquakes, a delusion linked to severe mental illness. His short but deadly murder spree ended with his arrest in February 1973, and his case remains one of the most widely studied examples of psychosis and serial homicide in the United States.

Ian Duncan Stewart Brady became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after carrying out the Moors Murders with Myra Hindley between 1963 and 1965. The pair murdered five children and concealed several victims on Saddleworth Moor, creating one of the most notorious criminal cases in British history. Regarded as the dominant figure in the partnership, Brady spent the remainder of his life imprisoned and became a symbol of extreme criminality in the United Kingdom.

Ian Rich became known in Ohio criminal history after carrying out a targeted drive-by shooting on Interstate 77 that killed David Perez and seriously wounded Jacqueline Perez on April 28, 2024. Prosecutors alleged Rich deliberately followed the couple from Newburgh Heights before pulling alongside their vehicle and firing multiple gunshots. He later pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, attempted murder, and firearms offences, receiving a prison sentence of 40 to 46½ years. The case attracted significant attention because of the seemingly unprovoked nature of the attack and subsequent claims regarding Rich's mental health and drug use.

Ivan Milat was an Australian serial killer responsible for the murders of multiple backpackers in New South Wales between 1989 and 1992. His crimes became one of the most notorious cases in Australian criminal history. Milat targeted travellers and used deception to gain their trust before carrying out violent attacks. He was later convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole, remaining incarcerated until his death in 2019.

James Toliver Craig, an Aurora, Colorado, dentist, murdered his wife of 23 years, Angela Craig, by poisoning her over a ten-day period in March 2023. Prosecutors established that Craig secretly obtained arsenic, cyanide and tetrahydrozoline while Angela repeatedly became seriously ill and required hospital treatment, ultimately administering a fatal dose of cyanide while she was hospitalised. Investigators uncovered internet searches about lethal and difficult-to-detect poisons, financial difficulties and extramarital affairs, while Craig later attempted to manufacture evidence supporting a suicide narrative and solicited the murder of the lead detective. A jury convicted him of first-degree murder and five solicitation charges in July 2025, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

James Desborough is an English serial killer convicted of murdering Claudio Aquilino, Daniel Coleman and his prison cellmate, Steven Kempster, during 2025. Desborough met Aquilino and Coleman while they were living at a homeless shelter in Newquay before murdering, dismembering and attempting to conceal their remains in woodland near his cabin in Cornwall. While on remand awaiting trial, he strangled his prison cellmate at HMP Exeter. In July 2026, he was sentenced to a rare whole life order, ensuring he will never be released from prison. Police are also reviewing four unexplained deaths connected to the same homeless shelter, although Desborough has not been charged in relation to those deaths.

James Dupree Henry was convicted of murdering 81-year-old Orlando civil rights leader Zellie Riley during a robbery at Riley's home in March 1974. Henry bound and gagged Riley before suffocating him and stealing property from the residence. Five days later, Henry shot and seriously wounded Orlando police detective Ronald Ferguson while attempting to avoid arrest. Convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death, Henry maintained his innocence throughout his decade on death row. His case became the focus of civil rights and capital-punishment campaigns, with Jesse Jackson, Coretta Scott King and Riley's son asking Florida officials for clemency. Henry was executed by electrocution at Florida State Prison on September 20, 1984.

James “Jimmy” Rackover was convicted of murdering 26-year-old Joseph “Joey” Comunale following an after-party at Rackover’s Manhattan apartment on November 13, 2016. Prosecutors said Rackover, Lawrence “Larry” Dilione and Max Gemma were involved in the events surrounding Comunale’s death and the subsequent attempt to conceal his body. Comunale was beaten and stabbed inside Apartment 4C before his body was transported to New Jersey, burned and buried in a shallow grave. Rackover was convicted of second-degree murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with physical evidence and was sentenced to 28⅔ years to life in prison.