American Killers

Albert Fish became one of the most horrifying killers in American history after murdering children during the early 1900s and later sending grotesque letters to victims’ families. Known for extreme sadism, self-harm and cannibalistic behavior, Fish terrorized New York and surrounding states while hiding behind the appearance of a quiet elderly man. Often referred to as “The Gray Man,” “The Boogeyman” and “The Werewolf of Wysteria,” Fish shocked investigators and the public because of the disturbing nature of his crimes and psychological abnormalities. His case became one of the earliest high-profile examples of criminal profiling and remains one of the darkest child murder cases in American true crime history.

Alexander Christopher Ewing was responsible for four murders during a series of violent attacks in the Denver metropolitan area in January 1984. On January 10, he sexually assaulted and murdered 50-year-old Patricia Louise Smith in her Lakewood home, and six days later attacked the Bennett family in Aurora, killing Bruce Bennett, his wife Debra and their seven-year-old daughter Melissa with a hammer. The crimes remained unsolved for more than three decades until DNA evidence linked Ewing, who was already serving a prison sentence in Nevada, to the killings. He was convicted of the three Bennett murders in 2021 and Patricia Smith's murder in 2022, receiving three consecutive life sentences for the Bennett killings and another life sentence for Smith's murder.

Alex Murdaugh became one of America’s most infamous disgraced legal figures after being convicted of murdering members of his own family in South Carolina in 2021. The case exploded into national headlines because Murdaugh came from one of the most powerful legal dynasties in the American South, with generations of influence over law enforcement, prosecutions and politics throughout the region. As investigators examined the murders, they uncovered a far larger web of corruption involving financial fraud, opioid addiction, theft, insurance schemes and abuse of legal power spanning many years. The collapse of the Murdaugh family empire transformed the case into one of the most heavily publicized American criminal scandals of the modern era.

Allen Lee "Tiny" Davis was convicted of murdering Nancy Weiler and her two young daughters, Kristina and Katherine, during a violent attack at their Jacksonville, Florida, home on May 11, 1982. Davis entered the house armed with a handgun and a length of rope, brutally beat Nancy and shot both children before fleeing with property taken from the home. He was already on parole for previous robbery convictions when the murders occurred. Convicted of three counts of first-degree murder in 1983 and sentenced to death, Davis exhausted numerous appeals before being executed by electrocution at Florida State Prison on July 8, 1999.

Andrew Phillip Cunanan carried out a five-victim murder spree across four states between April and July 1997 that culminated in the fatal shooting of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace outside his Miami Beach home. Beginning with the murder of his former friend Jeffrey Trail in Minnesota, Cunanan killed architect David Madson, wealthy Chicago developer Lee Miglin and New Jersey cemetery caretaker William Reese before targeting Versace. The nationwide manhunt that followed became one of the largest in FBI history. Eight days after killing Versace, Cunanan died by suicide aboard a houseboat in Miami Beach as law enforcement closed in.

Angela Wagner was a central participant in the Wagner family conspiracy that resulted in the Pike County massacre, one of the deadliest family murder cases in Ohio history. Along with her husband George "Billy" Wagner III and sons George Wagner IV and Edward "Jake" Wagner, she helped plan the murders of eight members of the Rhoden family during a custody dispute involving Jake Wagner's daughter. Angela pleaded guilty in 2021 to multiple charges, including conspiracy and aggravated burglary, and agreed to testify against her family members in exchange for the dismissal of the aggravated murder charges. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and will not be eligible for release until the early 2050s.

Anthony Todt became one of Florida’s most infamous family annihilators after murdering his wife, three children, and family dog inside their Celebration, Florida home in 2019. Prosecutors alleged Todt killed the family over several days before living alongside the decomposing bodies while attempting to avoid financial collapse, criminal exposure, and personal ruin. The case generated intense national media attention because Todt publicly presented himself as a successful physical therapist and family man before the murders were uncovered. Investigators later revealed mounting financial fraud allegations, insurance investigations, and severe personal pressures surrounding Todt before the killings. The horrifying circumstances inside the home, combined with Todt’s shifting explanations and bizarre courtroom behavior, made the case one of the most heavily discussed family annihilation murders in modern American true crime.

Arthur Frederick Goode III was an American serial killer and child molester who was convicted of murdering three boys in Florida during the 1970s and 1980s. His confirmed victims were 11-year-old Richard Belcher, 10-year-old Richard Hunsperger and 10-year-old David Oakes, all of whom were abducted, sexually assaulted and murdered. Goode was also investigated in connection with additional child disappearances and killings, but he was never convicted of those cases. He received death sentences for multiple murders and was executed in Florida's electric chair at Florida State Prison on April 5, 1987.