Explore Killers

Richard Ramirez, known as the “Night Stalker,” was an American serial killer who carried out a series of murders and attacks across California between 1984 and 1985. His crimes were marked by unpredictability, extreme violence, and a lack of a consistent victim profile. Ramirez created widespread fear due to the random nature of his attacks and his ability to evade capture for an extended period. He was later convicted of multiple murders and sentenced to death, becoming one of the most infamous serial killers in U.S. history.

Richard Benjamin Speck became one of America's most infamous mass murderers after murdering eight student nurses during a single night in Chicago, Illinois, on July 13–14, 1966. The attack at a South Side townhouse generated worldwide attention and became one of the most notorious crimes in American history. Speck was convicted of eight counts of murder and sentenced to death, although his sentence was later commuted to imprisonment following changes to U.S. capital punishment laws. He died in prison in 1991.

Robert Austin Sullivan was convicted of murdering Donald Schmidt, the manager of a Howard Johnson's restaurant in Homestead, Florida, during a robbery in April 1973. Sullivan and accomplice Reid McLaughlin abducted Schmidt, bound him and drove him to a remote area, where he was shot twice in the head with a shotgun. Sullivan initially confessed to the murder before later recanting and maintaining his innocence. Convicted of first-degree murder and robbery, he was sentenced to death and spent ten years on Florida's death row. Despite numerous appeals and pleas for clemency, including an intervention by Pope John Paul II, Sullivan was executed by electrocution at Florida State Prison on November 30, 1983.

Robert Black was a Scottish serial killer and paedophile convicted of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of four girls aged 5 to 11 in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1986. As a long-distance delivery driver, he exploited his mobility to abduct victims from different regions, subjecting them to horrific sexual assaults before killing them and disposing of their bodies far from the abduction sites.

Robert Black Farmer became one of Australia’s most notorious child killers after the 2008 murder of 18-year-old Lauren Huxley on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Prosecutors alleged Farmer abducted Lauren as she walked home from a night out before sexually assaulting and murdering her, triggering one of the largest and most publicized homicide investigations in Queensland history. The case generated national outrage because of Lauren’s age, the predatory nature of the attack, and the extensive manhunt that followed. Investigators later uncovered forensic evidence linking Farmer to the crime, while media coverage focused heavily on his criminal history and escalating pattern of sexual offending. The murder remains one of the most infamous stranger-abduction killings in modern Australian criminal history.

Robert Hansen became one of Alaska’s most infamous serial killers after abducting women, flying them into the wilderness and hunting them before murdering them. Nicknamed “The Butcher Baker” because he outwardly lived as a quiet family baker while secretly committing brutal murders, Hansen terrorized Anchorage and surrounding areas throughout the 1970s and early 1980s. The case shocked investigators because Hansen appeared to be an ordinary husband, business owner and outdoorsman while hiding a sadistic double life. Authorities later discovered he targeted vulnerable women, particularly sex workers and dancers, before using Alaska’s remote wilderness as a personal hunting ground. His crimes became one of the most disturbing serial murder cases in American history and inspired numerous books, documentaries and films.

Robert Clive Napper became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after murdering Rachel Nickell in 1992 and Samantha Bisset and her four-year-old daughter, Jazmine, in 1993. Before his identification, Napper committed numerous violent sexual assaults across South East London, becoming known as the "Green Chain Rapist." Advances in DNA profiling eventually linked him to the murders after years of investigative failures, making his case one of Britain's most significant forensic breakthroughs.

Robert Pape was convicted for his role in the 1998 Pinyon Pines murders, a triple homicide that remained unsolved for nearly two decades before advances in DNA technology revived the investigation. Prosecutors established that Pape and Cristin Smith entered the Friedli home in September 1998, murdered Vicki Friedli, her daughter Becky Friedli and family friend Jon Hayward, then set the residence on fire in an attempt to destroy evidence. Following renewed forensic testing and a lengthy cold-case investigation, Pape was convicted in 2018 of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.