Deceased Killers

Donald McMillan Jr. murdered 62-year-old Helen Fiona Torbet in the Scottish Highlands in July 1993 after developing an obsession with her during her regular stays at his parents' guesthouse near Inverinate. After killing Torbet, McMillan concealed her body in the grounds of the property and maintained for months that she had left with another man. A lengthy missing-person investigation eventually focused on McMillan, who directed police to the burial site. He was convicted of murder in 1994 and sentenced to life imprisonment, later receiving a 15-year punishment part. McMillan remained imprisoned until his death in 2007.

Edward Theodore Gein became one of the most infamous killers in American history after murdering two women and exhuming numerous bodies from local cemeteries near Plainfield, Wisconsin, during the 1950s. Although convicted of only two murders, the disturbing discoveries inside his farmhouse—including items fashioned from human remains—made Gein a cultural phenomenon whose crimes inspired characters such as Norman Bates, Leatherface, and Buffalo Bill. His case remains one of the most extensively studied in criminal psychology.

Elliot Rodger was an American mass murderer responsible for the 2014 Isla Vista killings in California. He carried out a planned multi-location attack targeting individuals in a university community. He killed six people and injured others before dying by suicide at the scene.

Fotis Dulos became the focus of an internationally publicized criminal investigation after his estranged wife, Jennifer Dulos, disappeared from New Canaan, Connecticut, on May 24, 2019. Prosecutors alleged that Dulos murdered Jennifer during a contentious divorce and child custody dispute before attempting to dispose of evidence. He pleaded not guilty to all charges but died by suicide in January 2020 before his trial began. Jennifer Dulos has never been found and is legally presumed dead.

Frederick Walter Stephen West became one of the United Kingdom's most infamous serial killers after murdering numerous young women and girls between the late 1960s and 1980s. Working both alone and with his wife, Rose West, he targeted vulnerable victims, many of whom disappeared after visiting the couple's home at 25 Cromwell Street in Gloucester. The discovery of multiple bodies buried beneath the property exposed one of Britain's most shocking serial murder cases and permanently cemented Fred West's place among the country's most reviled offenders.

George Emil Banks became one of the most infamous mass killers in Pennsylvania history after murdering 13 people during a shooting spree in Wilkes-Barre on September 25, 1982. Among his victims were five of his own children, their mothers, and several relatives. The murders shocked the United States because of the extraordinary number of family members killed in a single attack. After decades of legal proceedings centred on his mental competency, Banks died in prison in 2024 without ever being executed.

Herman Webster Mudgett, better known as H.H. Holmes, became one of America's earliest infamous serial killers after carrying out a series of murders during the late nineteenth century. Operating from a specially designed building in Chicago that later became known as the "Murder Castle," Holmes used deception, fraud, and false identities to lure victims. Although he confessed to 27 murders before his execution, historians believe the true number of victims remains uncertain. His case remains one of the most famous in American criminal history.

Harold Frederick Shipman became one of the most prolific serial killers in modern history after murdering patients under his care while working as a general practitioner in England. Convicted of 15 murders in 2000, a subsequent public inquiry concluded he had likely killed at least 215 patients, with some estimates suggesting the true total exceeded 250. Shipman's abuse of trust, combined with the enormous scale of his crimes, fundamentally changed patient safety, death certification, and medical oversight throughout the United Kingdom.