Victim Targets - Women

Israel Keyes became one of America's most infamous serial killers after carrying out a series of meticulously planned murders across multiple states between 2001 and 2012. Unlike many serial offenders, Keyes travelled extensively, buried "kill kits" years in advance, and deliberately selected victims with no personal connection to him. Although he confessed to eight murders, investigators believe the true number of victims may never be known due to his suicide before revealing the full extent of his crimes.

Andrei Chikatilo became one of the Soviet Union’s most infamous serial killers after murdering and mutilating dozens of women and children across Russia and Ukraine between 1978 and 1990. Nicknamed “The Butcher of Rostov” and “The Red Ripper,” Chikatilo terrorized the Soviet Union for over a decade while authorities struggled to identify the perpetrator amid political pressure, investigative failures and widespread public fear. His crimes shocked investigators because of their extreme brutality, sexual sadism and mutilation of victims. Chikatilo appeared outwardly quiet and socially awkward, allowing him to blend into ordinary Soviet society while secretly carrying out one of the deadliest serial murder sprees in modern history. His eventual arrest and confession exposed major flaws within the Soviet criminal justice system and transformed the case into one of the most notorious serial killer investigations ever conducted behind the Iron Curtain.

Robert William Pickton became one of Canada's most infamous serial killers after murdering women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside during the 1990s and early 2000s. Convicted of six murders but believed by investigators to have killed many more, Pickton targeted vulnerable women, many involved in sex work or struggling with addiction, before disposing of their remains on his rural pig farm in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia. The investigation exposed major policing failures and remains one of the largest serial murder cases in Canadian history.

Arthur John Shawcross became one of America's most infamous serial killers after murdering 14 people in New York between 1972 and 1989. After serving a prison sentence for killing two children, Shawcross was released on parole and later went on to murder at least 12 women in the Rochester area. His crimes remained unsolved for several years before investigators linked him to the murders through surveillance, witness testimony, and forensic evidence. Shawcross was sentenced to 250 years in prison, where he remained until his death in 2008.

David Alan Gore was an American serial killer who, along with his cousin Fred Waterfield, committed at least six murders of women in and around Vero Beach, Florida, from 1981 to 1983. Known collectively as the "Killing Cousins," the pair exploited Gore's position as an auxiliary sheriff's deputy and his knowledge of local citrus groves to lure victims, often using a badge or vehicle to gain trust before subjecting them to sexual assault, torture, and murder.

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.

Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo became one of Mexico's most notorious serial killers after leading a violent criminal cult that combined ritualistic beliefs with narcotics trafficking during the 1980s. Operating primarily in Mexico City and Matamoros, Constanzo and his followers carried out numerous murders as part of ceremonies they believed would provide supernatural protection and success. The discovery of multiple victims at his ranch in 1989 exposed one of the most disturbing criminal conspiracies in Mexican history.

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.