During the 1980s crack epidemic in South Central Los Angeles, serial killers operated amid the violence. One, known as The Grim Sleeper, paused killings for 14 years before resuming his crimes.
Lorenzo Jerome Gilyard, Jr., a former trash company supervisor, is a serial killer accused of murdering at least 13 women and girls between 1977 and 1993. He was convicted of six murders in 2007.
Henry Louis Wallace, an American serial killer, murdered eleven women in South Carolina and North Carolina between 1990 and 1994. He is currently awaiting execution at Central Prison in Raleigh.
Marc Vincent Sappington, an American spree killer and cannibal, was convicted of murdering four acquaintances in Kansas City, Kansas, in March and April 2001. He consumed part of one victim's leg during the crimes.
Marcel Petiot, a French doctor, was suspected of killing over 60 people in Paris during WWII. Investigations into his crimes, which remained unsolved until post-war, uncovered evidence linking him to multiple fatalities as a serial killer.
Audrey Marie Hilley, an American serial killer, poisoned her victims. She worked as a secretary, spent money she didnât have, and her crimes involved multiple murders. Her role as a mother and wife contrasted with her criminal actions.
Mark Goudeau, an American serial killer, kidnapper, and thief, operated in the Phoenix metro area from August 2005 to June 2006. He was active concurrently with two other Phoenix serial killers known as the "Serial Shooter."
Mary Ann Cotton, an English serial killer, was hanged for poisoning her stepson Charles Edward Cotton. She likely killed three husbands and up to 21 others, including 11 children, using arsenic to induce gastric pain and rapid health decline.
Michael Thomas Gargiulo, known as The Hollywood Ripper, moved to Southern California in the 1990s. He was convicted of two first-degree murders, received a death sentence on July 16, 2021, and is incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison.
Michel Paul Fourniret, a French serial killer known as the Ogre of the Ardennes, confessed to killing twelve people in France and Belgium between 1987 and 2003.
Patrick Wayne Kearney, an American serial killer, rapist, cannibal, and necrophile, targeted young men in California from 1962 to 1977. Known as "The Freeway Killer," he may have claimed up to 43 victims, according to law enforcement.
Patrick David MacKay, a British serial killer, confessed to murdering 11 individuals in London and Kent between 1974 and 1975. His crimes spanned multiple locations in England during that period.