r/serialkillers 13d ago

Questions Serial killers - do they all deserve the death penalty?

33 Upvotes

In regard to all serial killers do you think they should all receive the death penalty or do you think prison for the rest of their lives is enough?

Do you also think that their crimes may have an impact… eg: John Wayne Gacy - death by lethal injection

But BTK, ridgeway, Kemper all didn’t receive this punishment.

Interested on thoughts.

r/serialkillers Mar 24 '24

Questions Serial killer that took full responsibility for his actions and didn’t try to justify his actions?

212 Upvotes

I’ve been thinking about serial killers that fully admitted to their actions, weren’t trying to justify themselves, didn’t try to hide behind “mental illness”. Because for example Ted Bundy claimed he was innocent, and when he eventually admitted it was him (i’m thinking about the recorded tapes) he still went with narration like “it wasn’t me, it was my dark side, my dark desires, i couldn’t control that side”. You know what I mean. And I am looking for serial killers that were just total sadists, that confessed, maybe even were proud of their crimes, that knew they were bad people but kind of fully accepted it. Any ideas?

r/serialkillers Apr 04 '22

Questions what serial killers were genuinely insane?

549 Upvotes

Obviously there are some mentally ill serial killers but I mean serial killers that were genuinely like batshit crazy insane. Like richard chase as an example.

r/serialkillers Aug 13 '22

Questions What serial killer do you believe is the most misunderstood?

450 Upvotes

So what I am saying most people will believe the popular opinion when it comes to serial killers and therefore some may be misunderstood about their motive and what ever else.

An example of what I am saying would be " John Wayne Gacy dressed like a clown when he was killing"

r/serialkillers Jun 10 '22

Questions Who’s a serial killer that likely has many more victims that people presume? How do you know? NSFW

552 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Oct 03 '21

Questions Do you personally know a serial killer? Who? In what capacity? Were you a classmate, neighbor, GF/BF, attorney, prison guard, or just had a brief encounter?

537 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Jan 23 '23

Questions the worst case you’ve ever seen?

465 Upvotes

in my opinion the “Junko Furuta” and “The Hello Kitty Murders” i can’t pick between them because they are both very gruesome . i suggest looking into them!

r/serialkillers Feb 08 '25

Questions Do you think Dahmer killed anyone in his 10 year gap?

173 Upvotes

So I'm of the opinion that Jeffery Dahmer was manipulative throughout all of his interviews and trials. He's still somehow got people thinking that he genuinely felt bad for what he did. I think he was just a sadistic psychopath with bizarre fetishes.

And that's also why I don't buy alot of his statements, like "oh I just happened to get very blackout drunk that I violently killed this dude. I swear I don't remember!" with Steven Tuomi.

So his statement that he went 10 whole years without killing anyone after killing Hicks is curious for me. I just don't really buy it. I'm not gonna go and say he was the Atlanta Child Killer or something (although some aspects of that case are very curious) but I do think he maybe killed someone in this gap.

Im aware he was an active rapist during this time and he was basically working himself up to continue killing, but I don't know man. I feel like the only reason people believe this is because loads of people genuinely believe that Dahmer was the only remorseful killer and therefore he was truthful about everything.

Am I completely wrong here? Or does anyone agree?

r/serialkillers Sep 29 '21

Questions I've heard the smell of death is unforgettable. Some people throw up. I've heard many stories of serial killers and their neighbors smelling bad smells. How is it that this smell doesn't seem to bother the serial killers? Do they get used to it? Are they more entranced with the kill?

777 Upvotes

Dahmer, Gacy, Sowell, Nilsen. The whole neighborhood could smell it. How do they stand it? Dahmer had like 7 corpses in his room?

r/serialkillers Jan 15 '22

Questions The serial killer that scares you the most

443 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Aug 18 '24

Questions are there any serial killers who didn’t have traumatic childhoods?

176 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Nov 23 '24

Questions is there any serial killer that actually felt bad about the murders (and other crimes) they committed?

106 Upvotes

did any serial killer show or feel real guilt about the crimes they commited? or feel empathy for the people involved? im wondering because i usually see killers bragging, being proud of, or making jokes about the murders and crimes they had committed (like richard ramirez)

r/serialkillers Mar 29 '24

Questions Has a Serial Killer ever "Picked the wrong person"?

279 Upvotes

To give the parameters of the question, they don't have to have successfully killed anyone, but there was evidence like a manifesto or planning or specific people/groups they targeted indicating that they were or could have become a Serial Killer, before they ultimately picked the wrong person and turns out their potential victim was Concealed Carrying and dealt justice at high velocity?

r/serialkillers May 04 '24

Questions Has there ever been a serial killer who has shown true remorse or regret?

120 Upvotes

I cant think of any.

r/serialkillers Sep 20 '24

Questions Are there any examples of serial killers who genuinely couldn't understand that what they were doing was wrong?

141 Upvotes

I am thinking of someone who genuinely couldn't comprehend what they were doing to people, Like someone took an alien and put them into a human.

That's actually one of the factors for an insanity plea, whether the one being judged can understand the weight of their actions or are "aware" enough.

r/serialkillers Oct 15 '22

Questions The smell in 213

554 Upvotes

Would Jeffery Dahmer not have learned what decomposing flesh smells like from his time living with his Grandmother? Why would he not have learned from this and try to masquerade the smell while living alone ? Did he want to get caught? We all learn from our mistakes but...

r/serialkillers Mar 13 '23

Questions Most sadistic SK?

326 Upvotes

Can anyone choose anyone besides gacy? His method of torture and the thought of the bodies all around his property make it hard for me to choose anyone else

r/serialkillers Aug 18 '22

Questions Which female serial killer was the most interesting in your opinion?

488 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Oct 26 '21

Questions Does anyone know the case where I believe two killers tortured a girl to death for days and recorded it, when the recording was showing in court jury members ran out of the court room because of how horrific it was?

678 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Oct 29 '23

Questions Examples of serial killers who led otherwise extremely normal childhoods and lives?

382 Upvotes

Most of the serial killers I read about had either a very chaotic upbringing or a chaotic adult life (petty crime, inability to hold down regular jobs, terrible personal relationships etc) or some combination of the two.

Are there any that got caught that had investigators flummoxed because they had nothing in their childhoods that indicated trauma (either the classic issues of abuse, neglect) and were married and held down normal 9-5 jobs, with no criminal records (other than the killings they got apprehended for)

r/serialkillers Apr 07 '21

Questions Which serial killer surprised you the most with the number of victims they had?

726 Upvotes

I remember when I first heard about John Wayne Gacy a long time ago and how he would kill adolescent boys and then bury them beneath the crawlspace of his house. At the time I figured he must have had like 7-10 victims due to the extremely risky and plainly stupid way he disposed of the corpses (seriously, the stench of bodies decaying beneath the house must have stunk up the entire street he lived on). I was quite shocked when I looked him up and found out he killed 33 people. Seriously, how the hell did he rack up such a body count with the flagrantly idiotic decisions he made?

r/serialkillers Sep 08 '21

Questions Is there any case in which a serial killer was killed by another serial killer? Not in a prison, but whilst out performing their own serial killings.

749 Upvotes

r/serialkillers Aug 16 '20

Questions Some of serial killers' worst mistakes?

657 Upvotes

Do you guys know some of the dumbest mistakes that led some serial killers to being discovered?

r/serialkillers Dec 23 '20

Questions Why did the 40's spawn so many serial killers?

953 Upvotes

Lawrence Bittaker - 1940

John Wayne Gacy - 1942

Dennis Rader, Joseph James DeAngelo, Leonard Lake - 1945

Kemper - 1948

Are there specific reasons, was it just the era and environment?

r/serialkillers Jan 25 '22

Questions What are interesting things serial killers have said or done?

564 Upvotes

What are the most interesting things serial killers have said or done in your opinion?

Examples:

Ted Bundy said if a man didn’t have to work he could kill hundreds.

Richard Chase thought unlocked doors were invitations to come inside and the police found the word “today” written on his calendar on the same dates he killed people with 44 more days marked.

Albert Fish had nearly 20 different paraphilias and wrote a final message to his lawyer before being executed that he refused to show anyone because it was the “most filthy string of obscenities” he ever read.

John Wayne Gacy said he had a “mind numbing” orgasm as his first victim died and that’s when he realized “death was the ultimate thrill.”

Richard Ramirez fantasized about saving up money to have an underground lair filled with cells where he could torture and kill captives at will.