The Worst Serial Killers In American History

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Richard Ramirez

Being a serial killer, they say, is a chemical imbalance in your brain. You are wired to be messed up. It's not how you are raised or that you choose that lifestyle, it's because you were born that way. How? They still aren't sure. It's a theory. Well, to be a serial killer is not only sickening but the way some of them go about it is absolutely crazy. Check out these top 20 serial killers of all time.

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Richard Ramirez was a rapist, burglar and serial killer. Known as the "night stalker" he went on a home invasion crime spree terrorizing residents in LA in 1984 and 1985. While waiting his execution, he died from B-Cell Lymphoma.

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Dennis Nilsen

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Dennis Nilsen is a British serial killer. He murdered more than 12 young men between the years of 1978 and 1983 in London. He was convicted of 6 murder counts and 2 attempted murder counts and was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum serving time of 25 years. He is still incarcerated in England. 

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Luis Garavito

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Luis Garavito is a Colombian who is a serial killer and rapist. Back in 1999, he admitted to raping, torturing and murdering over 147 little boys. After his conviction and sentencing to prison, he began to draw a map of where the boys bodies are which came to tell authorities that the killings exceeded over 300 bodies. He's now known as the "world's worse serial killer ever in history."

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Ted Bundy

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Ted Bundy was a rapist, killer, kidnapper and necrophile who murdered more than 30 people back in the 70's. He had told authorities that sometimes he revisited his crime scenes for hours at a time, performing sexual acts with the decomposing corpses. He was executed in Starke, Florida on January, 24, 1989 after been given 3 death sentences. 

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Peter Sutcliffe

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Peter Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempted murder of 7 other women. He started murdering prostitutes because he was ripped off by one of their pimps, he stated. When he interviewed with authorities, he indicated in his statement that "God sent me on a mission to kill these women." 

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Arthur Shawcross

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Arthur Shawcross who is known as Genesee River Killer from Rochester, NY. He killed nearly 14 victims after being let out of prison on parole early. After his release he murdered two more children. He was finally captured after being spotted urinating over a bridge where he dumped his final body.

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John George Haigh

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John George Haigh was known as the 'acid bath murderer' and did his killings back in the 1940's. He was convicted of killing 6 people, although he admitted to killing 9 people. He then, poured acid all over their bodies, indicating he thought it was the only way of destroying the remains. 

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Donald Henry Gaskins

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Donald Henry Gaskins was a known serial killer who killed his first victim by torturing, murdering and skinning her body. He wrote in his report "All I could think about is how I could do anything I wanted to her." He admitted to killing about 80-90 victims all in different ways. 

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Jeffrey Dahmer

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Jeffrey Dahmer is a well known serial killer all over the world. He was not only a serial killer but also a sex offender. He rapped, killed and dismembered bodies of over 17 men. In 1994, Dahmer was beaten by a fellow inmate and later died in the correctional center. 

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Harold Shipman

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Harold Shipman was known to be one of the most prolific serial killers in recorded history. He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for killing over 15 people, but later told authorities that he was responsible for more than 218 murders. 

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John Wayne Gacy

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John Wayne Gacy was known as the Serial Killer Clown. He sexually assaulted and murdered at least 33 teenage boys between 1972 and 1978 in Illinois. After sexually assaulting and killing his victims, he buried them in the crawlspace in his home and all over his property. 

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Daniel Camargo Barbosa

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Daniel Camargo Barbosa was a rapist and serial killer who raped and killed over 150 women. He would lure women into his apartment, with his fiance at the time, give them sleeping pills so he could rape them. He was finally caught in 1986 and admitted to rapping over 72 women. 

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Fred & Rose West

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Fred & Rose West were a married couple and killed together. They tortured and raped numerous women and girls, murdering at least 12 including some of their own family members. Fred killed himself before his trial and Rose was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. 

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Pedro Rodrigues Filho

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Pedro Rodrigues Filho was from Brazil and murdered 71 people and was sentenced to 128 years in prison. He also committed crimes in prison and was sentenced 400 years in prison. However, in Brazil, an inmate cannot serve more than 30 years in prison. He was released in 2007 and later arrested again for rioting. 

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Peter Manuel

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Peter Manuel was a serial killer who killed 8 people in Scotland. He was the third to last criminal in Scotland to be executed. There was no rhyme or reason as to why he killed the 8 people that he did, but he was sentenced to death for them. 

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Dennis Rader

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Dennis Rader is known as the BTK Killer. BTK stands for 'bind, torture, kill.' He was captured and sentenced to 10 consecutive life sentences and is currently in prison in Kansas. I don't think he'll be getting out any time soon.

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Gary Ridgway

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Gary Ridgway was convicted of murdering 48 people but later admitted to nearly double that. He targeted vulnerable women and prostitutes in the 90's in Washington State. After being captured and arrested in 2001, he entered a plea bargain to avoid execution. 

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Andrei Chikatilo

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Andrei Chikatilo was a rapist and serial killer of at least 52 women and children for over 12 years. He was convicted and sentenced to death and was executed in 1994 for all 52 victims. His death will never bring those women and children back, but it sure does help that he's dead.

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Tommy Lynn Sells

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Tommy Lynn Sells was convicted of 1 murder but authorities believe he committed at least 21 other murders that they could not tie him to. He was sentenced to death. He was executed in 2014 in Texas State by a lethal dose of pentobarbital was given to him, he took a few deep breaths, closed his eyes and began to snore. Less than a minute later, he stopped moving.

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Leonard Lake & Charles Ng

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Leonard Lake & Charles Ng were serial killers that worked together. They were convicted of killing over 25 people. They captured people, tortured them and held them in a dungeon, which later authorities found. They were sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole. 

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