Jeffrey Dahmer. Known as the Milwaukee Cannibal, Jeffrey Dahmer was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, murdered and dismembered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. Adobe change font color in text box. He also committed necrophilia and ate parts of his later victims, dismembering and cooking parts of their bodies. Royal Canadian police have suspected American killer Bobby Jack Fowler as being responsible for killing anywhere from 10 to 20 of the victims. A Canadian serial killer, Cody Legebokoff, was convicted of one of the Highway of Tears murders.

A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.^[1]^[2] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as 'a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone'.^[2]^[3]

Taking the definition of serial murder as the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender in separate events, the data shows 1989 was the peak year in the United States with 193.
American serial killer known for his charisma and good looks. Bundy officially confessed to 30 homicides, but had confessed to killing 35–36 women in the past, and some estimates run upwards of 100 or more.

Identified serial killers[edit]

Name	Years active	Proven victims	Possible victims	Status	Notes	Ref
Edward J. Adams	1920–1921	7	7	Killed by police during shootout	Criminal who murdered seven people, including three policemen	^[4]
Rodney Alcala	1971–1979	8	50–130	Sentenced to death	Sometimes called the 'Dating Game Killer' because of his 1978 appearance on the television show The Dating Game in the midst of his murder spree	^[5]
Howard Allen	1974–1987	3	3	Incarcerated for 60 years	Death Sentence Commuted	^[6]^[7]
Quincy Allen	2002	4	4	Sentenced to death	^[8]
Richard Angelo	1987	4	10	Sentenced to 50 years to life in prison	Long Island male nurse who poisoned patients in his care.	^[9]
William Dale Archerd	1947–1966	3	6	Died in prison	First person convicted of using insulin as a murder weapon	^[10]
Benjamin Atkins	1991–1992	11	11	Died in prison	Also known as the 'Woodward Corridor Killer'	^[11]
Joe Ball	1936–1938	2	20	Committed suicide to avoid apprehension	Known as the 'Alligator Man'	^[12]
Danny Barber	1978–1980	4	4	Executed 1999	^[13]
Velma Barfield	1971–1978	1	6	Executed 1984	Barfield was the first woman in the United States to be executed after the 1976 resumption of capital punishment and the first since 1962. She was also the first woman to be executed by lethal injection.	^[14]
Cesar Barone	1991–1993	4	4+	Died in prison before he could be executed	Killed four women around the Portland area	^[15]
Herb Baumeister	1980–1996	11	20	Committed suicide while a fugitive	Responsible for murdering at least 11 victims who were found buried on his property	^[16]
Martha Beck	1947–1949	3	20	Executed 1951	Along with accomplice Raymond Fernandez, became known as the 'Lonely Hearts Killers'	^[17]
Bender Family	1869–1872	11	11+	Unknown	Family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas
Robert Berdella	1984–1987	6	6+	Died in prison	^[18]
David Berkowitz	1976–1977	6	6	Sentenced to life imprisonment	Also known as the 'Son of Sam'	^[19]
Kenneth Bianchi	1977–1978	12	12	Sentenced to life imprisonment	Along with accomplice Angelo Buono Jr., known as the 'Hillside Stranglers'	^[20]
Richard Biegenwald	1958–1983	6	11	Died in prison	^[21]
Jake Bird	1930–1947	2	46	Executed 1949	Sentenced to death for the murders of two people; confessed to 44 other murders	^[22]
Arthur Gary Bishop	1979–1983	5	5	Executed 1988	^[23]
Lawrence Bittaker	1979	5	5	Sentenced to death	With accomplice Roy Norris known as the 'Tool Box Killers'	^[24]
John Bittrolff	1993	2	4+	Sentenced to 25 years to life	Suspect in Long Island serial killer case	^[25]
Terry Blair	1982–2004	7	9	Sentenced to life imprisonment	Sentenced 25 years imprisonment for one murder, released on parole after serving 21 years and committed additional murders upon release	^[26]
Morris Bolber	1930s–1938	114	114	Sentenced to life imprisonment	Russian immigrant; member of the Philadelphia poison ring	^[27]
William Bonin	1979–1980	21	36+	Executed 1996	Known as the 'Freeway Killer'; was known to murder with several accomplices	^[28]
Dallen Bounds	1999	4	4+	Committed suicide to avoid apprehension	^[29]^[30]
Gary Ray Bowles	1994	6	25	Executed 2019	Targeted gay men in Florida, Georgia and Maryland	^[31]
William Bradford	1984	2	28+	Died in prison awaiting execution	Suspected of more murders due to his modus operandi of taking photographs of his victims	^[32]^[33]
Charlie Brandt	1971–2004	3	6+	Committed suicide to avoid apprehension	^[34]
Robert Eugene Brashers	1990–1998	3	3+	Committed suicide before he could be arrested	Known as 'Mister Maroon'	^[35]
Briley Brothers	1979	11	20	Executed 1984 & 1985	Three brothers and an accomplice responsible for 11 murders	^[36]
Debra Denise Brown	1984	8	8	Sentenced to death, commuted to life imprisonment	Accomplice of Alton Coleman	^[37]
Robert Charles Browne	1970–1995	2	2+	Sentenced to life imprisonment	Missionary convicted for two murders; confessed to murdering 49 women	^[38]
Jerry Brudos	1968–1969	4	4+	Died in prison	Known as the 'Lust Killer' and 'Shoe Fetish Slayer'	^[39]
Robert Anthony Buell	1981–1983	2	3+	Executed 2002	^[40]
Judy Buenoano	1971–1983	3	3+	Executed 1998	Caught in 1983 after poisoning and car bombing a fiancée	^[41]
Thomas Bunday	1979–1981	5	6	Died in an intentional motorcycle crash	Never arrested, as he was released after interrogation on a technicality	^[42]
Carol M. Bundy	1980	7	7	Died in prison	With accomplice Doug Clark, known as the 'Sunset Strip Killers'	^[43]
Ted Bundy	1961–1978	28	30+	Exe

Recent Serial Killers In America