They have varying motives and act under differing psychological states. It states that the killer must have murdered at least two people, motivated by a need for psychological gratification and with the act having sadistic sexual overtones.Īccording to an article on serial killers in Psychology Today, neither definition can perfectly capture all serial killers. To meet the FBI’s serial killer criteria, the culprit must have had a “cooling off” period in between murders, before deciding to strike again.īut the National Institute of Justice offers an alternative serial killer definition. For instance, the FBI defines a serial killer as someone who murders three or more people over a period of a month or longer. You may think this is a simple question, but the serial killer definition is a little more complex than just a person who murders multiple people.ĭifferent authorities have different definitions with which to label serial killers. Find out who they were, the details of their violent attacks, how they were caught, and what happened to them. In this post, we reveal the top-40 most deadly and infamous serial killers, plus an extra 10 who nearly made the cut. A few of the worst serial killers have never been captured. Some of these famous murderers are careless and slip up quickly, while others continue their murderous sprees for years before they are caught. Infamous serial killers have plagued communities across the world for more than 130 years.

We want to know the details of every case and explore how a person could ever commit such atrocities.

America is fascinated and horrified by serial killers in equal measure.

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