10 Serial Killer Theories That Turned Out to be True
David Berkowitz
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The Son of Sam terrorized New York between 1976 and ‘77, killing six people and wounding another seven. The entire city was placed on high alert and a massive manhunt was underway to catch the random shooter. And he was caught thanks to the suspicions of one Cacilia Davis. Davis saw a police officer ticketing a car and soon spotted a man walking from that direction. The man deeply troubled her, as he was carrying a dark object and seemed to be studying her. Soon after arriving home, she heard gunshots. Rightfully fearing that the man was dangerous, Davis contacted the police. They identified the ticketed car as belonging to one David Berkowitz. And with that, The Son of Sam was finally identified and caught.
Anthony Sowell
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Also going by The Cleveland Strangler and The Imperial Avenue Murderer, Anthony Sewell killed at least eleven victims between 2007 and 2009. He was finally captured thanks to a woman named Latundra Billups, who told the police that Sowell had sexually assaulted her. When Sowell was arrested, police found human remains littered throughout his house and buried on his property. But suspicions had been raised before this, particularly from one Lori Frazier. Frazier was a partner of Sowell’s and she lived with him for some time. She reportedly smelled decaying bodies in the house, but Sowell told her the smell was coming from a nearby sausage shop. Frazier escaped with her life, but her intuition would prove tragically correct.
Andrei Chikatilo
A true monster, Andrei Chikatilo is responsible for at least 52 murders between 1978 and 1990. Before he was caught, Chikatilo was the subject of a psychological profile done by Dr. Alexandr Bukhanovsky. It said he’d be between 45 and 50 - by 1985, around the time the profile was made, Chikatilo was 49. It said he had a difficult childhood - Chikatilo was born in a famine and often starved. It said he was well-educated - he graduated from Rostov University. It said he traveled a lot - he worked as a factory supply clerk and traveled widely. It said he was married with children - Chikatilo had been married since 1963 and had two children. Basically, Bukhanovsky had him to a tee.
Robert Hansen
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A very unique serial killer, Robert Hansen would abduct women, often sex workers, and take them to the Alaskan wilderness. It is then believed that he hunted these women like game, often tracking them with a knife and a semi-automatic rifle. One girl named Cindy Paulson escaped from Hansen, and a passing driver picked her up and called the police. They questioned Hansen about his involvement in the kidnapping, but his gentle personality convinced them of his innocence. The FBI was then brought in, and like Andrei Chikatilo, they made a profile that perfectly matched Hansen. Realizing that they had the right guy all along, police arrested Hansen again and he confessed to the crimes.
Charles Cullen
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While working as a nurse in New Jersey, Charles Cullen took the lives of dozens, possibly even hundreds, of patients by making them overdose. Despite his high body count, Cullen wasn’t nearly as smooth as he may have believed. Several co-workers suspected that he was killing patients and even brought it up to the local district attorney, but the case was dismissed. Other officials were warned by the New Jersey Poison Information and Education System that a doctor was likely killing patients. Finally, a co-worker named Amy Loughren contacted the authorities over Cullen’s suspicious behavior, and they convinced Loughren to talk to Cullen while wearing a wire. The conversation contained enough evidence to have Cullen arrested, and he was given eighteen life sentences.
Paul Bernardo
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When it comes to Canadian criminals, it doesn’t get much more notorious than Paul Bernardo. Bernardo committed a series of sexual assaults and later killed three people with his wife, Karla Homolka, including Homolka’s younger sister, Tammy. However, many people held theories about Bernardo long before he was captured. The police questioned Bernardo multiple times in relation to his possible involvement in both the murders and the sexual assaults and even took DNA samples. These samples would later be used to take him down. Meanwhile, people who knew Bernardo reported him to the police, including John Motile, an acquaintance, and Tina Smirnis, the wife of one of Bernardo’s friends. Smirnis’ tip came before Bernardo had killed anyone.
Jeffrey Dahmer
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It seems inconceivable that Jeffrey Dahmer was able to kill and dismember so many people in his small Milwaukee apartment. But one neighbor was highly suspicious of Dahmer, and her name was Glenda Cleveland. Cleveland was one of many neighbors who reported rotting smells coming from Dahmer’s apartment, but she took the complaints one step further by actually speaking with the authorities. Cleveland saw a victim named Konerak Sinthasomphone running from their apartment building and attempted to report her suspicions to the police, but they ignored her. She also contacted the FBI in a desperate attempt to have someone listen, but they too ignored her warnings. Dahmer would claim four more victims before he was captured on the night of July 22, 1991.
John Wayne Gacy
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One of the most active serial killers in American history, The Killer Clown took at least 33 lives throughout the 1970s, burying 26 of them in the crawl space of his Chicago house. Gacy’s legendary crime spree finally came to an end thanks to the work of police chief Joseph Kozenczak. A boy named Robert Piest had gone missing after speaking to a contractor. This contractor was identified as John Wayne Gacy, whom Kozenczak learned had a serious criminal record. He launched an investigation into Gacy and even had him tailed by police officers. While searching Gacy’s home, one officer noticed a rotting smell coming from the heating duct. They later explored the crawl space, found numerous bodies, and the rest is history.
Ted Bundy
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Often regarded as a remorseless psychopath, Ted Bundy claimed at least twenty lives throughout the 1970s. Bundy’s infamous killing spree began in the Pacific Northwest in 1974, where he killed eight and left another with permanent brain damage. He then moved east to Utah, leaving behind a trail of bodies and some dumbfounded authorities. However, they were not without hope. Investigators compiled a computerized database and Ted Bundy’s name continuously appeared as a potential suspect. In fact, Bundy was considered one of the prime suspects in the murder spree when he was arrested in Utah in 1975. Unfortunately, Bundy would escape from prison and kill again before he was apprehended for good in 1978.
Gary Ridgway
While names like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer have become enduring artifacts of American culture, most people ignore Gary Ridgway, aka the Green River Killer. This, despite the fact that Ridgway is the second most prolific killer in American history, having been convicted of 49 murders. Ridgway was finally apprehended on November 30, 2001, but he had been a primary suspect for nearly twenty years. Ridgway was arrested for prostitution in 1982 and was quickly suspected of being the Green River Killer. He was even given a polygraph test and was forced to provide hair and saliva samples. It was these very samples that took down Ridgway in 2001, as they were finally tested for DNA and matched what was found on the victims. Do you think you would have caught these red flags? Let us know in the comments below!
