10 Times Serial Killers Were Caught in the Act

Referred to as the “Scorecard Killer,” Randy Kraft was known for keeping a journal in which he ostensibly wrote the names of all his victims. He began a killing spree in 1971 and is believed to have claimed the lives of up to sixty-seven young men. After more than a decade since his first murder, Kraft was arrested at a traffic stop when two patrol officers pulled him over for drunk driving. In his car, the officers found an apparently intoxicated young man who had been strangled to death. They also found his murder journal in the trunk, with which they connected Kraft to the other killings. He was convicted on sixteen counts of murder and handed a death penalty sentence in 1989.

After showing signs of sadomasochism as a child, Harvey Glatman was taken to see a medical professional who assured his parents he would grow out of the behavior. But as he grew older, it was obvious Glatman’s strange fascination with morbidity only worsened. While in prison for kidnapping and assaulting a woman, he was diagnosed with psychopathic personality of a schizophrenic type. Once out of prison, Glatman’s crimes began to escalate. He was responsible for assaulting and killing three women, taking pictures of them before ending their lives. His day of reckoning came in 1958 when he tried kidnapping his intended fourth victim. He was spotted by a patrolman who swiftly arrested him, putting an end to his crimes.

Dayton Leroy Rogers was known in the media as the “Molalla (muh-LAW-LUH) Forest Murderer” because he dumped the bodies of his victims in the woods around Molalla, Oregon. On August 7th 1987, Rogers picked up Jennifer Lisa Smith and stabbed her in his car. Smith fell onto the road and her screams grabbed the attention of patrons in a nearby restaurant who rushed to her aid. Rogers quickly drove off, but he was chased by another man who noted his plate number and address and handed them over to the police. The notorious Oregon killer was arrested based on this information and currently sits on death row for the murder of Smith and six other women.

While working as a truck driver, Edward Surratt passed through parts of Ohio and Pennsylvania at a time when certain cities were grappling with a string of unsolved murders. Even though he was arrested, a lack of evidence prevented the police from charging him with any of those crimes. On July 1st, 1978, however, Surratt would provide police with all the evidence they needed when he broke into a house and held a family of three hostage. The father was able to escape to find help, and brought police back to the house where Surratt was passed out drunk. He was arrested on the scene and linked to a murder in South Carolina, receiving two life sentences for each crime.

William Bonin

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William Bonin gained notoriety as the “Freeway Killer” for dumping the bodies of most of his victims along various southern California freeways. Although convicted of fourteen murders and executed by lethal injection, Bonin is suspected to have claimed the lives of up to thirty-six male victims. His arrest probably wouldn't have happened if he wasn’t already being surveilled by the police. On June 11th 1980, officers tailed Bonin when they spotted him picking up a teenager. After hearing disturbing sounds coming from his van, police gained access into it and found Bonin in the process of assaulting the teen. With a mountain of evidence obtained from the vehicle, Bonin later confessed to a total of twenty-one murders.

Carl Eugene Watts was an American serial killer who managed to evade detection for almost eight years. Watts’s methods were unlike those of most of his counterparts - he committed his crimes across different states and never left conclusive DNA behind. With a possible victim count of more than a hundred, Watts’s reign of terror came to an end on May 23rd, 1982. That day, he broke into the apartment of Lori Lister and Melinda Aguilar (aggy-lar) in Houston, and attempted to choke both women to death. Aguilar pretended to pass out, then successfully escaped from the apartment to call for help. Watts had fled from the scene, but he was later caught by the authorities and linked to his other crimes.

Robert Rhoades

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As a long haul truck driver, Robert Rhoades’s job put him in constant contact with hitchhikers and truckstop sex workers, whom he frequently targeted. On the day he was caught, Rhoades had picked up a woman named Kathleen Vine and handcuffed her in his truck. A highway patrol officer came upon the truck parked on the side of the road,with its hazard lights on, and discovered the woman inside, screaming for help. Rhoades was quickly arrested and charged with the assault and unlawful imprisonment of Vine. He was later linked to other murders across multiple states and is currently serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Adam Leroy Lane earned the nickname the “Highway Killer,” as he committed his crimes just by the highway while working as a truck driver. After fatally stabbing two women and nearly killing another, Lane’s final crime came on July 30th 2007, when he broke into a house in Massachusetts. He attacked the family’s daughter while she slept, and her muffled screams were loud enough to wake her parents up in their room. The couple then wrestled with Lane and were able to overpower him, even though they sustained a few knife cuts in the process. Lane was arrested by police and subsequently connected to his previous crimes through DNA.

Robert Black

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This Scottish serial killer unleashed terror in the United Kingdom, abducting and killing girls whose bodies usually turned up days later. After claiming the lives of four girls, multiple police units across the UK mounted an exhaustive, nationwide manhunt for Black. But his arrest was only made possible due to the keen observation of one David Herkes. Herkes was mowing his lawn when he observed his neighbor’s daughter being kidnapped by Black. The police were called to the scene, and they stopped Black’s van and arrested him on the spot. In a chilling turn, the abducted girl was the daughter of one of the responding officers.

Jeffrey Dahmer

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Times Jeffrey Dahmer Almost Got Caught

On the night of July 22nd, 1991, a terrified man who had been handcuffed on one wrist flagged down a police car in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The man, Tracy Edwards, then led the officers back to the house of the person who had put him in the handcuffs - a man named Jeffrey Dahmer. Earlier that evening, Dahmer - who at that point had already killed seventeen people - lured Edwards back to his apartment under the guise of a photoshoot. Once it became clear that Dahmer wanted to kill him, Edwards found a window of opportunity and escaped. Upon searching his apartment, police found overwhelming evidence of Dahmer’s crimes and he was immediately placed under arrest.