# List of serial killers in the United States

A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone".
The United States has by far the largest number of documented serial killers in the world. According to Radford University's Serial Killer Information Center, it has more documented serial killers than the next ten highest countries on the list combined.

## Identified serial killers

| Name | Years active | Proven victims | Possible victims | Status | Notes | Ref. |
| Ables, Tony | 1970–1990 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered robbery victim in 1970, and at least three women until 1990 in St. Petersburg, Florida | |
| Acevedo, Francisco | 1989–1996 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to 75 years to life | Strangled three prostitutes in New York between 1989 and 1996 | |
| Adams, Edward James | 1920–1921 | 7 | 7 | Killed by police during shootout | Murdered seven people, including three policemen | |
| Agrue, John | 1966–1982 | 3 | 3+ | Died in 2009 | Killed his sister-in-law in Illinois; paroled and moved to Colorado, where he killed two more women | |
| Albanese, Charles | 1980–1981 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1995 | Poisoned family members with arsenic in Fox Lake, Illinois to receive their inheritance | |
| Alcala, Rodney | 1971–1979 | 8 | 50–130+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | 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 | |
| Alix, Franklin DeWayne | 1997–1998 | 3 | 4+ | Executed 2010 | Murdered people in Houston, Texas, during robberies | |
| Allen, Herman | 1930–1942 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1942 | Shot a lodger in 1930; after his release, he killed three more people in a fit of jealousy | |
| Allen, Howard | 1974–1987 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Targeted elderly victims during burglaries in Indiana | |
| Allen, Quincy | 2002 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Murdered four people in North and South Carolina between July–August 2002 | |
| Allridge, Ronald | 1976–1985 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1995 | Murdered people in Fort Worth, Texas, in robberies alongside his brother | |
| Alston, Robert Sylvester | 1991–1993 | 4 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled prostitutes and drug addicts around Greensboro, North Carolina, dismembering their bodies post-mortem | |
| Amati, Tony Ray | 1996 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered people in thrill-killings in Las Vegas, Nevada, along with two other men; added to the FBI's ten most wanted list in 1998; Amati's two codefendants were never convicted of murder due to a lack of evidence | |
| Anderson, Joshua | 2006–2007 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Fatally shot at least four people in Tulsa, Oklahoma, cannibalizing one, in a series of robbery and revenge-related murders. | |
| Anderson, Stephen Wayne | 1973–1980 | 9 | 9+ | Executed 2002 | Murdered people in Utah, Nevada, and California | |
| Andrews, Patrick | 1997–2007 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed three people between 1997 and 2007, including one while incarcerated at USP Hazelton | |
| Angelo, Richard | 1987 | 4 | 10 | Sentenced to 61 years to life in prison | Long Island nurse who poisoned patients in his care | |
| Archerd, William Dale | 1947–1966 | 3 | 6 | Died in prison | First person convicted of using insulin as a murder weapon | |
| Archer-Gilligan, Amy | 1910–1917 | 10 | 50 | Died in Connecticut Hospital for the Insane | Poisoned a husband and residents of her nursing home in Windsor, Connecticut | |
| Arguelles, Roberto | 1992 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Salt Lake City Strangler"; violent sex offender who kidnapped and murdered women and girls | |
| Armstrong, John Eric | 1992–1999 | 5 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Navy sailor convicted for murdering prostitutes in Michigan and Illinois; confessed to more murders around the world | |
| Atkins, Benjamin | 1991–1992 | 11 | 11 | Died in prison | Known as "The Woodward Corridor Killer"; serial rapist who preyed on women in Highland Park and Detroit, Michigan | |
| Atkins, Joseph | 1969–1985 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1999 | Murdered his half-brother; paroled, and later murdered his adoptive father and a neighboring couple's daughter during a drunken shooting spree | |
| Avalos, Johnny | 2012–2015 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled women in San Antonio, Texas | |
| Avila-Torrez, Jorge | 2005–2009 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Murdered two underage girls in 2005 in Illinois and a 20-year-old Navy Petty Officer in Virginia in 2009 | |
| Balaam, Anthony | 1994–1996 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Trenton Strangler"; raped and murdered four women in Trenton, New Jersey | |
| Baldi, Joseph | 1970–1972 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Known as "The Queens Creeper"; mentally-ill burglar who stabbed women to death in the Jamaica, Queens neighborhood after breaking into their apartments | |
| Barber, Danny | 1978–1980 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1999 | Murdered three women and one man in Dallas County, Texas, having sex with the corpses of two of his victims | |
| Barfield, Velma | 1971–1978 | 6 | 6 | Executed 1984 | North Carolina serial poisoner who 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. | |
| Barnes, James Antonio | 1988 | 3 | 7 | Released in 2016 | Mentally-ill factory worker who shot and killed prostitutes around Memphis | |
| Barone, Cesar | 1991–1993 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Killed four women around the Portland area and sexually assaulted a number of others | |
| Barr, Charles | 1923 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1926 | Known as "The Petting Party Bandit"; shot couples in lovers' lanes in Memphis during robberies | |
| Barrett, Eugene | 1959–1995 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Killed three women he was romantically involved with in Honolulu, Hawaii | |
| Bartlett, Polly | 1868 | 22 | 22 | Murdered in police custody | Wyoming's first serial killer before it was even a state. Innkeeper who poisoned her rich male patrons with arsenic to rob them with her father Jim. Was arrested by a would-be victim from a bounty on her head, then shot dead while in jail by an employee of her last victim's father. | |
| Baumeister, Herb | 1980–1996 | 11 | 20 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Responsible for murdering at least eleven victims who were found buried on his property in Westfield, Indiana | |
| Baxter, Patrick | 1987–1990 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered one girl and two women in Westchester County, New York | |
| Beamon, Rocky | 2005–2017 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide prior to execution | Robbed and murdered a woman in Florida, then murdered two sex offenders in prison | |
| Beardslee, Donald | 1969–1981 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2005 | Murdered a woman in Missouri; paroled, and later murdered two more women on separate occasions in California | |
| Beck, Martha | 1947–1949 | 3 | 20 | Executed 1951 | Along with accomplice Raymond Fernandez, became known as "The Lonely Hearts Killers" | |
| Bell, Cimarron | 2003–2004 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Shot his girlfriend, and then a trio of men in financially-motivated schemes | |
| Bell, Larry Gene | 1984–1985 | 3 | 4+ | Executed in 1996 | Abducted, raped and murdered women in the Carolinas, then made taunting phone calls to their families | |
| Bender Family | 1869–1872 | 11 | 11+ | Unknown | Family of serial killers who lived and operated in Labette County, Kansas | |
| Bennett, Dayvon | 2014–2020 | 5 | 5+ | Shot in drive-by | Known as "King Von" | |
| Berdella, Robert | 1984–1987 | 6 | 6 | Died in prison | Known as "The Kansas City Butcher" and "The Collector"; kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered young men in Missouri | |
| Berkowitz, David | 1976–1977 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Son of Sam" and the ".44 Caliber Killer"; shot eight random strangers, killing six, in and around New York City | |
| Betterton, Monroe | 1904–1919 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1920 | Murdered his wives in Missouri and Oklahoma during violent arguments | |
| Bianchi, Kenneth | 1977–1978 | 12 | 12 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Along with accomplice Angelo Buono Jr., known as "The Hillside Stranglers". Murdered young women in Los Angeles and Washington | |
| Bible, Danny | 1979–1983 | 4 | 4 | Executed in 2018 | Known as "The Ice Pick Killer"; serial rapist who raped and murdered a neighbor, then committed a triple murder four years later | |
| Biegenwald, Richard | 1958–1983 | 6 | 11 | Died in prison | Active in New Jersey, suspected in at least two other murders | |
| Biehler, Robert | 1966–1973 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Career criminal who shot four people in Los Angeles to cover up other crimes | |
| Bird, Jake | 1930–1947 | 13 | 46 | Executed 1949 | Sentenced to death for the murders of two people; confessed to forty-four other murders | |
| Bishop, Arthur Gary | 1979–1983 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1988 | Preyed on young boys in Utah between 1979 and 1983 | |
| Bittaker, Lawrence | 1979 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison awaiting execution | With accomplice Roy Norris known as "The Tool Box Killers"; kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered teenage girls in Los Angeles County, California | |
| Bixler, Rodney Troy | 2000 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to 40 years in prison | Strangled three women to death in Kentucky in 2000 | |
| Bladel, Rudy | 1963–1978 | 7 | 7 | Died while incarcerated at Henry Ford Allegiance Health | Known as "The Railway Killer"; his case was part of Michigan v. Jackson, which was later overruled by the Supreme Court | |
| Blair, Terry | 1982–2004 | 7 | 9 | Died in prison | Sentenced to 25 years in prison for one murder, released on parole after serving 21 years and committed additional murders upon release | |
| Blake, Eugene | 1967–1984 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered a girl during an unprovoked attack; later paroled and committed two additional murders across Ohio and West Virginia | |
| Bloomfield, Clifton | 2005–2008 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Movie extra who murdered five people in Albuquerque, New Mexico | |
| Bolin, Oscar Ray | 1986–1987 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 2016 | Murdered three women in Florida and a fourth woman in Texas | |
| Bolsinger, John Charles | 1980–1988 | 4 | 4 | Committed suicide in custody | Convicted of a manslaughter in Utah in 1980; posthumously linked to three rapes and murders in Eugene, Oregon | |
| Bonin, William | 1979–1980 | 21 | 36+ | Executed 1996 | Known as "The Freeway Killer"; preyed on young men and boys in southern California with several accomplices | |
| Bounds, Dallen | 1999 | 4 | 4 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Murdered acquaintances around South Carolina | |
| Bowles, Gary Ray | 1994 | 6 | 6+ | Executed 2019 | Known as "The I-95 Killer"; targeted gay men in Florida, Georgia and Maryland | |
| Boyd, Charles Anthony | 1986–1987 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1999 | Known as "The Bathroom Slayer"; preyed on women living in the same apartment building in North Dallas he was living in with his brother at the time | |
| Bradley, James Opelton | 1988–2014 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered his stepdaughter; paroled, and later murdered two women | |
| Brandt, Charlie | 1971–2004 | 4 | 7+ | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Shot his parents in 1971 when he was 13, killing his pregnant mother; stabbed his wife and niece to death in 2004 | |
| Brashers, Robert Eugene | 1990–1998 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Known as "Mister Maroon"; serial rapist who murdered at least three women in South Carolina and Missouri | |
| Breslin, Joseph | 1968–1982 | 3 | 3 | Killed by intended victims | Mental patient who killed a fellow patient in Pennsylvania; after release, killed a mother and daughter in his hometown in California | |
| Bright, Larry | 2003–2004 | 8 | 8+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Bonecrusher"; strangled black prostitutes at his house in Peoria, burning some of them afterwards | |
| Britt, Eugene | 1995 | 7 | 10 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered girls and women in Gary and Portage, Indiana | |
| Briley Brothers | 1979 | 12 | 21 | Executed 1984/1985 (Linwood and James) Sentenced to life imprisonment (Anthony) | Three brothers and an accomplice responsible for eleven murders | |
| Broadnax, Donald | 1977–1996 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Shot his friend to death; later murdered his wife and her grandson while out on work release | |
| Brockelhurst, Lester | 1937 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 1938 | Robbed and murdered men across three states | |
| Brooks, Shelly | 2001–2006 | 7 | 20+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered middle aged women around Detroit, Michigan | |
| Brown, Curtis Don | 1985–1986 | 3 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered three women around Arlington and Fort Worth, Texas between 1985 and 1986; suspected of up to eighteen murders. | |
| Brown, Debra Denise | 1984 | 8 | 8 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Accomplice of Alton Coleman | |
| Brown, Kenyel | 2019–2020 | 6 | 6 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Known as "The Metro Detroit Serial Killer"; lifelong criminal who killed six people in the course of robberies between December 2019 and February 2020 in Wayne County, Michigan | |
| Brown, Raymond Eugene | 1960–1987 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Killed three relatives as a teenager; paroled, and later killed and mutilated his girlfriend and her young daughter | |
| Brudos, Jerry | 1968–1969 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Known as "The Lust Killer" and "The Shoe Fetish Slayer"; necrophile and foot fetishist who assaulted, murdered and dismembered women in Oregon | |
| Brummett, Lyle | 1975–1976 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled three women in Texas with an accomplice | |
| Buenoano, Judy | 1971–1983 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 1998 | Murdered her husband, son and a boyfriend. Apprehended in 1983 after poisoning and car bombing a fiancé | |
| Bullock, David | 1981–1982 | 6 | 6+ | Sentenced to 150 years to life | Known as "The .38 Caliber Killer"; shot people at random around New York City to "amuse himself" | |
| Bunday, Thomas | 1979–1981 | 5 | 6 | Died in an intentional motorcycle crash before being arrested | United States Air Force non-commissioned officer who targeted women and young girls in Fairbanks, Alaska, while serving at Eielson Air Force Base | |
| Bundy, Ted | 1971–1978 | 20 | 30+ | Executed 1989 | Preyed on young white women throughout the United States | |
| Buono Jr., Angelo | 1977–1978 | 10 | 10 | Died in prison | Along with accomplice Kenneth Bianchi, known as "The Hillside Stranglers". Murdered young women in Los Angeles | |
| Burchart, Leslie | 1994–1996 | 3 | 7+ | Died in prison | Schizophrenic vagrant who killed fellow homeless men; prime suspect in the Golden Years Murders | |
| Burkett, Nathaniel | 1978–2002 | 5 | 5+ | Died in prison | Murdered women in Mississippi and Nevada during a 24-year period | |
| Burkhart, Ernest | 1921–1925 | 3 | 11+ | Died in 1986 after release in 1959 | Perpetrator of the Osage Indian murders | |
| Burkhart, Timothy | 1986–2001 | 4 | 4+ | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Murdered young girls and women in Pierce County, Washington | |
| Busch, Henry | 1960 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1962 | Strangled three women to death in California, saying that he felt an irresistible urge to kill | |
| Butler, Eugene | 1900–1906 | 6 | 6 | Died in North Dakota State Hospital | Mentally ill farmer in Niagara, North Dakota who killed six men and buried their bodies under his home; his crimes were discovered two years after his death during a home renovation | |
| Cable, James Ray | 1977–1989 | 4 | 6+ | Died in prison | Murdered an inmate while imprisoned for rape; released, then killed at least three women in Kentucky | |
| Campbell, Charles Rodman | 1975–1982 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 1994 | Violent sex offender who murdered young women and children in Seattle and Clearview | |
| Canaday, John Dwight | 1968–1969 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Considered Washington state's first known serial killer; sexually assaulted and murdered women in Seattle | |
| Cannon, Patty | 1802–1829 | 4 | 25+ | Died in prison awaiting trial | Gang leader who kidnapped slaves and free blacks to either sell or torture them | |
| Caputo, Ricardo | 1971–1977 | 4 | 6 | Died in prison | Argentine-born man who killed three women in the U.S. and one in Mexico | |
| Carignan, Harvey | 1949–1974 | 3 | 5+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Want-Ad Killer"; escaped hanging for a 1949 killing on a technicality | |
| Caro, Fernando Eros | 1979–1980 | 3 | 5+ | Died in prison | Kidnapped, raped and shot children and teenagers around Fresno County, California | |
| Carpenter, David | 1979–1981 | 8 | 10+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Trailside Killer"; serial rapist known for stalking and murdering women hiking on trails in state parks in California | |
| Carr, Robert Frederick | 1972–1976 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Pedophile who targeted children in both Florida and Connecticut. | |
| Carson, Michael Bear | 1981–1983 | 3 | 3+ | 75 years to life | Along with his wife, Suzan Carson, dubbed "The San Francisco Witch Killers"; considered suspects in nearly a dozen other deaths in the U.S. and Europe | |
| Carson, Suzan | 1981–1983 | 3 | 3+ | 75 years to life | Along with her husband, Michael Bear Carson, dubbed "The San Francisco Witch Killers"; considered suspects in nearly a dozen other deaths in the U.S. and Europe | |
| Castro, Edward | 1986–1987 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2000 | Robbed and murdered gay men across three Florida counties | |
| Catlin, Steven David | 1976–1984 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Poisoned his mother and two wives with Paraquat | |
| Catoe, Jarvis | 1935–1941 | 8 | 11 | Executed 1943 | Sometimes referred to as the "D.C. Strangler"; active in Washington, D.C. | |
| Chadd, Billy Lee | 1974–1978 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered two women in California. He also murdered a man in Nevada. | |
| Chandler, Oba | 1989–1990 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 2011 | Also known as "Dave Posner" and "Dave Posno" | |
| Chase, Richard | 1977–1978 | 6 | 6 | Committed suicide prior to execution | Known as "The Vampire of Sacramento"; necrophile and cannibal who murdered six people in the span of a month, between December 1977 and January 1978 in Sacramento, California | |
| Chaves, Louis | 1968–1987 | 3 | 3 | Released in 2022 | Murdered a couple in 1968 and later killed a police officer in 1987 | |
| Chavez, Juan | 1986–1990 | 6 | 6+ | Committed suicide in prison | Robbed and killed gay men in three cities in Los Angeles County | |
| Chavez, Juan Rodriguez | 1985–1995 | 12 | 12 | Executed 2003 | Known as "The Thrill Killer"; killed a neighbor during a burglary; paroled and went on a killing spree with a teenage accomplice | |
| Cherry, Ervin | 1993–1994 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Habitual criminal who strangled three women to death in North Florida | |
| Chester, Elroy | 1997–1998 | 5 | 5 | Executed 2013 | Killed five people in Texas, including his brother-in-law | |
| Childs, Terry | 1979–1985 | 5 | 12 | Died in prison | Kidnapped, tortured, raped and killed women across Nevada and California | |
| Christensen, William Dean | 1982–1983 | 4 | 24+ | Died in prison | Known as "The American Jack the Ripper"; murdered and mutilated people between Canada and the United States | |
| Christiansen, Thor Nis | 1976–1979 | 4 | 4 | Murdered in prison by unknown assailant | Preyed on college-aged women in California | |
| Christopher, Joseph | 1980–1981 | 12 | 12 | Died in prison | Known as "The Midtown Slasher" and the ".22-Caliber Killer"; targeted mainly African-American men and boys in New York, shooting some victims and stabbing and dismembering others | |
| Clark, Doug | 1980 | 7 | 7 | Died in prison awaiting execution | With accomplice Carol Bundy, known as "The Sunset Strip Killers"; preyed on young women in West Hollywood and Los Angeles, California | |
| Clark, Vernon Lee | 1980–1989 | 4 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Sexually assaulted and killed at least four women in Maryland | |
| Clement, Mary | 1880–1885 | 4 | 4 | Died in 1944 | Luxembourgish immigrant who poisoned her family members with arsenic; released in 1886 | |
| Code, Nathaniel | 1984–1987 | 8 | 12 | Sentenced to death | Committed at least eight murders in Shreveport, Louisiana | |
| Coffman, Cynthia | 1986 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Kidnapped four women by ATMs before accomplice James Gregory Marlow strangled them | |
| Cole, Carroll | 1947–1980 | 5 | 35 | Executed 1985 | Drowned an 8-year old classmate while still a child and strangled multiple women in California, Nevada and Texas as an adult | |
| Coleman, Alton | 1984 | 8 | 8 | Executed 2002 | Multi-state killer who, along with his accomplice, murdered a man and injured another, murdered four women and three young girls, and raped a young girl | |
| Collins, Harvey | 1953–1955 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1957 | Marine who stabbed a woman to death in Kentucky; later killed two people in Washington during robberies | |
| Colvin, Dellmus | 1987–2005 | 7 | 7+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Truck driver who killed prostitutes in New Jersey and Ohio | |
| Conde, Rory Enrique | 1994–1995 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Tamiami Trail Strangler"; Colombian-born man who killed six prostitutes in Florida over a span of five months | |
| Cook, Anthony | 1973–1981 | 9 | 9+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Committed crimes with his brother Nathaniel Cook | |
| Cook, Nathaniel | 1973–1981 | 9 | 9+ | Released in 2018 | Committed crimes with his brother Anthony Cook | |
| Cooks, Jessie Lee | 1973–1974 | 15 | 73+ | Died in prison | Part of "The Death Angels" cult responsible for the Zebra murders | |
| Cooper, Samuel | 2006–2007 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot and killed men in North Carolina | |
| Copeland, Faye | 1986–1989 | 5 | 12 | Died in 2003 after release on parole in 2002 | Along with her husband, Ray Copeland, the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States | |
| Copeland, Ray | 1986–1989 | 5 | 12 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Along with his wife, Faye Copeland, the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States | |
| Corll, Dean | 1970–1973 | 28 | 28+ | Murdered by accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley | Known as "The Candy Man" and "The Pied Piper". Crimes referred to as "The Houston Mass Murders"; raped and murdered boys and young men in Texas with the aid of teenaged accomplices David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley | |
| Corona, Juan | 1971 | 25 | 25 | Died in prison | Mexican farm contractor who murdered male migrant workers in Sutter County, California, and buried their bodies in peach orchards | |
| Corwin, Daniel Lee | 1987 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1998 | Abducted and killed three women around Texas | |
| Costa, Tony | 1968–1969 | 4 | 8 | Committed suicide in prison | Preyed on women in and around Truro, Massachusetts | |
| Cottingham, Richard | 1967–1980 | 18 | 85–100 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Torso Killer"; raped, strangled and dismembered numerous women across New York and New Jersey | |
| Covington, Juan | 1998–2005 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot people at random in Philadelphia due to paranoid hallucinations | |
| Cowan, Mary | 1884–1894 | 6 | 6 | Died in prison | Known as "The Borgia of Maine". Poisoned two husbands and four children | |
| Cox, Frederick Pete | 1997 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered prostitutes in Orlando, Florida | |
| Cox, Michael | 1984 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Kidnapped and fatally stabbed three teenage girls in California, burying their bodies in the Eldorado National Forest | |
| Craine, Louis | 1984–1987 | 4 | 5+ | Died in prison | Responsible for at least two of "The Southside Slayer" murders in South Los Angeles | |
| Crawford, Andre | 1993–1999 | 11 | 11 | Died in prison | Chicago transient who preyed on prostitutes and the destitute | |
| Creech, Thomas Eugene | 1974–1981 | 5 | 42 | Sentenced to death | Transient who killed people in various states, some allegedly as part of a biker gang or for human sacrifices | |
| Crump, Thomas Wayne | 1980–1982 | 4 | 7 | Died in prison | Murdered three people during a five month crime spree in 1980 and a cab driver in 1982; confessed to murders dating back to 1956 | |
| Cullen, Charles | 1988–2003 | 10 | 40+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Nurse in New Jersey and Pennsylvania who murdered patients | |
| Cunanan, Andrew | 1997 | 5 | 5 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was among his victims | |
| Cunningham, Mark William | 1983 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot and killed three men in Southern California for no apparent reason | |
| Curry, James Richard | 1982–1983 | 4 | 5 | Committed suicide in custody | One victim was Mary Silvani, whose identity was not discovered for 37 years | |
| Cutlip, Jeffrey Paul | 1975–1993 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered two women and a teenage girl in Oregon | |
| Dahmer, Jeffrey | 1978–1991 | 17 | 17 | Murdered in prison by inmate Christopher Scarver | Milwaukee cannibal who retained various body parts of his victims | |
| Daniels, James Edward | 1963–1984 | 4 | 4 | Died in a car crash prior to apprehension | Killed acquaintances in minor disputes | |
| Danielson, Robert Wayne | 1970–1982 | 7 | 7+ | Committed suicide prior to execution | Murdered people at campsites across three states | |
| Danks, Joseph Martin | 1986–1990 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to death | Murdered his cellmate while serving a life sentence for murdering six homeless men during a stabbing spree | |
| Davis, Bruce Alan | 1971–1982 | 3 | 33 | Committed suicide in prison | Murdered two men during robberies, and later a prison guard; confessed to numerous sexually-motivated murders of men across the country | |
| Davis, Charles William | 1975–1977 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Ambulance dispatcher who abducted, raped and killed women in Baltimore | |
| Davis, Frank | 1971–1983 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Raped and murdered three teenage boys in Indiana | |
| Davis, Girvies | 1978–1979 | 4 | 9+ | Executed 1995 | Accomplice of Richard Holman; killed robbery witnesses, saying it was "easier" than wearing a mask | |
| Davis, William George | 2017–2018 | 4 | 7 | Sentenced to death | Nurse who killed patients at the hospital where he worked | |
| DeAngelo, Joseph James | 1979–1986 | 13 | 13+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Golden State Killer", "The Visalia Ransacker", "The East Area Rapist", and "The Original Night Stalker"; murdered three people in Sacramento and ten people in Southern California from 1975 through 1986; also linked to more than fifty rapes in the Sacramento area from 1976 to 1979 | |
| DeJesus, Carmello | 1971–1973 | 3 | 4 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Itinerant gambler who killed female acquaintances during arguments | |
| Dennis, Jerome | 1991–1992 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Responsible for killing five women in Newark and East Orange, New Jersey, while on parole | |
| Devonshire, William | 2003–2022 | 3 | 3 | Died before trial | Murdered a neighbor in Delaware; paroled, then murdered two homeless women along the Tamiami Trail in Florida | |
| Dewantoro, Harnoko | 1991–1992 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death; released in 2019 | Indonesian national who killed two business associates and his brother in Los Angeles, stashing their bodies in storage facilities | |
| Dieteman, Samuel | 2005–2006 | 8 | 8 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Targeted random strangers during drive-by shootings and arsons in Phoenix, Arizona. Accomplice Dale Hausner committed suicide in prison | |
| Dillon, Thomas | 1989–1992 | 5 | 5+ | Died in prison | Shot men at random in southeastern Ohio | |
| Dodd, Westley Allan | 1989 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1993 | Convicted sex offender who sexually assaulted and murdered three young boys in Vancouver, Washington, in 1989 | |
| Dominique, Ronald | 1997–2006 | 23 | 23+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered male victims in Louisiana | |
| Donaldson, Howell | 2017 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot and killed four people, seemingly at random, in the Seminole Heights neighborhood of Tampa, Florida | |
| Dorsey, Leon | 1994 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2008 | Murdered store employees around Texas | |
| Doss, Nannie | 1927–1954 | 11 | 11 | Died in prison | Known as "The Giggling Granny" and "The Jolly Black Widow"; poisoned four husbands, two children, her two sisters, her mother, a grandson, and a mother-in-law | |
| Dowler, David | 1983–1987 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Poisoned three acquaintances in Odessa, Texas | |
| Duffy, Charles Lee | 1997 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Robbed, raped, and murdered women across two Georgia counties | |
| Dugan, Brian | 1983–1985 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Serial rapist active in and around Chicago, Illinois | |
| Duncan, Joseph Edward | 1996–2005 | 5 | 7 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Raped at least seventeen young boys and three young girls | |
| Duncan, Vender | 1955–1957 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1959 | Burglar who raped and violently beat elderly women in San Francisco, fatally injuring three | |
| Dunkle, Jon | 1981–1985 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Murdered three young boys in California, including his friend's younger brother | |
| Durousseau, Paul | 1997–2003 | 7 | 7+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Murdered seven women in the Southeastern United States, included two who were pregnant; German authorities suspect Durousseau may have killed several local women when he was stationed there with the Army during the early 1990s | |
| Edwards, Andrew David | 1987–1992 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered transients in alcohol-induced rages | |
| Edwards, Edward | 1977–1996 | 5 | 15+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Sentenced to death for shooting his foster son in 1996 insurance murder | |
| Edwards, Mack Ray | 1953–1970 | 6 | 6+ | Committed suicide prior to execution | Pedophile who preyed on children in Los Angeles County, California | |
| Edwards, Thomas Francis | 1970–1981 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Bethesda Butcher"; shot and killed a young girl in California; posthumously linked to two murders in Maryland | |
| Eichinger, John | 1999–2005 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Stabbed three women and a child to death in Pennsylvania; two of the women had rejected his romantic advances | |
| Eisele, Joseph | 1867 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1868 | Known as "The Parkersburg Murderer"; German emigrant who killed fellow emigrants in violent robberies | |
| Ellis, Walter E. | 1986–2007 | 8 | 10+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Milwaukee North Side Strangler" | |
| Engleman, Glennon | 1958–1980 | 5 | 7+ | Died in prison | Dentist who worked as a contract killer and plotted with women to kill their husbands so they could share the insurance money | |
| Erskine, Scott | 1989–1993 | 3 | 3+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Raped and murdered two young boys in California and a woman in Florida | |
| Ervin, Joe Michael | 1969–1981 | 6 | 6 | Committed suicide in custody | Shot and killed a police officer in Denver, Colorado while avoiding a murder warrant in Texas; posthumously linked to four additional murders in the Denver metropolitan area | |
| Escobar, Ramon | 2018–2023 | 7 | 8 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Beat his uncle, aunt, and several homeless people to death between Texas and California | |
| Espinosa, Felipe | 1863 | 32 | 32 | Killed by Tom Tobin | Murdered various people across the Colorado Territory | |
| Evans, Donald Leroy | 1985–1991 | 3 | 70 | Murdered in prison by a fellow death row inmate | Suspected of another dozen murders but recanted his confessions to over seventy more | |
| Evans, Gary | 1985–1997 | 5 | 5 | Committed suicide after escaping police custody | Leader of a ring of jewelry and antique thieves who operated in and around Capital District, New York | |
| Evonitz, Richard | 1996–1997 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Kidnapped, raped and murdered three girls in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, and abducted and assaulted a 15-year-old girl in Richland County, South Carolina | |
| Ewell, John | 2010 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Advocate against the "3 strikes law" who robbed and murdered middle-aged and elderly people in Los Angeles | |
| Eyler, Larry | 1982–1984 | 21 | 24 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Interstate Killer" and the "Highway Killer"; preyed on boys and young men in the Midwest | |
| Falling, Christine | 1980–1982 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Epileptic who strangled infants in Florida because of voices in her head | |
| Fautenberry, John | 1990–1991 | 5 | 6 | Executed 2009 | Befriended, murdered and robbed people across four states | |
| Fayne, Lorenzo | 1989–1993 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered a woman and five children in Wisconsin and Illinois | |
| Feltner, Jeffrey | 1988–1989 | 7 | 7 | Died in prison | Nurse's aide who smothered patients to "end their suffering" | |
| Ferguson, John Errol | 1974–1978 | 8 | 12 | Executed 2013 | Murdered multiple people in the Miami-Dade County, Florida area | |
| Fernandes, Roberto Wagner | 2000–2001 | 3 | 4+ | Died in a plane crash | Brazilian flight attendant who killed prostitutes in Miami, Florida; suspected in other deaths | |
| Fernandez, Raymond | 1947–1949 | 3 | 20 | Executed 1951 | Along with accomplice Martha Beck, became known as "The Lonely Hearts Killers" | |
| Figueroa, Danny | 1986 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Known as "The Backwoods Sniper"; Self-styled survivalist who shot three people to death across Southern California | |
| Fish, Albert | 1924–1932 | 3 | 8+ | Executed 1936 | Known as "The Werewolf of Wysteria"; sadist and pedophile who cannibalized several children. | |
| Fisher, Constance | 1954–1966 | 6 | 6 | Accidentally drowned after escaping from a mental hospital | Paranoid schizophrenic who drowned her six children on two different occasions in Maine | |
| Fitzsimmons, George | 1969–1973 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Known as "The Karate Chop Killer"; mental patient who killed his parents in New York, then was released and killed his aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania | |
| Flowers, Norman | 2004–2005 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped, beat, and strangled women in their Las Vegas apartments | |
| Floyd, Cecil Henry | 1973–1974 | 6 | 11 | Died in prison | Murdered people during robberies, sometimes with the help of his wife or other accomplices | |
| Ford, Lester | 1991 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered three women and raped two others during a six-month crime spree in Queens, New York | |
| Ford, Wayne Adam | 1997–1998 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to death | Killed and mutilated four women in California | |
| Forte, Linwood | 1990 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Nightstalker"; home invader who suffocated elderly residents at their homes in Goldsboro | |
| Fountain, Clayton Anthony | 1974–1983 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | Killed his superior officer in the Philippines, then killed inmates and guards in federal prisons | |
| Francois, Kendall | 1996–1998 | 8 | 10+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Poughkeepsie Killer"; convicted of the murders of eight women in New York | |
| Franklin, Joseph Paul | 1977–1980 | 11 | 22 | Executed 2013 | Also attempted to assassinate Larry Flynt and Vernon Jordan | |
| Franklin Jr., Lonnie David | 1985–2007 | 10 | 25+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Grim Sleeper"; charged after DNA evidence linked him with ten murders in Los Angeles since 1985 | |
| Frederick, James Anthony | 1991–1992 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed people during robberies in Lantana, Florida | |
| Gacy, John Wayne | 1972–1978 | 33 | 33+ | Executed 1994 | Known as "The Killer Clown"; preyed on young men and boys in and around Chicago | |
| Gallego, Gerald | 1978–1980 | 10 | 10 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Accomplice Charlene Gallego released in 1997 | |
| Garcia, Anthony | 2008–2013 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Former doctor who killed four people in Omaha, Nebraska, as revenge for being fired | |
| Gardner, Ray Dempsey | 1941–1949 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1951 | Killed people in North Dakota, Utah, and Montana | |
| Garduno, Santiago | 1900s–1932 | 3 | 4 | Executed 1933 | Killed at least three people in Colorado and New Mexico | |
| Gargiulo, Michael | 1993–2008 | 3 | 10 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Hollywood Ripper"; stabbed three women to death | |
| Garrison, Wayne Henry | 1972–1989 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Murdered three children, two of which as a child himself, in Tulsa, Oklahoma | |
| Gary, Carlton | 1970–1978 | 4 | 8+ | Executed 2018 | Known as "The Stocking Strangler"; raped and murdered elderly women in Columbus, Georgia; also linked to a murder in New York | |
| Gaskins, Donald Henry | 1953–1982 | 9 | 100+ | Executed 1991 | Convicted of nine murders; claimed to an author to have killed more than 100 | |
| Gay, Randy | 1978–2011 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Murdered three people, including his father-in-law and his biological father, during arguments | |
| Gayles, Clifford | 1934–1947 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1948 | Killed his girlfriend; paroled and went on a crime spree, resulting in the deaths of two others | |
| Gaynor, Alfred | 1995–1998 | 9 | 9 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled drug-addicted women in Springfield, Massachusetts | |
| Gecht, Robin | 1981–1982 | 18 | 18 | Sentenced to 120 years in prison | Member of the satanic cult and organized crime group known as "The Ripper Crew" or "The Chicago Rippers" | |
| Geralds, Hubert | 1994–1995 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Known as "The Englewood Strangler"; Illinois man who sexually assaulted and strangled sex workers | |
| Getreu, John | 1963–1974 | 3 | 4+ | Died in prison | Raped and murdered a 15-year-old girl on a U.S. Army base in West Germany in 1963 and was released after six years, then returned to the United States and murdered two young women in the early 1970s near Stanford University | |
| Gibbs, Janie Lou | 1966–1967 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | Killed her three sons, a grandson, and her husband, by arsenic poisoning | |
| Gibson, Keith | 2008–2021 | 3 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed strangers and his mother during robberies in Delaware and Pennsylvania after being paroled from prison | |
| Gibson, Mose | 1908–1920 | 3 | 7+ | Executed 1920 | Committed murders during burglaries or during the course of robberies across several states. Guilt has been questioned | |
| Gibson, William Clyde | 2002–2012 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death | Sexually assaulted and murdered women across Indiana | |
| Gifford, Bertha | 1900–1928 | 3 | 17 | Died in Missouri State Hospital #4 | Missouri serial poisoner; found not guilty by reason of insanity | |
| Gilbert, Kristen | 1989–1996 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Induced cardiac arrest in patients and would then respond to the coded emergency, often resuscitating the patients herself | |
| Giles, Bernard | 1973 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Abducted, raped and murdered female hitchhikers in orange groves near Titusville, Florida | |
| Gillis, Sean Vincent | 1994–2004 | 8 | 8 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Stalked, kidnapped, raped, murdered, and mutilated Louisiana women | |
| Gilyard, Lorenzo | 1977–1993 | 6 | 13+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Kansas City Strangler"; targeted mostly sex workers in and around Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Glatman, Harvey | 1957–1958 | 3 | 4 | Executed 1959 | Known as "The Glamour Girl Slayer" and "The Lonely Hearts Killer"; posed as a professional photographer in California to lure his victims with the promise of a modeling career before binding them and sexually assaulting them and photographing then murdering them | |
| Glaze, Billy | 1986–1987 | 3 | 20+ | Died in prison | Guilt has come into question by the discovery of DNA evidence excluding Glaze and implicating another man | |
| Gleason, Robert Charles | 2007–2010 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 2013 | Killed two fellow inmates while serving a life sentence for another murder, and vowed to keep killing if he was not put to death | |
| Goble, Sean Patrick | 1994–1995 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Interstate Killer"; truck driver who kidnapped and murdered prostitutes along various highways | |
| Gomez, Lloyd | 1950–1951 | 9 | 9 | Executed 1953 | Known as "The Phantom Hobo Killer"; murdered nine homeless men across California | |
| Gordon, Steven Dean | 2013–2014 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Sex offender who raped and strangled prostitutes in Santa Ana and Anaheim, California, aided by accomplice Franc Cano | |
| Gore, David Alan | 1981–1983 | 6 | 6 | Executed 2012 | One of the pair known as "The Killing Cousins"; murdered women in Vero Beach and Indian River County, Florida, with the aid of his cousin Fred Waterfield | |
| Goudeau, Mark | 2005–2006 | 9 | 9 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Baseline Killer"; a serial kidnapper, rapist, thief, and serial killer that terrorized the Phoenix metro area | |
| Graham, Gwendolyn | 1987 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Accomplice of Cathy Wood; nurse's aide that preyed on elderly women in a Walker, Michigan nursing home | |
| Graham, Harrison | 1986–1987 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered seven women in Philadelphia and kept their remains in his apartment | |
| Grant, Gary | 1969–1971 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed three children and a young woman in Renton, Washington | |
| Grant, Waldo | 1973–1976 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison | Murdered four gay men in New York City | |
| Granviel, Kenneth | 1974–1975 | 7 | 9 | Executed 1996 | Raped and stabbed women and children in Fort Worth, Texas, in sexually motivated attacks | |
| Grate, Shawn | 2006–2016 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Murdered women in rural Ohio | |
| Gray, Dana Sue | 1994 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Preyed on elderly women, murdering three; caught after a fourth intended victim survived and identified her | |
| Gray, Marvin | 1971–1992 | 3 | 41 | Died in prison | Most dangerous prisoner in Colorado until his death; confessed to the murders of forty-one people across eight different states | |
| Gray, Ricky Javon | 2005–2006 | 8 | 8 | Executed 2017 | Killed his wife in Pennsylvania, then went on a killing spree in Virginia with his cousin, Ray Dandridge | |
| Gray, Ronald | 1986–1987 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Soldier who raped and murdered women near Fort Bragg | |
| Green, Larry | 1973–1974 | 15 | 73+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Part of "The Death Angels" cult responsible for the Zebra murders | |
| Green, Ricky Lee | 1985–1986 | 4 | 12 | Executed 1997 | Bisexual drifter; his wife helped in two of the murders | |
| Green, Samuel | 1817–1821 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 1822 | Known as "The Terror of New England"; robbed and murdered various people across New England and Canada with accomplice William Ash | |
| Greenawalt, Randy | 1974–1978 | 7 | 9 | Executed 1997 | Killed at least one man in January 1974; later escaped from prison with another inmate, killing a family of four and a couple in Arizona and Colorado | |
| Greenwell, Harry Edward | 1987–1989 | 3 | 3 | Died before apprehension | Known as the "I-65 Killer"; murdered motel clerks along Interstate 65 | |
| Greenwood, Vaughn | 1964–1975 | 11 | 11 | Died in prison | Known as "The Skid Row Slasher"; preyed mainly on transients and the homeless in Southern California | |
| Gretzler, Douglas | 1973 | 11 | 17 | Executed 1998 | With accomplice Willie Steelman, killed witnesses to their robberies spree across California and Arizona | |
| Griffin, Jeffery Lee | 1978–1979 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1992 | Stabbed to death three people during robberies in Houston | |
| Grinder, James B. | 1976–1984 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Murdered three girls in Arkansas; later murdered a woman in Missouri. | |
| Grissom, Richard | 1977–1989 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed three women in Johnson County, Kansas, after having been released from prison for a previous murder; the bodies of his latter victims have yet to be found | |
| Groves, Vincent | 1978–1988 | 7 | 20+ | Died in prison | Raped and strangled prostitutes in Denver and the surrounding areas | |
| Guerrero, Jose | 1995–1998 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Raped, shot, and strangled women in Madera, California | |
| Gunness, Belle | 1900–1908 | 14 | 14+ | Unknown | Norwegian-born murder-for-profit killer who killed her suitors and children | |
| Hahn, Anna Marie | 1933–1937 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1938 | German-born murder-for-profit killer who poisoned five elderly men | |
| Halbower, Rodney | 1976 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Suspect in the Gypsy Hill killings | |
| Hale, William | 1921–1925 | 18 | 24+ | Died in 1962 after release in 1947 | Major perpetrator of the Osage Indian murders | |
| Hall, Andreas | 1847–1848 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1849 | Prolific thief who killed three people during robberies in New York | |
| Halliday, Lizzie | 1891–1906 | 4 | 8+ | Died in Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane | Irish immigrant who killed three people in Upstate New York. While incarcerated at Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, she killed a hospital attendant. First woman sentenced to be executed by the electric chair; commuted to a life sentence in a mental institution after a medical commission declared her insane | |
| Hammond, Andrew | 2020–2022 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot three people to death in Fresno, California between 2020 and 2022 | |
| Hampton, T. J. | 1887–1893 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1901 | Drifter who murdered five people across three states | |
| Hance, William Henry | 1977–1978 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1994 | Known as "The Forces of Evil"; United States Army soldier who murdered four women on and around military bases | |
| Hankins, Terry | 2000–2001 | 5 | 5 | Executed 2009 | Mansfield, Texas man who murdered members of his own family | |
| Hansen, Robert | 1971–1983 | 17 | 37 | Died in prison | Known as "The Butcher Baker"; abducted, raped, and murdered women in and around Anchorage, Alaska. Hansen released many of his victims into the Alaskan wilderness after abducting them and hunted them with a semi-automatic rifle and a knife | |
| Harpe Brothers | 1797–1804 | 39 | 50+ | Lynched 1799 (Micajah) Executed 1804 (Wiley) | Brothers or cousins; America's first known serial killers | |
| Harris, DeWayne Lee | 1997–1998 | 3 | 3+ | 94 years in prison | Known as "The Seattle Jungle Killer"; strangled prostitutes in Seattle, dumping their bodies in an area known as 'The Jungle' | |
| Harris, Michael Darnell | 1981–1982 | 4 | 10 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped, beat and strangled elderly women across Michigan; claims to be innocent | |
| Harris, Robert Wayne | 1999–2000 | 6 | 6 | Executed 2012 | Killed a woman whom he suspected of stealing money from him, then killed five of his former coworkers three days after he was fired | |
| Harris, Warren | 1977 | 3 | 4 | Released on parole in 2024 | Known as "The French Quarter Stabber"; attacked and stabbed people in homophobic attacks in New Orleans | |
| Harrison, Kenneth | 1967–1969 | 4 | 4 | Committed suicide in prison | Known as "The Giggler"; murdered people around Boston due to homicidal urges, and later called the police to inform of his crimes | |
| Harrison, Lester | 1951–1973 | 5 | 7 | Unknown | Murdered prison inmate; after release, raped and murdered women in Chicago's Grant Park | |
| Harvey, Donald | 1970–1987 | 37 | 80 | Murdered in prison by inmate James Elliott | Known as "The Angel of Death"; hospital orderly who murdered patients in Ohio and Kentucky | |
| Hassell, George | 1917–1926 | 13 | 13 | Executed 1928 | Annihilated his family on two separate occasions | |
| Hatcher, Charles Ray | 1969–1982 | 5 | 16 | Committed suicide in prison | Convicted of two child murders in 1978 and 1982, also stabbed to death a fellow inmate and another man 20 years apart | |
| Hausner, Dale | 2006 | 8 | 8 | Committed suicide prior to execution | Accomplice of Samuel Dieteman. Convicted of killing people in random drive-by shootings in Phoenix, Arizona | |
| Hayes, Robert | 2005–2006 | 3 | 7+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Daytona Beach Killer"; assaulted and shot three women in Florida. DNA tests have linked him to a fourth murder committed in 2016 | |
| Hayter, John Price | 1953–1986 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Drifter who killed a fellow prisoner and two women in Texas and Florida | |
| Hazzard, Linda | 1908–1911 | 15 | 15+ | Died in 1938 | Known as the "Starvation Doctor"; quack doctor and swindler who promoted fasting, pummeling and hours-long enemas as treatments. In 1911, she was found guilty of manslaughter in the state of Washington and was sentenced to two to twenty years of hard labor for killing at least fifteen people for financial gain at a sanitarium she operated near Seattle. Released on parole after only serving two years and later, for unknown reasons, received a full pardon from Governor Ernest Lister in 1916. Hazzard died after subjecting herself to her treatment methods. | |
| Hearn, John Wayne | 1985 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered three men for insurance money | |
| Heirens, William | 1945–1946 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Known as "The Lipstick Killer"; Illinois teenager convicted of the murder of three Chicago women in the 1940s | |
| Helm, Boone | 1850–1864 | 11 | 11+ | Executed 1864 | Known as "The Kentucky Cannibal"; mountain man and Old West gunfighter who murdered and partially consumed his victims throughout the American West | |
| Henley, Elmer Wayne | 1970–1973 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Crimes referred to as "The Houston Mass Murders"; accomplice of Dean Corll, whom he later killed in self-defense | |
| Henry, John Ruthell | 1975–1985 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2014 | Murdered his first wife in Dade City in 1975; paroled, and later murdered his second wife and stepson | |
| Hernandez, Alexander | 2014 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot five people to death during a series of random drive-by shootings in California. | |
| Hernandez, Ramon Torres | 1994–2001 | 3 | 5+ | Executed 2012 | Kidnapped and murdered women in Bexar County, Texas | |
| Herzog, Loren | 1984–1999 | 3 | 19 | Committed suicide prior to release | Along with accompliace Wesley Shermantine known as "The Speed Freak Killers" | |
| Hickey, J. Frank | 1883–1911 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Known as "The Postcard Killer"; poisoned a coworker with laudanum in Massachusetts and strangled two young boys to death in New York. Died in prison in 1922 | |
| Hickson, Monroe | 1946 | 4 | 4 | Died while a fugitive | Known as "Bluecorns"; murdered shopkeepers around Aiken County, South Carolina | |
| Hill, Clarence | 1938–1940 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment; released in 1964 | Attacked couples at lovers' lanes in Duck Island, New Jersey, and the surrounding area between 1938 and 1942 | |
| Hill, Ivan | 1979–1994 | 9 | 9+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The 60 Freeway Killer"; responsible for at least one of the Southside Slayer murders | |
| Hill, Walter | 1952–1977 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1997 | Killed three people after serving time for two separate murders | |
| Hilton, Gary | 2007–2008 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The National Forest Serial Killer"; abducted and killed hikers in national forests across three states | |
| Hinton, Ronald | 1996–1999 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Along with two accomplices, strangled three women to death in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago | |
| Hittle, Daniel | 1973–1989 | 7 | 7 | Executed 2000 | Killed his adoptive parents in Minnesota; paroled, and later killed five others in Texas during a shooting spree | |
| Hodges, Henry Eugene | 1988–1990 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to death in Tennessee in 1990 | Convicted of three murders of homosexual men in Georgia and Tennessee. Confessed to at least eight murders of homosexual men in total. | |
| Holman, Richard | 1978–1979 | 4 | 9+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Accomplice of Girvies Davis; killed robbery witnesses | |
| Holmes, H. H. | 1891–1894 | 9 | 27+ | Executed 1896 | Convicted of only one murder, but definitively tied to at least eight more; confessed to a total of 27 | |
| Hooker, John Michael | 1971–1988 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2003 | Killed a guest at a house party; later stabbed to death his common-law wife and her mother | |
| Honken, Dustin Lee | 1993 | 5 | 5 | Executed 2020 | Drug dealer who killed witnesses against him and their children with the help of his girlfriend, Angela Johnson | |
| Hopewell, Raymont | 1999–2005 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Attacked elderly residents of Baltimore, Maryland | |
| Hopkins, John W. | 1972–1978 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide in prison | Known as "The Mohawk Ripper"; abducted, raped and stabbed college students in the Mohawk Valley region | |
| Howell, William Devin | 2003 | 7 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Convicted of killing seven people in 2003; believed to be the most prolific serial killer in Connecticut history | |
| Hoyt, Waneta | 1965–1971 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | New York woman who murdered her five children; exonerated under New York law because she died before her appeal | |
| Hughes, Mervin Ray | 1986–1999 | 3 | 4+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Serial Shooter"; killed two people and injured ten others during a shooting spree in Oakland, after having been released from prison for a previous shooting death | |
| Hughes, Michael | 1986–1993 | 7 | 7+ | Sentenced to death | Responsible for at least one of the Southside Slayer murders | |
| Hughes, Philip Joseph | 1972–1975 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life inprisonment | Killed three women with his ex-wife in Contra Costa County, California | |
| Hunter, Bert Leroy | 1968–1988 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2000 | Murdered a tavern owner; later paroled and murdered an elderly woman and her son with an accomplice | |
| Hunter, Richard Louis | 1986 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled elderly women in Atlanta | |
| Huntsman, Megan | 1996–2006 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to 30 years to life in prison | Pleasant Grove, Utah woman who strangled six of her newborn children | |
| Hyatt, Terry | 1979–1987 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death | Kidnapped, raped and murdered women across North Carolina | |
| Ingle, Phillip Lee | 1991 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1995 | Murdered two elderly couples in North Carolina for no apparent reason | |
| Irvin, Leslie | 1954–1955 | 6 | 6+ | Died in prison | His Supreme Court case set a precedent for fair trials of highly publicized defendants | |
| Irvin, Marvin | 1979–1990 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Former police officer who murdered women in St. Joseph, Missouri | |
| Jablonski, Phillip Carl | 1978–1991 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Murdered women in California and Utah | |
| Jackson, Calvin | 1973–1974 | 9 | 9 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered and robbed women in Manhattan's East Side, abusing their corpses post-mortem | |
| Jackson, Charles | 1975–1982 | 8 | 8+ | Died in prison | Responsible for at least eight of the East Bay Slayer murders | |
| Jackson, Freddrick | 2020–2022 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to 50 years in prison | Shot four men to death in Arkansas | |
| Jackson, Homer | 1983–1993 | 4 | 4+ | Died in 2023 after release in 2022 | Raped and strangled prostitutes across Portland, Oregon; case noted for messy trial and questionable evidence | |
| Jackson, Mary Jane | 1856–1861 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to 10 years in prison; released after nine months | Known as "Bricktop"; prostitute who murdered four men in New Orleans | |
| Jackson, Ray | 1989–1990 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as the "Gillham Park Strangler"; murdered six sex workers in Kansas City, Missouri. | |
| Jackson, Vickie Dawn | 2000–2001 | 10 | 10+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Poisoned patients in Nocona, Texas, with Mivacron | |
| Jackson, William Perry | 1980 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Together with two accomplices, killed five people during robberies in Oregon and Washington | |
| Jennings, Desmond Domnique | 1993 | 5 | 20 | Executed 1999 | Killed people in drug-related robberies | |
| Jennings, Wilbur Lee | 1981–1984 | 6 | 6+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Ditchbank Killer"; raped and murdered women in Fresno and Sacramento County, California, dumping their bodies in ditches afterwards | |
| Jesperson, Keith Hunter | 1990–1995 | 8 | 8+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Happy Face Killer" | |
| Johansen, William | 1933–1940 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1941 | Sea merchant who murdered and mutilated three women, including his wife, in New York and California. | |
| Johnson, Alvin | 1972–1983 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Transient who killed people during alcoholic binges; one murder committed with Wilbur Lee Jennings | |
| Johnson, Matthew Steven | 2000–2001 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Preyed on disenfranchised young women in Connecticut | |
| Johnson, Melvin | 1984–1988 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison | Sex offender posthumously linked to sexually-motivated murders in Decatur, Illinois | |
| Johnson, Michael | 2008–2010 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to 190 years in prison | Responsible for the murders of four sex workers in Chicago | |
| Johnson, Milton | 1983–1984 | 10 | 10+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Committed what was called The Weekend Murders in Will County, Illinois. Victims included two deputy sheriffs | |
| Johnson, Raymond Eugene | 1995–2007 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Murdered an acquaintance; paroled, and later killed his ex-girlfriend and her infant daughter | |
| Johnson, Vincent | 1999–2000 | 5 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Brooklyn Strangler"; preyed on sex workers in and around New York City | |
| Jones, Andre Vernell | 1978–1979 | 5 | 8 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Murdered a couple, then murdered three more people on the same day with Freddie Tiller | |
| Jones, Daniel O. | 1998–2001 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Stabbed young women to death during home invasions in Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Jones, Genene | 1977–1982 | 2 | 60+ | Sentenced to 99 years in prison | Texas pediatric nurse who poisoned infants in her care; was due to be released March 2018; however, prosecutors charged her with two additional murders | |
| Jones, George Lamar | 1972–1997 | 3 | 3+ | Died in prison | Drug addict who strangled prostitutes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
| Jones, Jack Harold | 1983–1995 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 2017 | Murdered at least three women in Florida and Arkansas; a serial rapist was wrongfully convicted for one murder | |
| Jones, Syd | 1900s–1914 | 13 | 13 | Executed 1915 | Drifter who admitted to a dozen murders committed across the U.S. | |
| Jones, Willie Ben | 1980–1990 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to 60 years in prison | Killed sex workers because "they had to be punished" | |
| Joubert, John | 1982–1983 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1996 | Known as "The Nebraska Boy Snatcher"; murdered young boys in Maine and Nebraska | |
| Joyner, Anthony | 1983 | 6 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and killed elderly women at the Philadelphia nursing home he worked at | |
| Junco, Francisco del | 1995–1996 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Cuban immigrant who murdered and then burned the bodies of prostitutes in Miami | |
| Kadamovas, Jurijus | 2001–2002 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Accomplice of Iouri Mikhel; Lithuanian immigrant who kidnapped five people for ransom money in California and killed them | |
| Kallinger, Joseph | 1974–1975 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Committed crimes with his 15-year-old son Michael Kallinger | |
| Kaczynski, Ted | 1978–1995 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide in prison | Nicknamed the 'Unabomber', Kaczynski murdered three individuals and injured twenty-three others in a nationwide mail bombing campaign against people he believed to be advancing modern technology and the destruction of the natural environment. | |
| Kaprat, Edwin | 1991–1993 | 6 | 6 | Murdered in prison by two fellow inmates | Known as "The Granny Killer"; robbed, murdered and set fire to the homes of his victims in Hernando County, Florida, most of whom were elderly women | |
| Kearney, Patrick | 1965–1977 | 21 | 43 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Trash Bag Killer"; necrophile and sadist who targeted young men and boys in Southern California | |
| Kee, Arohn | 1991–1998 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as the "East-Harlem Rapist"; raped seven women in Manhattan from 1991 to 1998, killing three of them | |
| Keith, Leroy | 1934–1956 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1959 | Shot three men during holdups in Ohio and New York | |
| Kelley, John William | 1986–1988 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Convicted rapist who killed a young hitchhiker and a married couple in rural California | |
| Kelly, Alvin Andrew | 1984 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2008 | Killed a family of three and later his roommate during robberies | |
| Kelly Family | 1887 | 11 | 11 | Killed by vigilantes | Family of serial killers who killed and robbed wealthy travellers in No Man's Land | |
| Kemper, Edmund | 1964–1973 | 10 | 10 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Co-Ed Killer"; murdered his grandparents at age 15; released at age 21, he then murdered six young women, as well as his mother and her friend, in California | |
| Keyes, Israel | 1990s–2012 | 3 | 11+ | Committed suicide in custody | Three confirmed victims; linked to eleven victims in four states | |
| Kibbe, Roger | 1977–1987 | 8 | 8+ | Murdered in prison by fellow inmate | Known as "The I-5 Strangler"; murdered young women picked up on the freeways around Sacramento, California | |
| Kimball, Scott Lee | 2003–2004 | 4 | 5+ | Sentenced to 70 years in prison | FBI Informant; proposed as a suspect in the West Mesa murders | |
| Kinne, Sharon | 1962–1964 | 3 | 3 | Escaped from prison 1969 | Her arrest warrant is one of the longest outstanding in American history | |
| Kirkland, Anthony | 1987–2009 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Preyed on young women in the Cincinnati area | |
| Klimek, Tillie | 1914–1921 | 5 | 7 | Died in prison | Polish-born Chicago poisoner | |
| Knapp, Alfred | 1894–1902 | 5 | 5+ | Executed 1904 | Known as "The Hamilton Strangler"; murdered women and girls in Ohio and Indiana | |
| Knight, Thomas | 1974–1980 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2014 | Murdered four people between 1974 and 1980 | |
| Knighton, Robert Wesley | 1973–1990 | 5 | 5 | Executed 2003 | Embarked on a two-state killing spree with his girlfriend and a teenage friend after serving time for killing a man | |
| Knowles, Paul John | 1974 | 18 | 35 | Killed by police attempting to escape from custody | Known as "The Casanova Killer" | |
| Koedatich, James | 1971–1982 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Killed a man and a cellmate in Florida, he went on to kill two others in New Jersey | |
| Kohlhepp, Todd | 2003–2016 | 7 | 7+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Responsible for several murders in South Carolina, including the "Superbike Murders". | |
| Kokoraleis, Andrew | 1981–1982 | 18 | 18 | Executed 1999 | Member of the satanic cult and organized crime group known as "The Ripper Crew" or "The Chicago Rippers" | |
| Kokoraleis, Thomas | 1981–1982 | 18 | 18 | Released in 2019 | Member of the satanic cult and organized crime group known as "The Ripper Crew" or "The Chicago Rippers" | |
| Koster, Brent | 1972 | 3 | 3 | Released in 2020 | Teenage accomplice of Danny Ranes, who actively participated in three of his four murders | |
| Kraft, Randy | 1971–1983 | 16 | 67 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Scorecard Killer"; kept a coded list of young men and boys that he raped and murdered in Southern California, Michigan and Oregon | |
| Krajcir, Timothy | 1977–1982 | 9 | 9 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Confessed to killing five women in Missouri and four others in Illinois and Pennsylvania | |
| Kudzinowski, Peter | 1924–1928 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1929 | Imprisoned for the murder of a friend. Murdered two children following his release | |
| Ladd, Robert Charles | 1978–1996 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2015 | Killed a woman and three children in Dallas; paroled and later killed another woman in Tyler | |
| Lagrone, Edward | 1976–1991 | 4 | 6 | Executed 2004 | Murdered an acquaintance; later killed a 10-year-old girl he had impregnated and two of her great-aunts | |
| Lake, Leonard | 1983–1985 | 11 | 25 | Committed suicide in custody | Along with accomplice Charles Ng, they are also known as "The Operation Miranda Killers" | |
| LaLaurie, Delphine | 1834 | ? | ? | Died in Paris, France | New Orleans socialite who tortured and maimed her slaves | |
| LaRette, Anthony | 1976–1980 | 16 | 31 | Executed 1995 | Drifter who stalked, raped and stabbed to death women in multiple states | |
| Lassor, Raymond | 1984 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | First criminal to be successfully prosecuted under the 1984 Rhode Island 'Life Without Parole Statute' | |
| Laudenberg, Adolph | 1972–1975 | 4 | 6 | Died in prison | Known as "The Santa Strangler"; murdered women in the San Pedro neighborhood of Los Angeles and one in San Francisco, and is the prime suspect for two similar murders | |
| Lee, Derrick Todd | 1992–2003 | 7 | 7+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Baton Rouge Serial Killer"; convicted of two murders; linked by DNA evidence to five others | |
| Lewingdon, Gary | 1977–1978 | 10 | 10 | Died in prison | Together with brother Thaddeus Lewingdon, known as "The .22 Caliber Killers" | |
| Lewingdon, Thaddeus | 1977–1978 | 9 | 9 | Died in prison | Together with brother Gary Lewingdon, known as "The .22 Caliber Killers" | |
| Liberty, Robert | 1966–1970 | 3 | 3 | Murdered by inmate while awaiting trial | Known as "The Candlelight Killer"; murdered his girlfriend and later two men in ritualistic style | |
| Lindahl, Bruce | 1974–1981 | 4 | 12+ | Died from accidental self-inflicted injuries | Posthumously connected to various rape-murders in DuPage County | |
| Lindsey, William Darrell | 1988–1996 | 7 | 25 | Died in prison | Murdered seven prostitutes in Florida and North Carolina | |
| Lipscomb, Nathaniel | 1958–1959 | 3 | 4 | Executed 1961 | Known as "The Dawn Strangler"; beat, raped and strangled three women in Baltimore | |
| Little, Jerry | 1985–1988 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Raped and strangled women in St. Louis, Missouri | |
| Little, Samuel | 1970–2005 | 61 | 93+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Choke-and-Stroke Killer"; transient who allegedly killed ninety-three women in fourteen states | |
| Lockett, Will | 1912–1920 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1920 | Lockett's trial resulted in an averted race riot | |
| Lockhart, Michael Lee | 1987–1988 | 4 | 6+ | Executed 1997 | Received death sentences in three states; executed by the state of Texas | |
| Long, Bobby Joe | 1984 | 10 | 10+ | Executed 2019 | Known as "The Classified Ad Rapist"; serial rapist who kidnapped, assaulted and murdered women in Florida's Tampa Bay area | |
| Long, Neal | 1972–1975 | 4 | 7+ | Died in a federal medical center | Known as "The Shotgun Slayer"; racist who murdered black people in drive-by shootings in Dayton, Ohio | |
| Lucas, David Allen | 1979–1984 | 3 | 6 | Sentenced to death | Murdered five women and one boy around San Diego County, California, by slashing their throats | |
| Lucas, Henry Lee | 1960–1983 | 3 | 3+ | Died in prison | Convicted of eleven murders, confessed to approximately 3,000 murders, although most of his confessions are considered outlandish | |
| Lunz, Christopher | 2003–2009 | 3 | 20 | Committed suicide in prison | Murdered his father; killed his cellmate and confessed to killing a fugitive sex offender | |
| Lyles, Anjette | 1952–1958 | 4 | 4 | Died in a mental hospital | American restaurateur responsible for the poisoning deaths of four relatives in Macon, Georgia, apprehended on May 6, 1958, and sentenced to death yet later was involuntarily committed due to her diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenic | |
| Lynch, Franklin | 1987 | 3 | 13 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Day Stalker"; preyed on elderly women in the East Bay, California | |
| Macek, Richard | 1974 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide in prison | Known as "The Mad Biter"; killed two women and one girl in sexually-motivated attacks in Wisconsin and Illinois | |
| Madison, Michael | 2012–2013 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death | Preyed on women in East Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Mailhot, Jeffrey | 2003–2004 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Rhode Island Ripper"; murdered and dismembered prostitutes in Woonsocket. | |
| Majors, Orville Lynn | 1993–1995 | 6 | 130 | Died in prison | Licensed practical nurse who was convicted of murdering his patients in Clinton, Indiana | |
| Malveaux, John Peter | 1997 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled women around Opelousas, Louisiana | |
| Malvo, Lee Boyd | 2002 | 7 | 17 | Life imprisonment without parole (overturned on May 26, 2017); Supreme Court of the United States heard the case on October 16, 2019 | With accomplice John Allen Muhammad, perpetrated the D.C. sniper attacks | |
| Mansfield, Billy | 1975–1980 | 5 | 5+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered women and girls in Florida and California, burying most of them in the family home in Weeki Wachee with the aid of his father and younger brother | |
| Marquette, Richard Laurence | 1961–1975 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Oregon man who murdered three women, drained their blood, mutilated and dismembered their bodies. First 11th person named on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List | |
| Martin, Deangelo Kenneth | 2018–2019 | 4 | 6 | 45–70 years imprisonment | Raped and murdered women in abandoned houses in Detroit. | |
| Martin, James David | 1989–2005 | 3 | 3 | 66 years imprisonment | Strangled three across three states, including his wife | |
| Martin, Lee Roy | 1967–1968 | 4 | 4 | Murdered in prison | Known as "The Gaffney Strangler". Sexually assaulted and killed two women and two young girls in South Carolina. Stabbed to death by a fellow prison inmate in 1972 | |
| Martin, Rhonda Belle | 1926–1951 | 6 | 6 | Executed 1957 | Alabama woman who poisoned family members | |
| Masini, Frank | 1991–1992 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Italian man who burglarized and murdered elderly people in New Jersey | |
| Mason, David | 1980–1982 | 5 | 6 | Executed 1993 | Killed four elderly neighbours in 1980 and his cellmate in 1982 while imprisoned on lesser charges; suspected of shooting dead his boyfriend | |
| Matthews, Eric | 1994–1998 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Rapist who his killed ex-girlfriends, wife and stepson | |
| Maupin, Thomas | 1988–2001 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to 12 years | Itinerant criminal who killed an 8-year-old girl and two adult women in Washington and Tennessee | |
| Maury, Robert | 1985–1987 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Tipster Killer"; killed at least three women in California, then called into crime stoppers to report his crimes and receive award money | |
| Maust, David Edward | 1974–2003 | 5 | 5 | Committed suicide in prison | Convicted of killing five teenage boys; one in Germany in 1974, another in 1981, and three he buried in his basement | |
| Mayrand, Edward | 1983–1994 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Strangled to death three women in New England | |
| Mays, Reta | 2017–2018 | 8 | 8+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Nursing assistant who murdered seven elderly male military veterans with injections of insulin while employed at a VA hospital in Clarksburg, West Virginia | |
| McCoy, Stephen | 1980–1981 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1989 | Along with his accomplice, James Paster, the pair murdered three people in the Houston Area | |
| McCray, Jeremiah | 1956–1958 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1958 | Itinerant laborer who killed elderly people during robberies | |
| McDuff, Kenneth | 1966–1992 | 9 | 14+ | Executed 1998 | Known as "The Broomstick Killer"; death sentence for 1966 triple-murder commuted; began killing again three days after 1989 parole | |
| McFadden, Jerry Walter | 1973–1986 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 1999 | Known as "The Animal" | |
| McFadden, Reginald | 1969–1994 | 3 | 4+ | Died in prison | Murdered an elderly woman as a teenager; later paroled and killed at least two people during a crime spree; his case greatly affected the parole system in both Pennsylvania and New York | |
| McGhee, Timothy | 1997–2001 | 3 | 12 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Monster of Atwater", he is alleged to have been responsible for at least twelve homicides between 1997 and 2001, three of which led to convictions. | |
| McGregor, Edward George | 1990–2006 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped, stabbed, and strangled women to death in Greater Houston | |
| McKnight, Anthony | 1985 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Rapist who killed young girls and women in Oakland, California; responsible for some of the East Bay Slayer murders | |
| McKnight, Gregory | 1992–2000 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Murdered three people in Ohio, burying the bodies of two on his property in Chillicothe afterwards | |
| McWatters, Eugene | 2004 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Known as "The Salerno Strangler"; Murdered women in Port Salerno, Florida | |
| Meach, Charles L. | 1973–1982 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | Beat a grocery store clerk to death in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1973 and later shot four teenagers to death at a campsite in 1982 | |
| Meirhofer, David | 1967–1974 | 4 | 4 | Committed suicide in custody | First serial killer to be apprehended via usage of offender profiling | |
| Melanson, Roy | 1974–1988 | 3 | 5+ | Died in prison | Drifter connected to the rape-murders of at least three women in three states | |
| Mendenhall, Bruce | 2007 | 3 | 9+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Rest Stop Killer"; truck driver who abducted and murdered prostitutes across several states | |
| Metheny, Joe | 1976–1996 | 5 | 10 | Died in prison | Raped and murdered women in Baltimore, allegedly cannibalizing his victims | |
| Meza Jr., Raul | 1982–2023 | 3 | 13+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered an 8-year-old girl in 1982, later killed a woman in 2019 and his roommate in 2023; suspect in as many as ten other homicides | |
| Mikhel, Iouri | 2001–2002 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Accomplice of Jurijus Kadamovas; Russian immigrant who kidnapped five people in California for ransom money and killed them | |
| Miller, Donald | 1977–1981 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Raped and murdered a co-ed in Long Beach; later bludgeoned to death gay men in Hollywood | |
| Miller, Donald Gene | 1977–1978 | 4 | 4 | Incarcerated | Raped and killed women in East Lansing, Michigan | |
| Miller, Joseph Daniel | 1986–1990 | 5 | 5+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Kidnapped, raped and strangled black women around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania | |
| Miller, Joseph Robert | 1976–1993 | 6 | 6+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Killed prostitutes in Chicago and Peoria, some after being paroled for murder | |
| Mills, Lawrence Paul | 2017 | 3 | 4 | 28–48 years imprisonment | Murdered two prostitutes and an unborn baby by running them over with his car in Detroit, Michigan | |
| Misch, David | 1986–1989 | 3 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered a woman in 1989 and committed a double homicide in 1986; suspected in and awaiting trial for the murder of 9-year-old Michaela Garecht | |
| Moore, Manuel | 1973–1974 | 15 | 73+ | Died in prison | Part of "The Death Angels" cult responsible for the Zebra murders | |
| Morin, Stephen | 1969–1981 | 4 | 48 | Executed 1985 | Suspected in over thirty unsolved violent crimes across the country | |
| Morris, Cory | 2002–2003 | 5 | 5+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Crackhead Killer"; necrophile who murdered at least five prostitutes at his trailer in Phoenix, Arizona | |
| Morrison, Kelsie | 1921–1922 | 3 | 3 | Killed by police during shootout | Perpetrator of the Osage Indian murders | |
| Mors, Frederick | 1914–1915 | 8 | 8 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Murdered eight elderly patients by poison while employed in a nursing home in New York City; committed to Hudson River State Hospital; escaped in May 1916 | |
| Morse, Hugh | 1959–1961 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison | Former fugitive who murdered four women during a cross-country crime spree | |
| Morton, David Bruce | 1983–1990 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Morton has also been considered a suspect in a series of highly publicized murders on young women in Santa Fe, New Mexico | |
| Mosley, Eddie | 1973–1987 | 8 | 16+ | Died in prison | Raped and murdered numerous young girls and women in and around Fort Lauderdale, Florida | |
| Muehlberg, Gary | 1990–1993 | 5 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Package Killer"; tortured and murdered prostitutes and one male acquaintance around St. Louis | |
| Muhammad, John Allen | 2002 | 7 | 17 | Executed 2009 | With accomplice Lee Boyd Malvo, perpetrated the D.C. sniper attacks | |
| Mullin, Herbert | 1972–1973 | 13 | 13 | Died in prison | California schizophrenic who shot, stabbed and bludgeoned victims ranging in age from 4 to 72. Died in California Health Care Facility prison in 2022 | |
| Mullins, Michael | 1999–2012 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered three women over the span of 13 years in Memphis, Tennessee | |
| Nance, Wayne | 1974–1986 | 6 | 6+ | Killed by intended victim | Known as "The Missoula Mauler" | |
| Nardello, Antonio | 1884–1885 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1886 | Italian laborer who robbed and murdered other laborers in Maryland and Washington, D.C. | |
| Naso, Joseph | 1977–1994 | 6 | 10+ | Sentenced to death | Murdered six women in California; suspect in the Alphabet murders | |
| Neal, William Lee | 1998 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Killed three women and raped a fourth woman in captivity after a long history of confidence tricks, domestic abuse, and abandonment of families. | |
| Nelson, Earle | 1926–1927 | 22 | 29 | Executed 1928 | Known as "The Gorilla Man". Executed for a murder he committed in Canada | |
| Nemechek, Francis | 1974–1976 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and killed four women and a young boy in Kansas | |
| Newman, Allan Patterson | 1991–1992 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Murdered carjacking victims during a three-state crime spree | |
| Ng, Charles | 1983–1985 | 11 | 25 | Sentenced to death | Along with accomplice Leonard Lake, they are also known as "The Operation Miranda Killers" | |
| Nissensohn, Joseph | 1981–1989 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to death | Raped and murdered teenagers and women in California and Washington | |
| Nixon, Robert | 1937–1938 | 3 | 5 | Executed 1939 | Known as the "Brick Moron"; confessed to five murders and multiple assaults in Los Angeles and Illinois; Nixon served, in part, as the basis of the character of Bigger Thomas in Richard Wright's 1940 social protest novel Native Son | |
| Noe, Marie | 1949–1968 | 8 | 8 | Died in 2016 | Pennsylvania woman who murdered eight of her children; two others died of natural causes | |
| Normore, Mario | 2017 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered four acquaintances during robberies or arguments | |
| Norris, Roy | 1979 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | With accomplice Lawrence Bittaker known as "Tool Box Killers"; kidnapped, sexually assaulted, tortured and murdered teenage girls in Los Angeles County, California | |
| Northcott, Gordon Stewart | 1926–1928 | 3 | 20 | Executed 1930 | Canadian immigrant who was convicted of sexually assaulting and murdering three young boys in Wineville, California, in what become known as the Wineville Chicken Coop murders; his mother, Sarah Louise Northcott, was charged and convicted as an accomplice | |
| Ocampo, Itzcoatl | 2011–2012 | 6 | 6 | Committed suicide in custody | Former marine suspected of killing six people around Orange County, California | |
| O'Dell, Diane | 1982–1985 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Sullivan County, New York woman who murdered her illegitimate infants by asphyxiation | |
| Ortiz, Juan David | 2018 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Border Patrol agent who shot four sex workers in Webb County, Texas and attempted to kill a fifth woman. | |
| Pace, Lyndon Fitzgerald | 1988–1989 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Robbed and murdered elderly women primarily in Atlanta's Vine City neighborhood. In 1990, he robbed the apartment of Coretta Scott King | |
| Page, Ivan | 1998–2001 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered prostitutes in Flint, Michigan | |
| Panzram, Carl | 1920–1929 | 5 | 22 | Executed 1930 | Murderer, rapist, and arsonist; convicted of two murders, but confessed to nineteen others | |
| Pardo, Manuel | 1986 | 9 | 9 | Executed 2012 | South Florida former police officer who acted in partnership with Rolando Garcia; the two claimed to be ridding the world of drug dealers | |
| Parker, Gerald | 1978–1979 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Bedroom Basher"; Orange County, California man who raped and murdered five women. Parker was not identified until 1996 | |
| Paster, James | 1980–1981 | 3 | 5 | Executed 1989 | Along with his accomplice, Stephen McCoy, the pair murdered three people in the Houston Area. Paster confessed to two other murders for which he was never tried. | |
| Patton, Carl | 1973–1977 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed four acquaintances and one accomplice for money and to cover up his crimes | |
| Peete, Louise | 1913–1944 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 1947 | Convicted of murdering a man and woman decades apart; four other acquaintances died suspiciously and four husbands committed suicide | |
| Penton, David Elliott | 1984–1988 | 5 | 9+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Child molester who abducted and murdered young children in Texas and Ohio | |
| Perkins, Reginald | 1980–2000 | 3 | 6 | Executed 2009 | Murdered his stepmother in 2000 and two other women in Fort Worth in 1991. He also confessed to murdering another woman in Ohio in 1980 and is linked to two other murders in Cleveland | |
| Perry, Donna | 1990 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Formerly known as Douglas Perry prior to 2000 gender transition, which the prosecution claimed was an attempt to avoid suspicion | |
| Peterson, Christopher | 1990 | 4 | 7 | Sentenced to death; commuted to 120 years imprisonment | Known as "The Shotgun Killer" | |
| Pierce, William | 1970–1971 | 9 | 9+ | Died in prison | One of his victims was the daughter of a South Carolina state senator | |
| Pizzuto, Gerald | 1985 | 4 | 0 | Sentenced to death | He was convicted and sentenced to death in Idaho for a double murder, in addition to more than 69 years' jail for killing two more people in Washington | |
| Player, Michael | 1986 | 10 | 10 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Known as "The Skid Row Slayer"; targeted mostly homeless individuals in the Skid Row neighborhood of Los Angeles | |
| Pough, James Edward | 1971–1990 | 12 | 12 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Killed a friend in 1971, then went on a shooting rampage in 1990 | |
| Powers, Harry | 1931 | 5 | 5+ | Executed 1932 | Known as "The West Virginia Bluebeard"; Dutch immigrant who lured victims through "lonely hearts" advertisements, murdering them for their money | |
| Presley, Aeman | 2014 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Shot and killed people in DeKalb and Fulton Counties, Georgia during robberies | |
| Pressdee, Heather | 2022–2023 | 3 | 17 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Nurse convicted of murdering three patients in her care and is suspected to have murdered an additional fourteen | |
| Price, Craig | 1987–1989 | 4 | 4 | Incarcerated | Convicted as a minor; given an additional 10–25 year sentence for assaulting a corrections officer in prison | |
| Price, Larme | 2003 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as the "Thrill Killer"; murdered four immigrants in New York in revenge for the September 11 attacks | |
| Prieto, Alfredo | 1988–1990 | 9 | 9 | Executed 2015 | Attacked mainly couples in Virginia and California, shooting them both after raping the women | |
| Prince Jr., Cleophus | 1990 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Clairemont Killer"; raped and murdered women in San Diego County, California | |
| Pruett, Marion Albert | 1981 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1999 | Committed his crimes while in the United States Federal Witness Protection Program | |
| Pruitt, Pleasant | 1888–1902 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Murdered his three wives in Indiana | |
| Puente, Dorothea | 1982–1988 | 9 | 15 | Died in prison | Murdered elderly and mentally disabled boarders in Sacramento, California, before cashing their Social Security checks; convicted of three killings, suspected of six others | |
| Queho | 1909?–1919 | 13 | 23 | Died while a fugitive | First Nevadan serial killer, found dead in cave five miles upriver from El Dorado Canyon. Cause of death uncertain. | |
| Rader, Dennis | 1974–1991 | 10 | 10 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The BTK Killer"; killed men, women and children in Wichita and Park City, Kansas, while sending taunting letters to local police and media outlets | |
| Ralston, Larry | 1975–1977 | 4 | 5+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Abducted young women and teenage girls in Ohio | |
| Ramirez, Richard | 1984–1985 | 15 | 15+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Night Stalker" | |
| Ranes, Danny | 1972 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Kidnapped, raped and murdered women around Kalamazoo, Michigan, with teenage accomplice Brent Koster | |
| Rardon, Gary | 1962–1974 | 4 | 4 | Died in 2024 after release in 2020 | Murdered a man whom he was hitchhiking with, then murdered three more men in a 4-day spree | |
| Rasmussen, Terry Peder | 1978–2002 | 6 | 6+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Chameleon Killer"; main suspect in the Bear Brook murders, as well as other murders | |
| Ray, Clifton | 1987–1994 | 3 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Responsible for the murders of three women in Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Red Dog, James Allen | 1973–1991 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1993 | Killed four people personally; also provided a prison gang with a lethal dose of drugs so they could kill another inmate | |
| Reece, William Lewis | 1997 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to death | Kidnapped, raped and murdered teenage girls and young women in Texas and Oklahoma | |
| Reed, Todd Alan | 1999 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Forest Park Killer"; sex offender who raped and strangled three homeless women in Portland, Oregon | |
| Rees, Melvin | 1957–1959 | 5 | 9+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Sex Beast" | |
| Reeves, Jack | 1967–1994 | 4 | 4 | 99 years imprisonment | Killed his three wives after they planned to leave him; also killed a man while stationed in Italy | |
| Reid, Paul Dennis | 1997 | 7 | 7 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Fast Food Killer"; committed seven murders during three fast-food restaurant robberies in Metropolitan Nashville and Clarksville, Tennessee | |
| Rembert, Robert | 1997–2015 | 5 | 5+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Truck driver who killed people across Ohio | |
| Reséndiz, Ángel Maturino | 1986–1999 | 10 | 16 | Executed 2006 | Known as "The Railroad/Railway/Railcar Killer"; primarily murdered people in their homes near railroad tracks | |
| Respus, Asbury | 1900s–1931 | 8 | 8+ | Executed 1932 | Serial killer active in North Carolina with no particular victim profile; victims' ages ranged from 8 to 80, both male and female, and both white and black; claimed that mental health episodes prompted him to commit random murders | |
| Rhoades, Robert Ben | 1975–1990 | 4 | 50+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Truck Stop Killer"; truck driver who converted the sleeper cab of his truck into a torture chamber where he kept women, torturing and sexually assaulting them, before killing them | |
| Rice, Stanley | 1963–1968 | 3 | 5+ | Died in prison | Itinerant child molester who shot and killed young boys in Canada and the U.S. | |
| Rich, Darrell Keith | 1978 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2000 | Known as "The Hilltop Rapist"; preyed on young women and girls in Redding, California | |
| Richards, Stephen D. | 1876–1878 | 9 | 9+ | Executed 1879 | Known as "The Nebraska Fiend", Richards murdered nine people including a mother and her children. Suspected of additional murders. | |
| Richmond, Earl | 1991 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2005 | Ex-Sergeant who raped and murdered four women in New Jersey and North Carolina | |
| Ridgway, Gary | 1982–1998 | 49 | 90+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Green River Killer"; targeted sex workers and runaways in Washington | |
| Rifkin, Joel | 1989–1993 | 9 | 17+ | Sentenced to 203 years to life | Mostly preyed on sex workers in New York City and Long Island | |
| Rissell, Montie | 1976–1977 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women in Alexandria, Virginia | |
| Ritchie, James Dale | 2016 | 5 | 5 | Killed by police during apprehension | Known as "The Anchorage Serial Killer"; shot people at random in parks or along bike paths in and around Anchorage, Alaska | |
| Rivera, Reinaldo | 1999–2000 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Abducted, raped and killed women in the Augusta metropolitan area | |
| Robbins, Malcolm | 1979–1980 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison awaiting execution | Itinerant child molester who murdered young boys and teenagers in various states | |
| Robinson, Harvey Miguel | 1992–1993 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Teenager who stalked, raped and killed women in Allentown, Pennsylvania | |
| Robinson, John Edward | 1984–1999 | 8 | 8+ | Sentenced to death | Sometimes referred to as "The Internet's first serial killer" | |
| Robinson, John Wesley | 1896–1913 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1915 | Murdered his girlfriend; later paroled and choked to death his wife and stepdaughter before dismembering their bodies | |
| Robinson, Sarah Jane | 1881–1886 | 8 | 11 | Died in prison | Known as "The Boston Borgia"; Irish-born poisoner who murdered family members and associates for profit in Massachusetts with the aid of accomplices Thomas R. Smith and Dr. Charles C. Beers | |
| Roche, John Francis | 1953–1954 | 4 | 6 | Executed 1956 | Active primarily in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan | |
| Rodriguez, Antonio | 2010 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Kensington Strangler"; raped and killed drug-addicted women in Kensington, Philadelphia | |
| Rodriguez, Robert Neal | 1984–1992 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide to avoid arrest | Former police officer; Murdered a woman and two teenage girls in Florida | |
| Rogers, Dayton Leroy | 1983–1987 | 7 | 8+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Molalla Forest Killer"; raped and murdered sex workers in Oregon | |
| Rogers, Glen Edward | 1993–1995 | 4 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Death sentence currently under appeal | |
| Rogers, Ramon | 1993–1996 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Murdered his roommate and two ex-girlfriends in San Diego, dismembering their remains post-mortem | |
| Rolling, Danny | 1989–1990 | 8 | 8 | Executed 2006 | Pleaded guilty to murdering five students in Gainesville, Florida | |
| Ross, Michael Bruce | 1981–1984 | 8 | 8+ | Executed 2005 | Known as "The Roadside Strangler"; sexually assaulted and murdered women and girls in Connecticut and New York | |
| Roye, Norman | 1953–1954 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1956 | Known as "The Dreaded Strangler"; Manhattan youth who murdered women during home invasions | |
| Rozier, Robert | 1981–1986 | 4 | 7 | Serving 25 years to life on a conviction for check kiting under a third strike law | Former NFL player; sentenced to 22 years for murder after agreeing to testify against Yahweh ben Yahweh's organization | |
| Rulloff, Edward H. | 1844–1870 | 3 | 5 | Executed 1871 | Known as "The Genius Killer"; Canadian-born doctor, lawyer, schoolmaster, photographer, inventor, carpet designer, phrenologist, philologist and career criminal active in New York. Rulloff's brain is said to be the second largest brain on record and is on display at the Wilder Brain Collection in the psychology department of Cornell University | |
| Rundle, David Allen | 1986 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Strangled young women and teenage girls in California's Sacramento and Placer counties | |
| Runge, Paul | 1995–1997 | 7 | 8+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Sexually assaulted and murdered women and one girl in Cook and DuPage counties in Illinois | |
| Russell, George Waterfield | 1990 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Charmer"; raped and murdered women in Seattle suburbs, mutilating and having sex with the corpses afterwards | |
| Saenz, Kimberly Clark | 2008 | 5 | 10+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed five patients by injecting bleach into their dialysis lines | |
| Saldivar, Efren | 1988–1998 | 6 | 50+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Respiratory therapist who murdered his patients at Adventist Health Glendale | |
| Samartaney, Malik | 1991–2019 | 3 | 6 | Sentenced to 41 years in prison | Killed one of his friends, his son, and his daughter | |
| Sanchez, Altemio | 1990–2006 | 3 | 3+ | Committed suicide in prison | Known as "The Bike Path Rapist"; responsible for three murders and numerous rapes spanning a 25-year period in Buffalo, New York | |
| Sanders, Martin Lee | 1980–1983 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Truck driver who sexually assaulted and murdered young women across Washington | |
| Sapp, William | 1992–1993 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to death | Rapist who murdered women and children around Springfield, Ohio | |
| Schmid, Charles | 1964 | 3 | 4 | Murdered in prison by unknown assailants | Known as "The Pied Piper of Tucson"; murdered three teenage girls in Arizona with the aid of local teenagers | |
| Seda, Heriberto | 1990–1993 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | New York City copycat of the Zodiac Killer; selected his victims based on their astrological signs | |
| Segundo, Juan | 1986–1995 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Raped and killed young girls and women in the Fort Worth area | |
| Sells, Tommy Lynn | 1980–1999 | 6 | 22+ | Executed 2014 | Confessed to murdering dozens of people, possibly in excess of 70, only six are confirmed | |
| Seoung, Doeur | 1985–1998 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Cambodian-born burglar who raped, strangled and robbed his victims, beginning when he was a teenager | |
| Severance, Charles | 2003–2014 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered elderly residents in Alexandria, Virginia, out of hatred for the rich | |
| Sharp, Michael Eugene | 1982 | 3 | 5+ | Executed 1997 | Abducted, raped and killed women and children across West Texas | |
| Shaw, Sebastian | 1991–1992 | 3 | 13 | Died in prison | Murdered victims selected at random in Portland, Oregon; confessed to additional murders, including one in California | |
| Shawcross, Arthur | 1972–1989 | 14 | 14 | Died in prison | Known as "The Genesee River Killer"; raped and murdered two children in Watertown, New York in 1972. Paroled in 1987, he began murdering primarily sex workers in the Rochester area in 1988. Arrested in 1990 | |
| Sherman, Lydia | 1863–1877 | 12 | 12 | Died in prison | Known as "The Derby Poisoner"; poisoned eight children in her care, six of which were her own, and her three husbands in Connecticut and Rhode Island | |
| Shermantine, Wesley | 1984–1999 | 4 | 19 | Sentenced to death | Along with accompliace Loren Herzog, known as "The Speed Freak Killers" | |
| Shore, Anthony Allen | 1986–1995 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 2018 | Known as "The Tourniquet Killer"; murdered three young girls and a young woman in Texas | |
| Shulman, Robert | 1991–1996 | 5 | 5 | Died in prison | Preyed on sex workers in New York | |
| Siebert, Daniel Lee | 1979–1986 | 10 | 13 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Killed nine people across America in three months; responsible for at least one of the Southside Slayer murders | [631][unreliable source?] [632] |
| Sifuentes, Jose | 1998–2003 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Strangled three women to death in Dallas; after posting bail he fled the country for sixteen years before he was re-apprehended in 2019 | |
| Silva, Mauricio | 1978–1984 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Monster"; killed an acquaintance as a teenager; paroled and went on to kill two teenage runaways and his half-sister | |
| Silveria Jr., Robert Joseph | 1981–1996 | 9 | 30+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Boxcar Killer"; alleged member of Freight Train Riders of America | |
| Simmons, Beoria | 1981–1983 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Preyed on women and teenage girls in Jefferson County, Kentucky | |
| Simon, J.C.X. | 1973–1974 | 15 | 73+ | Died in prison | Part of "The Death Angels" cult responsible for the Zebra murders | |
| Sims, Ray Dell | 1974–1977 | 5 | 5+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and strangled teenage girls in Fresno | |
| Sinclair, Charles T. | 1980–1990 | 13 | 13+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Coin Shop Killer"; targeted coin shop owners in order to rob them of valuable coin collections | |
| Singh, Michael | 1975–1982 | 3 | 3 | Murdered in prison by a fellow inmate | Killed his girlfriend and two wives during violent outbursts | |
| Smallwood, Robert | 1999–2006 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women in Lexington, Kentucky, and additionally linked to other rapes | |
| Smith, Andrew Lavern | 1980–1983 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1998 | Killed four people and attempted to kill a fifth along Interstate 85 in South Carolina | |
| Smith, Gayno | 1961–1962 | 6 | 6 | Died in prison | Killed six family members in Iowa | |
| Smith, Lemuel | 1958–1981 | 5 | 6 | Sentenced to death; commuted to life | First convict to kill an on-duty female corrections officer | |
| Smith, Mark Alan | 1969–1970 | 4 | 12+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Convicted of killing at least four women in Illinois and Arkansas; claimed in his book to have murdered eight women while stationed in Germany | |
| Smith, William Scott | 1981–1984 | 4 | 4+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Kidnapped, raped and strangled women in Salem, Oregon | |
| Snyder, Leroy | 1969 | 7 | 7 | Died in prison | Active in Camden, New Jersey, in a period of eight months. | |
| Solomon Jr., Morris | 1986–1987 | 6 | 7 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Sacramento Slayer" | |
| Soper, Edward Bates | 1880–1897 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1899 | Killed his father, wife and two children in Missouri in separate incidents; fled to Oregon, where he killed another young child before his capture | |
| Sowell, Anthony | 2007–2009 | 11 | 14 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Known as "The Cleveland Strangler" and "The Imperial Avenue Murderer" | |
| Spangler, Robert | 1978–1993 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Murdered members of his own family in Colorado and Arizona | |
| Spencer, Timothy Wilson | 1984–1988 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1994 | Known as "The Southside Strangler"; committed three rapes and murders in Richmond, Virginia, and one in Arlington County, Virginia, in the autumn of 1987. He is believed to have committed at least one previous murder, in 1984, for which a different man was wrongfully convicted. | |
| Spillman, Jack Owen | 1994–1995 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Werewolf Butcher" | |
| Spisak, Frank | 1982 | 3 | 3 | Executed 2011 | Neo-Nazi sympathizer who shot people during a racist and anti-Semitic shooting spree at Cleveland State University | |
| Spreitzer, Edward | 1981–1982 | 18 | 18 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Member of the satanic cult and organized crime group known as "The Ripper Crew" or "The Chicago Rippers" | |
| Stafford, Roger Dale | 1974–1978 | 9 | 34 | Executed 1995 | His wife implicated him in thirty-four different murders in seven different states | |
| Stano, Gerald | 1969–1980 | 22 | 41+ | Executed 1998 | Murdered young women and girls in Florida, New Jersey and Pennsylvania | |
| Stayner, Cary | 1999 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Brother of kidnap victim Steven Stayner; murdered women in and around Yosemite National Park | |
| Steeves, Richard | 1965–1985 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered five people in three states from 1965 to 1966; was controversially released from prison in 1985 and later killed a sixth person | |
| Stephani, Paul Michael | 1980–1982 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Known as "The Weepy-Voiced Killer" due to a series of telephone calls he made to police, anonymously reporting his crimes in a remorseful and high-pitched voice; active in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area | |
| Stevens, Charles | 1989 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to death | Murdered four people from April to July 1989 on California Interstate-580 | |
| Stickles, Martin | 1899–1900 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1901 | Known as "The Kelso Killer"; murdered three people during robberies in Cowlitz County, Washington | |
| Stokes, Winford | 1969–1978 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1990 | Career criminal and prison escapee who murdered people in St. Louis | |
| Suff, William | 1974–1992 | 14 | 14+ | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Riverside Prostitute Killer" | |
| Sully, Anthony | 1983 | 6 | 6 | Died in prison awaiting execution | Ex-policeman who tortured and killed prostitutes and drug dealers at his Burlingame warehouse | |
| Sumner, Jesse | 1963–1973 | 4 | 4 | Died in prison | Murdered his robbery accomplice; paroled and murdered three young women in the vicinity of the Illinois State University | |
| Sumpter, Michael | 1969–1973 | 3 | 3 | Died in 2001 | Raped and murdered women in the Boston area, including Jane Britton | |
| Surratt, Edward Arthur | 1977–1978 | 7 | 18+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Serial rapist and murderer operating mainly in western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio, also known as "The Shotgun Killer". Although suspected in more than eighteen murders, Surratt was convicted of one murder in South Carolina. Surratt confessed to six additional murders in 2021. | |
| Sutton, Nicholas Todd | 1979–1985 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2020 | Killed two friends and his grandmother during money and drug-related disputes; later stabbed to death a prison inmate | |
| Swango, Michael | 1981–1997 | 4 | 60 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Physician and surgeon who poisoned patients and colleagues in the US and Zimbabwe | |
| Swann, James | 1993 | 4 | 4 | Found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to Saint Elizabeths Hospital | Known as "The Shotgun Stalker"; responsible for random drive-by shotgun shootings in Washington, D.C. | |
| Syed, Muhammad | 2022 | 3 | 4 | Sentenced to 30 years to life | Killed three Muslim men in drive-by shootings from July to August 2022. He is also suspected in the fourth murder in November 2021, but has not been charged so far. | |
| Taborsky, Joseph "Mad Dog" | 1950–1957 | 7 | 7 | Executed 1960 | Only convict to be sentenced to death twice for different crimes | |
| Tavares, Daniel | 1988–2007 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered a woman, his mother and later two others after his release from prison | |
| Taylor, Alvin | 1985–1987 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to involuntary commitment | Schizophrenic who murdered friends and acquaintances across Wisconsin during psychotric episodes. | |
| Taylor, Kevin | 2001 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Preyed on sex workers in Southside Chicago | |
| Terry, Michael | 1985–1986 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered six men in Atlanta, Georgia, in a 10-month period | |
| Tersargyan, Alberd | 2008–2010 | 4 | 4 | Committed suicide in custody | Armenian immigrant who murdered a family of three and a prostitute in Hollywood, Los Angeles | |
| Tholmer, Brandon | 1981–1983 | 12 | 34 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The West Side Rapist"; preyed on elderly women in Westside, Los Angeles County | |
| Thomas Jr., John Floyd | 1972–1986 | 7 | 15+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Southland Strangler" and "The Westside Rapist" | |
| Thornburg, Jason Alan | 2017–2021 | 3 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Murdered and dismembered three people in Texas in September 2021; additionally confessed to killing his girlfriend and his roommate | |
| Toole, Ottis | 1976–1983 | 6 | 6+ | Died in prison | Accomplice of Henry Lee Lucas; claimed to have murdered Adam Walsh | |
| Toppan, Jane | 1895–1901 | 12 | 31+ | Died in Taunton State Hospital | Known as "Jolly Jane"; nurse who poisoned both patients and family members in Massachusetts | |
| Torrence, Michael | 1987 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1996 | Robbed and killed two men with his brother and his wife; later killed a prostitute in Charleston during an argument | |
| Travis, Maury | 2000–2002 | 12 | 20+ | Committed suicide in custody | Suspected of kidnapping, torturing and killing women at his home in Ferguson, Missouri | |
| Ture Jr., Joseph | 1978–1980 | 6 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered a family of four and two other women in Minnesota | |
| Turner, Chester | 1987–1998 | 15 | 16+ | Sentenced to death | Convicted of murdering ten women and a viable unborn baby in South Los Angeles | |
| Urdiales, Andrew | 1986–1996 | 8 | 8 | Committed suicide in prison | United States Marine who murdered women in Indiana, Illinois and California | |
| Vann, Darren Deon | 2013–2014 | 7 | 7+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Indiana murderer who killed seven women; five of which were found in abandoned structures in the city of Gary | |
| Vaultz, Horace Van | 1981–1986 | 3 | 3+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped and murdered women across California; his home contained photographs of over twenty potential victims | |
| Van Dyke, David | 1979–1980 | 6 | 6 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered six people in their homes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin | |
| Vermilya, Louise | 1893–1911 | 9 | 9 | Died in 1913 | Charges dismissed | |
| Victor, Clarence | 1964–1987 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Killed three people in Omaha, Nebraska, the latter two while on parole | |
| Villarreal, David | 1979–1981 | 5 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Gay drifter who tortured and murdered acquaintances in San Antonio and Dallas | |
| Wade, Joshua | 1994–2007 | 5 | 5+ | Died in prison | Murdered people across Alaska during angry outbursts or robberies | |
| Walker, Anthony Guy | 1975–1986 | 6 | 6+ | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Career criminal who murdered mainly across Lenawee County, Michigan | |
| Walker, Tracy | 1991–2021 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed a security guard during an argument; released and later killed fellow homeless people in Rancho Dominguez | |
| Wallace, Henry Louis | 1990–1994 | 11 | 11 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Taco Bell Strangler"; preyed on women in and around Charlotte, North Carolina | |
| Walton, Edward | 1896–1908 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1908 | Confessed to murdering five people across five states | |
| Walls, Frank Athen | 1985–1987 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Confessed to murdering five people across Ocean City, Florida | |
| Ward, Ronald James | 2000 | 4 | 4+ | Died in prison | Murdered at least three women and one man in three states, in the span of four months | |
| Wardrip, Faryion | 1984–1986 | 5 | 5 | Sentenced to death | Serial rapist who assaulted and murdered women in Wichita Falls, Texas and the surrounding counties. Death sentence currently under appeal | |
| Warren, Edward Delon | 1976–1979 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Murdered a couple in Brookings, Oregon; later linked via DNA to an unsolved murder in Portland | |
| Warren, Lesley Eugene | 1987–1990 | 4 | 8 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Babyface Killer"; raped and murdered women in New York and the Carolinas | |
| Washington, Steven | 1963 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Known as "The Window-Screen Rapist"; juvenile who raped and killed elderly women around St. Petersburg, Florida | |
| Watson, Alexander Wayne | 1986–1994 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Raped, stabbed and strangled women in two Maryland counties | |
| Watts, Carl Eugene | 1974–1982 | 14 | 100+ | Died in prison | Known as "The Sunday Morning Slasher"; assaulted, tortured and murdered teenaged girls and young women in Michigan and Texas | |
| Webb, Emanuel Lovell | 1990–1994 | 5 | 5+ | 60 years imprisonment | Known as "The East End Killer"; raped and killed four women in Connecticut and a fifth woman in Georgia | |
| Weldon, Stewart | 2017–2018 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Tortured and murdered women in Springfield, Massachusetts | |
| Werner, Karl F. | 1969–1971 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Murdered teenage girls in Santa Clara County, California | |
| Wheeler-Weaver, Khalil | 2016 | 3 | 4 | 160 years imprisonment | Killed women he met through dating apps in Orange, New Jersey | |
| Whisenhant, Thomas | 1963–1976 | 4 | 4+ | Executed 2010 | Kidnapped and murdered female clerks from convenience stores in Mobile County, Alabama | |
| White, Larry Lamont | 1983 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Shot and killed women in Louisville, Kentucky, during apparent robberies | |
| White, Nathaniel | 1991–1992 | 6 | 6 | 150 years-to-life | Confessed to bludgeoning and stabbing six women to death in Hudson Valley, New York, while on parole | |
| White, Robert | 1980–2013 | 4 | 4 | 50 years imprisonment | Sexually assaulted and beat three women to death in Hartford, Connecticut, while on parole for an earlier murder | |
| Whiteling, Sarah | 1888 | 3 | 3 | Executed 1889 | Known as "The Wholesale Poisoner" | |
| Whitten, Hattie | 1900–1902 | 3 | 3 | Committed suicide in custody | Maine woman who poisoned her husband and two children | |
| Wickline, William | 1979–1982 | 3 | 3+ | Executed 2004 | Known as "The Butcher"; drug addict who killed people in West Virginia and Ohio, dismembering and beheading their bodies post-mortem | |
| Wilder, Christopher | 1984 | 8 | 8+ | Killed by police during apprehension | Known as "The Beauty Queen Killer"; Australian man who abducted and murdered women across the US | |
| Wiley, Nicholas | 2004 | 3 | 7 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The Syracuse Serial Killer"; sex offender who confessed to killing seven people in Syracuse, New York | |
| Williams, Dorothy | 1987–1989 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Robbed and killed elderly people to support her heroin addiction | |
| Williams, Kenneth Dewayne | 1998–1999 | 4 | 4 | Executed 2017 | Killed two people on the same day, then killed two more people after escaping from prison | |
| Williams, Laron | 1977–1981 | 3 | 5+ | Murdered in prison by fellow death row inmates | Strangled a prostitute in Nashville, Tennessee; later escaped from prison, murdering a police officer and priest; suspect in other murders across several states | |
| Williams, Leslie Allen | 1991–1992 | 4 | 4 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Necrophile who killed and raped at least four women in Michigan while on parole for rape from 1991 to 1992. | |
| Williams, Ronald Turney | 1975–1981 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to death | Criminal who murdered a police officer in 1975, another police officer while escaping from prison, and a final victim while he was a fugitive | |
| Williams, Scott | 1997–2006 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed women in Charlotte and Monroe, North Carolina | |
| Williamson, Thomas Andrew | 1868–1890 | 4 | 4 | Executed 1891 | Murdered four people in Illinois and Missouri, including his wife | |
| Willie, Robert Lee | 1978–1980 | 3 | 5 | Executed 1984 | Murdered at least three people in Louisiana | |
| Wimberly, Anthony | 1984–1985 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Murdered three women in Oakland during a crime spree | |
| Wise, Martha | 1924–1925 | 3 | 3 | Died in prison | Poisoned seventeen members of her own family in Ohio | |
| Wood, Cathy | 1987 | 5 | 5 | 20–40 years in prison | Accomplice of Gwendolyn Graham; nurse's aide that preyed on elderly women in a Walker, Michigan nursing home; released on January 16, 2020 | |
| Wood, David Leonard | 1987 | 6 | 9 | Sentenced to death | Known as "The Desert Killer"; raped and murdered young girls and women in El Paso, Texas, burying their bodies in the desert afterwards | |
| Wood, Frederick Charles | 1926–1960 | 5 | 5 | Executed 1963 | Violent habitual criminal who killed people in various New York cities, starting at age 14 | |
| Woodfield, Randall | 1979–1981 | 18 | 44 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Known as "The I-5 Killer" and "The I-5 Bandit"; serial rapist, kidnapper, robber and burglar who preyed on women along the Interstate 5 corridor running through Washington, Oregon and California | |
| Wooten, Charles | 1969–1993 | 3 | 3 | Sentenced to life imprisonment | Killed two gas station attendants in Fort Worth during robberies; paroled, and later killed his father during an argument | |
| Wright, Douglas Franklin | 1969–1991 | 7 | 7+ | Executed 1996 | First criminal executed by lethal injection in Oregon | |
| Wuornos, Aileen | 1989–1990 | 7 | 7 | Executed 2002 | Known as the "Damsel of Death"; shot seven men to death in Florida between 1989 and 1990 | |
| Yates, Robert Lee | 1975–1998 | 16 | 16+ | Sentenced to death; commuted to life imprisonment | Known as "The Grocery Bag Killer"; targeted women in and around Spokane, Washington | |
| Zarinsky, Robert | 1965–1974 | 3 | 10 | Died in prison | Murdered three teenage girls in Monmouth County, New Jersey; was also acquitted in the murder of a police officer | |

## Unidentified serial killers

This is a list of unidentified serial killers who committed crimes within the United States.
| Name | Years active | Proven victims | Possible victims | Region where active | Notes |
| Alphabet murders | 1971–1973 | 3 | 3 | NY | Also known as the "Double Initial Murders"; murders of three young girls in the Rochester, New York area in the early 1970s |
| Ann Arbor Hospital murders | 1975 | 10 | 10 | MI | Poisonings of ten patients at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in 1975. Two nurses, Filipina Narciso and Leonora Perez, were convicted but a new trial was ordered because of prosecutorial misconduct. The prosecution chose to drop the charges rather than retry. |
| Atlanta child murders | 1979–1981 | 28 | 30 | GA | A series of murders committed in Atlanta, Georgia, between July 1979 and May 1981. Over the two-year period, at least twenty-eight children, adolescents, and adults were killed. Wayne Williams was charged and sentenced for the two adult murders, with twenty-four of the other murders attributed to him. |
| Atlanta Lover's Lane Murders | 1977 | 3 | 3 | GA | A series of unsolved shootings of couples in Atlanta from January to March 1977 |
| Atlanta Ripper | 1911 | 15 | 15–21 | GA | Mystery murderer(s) of fifteen Atlanta women in 1911 |
| Axeman of New Orleans | 1918–1919 | 6 | 6 | LA | Responsible for the deaths of six or seven people in New Orleans and the surrounding areas from 1918 to 1919 |
| Bag murders | 1975–1977 | 6 | 6 | NY | Murders and dismemberment of gay men in Lower Manhattan, whose body parts were wrapped in garbage bags and thrown into the Hudson River; convicted murderer Paul Bateson was a prime suspect in the killings, but never charged |
| Bigfoot Killer | 1975 | 7 | 7 | MI | Raped and murdered sex workers in Detroit; nicknamed derived from the suspect's large hands and feet |
| Boca Raton murders | 2007 | 3 | 3 | FL | Three unsolved murders of women committed at the Town Center Mall in Boca Raton, Florida in 2007 |
| Boston Strangler | 1962–1964 | 13 | 13 | MA | 1960s deaths of thirteen women (five young, eight older), mostly with their own stockings as ligature. Albert DeSalvo confessed to the murders, but was never indicted; DNA evidence tested in 2013 suggested his guilt in one of the cases |
| Bouncing Ball Killer | 1959–1960 | 6 | 7+ | CA | Series of murders targeted towards elderly women in Los Angeles; convicted murderer Raymond Ward Clemmons confessed to the murders, but he was never charged due to a lie detector proving he was being untruthful |
| Bra murders | 1967–1971 | 5 | 5 | CT | Strangulations of five black women, mostly prostitutes and drug addicts, in Stamford, Connecticut; schizophrenic preacher Benjamin Franklin Miller was prosecuted for the crimes, but acquitted by reason of insanity, leaving his true guilt in question |
| Castration serial murders | 1980–1986 | 2 | 5+ | WY, PA, UT, GA, CT | Series of murders of men who were shot in the back of the head and then castrated post-mortem |
| Charlie Chop-off | 1972–1974 | 4 | 4 | NY | Murders of five boys in Manhattan in 1972 and 1973. A mental patient confessed to one slashing death. Four stabbings also involving mutilation remain unsolved |
| Chicago Strangler | 2001–2021 | 55 | 75+ | IL | Raped and strangled predominantly African-American prostitutes and other vulnerable women in Chicago; could possibly be multiple serial killers |
| Cincinnati Strangler | 1965–1966 | 7 | 7 | OH | Raped and strangled seven mostly elderly women in Cincinnati, Ohio, between 1965 and 1966; Cab driver Posteal Laskey Jr. is commonly believed to be culprit |
| Cleveland Torso Murderer | 1935–1938 | 12 | 20+ | OH, possibly PA and CA | Also known as the "Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run"; responsible for 12–13 murders in the Cleveland, Ohio area in the 1930s |
| Colonial Parkway Killer | 1986–1989 | 8 | 8 | VA | Believed to have murdered at least eight people in Virginia between 1986 and 1989; left three couples dead and one couple missing and presumed dead. In January 2024, authorities announced that at least two of the murders had been conclusively linked to an official suspect, Alan W. Wilmer Sr., a local fisherman who died in 2017. Wilmer was also identified as a suspect in an unrelated third murder. |
| Columbus murders | 1965–1966 | 3 | 3 | OH | Three fatal shootings committed in Columbus and West Jefferson |
| Connecticut River Valley Killer | 1978–1987 | 7 | 7+ | MA, NH, VT | Stabbed at least six women to death in New England in the 1980s, severely injured one |
| Cumminsville Killer | 1904–1910 | 5 | 5 | OH | Murdered and mutilated women in the Cincinnati neighborhood of South Cumminsville |
| Dayton Strangler | 1900–1909 | 6 | 6 | OH | Murdered five women and one man in Dayton, Ohio, in the early 20th-century; one man was wrongfully convicted for the murders |
| Denver Prostitute Killer | 1975–1995 | 17 | 27 | CO | Abducted, raped and strangled young girls and women around Denver and its various suburbs |
| Denver Strangler | 1894–1903 | 3 | 5 | CO | Strangled three prostitutes in Denver in ten weeks; also thought to be responsible in two more murders |
| Doodler | 1974–1975 | 6 | 16 | CA | Sketched then stabbed to death gay men in San Francisco, California in the 1970s |
| Dr. No | 1981–1990 | 9 | 9+ | OH, IL, NY, PA | Suspected of raping and strangling prostitutes alongside the Interstate 71; his first suspected victim is Marcia King, who was identified in 2018. Samuel Legg III, a trucker, has been arrested and charged but thus far (as of 2020) is incompetent to stand trial. He is receiving psychiatric treatment while they try to restore competency. |
| Eastbound Strangler | 2006 | 4 | 4 | NJ | Murdered four women near Atlantic City, New Jersey, in 2006. |
| Edgecombe County serial killer | 2005–2009 | 10 | 11 | NC | Murders of nine women and disappearance of another since 2005 around Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Antwan Pittman has been convicted in one case |
| Essex County prostitute killings | 1993–1998 | 14 | 15 | NJ | Murders of at least fourteen women involved with prostitution in Essex County, New Jersey. Multiple perpetrators are suspected, and in 1998 Harrison Hogue was arrested for one of the murders but was ruled incompetent to stand trial. |
| Flat-Tire murders | 1975–1976 | 12 | 35 | FL | Killed young girls and women in Broward and Miami-Dade Counties by offering help with fixing their car tires, before he sexually assaulted them and drowned them in canals |
| Flint Serial Slasher | 2009–2010 | 5 | 5 | MI, OH, VA | Stabbing attacks against mostly small-framed African-American men, with the main area being Flint, Michigan; an Israeli national, Elias Abuelazam, has been convicted in one of the murders and remains the prime suspect in the other four |
| Fort Myers Eight murders | Mid-1990s | 8 | 8 | FL | The remains of eight adult men discovered murdered in a wooded area in Fort Myers, Florida, on March 23, 2007. The men are believed to have been at the location since the mid-1990s. Convicted murderer and serial rapist Daniel Conahan has been named as the prime suspect |
| Frankford Slasher | 1985–1990 | 8 | 9 | PA | Allegedly responsible for nine murders in the Frankford neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Leonard Christopher was convicted of one murder; another murder was committed in same style while he was incarcerated; believed to still be at large |
| Freeway Phantom | 1971–1972 | 6 | 6 | DC | Raped and strangled six young women and girls in Washington, D.C., in the early 1970s, dumping their bodies by freeways |
| Gilgo Beach serial killings | 1996–2010 | 11 | 11+ | NY | Suspected of killing eight women, a man and a child since 1996 and dumping their bodies along remote beaches in Suffolk and Nassau County, New York. The killer has been referred to as the Gilgo Beach killer because of the location where the first bodies were found. In July 2023, Rex Heuerman was arrested and has been charged with four of the murders. |
| Gold Sock Killer | 1973 | 3 | 3 | FL | Strangled a woman and two teenage girls to death with socks in Broward County, Florida between July and August. |
| Golden Years Murders | 1990–1996 | 13 | 13+ | VA | Murders of elderly women in Richmond, Virginia; murderer Leslie Burchart was convicted for some of the killings, but his guilt is disputed |
| Great Basin Killer | 1983–1997 | 4 | 4+ | WY, UT, NV, ID | Allegedly responsible for the "Great Basin Murders", in which young girls and women were raped and killed across the Great Basin area; initially consisting of nine supposed murders, those have since been solved and attributed to different perpetrators |
| Gulf Killer | 1971–1979 | 16 | 16+ | FL | A series of unsolved murders that occurred primarily in Pasco County, Florida in the 1970s; likely multiple killers |
| Gypsy Hill killings | 1976 | 5 | 5+ | CA | Known as the "San Mateo slasher"; five unsolved killings, of young women in San Mateo County, California, during early 1976; in 2014, the FBI named Rodney Halbower as a person of interest in the Gypsy Hill killings; as of 2018, he has been convicted in two of the murders |
| Hog Trail Murders | 1993–1996 | 6 | 11 | FL | Mutilated bodies of young men found in Charlotte County, Florida; thought to be linked to Daniel Conahan, who was charged and convicted of one of the murders |
| Harbor City serial shootings | 1993 | 3 | 3 | CA | Shot four black men from his Jeep, three of them fatally |
| Honolulu Strangler | 1985–1986 | 5 | 5 | HI | Raped and strangled five young women in Hawaii in 1985 and 1986 |
| I-45 Killer | 1980 | 0 | 4+ | TX | Strangled four known victims in 1980 and sexually assaulted some. Two of the four women have never been identified. |
| I-70 killer | 1992–2001 | 6 | 9+ | IN, MO, KS TX (suspected) | Killed and robbed six store clerks around the Midwestern United States |
| I-70 Strangler | 1980–1991 | 12 | 12+ | IN, OH | Killed gay men and dumped their bodies near I-70; suspected serial killer Herb Baumeister is considered the prime suspect in the case |
| Jeff Davis 8 | 2005–2009 | 8 | 8 | LA | The bodies of eight women were found in swamps and canals surrounding Jennings, Louisiana. Originally thought to be a serial killer, but multiple suspects may be involved |
| Little Rock serial stabbings | 2020–2021 | 3 | 3 | AR | Random stabbing murders against strangers that occurred in Little Rock, Arkansas |
| Lone Woman Murders | 1943–1949 | 9 | 12+ | CA | Over nine unsolved femicides committed in Los Angeles that involved sexual mutilation, including the famous Black Dahlia murder |
| Main South Woodsman | 2002–2004 | 3 | 5 | MA | Murdered prostitutes picked up from Worcester's Main South neighborhood, dumping the bodies in various towns across the state and neighboring Maine. Convicted murderer Alex Scesny is considered the prime suspect, but has never been charged. |
| The Man from the Train | 1890–1912 | 0 | 59+ | USA | Probably Paul Mueller. Killed whole families in their sleep, from the East Coast to the West, arriving and departing by train. Existence (probable but identity unproven) was discovered over 100 years after the murders by analysis of contemporary records, showing a markedly common modus operandi for many previously unconnected crimes. |
| Miami Strangler | 1964–1970 | 9 | 11 | FL | Murdered at least nine women in Miami, Florida, between 1964 and 1970 |
| Michigan Murders | 1967–1969 | 1 | 7 | MI | Raped, stabbed, and strangled young women between the ages of 13 and 21 in the Washtenaw County area of Michigan. John Norman Collins was convicted of the last murder in the series and strongly suspected to be responsible for all seven murders attributed to the same perpetrator. |
| Mulatto Axe Murders | 1911–1912 | 35 | 49+ | LA, TX | Axe murders of a minimum of twelve African-American and interracial families along the Southern Pacific railroad line running through Louisiana and Texas. Raymond Barnabet was tried and convicted of the murders of one family. His teenage daughter, Clementine Barnabet was arrested shortly afterwards following the murder of another family and confessed to the murders of thirty-five others. She was later convicted of one murder, but released from prison in 1923. Both convictions have been disputed by historians. No one has ever been charged with the other slayings |
| Nassau County serial murders | 1984–1989 | 5 | 5 | NY | Murders of five prostitutes committed in the Nassau County area; Allen Gormely, convicted of murdering two prostitutes in Long Beach in 1990, is considered the current prime suspect |
| New Bedford Highway Killer | 1988–1989 | 9 | 11 | MA | Murders of nine women and disappearance of two others between 1988 and 1989 |
| Oakland County Child Killer | 1976–1977 | 4 | 4+ | MI | Also known as the "Babysitter"; responsible for the murders of four or more children in Oakland County, Michigan in 1976 and 1977 |
| Oklahoma City Butcher | 1976–1986 | 3 | 3 | OK | Killed and mutilated three women in Oklahoma City between 1976 and 1986 |
| Phantom Killer | 1946 | 5 | 5 | TX | Believed to have committed the Texarkana Moonlight Murders in Texas between February 23 and May 4, 1946 |
| Pittsburg serial murders | 1998–1999 | 5 | 5 | CA | Single or multiple offenders who murdered one man and four women over three months in the city of Pittsburg, California |
| 1996 Raleigh murders | 1996 | 6 | 6 | NC | Series of murders and rapes across the Raleigh, North Carolina area; multiple killers are suspected, including one who was convicted of two murders |
| Redhead murders | 1978–1992 | 5 | 14+ | TN, AR, KY, MS, PA, WV | Series of unsolved homicides believed to have been committed by an unidentified serial killer in Tennessee, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, also known as "The Bible Belt Strangler" |
| Sacramento Mad Killer | 1940–1941 | 5 | 6+ | CA | Unidentified serial killer who murdered middle-aged men picked up from bars in the Sacramento area |
| San Diego serial murders | 1985–1990 | 43 | 43+ | CA | Murders of women, predominantly prostitutes and drug addicts, across San Diego County. Initially believed to be a single serial killer, but later determined to be multiple killers. |
| Santa Rosa hitchhiker murders | 1972–1973 | 7 | 7+ | CA | A series of at least seven unsolved homicides involving female hitchhikers that took place in Sonoma County and Santa Rosa of the North Bay area of California in 1972 and 1973 |
| Servant Girl Annihilator | 1884–1885 | 8 | 8 | TX | Also known as the "Austin Axe Murderer"; responsible for at least seven murders and severe injuries to seven others in Austin, Texas between 1884 and 1885 |
| Skid Row Stabber | 1978–1979 | 11 | 11 | CA | Murdered homeless men in Los Angeles' Skid Row neighborhood; Bobby Joe Maxwell was falsely convicted of two of the murders and accused of the rest, and died while in a coma prior to being exonerated |
| South Florida serial murders | 1997–2001 | 3 | 10+ | FL | Murdered women, most of whom were homeless or prostitutes, primarily by strangling, four of the ten murders have been solved |
| South Memphis prostitute killings | 2011 | 3 | 4 | TN | Murders of three sex workers in Memphis, Tennessee, in the winter of 2011; possibly linked to a fourth murder committed in 2015 |
| Storyville Slayer | 1991–1996 | 24 | 24+ | LA | Abducted, strangled and drowned predominantly female prostitutes around New Orleans; thought to be multiple killers |
| Stockton serial shootings | 2021–2022 | 7 | 7 | CA | Shot one man to death in Oakland and five in Stockton and shot a woman in Stockton who survived her injuries. Wesley Brownlee was arrested for the murders on October 15, 2022. |
| Suitland murders | 1986–1987 | 5 | 9 | MD, DC | Abducted, raped and stabbed to death women around Suitland, Maryland; convicted murderer Alton Alonso Best is considered the prime suspect |
| Texas Killing Fields | 1970s–2000s | 4 | 30+ | TX | Since the early 1970s, roughly thirty bodies have been extracted from the fields, mainly consisting of young girls. As of March 2024, six of the cases have been definitively solved, and authorities now believe that multiple offenders are involved. |
| Tube Sock Killings | 1985 | 4 | 6 | WA | Unsolved murders which occurred in the remote community of Mineral in Washington |
| West Mesa murders | 2003–2009 | 11 | 11+ | NM | Remains of eleven women, who disappeared between 2003 and 2005, found buried in the desert in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2009 and attributed to a bone collector |
| Zodiac Killer | 1968–1974 | 5 | 37 | CA NV (possible) | Targeted young couples. Remains unsolved but open in the California jurisdictions the five certain Zodiac murders occurred. Potentially thirty-seven total victims claimed but unverified. |