Prolific Serial Killers

What makes one serial killer more prolific than another? The number of victims usually. Sure some serial killers stand out because their crimes are more gruesome but in the league of serial killers the number one spot is purely based on the number of people you kill.

The following is all those of the 20th and 21st century; and includes not just the lone serial killers but also the medical serial killers and the serial killer couples.

For a more factual purpose I have given each killer a 'Kill Rate'. This figure is based on how many people they killed over how many years. For example a 'Kill Rate' of 6.2 would mean on average they killed 6.2 people a year.

So without further ado lets just go right to the number 1 spot:

1. Harold Shipman; United Kingdom - was killing between 1975 and 1998. And in that time he took a confirmed 218 lives. Shipman was a doctor who killed his patients by injecting them with diamorphine; and would falsify medical records to make it look like his patient had been of poor health. Shipman was convicted in 2000 and received 15 life sentences. 4 years later Harold Shipman committed suicide and hung himself in prison. (Kill Rate: 9.48)

2. Luis Alfredo Garavito; Colombia - was killing in the nineties; the exact time he started is unknown but the end of 1999 when he was apprehended is exact. He was proven to have killed 138; but estimates of actual victims are closer to 400. Surprisingly by the law at the time, in Colombia, Garavito was sentenced to the maximum of 30 years but after assisting police in their investigations to locate the bodies this was reduced to 22 years. (Kill Rate: 15.33)

3. Pedro Alonso Lopez; Colombia - was killing between 1969 and 1980. He than time he took a confirmed 110 lives; although estimates put him at closer to 300. Known as "The Monster of the Andes". Targeted young girls, between the ages of 8 and 12. Arrested in 1980 and convicted in 1983 of killing 110 young girls but confessed to killing 300. Though he is often considered the most prolific serial killer of the 20th century, he was released in 1998 after it was declared he had been rehabilitated. Current whereabouts unknown. (Kill Rate: 10.00)

4. Miyuki Ishikawa; Japan - was killing throughout the forties until arrested in 1948. She killed 103 newborn babies. As a maternity nurse she killed infants born to parents unwilling to care for them during the prohibition of abortion in Japan. She was sentenced to just 4 years in prison. (Kill Rate: 12.87)

5. Pedro Rodrigues Filho; Brazil - was killing between 1967 to 2003. He was convicted of killing 75 people although estimates put the real figure over 100. He started killing at the age of 14. He killed his father and ate a piece of his heart. (Kill Rate: 2.08)

6. Daniel Barbosa; Colombia - between 1974 to 1986 killed 72 people; primarily young girls. Believed to have been motivated to kill from his stepmother abusing him as a child. Some estimates have put a 'true' figure of more than 150. (Kill Rate: 6.00)

7. Gary Ridgway; United States - between 1982 to 2000 killed 71 escorts and prostitutes. He would proposition a prostitute, drive to the banks of the Green River, and strangle her to death. After murdering his victim he would dump her body near the nearby water; he earned the title of the Green River Killer. Although he confessed to 71 he was eventually convicted of just 49; but it is thought that his actual victim count is closer to 90. (Kill Rate: 3.94)

8. Yang Xinhai; China - from 1999 to 2003 killed 67. He would enter victims homes at night and kill everyone with axes, meat cleavers, hammers, and shovels. He was known as Monster Killer and was executed in 2004. (Kill Rate: 16.75)

9. Andrei Chikatilo; Soviet Union - killed 53 women and children between 1978 to 1990; earning him the title of the 'Butcher of Rostov'. Although Chikatilo was executed in 1994 three people had been previously convicted and executed for his crimes. (Kill Rate: 4.42)

10. Anatoly Onoprienko; Soviet Union - was labeled 'Citizen O'. Convicted of killing 52 people between 1989 to 1996 and sentenced to death; which was later commuted to life imprisonment. He was apprehended after his relatives gave police information. (Kill Rate: 7.43)

That is the top ten serial killers of the 20th and 21st centuries so far.

As a side note the top 10 serial killers changes somewhat when the 'Kill Rate' is used and looks like so:

1. Yang Xinhai; China (16.75)
2. Luis Alfredo Garavito; Colombia (15.33)
3. Miyuki Ishikawa; Japan (12.87)
4. Pedro Alonso Lopez; Colombia (10.00)
5. Harold Shipman; United Kingdom (9.48)
6. Anatoly Onoprienko; Soviet Union (7.43)
7. Daniel Barbosa; Colombia (6.00)
8. Andrei Chikatilo; Soviet Union (4.42)
9. Gary Ridgway; United States (3.94)
10. Pedro Rodrigues Filho; Brazil (2.08)

As another side note it has to be said that the 'Kill Rate' is very unscientific as it is doubtful that any of the serial killers listed actually spread their killings out with such precision as to only kill so many per year.

Good news is that these 10 serial killers were all caught. Bad news is that if you live in the United States the FBI estimate that there are 35 active serial killers at any one time.