In 1979, Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris sexually assaulted and murdered five teenage girls. For months, authorities were at a loss to explain the disappearances of their victims, but eventually, Norris and Bittaker got reckless, and the crimes of the Toolbox Killers were revealed to the world. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

They each lived lonely lives, bouncing from jail to jail until a chance meeting in California brought them together in 1978. Bittaker and Norris began a sadistic friendship which evolved into a twisted partnership—one that would eventually claim the lives of five teenage girls. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At a young age, Moses Sithole was abandoned by his mother, forcing him to go in and out of a traumatic foster care system. As an adult in the ‘90s, he began enacting his revenge on women in a rampage that had South Africa terrified. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the early ‘70s, a teenaged Dugan had an encounter with one of the most notorious serial killers in the U.S.—a killer whose infamy Dugan would soon match, with a murder spree throughout Chicago’s rural suburbs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In his youth, Walter Ellis was prone to fits of physical violence. But as he grew older, he took on the role of a gentle and unsuspecting neighbor. Over the course of 20 years, it was this persona that allowed the man known as the Milwaukee North Side Strangler to avoid the detection of local police, who were facing a series of eerily similar murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Growing up in the California town of Solvang, Thor Nis Christiansen was the quiet son of Danish immigrants. As he grew older, Thor began harboring dark, disturbing fantasies about women. Before his 20th birthday, he would strike for the first time—and it wouldn't be the last... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He endured extreme childhood abuse, served in the Marines, and was eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia. Between 1986 and 1996, Andrew Urdiales turned his anger into murder, taking the lives of eight women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He spent his life trying to escape jails, mental hospitals, and his urge to kill. From 1961 to 1982, Charles Ray Hatcher murdered at least four people, but he claims to have killed as many as 16 in Missouri, California, and Illinois. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sent to a reform school for the remainder of his childhood, Jesse Pomeroy, and his distraught mother, had one shared goal in mind: early release. After only 17 months away, they'd got their wish. And by 1874, Jesse was free to continue his attacks—and this time, he was ready to kill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born in 1859 with a cleft palate, Jesse Pomeroy's father looked upon his son as weak, and brutally abused him throughout his childhood. Tormented at home and at school, Jesse began to entertain violent fantasies about torturing prisoners. By the time he was 12, simply fantasizing wasn't enough—and the “Boy Torturer of Boston” emerged... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He claimed to be Sweden's first serial killer. Throughout the 1990s, Sture Bergwall made shocking confessions to dozens of brutal murders across Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. But his final confession was the most surprising of them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Growing up as one of the few black kids in Warwick, Rhode Island was not easy. By the time Craig Price transitioned from child to teen, the years of racism and bullying had already made a huge impact on his developing psyche. By the time he was 13-years-old in 1986, his anger had reached a boiling point. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1942, Marcel Petiot's fake escape network, Fly-Tox, was operating at full steam. He took his victim's payment, and instead of helping them start new lives in South America, he murdered them and stored the bodies in his basement. But his scheme couldn't escape the attention of the Nazis for long. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since childhood, Marcel Petiot flaunted a disregard for the rules. As a doctor, he used his charm and influence to enrich his family and get away with his first murder. But when WWII reached Paris, a deadly new scheme began to brew... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

His first murder in 1944 had gone exactly as planned: the body had dissolved in acid, and he was sure no one would ever find out what he had done. So, with that in mind, John George Haigh set about repeating the process again, and again—always chasing the next big score. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Born in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the 20th century, John George Haigh rebelled against his hyper-religious upbringing and opted for a life of crime. He didn't see the point in earning an honest living when he could con others out of theirs. But Haigh soon realized that he needed a way to swindle people and make sure they stayed silent. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As his living conditions deteriorated in the late 2000's, so did Anthony Sowell’s state of mind. Investigators were horrified when they finally searched his Cleveland home and found the corpses of his victims decaying in nearly every room. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Plagued by addiction, Anthony Sowell killed 11 women between May 2007 and September of 2009. As his abuse became worse, so did his living conditions. Eventually Sowell was almost a total recluse, kept company only by the rotting bodies he kept in his home. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By 1984, after a lifetime spent breaking the law and facing few consequences, John Edward Robinson had finally crossed the line into cold-blooded murder. Having gotten away with it before, he decided that nothing was stopping him from doing it again, and again... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a child growing up in Illinois in the 1940s and ‘50s, John Edward Robinson was obsessed with figures from the criminal underworld. When he was grown and married, he began conning his way into jobs he wasn't qualified for. It wasn't long before his scheming ways took a decidedly dark turn... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the late 1960s, Donald Henry Gaskins found himself consumed by a ravenous rage. He began stalking the highways of South Carolina, searching for victims. Eventually, he became so violent that even a maximum security prison couldn't stop him from killing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between 1953 and 1982, Donald Henry “Pee Wee” Gaskins murdered at least 14 people, and claimed to have killed over 100. Gaskins began his crime spree early, and went from a young burglar and car thief in South Carolina to one of the most brutal serial murderers in U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1989, Danny Rolling had already gotten away with a shocking triple murder. As he tried to stay ahead of the Shreveport cops, he made his way to Gainesville, where he set about terrorizing the University of Florida Campus as the “Gainesville Ripper.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's likely that an abusive, loveless upbringing in the 1960s and ‘70s shaped Danny Rolling’s troubling violent sexual fantasies. After a young life of petty crime in Louisiana and Georgia, one incident set Danny off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Serial Killers today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time. For more than a decade, Randy Steven Kraft preyed upon vulnerable young Californian men—torturing, dismembering, and murdering dozens. His killings were made all the worse by the blasé approach authorities took to his case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We are thrilled to bring you a brand new episode of Serial Killers today and for the foreseeable future. We thank you for your patience during this unprecedented time. From 1972 to 1983, the gay community of Southern California was plagued by a vicious killer. His name was Randy Steven Kraft, and he would later become known for the morbid murder "scorecard" that he kept beneath his car rug. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the 1990s, he had spent twenty years murdering dozens of women across the United States. Decades after his crimes, Samuel Little was finally brought to justice—and soon revealed to have one of the highest victim counts of all time. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2018, he was serving a life sentence for the murders of three women in California—when he confessed to another. Then, another and another. Soon, Samuel Little had confessed to 93 murders across the U.S. over a period of 30 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As Joseph James DeAngelo's crimes escalated from robbery to murder during the 1980s, he terrified the state of California. Despite the best efforts of authorities, he eluded capture for decades. But he couldn't run forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

His crimes earned him the moniker of the “Visalia Ransacker” and the “East Area Rapist.” But Joseph James DeAngelo would become most notorious for his final nickname, the “Golden State Killer.” Between 1974 and 1986, DeAngelo committed untold atrocities, all while leading a seemingly average life as a husband and small town cop. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was a freight hopper who rode the rails of the western United States for over a decade. Robert Joseph Silvera Jr. was responsible for more than 30 slayings in that time, most of his victims being fellow transients—earning him the nickname, “The Boxcar Killer.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the mid-1980s, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to nearly 600 murders. While most of those confessions were subsequently disproven, his case led to larger questions about United States interrogation methods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In many ways, Jerry Brudos wasn't in it for the kill—he was in it for the body. Between 1968 and 1969, he dressed his victims up and posed them, like living dolls. After killing them, he continued to defile and manipulate the bodies, keeping trophies for himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He developed an obsession with women's clothing from a young age—a fetish which would eventually turn violent. As a teenager, Jerry Brudos started attacking young women… just to steal their shoes. But when footwear wasn't enough to satiate his desires, Brudos graduated from thief to kidnapper. And eventually, murderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, taunting them for their inability to catch him. Fifty years later, there is still no confirmed suspect as to the identity of the murderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between 1891 and 1895, H.H. Holmes embarked on a vicious killing spree across the United States, terrorizing an entire nation in the process. No one knows exactly how many murders he committed. He confessed to twenty-seven, but only nine were confirmed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was the master of the infamous “Murder Mansion,” and often cited as America’s first serial killer. H.H. Holmes began his career as a con artist in Chicago, taking advantage of anyone he could between 1886 and 1894—all the while hiding his darkest motives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1974, Ted Bundy embarked on a murderous roadtrip across America committing dozens of murders from Colorado to as far as Florida. But after two prison escapes, and multiple trials, Bundy was far from finished. In 1979, he captivated the entire country by representing himself in the first televised murder trial in U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He’s one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century, murdering dozens of young women on a bloody rampage across America that spanned four years. But Ted Bundy’s metamorphosis as a killer began during childhood—long before his first murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the late 1800s, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was the go-to doctor for Chicago's Red Light District. The women, who grew to trust, admire, and even fall in love with Dr. Cream, would soon become victims of his quiet-but-deadly poisonings.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1984, Bobby Joe Long terrorized Tampa—sexually assaulting and murdering women with alarming frequency. But one 17-year-old girl escaped his clutches, living to see him brought to justice. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bobby Joe Long was responsible for the murder of at least 9 Tampa women. Born in 1953, his early life was milestoned by several serious head injuries including a motorcycle accident which would leave him forever changed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From 1926-1928, Earle Nelson would roam across North America strangling unsuspecting land ladies. By the end of his rampage, he will kill at least 22 people, a record that would not be broken for another 50 years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Reputed to have abnormally long arms and unusually large hands, Earle Leonard Nelson roamed the United States and Canada, strangling unsuspecting landladies in their own homes during the 1920s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While on probation after an early release from prison in March of 1990, Jeffrey Dahmer continued his wave of sadistic violence. A chance event would finally lead to his arrest, and a media spectacle would bring Dahmer to the masses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It was a murderous rampage that could have possibly been prevented. Although Jeffrey Dahmer failed numerous times to turn his life around, his multi-year killing spree also went ignored by his family, neighbors, sentencing judges, and court-appointed therapists. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was one of the most infamous serial killers of the 20th century, murdering 17 young men between 1978 and 1991 through a variety of cruel and unusual methods. But how did Jeffrey Dahmer, one of the era's most monstrous killers, get his start?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices