You might be fascinated with serial killers just like the rest of us, even though you may be repulsed by them. How could they do what they did, what makes them different from you and me and why they committed those horrendous crimes has been discussed by experts and the public for years. Serial killers are not just individuals who took the life of many people but also Kings and Queens of yore who found that killing off the opposition was the best way to stay in power. Then there were those who killed for money and some were just plain bloodthirsty. Some serial killers also inspired nursery rhymes, which is hard to believe but true! Read on to know about the most dangerous serial killers of all time and the nursery rhyme inspired by some of them:
11 most dangerous serial killers of all time
Pedro Alonso López
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This Columbian killer was accused of murdering and killing over 300 girls all over South America. He used to lure them to isolated places or deserted buildings where he killed them brutally. His favorite method of killing was strangulation. He served 18 years in an Equadorian prison. He was deported and rearrested in Columbia in 2002 and given the life sentence.
Pedro Rodrigues Filho
He killed 71 people, committing the first murder when he was just 14. By 18, he killed 10 people, mainly drug dealers. Incredibly, he killed his own father in prison, and managed to kill 47 inmates while in prison. He was sentenced to 400 years, but he was released in 2007 after 34 years. He was rearrested in 2011.
Dr Harold Shipman
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You’d never believe that this seemingly well-respected, gentle doctor was actually a serial killer. He is thought to have killed 250 people and it was a big shock when he was caught. He used to inject his patients with diamorphine and cremate them, thus getting rid of proof of guilt. Then he forged his victims’ wills and thus inherited large sums of money. He was sentenced to 15 life sentences, but hanged himself in prison.
Gary Ridgeway
Gary was arrested for 4 murders in 2001 though he killed 70 women and more, according to his own confession. He is considered to be one of the most dangerous serial killers of all time who managed to avoid the death penalty. This he did by giving information about his victims’ dumping sites. He was nicknamed ‘The Green River Killer’ because he disposed of 5 victims into the Green River.
Ricardo Ramirez
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He committed horrific murders and terrorized the Los Angeles area. He broke into his victims’ homes and then stabbed, shot, raped and mutilated them. He killed without discrimination and children as well as the elderly were among his victims.
Tommy Lynn Sells
This man was a ruthless killer who was convicted of many brutal murders in the years 1985 -1999. He even stabbed a thirteen year old teenager 16 times. He was caught when he attacked a girl, only 10 years old, but she survived and gave the police a description which led to his arrest. He is definitely one of the most dangerous serial killers of all time.
Yorkshire Ripper
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Jack The Ripper could have taught this man some of his own methods. Peter Sutcliffe killed 13 women, mainly prostitutes. He attempted to kill 7 others and he was one of the most dangerous serial killers of all time.
Myra Hindley and Ian Brady
These two are considered to be two of the most dangerous serial killers of all time. They tortured and killed children between the ages of 10-17, after having sexually assaulted them, in Manchester, England.
Ted Bundy
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Movies have been made on him and his name is a warming to all women. This serial rapist and killer murdered countless women. He decapitated 12 women and kept their heads as trophies. He escaped from the police twice, and was finally executed by electric chair in 1989.
Queen Mary
This British Queen murdered so many protestants that she came to be known as ‘Bloody Mary’. A Catholic, she destroyed her Protestant opponents by burning them at stakes and by the guillotine. The nursery rhymes inspired by murder committed by Queen Mary are the ‘Three Blind Mice’ – this is one of the most famous creepy rhymes inspired by murder. In the 17th century, Protestants and Catholics were at loggerheads. The blind mice in the rhyme is thought to have been Protestant loyalists accused of plotting to overthrow Queen Mary. The ruthless Queen burned them at the stake!
Queen Mary was so bloodthirsty that she inspired another rhyme – ‘Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary’. Did you know that the ‘pretty maids’ expression in the rhyme actually represents the dreaded instrument of death, the guillotine?
You must be familiar with both these rhymes, and have even sung them when you were a child, like most of us. But, certainly we never imagined that these are actually nursery rhymes inspired by murder.
Lizzie Borden
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The story behind the Lizzie Borden rhyme –
Lizzie Borden was accused of killing her father Andrew Borden and stepmother Abby Borden, in the most gruesome way. Her father’s head was smashed in and her stepmother’s head was completed destroyed in their home, when Lizzie was the only one at home. This is one murder which was so horrific that people remember it, in the form of a rhyme which it inspired. The rhyme mentions that she attacked her stepmother 40 times with an axe, and father 41 times, but she hit her father only 11 times. But we have to make exceptions for freedom of expression!
This is the story behind the Lizzie Borden rhyme, that she killed her father and stepmother in cold blood, but because there was no evidence, she was acquitted of the murders. She and her sister inherited her father’s wealth and lived the good life till they died.
There seems to be no rhyme or reason behind the gruesome murders committed by serial killers. They seem to be completely different from the rest of humanity, which is why perhaps we have an unending fascination for them. Their minds seem to work in an absolutely different way from normal people which is why many of them are locked up in high security mental hospitals. Serial killers reflect the darkest side of humanity which is why they gain such notoriety when their crimes are revealed.
