These famous psychopaths committed some of the most notorious murders in history
15 of the Most Famous Psychopaths in History
Updated on May 22, 2025
Ed Gein
Norman Bates (from Psycho), Leatherface, (from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and Buffalo Bill (from The Silence of the Lambs) are three of the most iconic fictional horror characters of all time—and they’re all loosely based on one man: Ed Gein. Also known as the “Butcher of Plainfield,” Gein collected women’s bodies through grave robbing and murder from around 1945 to 1957, when he was finally caught. He used the women’s remains to decorate his isolated Wisconsin farm and to make various items of clothing. Gein died in 1984 in a mental institution.
Charles Manson
One of the most infamous cult leaders in history, Charles Manson used psychopathic manipulation to gain followers in the 1960s. Not only did he murder people himself, he convinced his admirers to murder for him—resulting in one of the most notorious murder sprees in history.
The Tate-LaBianca murders shocked the world and spawned books, movies, documentaries and podcasts for decades. Director Roman Polanski’s wife, Sharon Tate, and coffee heiress Abigail Folger were among the dead. Manson and his cronies were sentenced to death, but California abolished the death penalty afterward. Charles Manson died in prison in 2017.
Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy is a name that is practically synonymous with serial killer and psychopath. He was known to be very sly and charming, which was the shiny veneer he used to lure his many victims. He killed at least 30 people across the United States, but it took years for the authorities to catch him. No one believed such an “upstanding” young man could do such horrible things. He is most famous for his necrophiliac tendencies, and his own lawyer described him as a “heartless evil.” Bundy was executed in 1989.
Richard Ramirez, aka “The Night Stalker”
According to reports, Ramirez’s victims ranged in age from nine to eighty-three, and he did not have a particular preference for gender. He ravaged Los Angeles in the 1980s with his brutal Satanic-inspired killings simply because he was fascinated by death. That’s not to say it had nothing to do with his upbringing, however. When he was just 11 years old, he witnessed his cousin murder his wife. Ramirez died of natural causes in 2013.
Jack the Ripper
London’s Jack the Ripper was never properly identified, but he is world-famous. Not only did he kill prostitutes in the late 1800s, he mutilated and disemboweled them as well. Not much is known about him, but it is clear that he had a severe hatred of women, particularly prostitutes, which has led some people to theorize that his mother might have been one as well. He left his victims on full display on the street for police and citizens to discover.
Albert DeSalvo, aka “The Boston Strangler”
Albert DeSalvo was a serial murderer who killed women by strangulation, often using a simple ruse to get through their front doors. At an early age, he would torture animals—one of the classic warning signs of a psychopath. His extreme misogyny increased as he got older, and he had difficult relationships with the female figures in his life. DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison in 1973.
Jeffrey Dahmer
Part of the reason famous psychopath and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer captivated the world was because he appeared very polite and unassuming. He evaded police detection simply because they believed whatever excuse he fed them. Dahmer is most famous for being not just a killer, but a cannibal. When the authorities finally raided his home, they found human heads in the refrigerator. Dahmer was murdered in prison in 1994.
The Zodiac Killer
Like Jack the Ripper, no one knows who the Zodiac Killer really was. Unlike Jack, the Zodiac did not seclude himself to the shadows, however. One reason that his murders were so sensational was that he would frequently reach out to various media outlets, teasing them with codes and riddles. The killer was active in the ’60s and ’70s, but there has been no trace of him since his final letter to the press in 1974. Even though psychologists never had the chance to examine him, his crimes showed the lack of empathy of a psychopath.
Vlad the Impaler
This 15th-century Transylvanian ruler is the basis for the Dracula myth. He didn’t have the bat wings, but he was extremely brutal and bloodthirsty. As his name suggests, he would often leave people impaled and put on display outside his castle as they suffered a slow, painful death. It is estimated that he impaled roughly 20,000 people and killed a total of 80,000.
Dennis Rader, aka “The BTK Killer”
Bind, torture, kill—that’s what Dennis Rader was known for. Like the Zodiac Killer, he played games with the press. Where the two differ is that Rader got caught while he trying to be clever. In 2005, after decades spent killing women in Kansas, the police were able to trace a disk he had sent to the media back to his church, where he was an active member. His killings were centered around the sexual thrill and fantasy of bondage scenarios. Rader is currently incarcerated in Kansas.
Elizabeth Báthory
Her name isn’t up in lights like Bundy’s or Dahmer’s, but Elizabeth Báthory has long been alleged to be history’s most prolific female serial killer. It’s said she murdered at least 600 young girls in an effort to retain her youth: After allegedly submitting them to torture, she would supposedly drink and bathe in the blood of her victims.
Báthory was a Hungarian countess, and because of her social standing she was never officially put on trial. Instead, she lived under house arrest until her death in 1614. But a book released in 2023, The Blood Countess, claims that the accusations against Báthory were not only false, but that Báthory was in fact a book printer, feminist and teacher who used her home to educate scores of young women.
David Berkowitz, aka “Son of Sam”
In the mid-1970s, New York City-based serial killer David Berkowitz sent the entire city into a panic when he began randomly shooting people—mostly young women with long brunette hair—with a .44-caliber revolver. No one knew when or where the “Son of Sam” would strike next, which is what made him so terrifying.
He actually started off as a serial arsonist, but was not caught until he went on his killing spree. Berkowitz might have displayed signs of psychosis rather than psychopathy—he has since become a born-again Christian in prison and started acting as a peer mentor for fellow inmates.
Albert Fish
Albert Fish was a ferocious serial killer in the early 1900s. Like Dahmer would do many years later, Fish cannibalized his victims. What made him especially horrifying and depraved was the fact that he would send letters to his victims’ families, describing in extreme detail the terrible things he did to their loved one. One such letter led to his capture, and he was executed in 1936.
H.H. Holmes
In the late 1800s, America’s first known serial killer appeared. He called himself H.H. Holmes, and he was a doctor as well as the architect of a huge Chicago hotel that would later become known as the “Murder Castle.” He built the hotel for the very purpose of murdering and concealing his victims, constructing passageways and trap doors only he knew about.
He’s not just fascinating because he was the first known serial killer in America, but because he was such a methodical, efficient psychopath. His story inspired the bestselling non-fiction book The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson.
Aileen Wuornos
Several documentaries (as well as a movie starring Charlize Theron) have been made about Aileen Wuornos, otherwise known as one of America’s most famous female murderers. What made her such an intriguing figure was her eccentric, outgoing personality and the way she would sometimes admit her guilt, and at other times completely deny it. One moment she would seem friendly, the next, vengeful. She was put to death in 2002 after murdering men she found on the highways while working as a prostitute.
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Sources:
- Biography: “Ted Bundy”
- Boston Globe: “Albert DeSalvo is ‘Boston Strangler'”
- CBS: “Richard Ramirez: The story, the evidence, the Night Stalker”
- CNN: “Manson Family Murders Fast Facts”
- Fox News: “BTK killer Dennis Rader tells all in unheard interview for doc: ‘It’s a demon that’s within me'”
- Guardian: “Florida Executes Women Serial Killer”
- History: “Boston Strangler commits his final known murder”
- History: “Cannibal and serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is caught”
- History: “Infamous serial killer Ed Gein dies”
- NBC News: “Vlad the Impaler: The real Dracula was absolutely vicious”
- Psychology Today: “Inside the Mind of Serial Killer “Son of Sam”
- Scientific American: “What “Psychopath” Means”
- USA Today: “Zodiac Killer: Can genealogy help crack the 50-year-old case?”
