Warning: Some of the events described in this article are graphic in nature. Reader discretion is advised. This is not hero worship. The most important stories in these cases are those of the victims.
John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer. Each of these names lives on in most people's most chilling nightmares. These are the jocks of the serial killer world. Everyone knows their name, their Modus Operandi, and their victim count. But what about the serial killers that aren't the subject of multiple documentaries? Throughout history, serial killers have earned infamy, even if they didn't garner fame. Here are seven "small name" serial killers with big-time creep factors:
1. Denis Nilsen, "The Muswell Hill Murderer"
Nilsen is responsible for an estimated 12 murders, all of which were men he brought to his home from bars or homeless men from the streets of London. Although his first victims were often dismembered and burned in his backyard, Nilsen's move into an upstairs flat in London in 1981 complicated his disposal methods. Nilsen resorted to attempting to flush his victims' remains down the toilet, eventually clogging his sewage system, leading to his arrest. When his flat was searched, authorities found three heads. Upon inspecting his former residence, police uncovered the remains of 13 more victims. Nilsen was never able to recount his exact number of victims to police.
2. Ahmad Suradji
Ahmad Suradji was an Indonesian man who claimed his father's ghost instructed him to ritualistically murder 70 women to become a mystic healer. He and his incestuous sister-wives murdered 42 young females before he was arrested and charged with the murders. Suradji was executed by firing squad in 2008.
3. Robert Hansen, "The Butcher Baker"
Robert Hansen died in an Alaskan prison cell in 2014 after spending 30 years in prison for murdering over 21 women in a cruel hunting-like game. Hansen, who was once arrested for stealing a chainsaw, was an avid hunter. After he grew tired of hunting wild game, he began capturing women, flying them to a remote area, and setting them free so that he could hunt them. The only real question is: Why did no one think stealing a chainsaw was a huge red flag?
4. Amelia Dyer
Surprisingly, one of the most prolific serial killers in history is a woman. Amelia Dyer was what was commonly known as a "baby farmer." She would take children from parents who were unwilling or unable to care for their child in exchange for payment. She assured the parents that their child would be raised in a loving, caring home. She lied. Dyer strangled babies for her own sick pleasure, watching over 300 babies die at her hands before her execution in 1896.
5. Luis Alfredo Gravito, "The Beast"
According to his own map, Gravito is potentially responsible for the rape and murder of up to 400 young boys, 138 of which have been proven. He would stalk the streets of Columbia targeting young peasant children, whose disappearances were often ignored by authorities. In 2011, a Columbian judge denied his early release. Gravito remains in prison.
6. Donald Henry "Pee Wee" Gaskins, "The Hitchhiker Killer"
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gaskins murdered 80 men and 90 women hitchhikers in the Carolinas. He kept the remains of most of his victims in his own private cemetery. In 1976, Gaskins was convicted of the murder of one of his male victims, Dennis Bellamy , and sentenced to death. In November of that year, the Supreme Court deemed the death penalty unconstitutional, and his sentence was converted to life in prison. In 1978, the sentence was converted back. Gaskins was later found guilty of murdering his cellmate on death row, making him the only American prisoner in history to do so.
7. Harry Powers, "The Bluebeard of Quiet Dell"
Harry Powers was a seemingly harmless vacuum salesman. He gained a rapport with old widows and divorcees through a southern "lonely hearts club." Using his charm and impressive knowledge of vacuums, he lured two of these women, Dorothy Lemke and Asta Eichler — along with Mrs. Eichler’s three young children, to a cabin in rural Quiet Dell, Virginia in the summer of 1931. There, he starved, tortured, and murdered all five of them. He was hanged for his crimes only three months later, after confessing to having slain up to 50 victims.
