How politics has struggled to create the perfect leaders
Indeed, some countries around the world have earned a chilling reputation for experiencing some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. And they're not just one-off crimes: quite a lot of serial killers have managed to increase the homicide rate in these nations and cause chaos amongst the general public. By definition, a serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, on separate occasions, unlike a mass murderer, who kills multiple people at once.
So, which countries have experienced the most serial killers? Click through this gallery to find out.
The first country to appear on this list is Spain, which has had only 28 serial killers in the course of its recorded history. The nation is actually considered one of the safest in the world, but its history has certainly had some dark spots of repeated murderers.
The most notorious serial killer in Spain’s history is José Antonio Rodríguez Vega, nicknamed the Old Lady Killer. Rodríguez Vega was sentenced to 440 years of imprisonment after he raped and killed at least 16 elderly women in the late 1980s.
Brazil is the next country to appear on this list, with 42 serial killers under its belt. This number is surprisingly low though, since Brazil is considered one of the most dangerous countries on the planet with the most number of intentional homicides annually.
The status of Brazil’s most infamous serial killer belongs to Pedro Rodrigues Filho, who was confirmed to have killed 71 people but claimed to have more than 100 victims (most of whom were drug dealers, rapists, and other criminals).
Over in North America, Mexico has had a total of 64 serial killers in its recorded history. Most of them have come from the second half of the 20th century, although some have been convicted as recently as 2023.
Gregorio Cárdenas Hernández is Mexico’s most most notorious serial killer, even though his number of victims wasn’t the biggest. Cárdenas Hernández’s case was the first to be highly publicized at the time, which is why he has been recorded as the most infamous.
There are a total of four Asian nations featured on this list, and China is one of them. Throughout history, the country has had 68 serial killers, which included a 30-year manhunt for a man dubbed as the Chinese Jack the Ripper.
Chinese serial killer Yang Xinhai confessed to murdering 67 people between 1999 and 2003, which is the most of any criminal in the nation’s history. Yang was sentenced to death and was executed by shooting at the age of 35.
The European nation of France is next on the list, with 89 serial killers in its recorded history. Paris, the City of Light, has had a dark history of bloodshed (especially considering it's where the guillotine was invented), and its record of serial murders only adds to it.
The nation’s most prominent serial killer is Thierry Paulin, who was active during the 1980s. Nicknamed the Monster of Montmartre, Paulin was responsible for the death of 21 elderly women before he was finally captured in 1987. He died at the age of 25 before he was able to stand trial for his crimes.
Tenth place on the list goes to Australia, where 92 confirmed serial killers have wreaked havoc on the country throughout its history. Interestingly, the nation hasn’t had a long history of serial killers, and the first, Frank Butler, was only confirmed in 1896.
Ivan Milat, more commonly referred to as the Backpacker Murderer, is Australia’s most notorious serial killer. During the early 1990s, Milat abducted, assaulted, robbed, and murdered two men and five women, all of whom were backpackers hitching a ride on the Hume Highway in New South Wales.
The next country on the list is Italy, where 95 serial killers have dwelt. But violent crime is relatively low here, which makes it somewhat shocking to find the country listed in this top 10.
Italy’s most prominent serial killer is considered to be Donato Bilancia, who was active on the Italian Riviera from late 1997 to mid-1998. Bilancia murdered 17 people (nine women and eight men) during his killing spree, and he was given 13 terms of life imprisonment for his crimes.
Germany’s history of serial killers is filled with barbarism. Indeed, one of the 99 confirmed serial killers in the country’s history was actually a serial cannibal who killed and ate dozens of vagrants and travelers in the early 20th century.
Peter Kürten is considered Germany’s most notorious murderer after he killed more than nine people (including a young girl) between 1913 and 1929. Kürten’s number of attempted murders extends beyond that, and it’s estimated that he almost killed more than 31 other people.
Canada is often cited as an endearingly safe place to live, and although this may be true for many aspects of the country, it has been home to about 125 serial killers throughout its recorded history, which puts it in seventh place on this list.
The Pig Farmer Killer, more formally known as Robert Pickton, was a farmer who confessed to killing 49 people. He is the most infamous killer in Canadian history, and most of his victims were sex workers from Vancouver.
This is the only African country to appear on this list. Throughout South Africa’s history, there have been approximately 129 confirmed serial killers, which is somewhat unsurprising, since the nation is considered one of the most dangerous in the world with an incredibly high rate of homicides.
South Africa’s status of most notorious serial killer goes to Moses Sithole, also known as the ABC Killer. Sithole murdered at least 37 women and one toddler between 1994 and 1995, which earned him a prison sentence of 2,410 years. He is currently incarcerated at Mangaung Correctional Centre in Bloemfontein.
Arriving in the top five is India, where 130 serial killers have claimed the lives of victims over the decades. The most recent murders occurred this year, and the killer (Kuldeep Kumar Gangwar) was apprehended on August 9, 2024.
Raman Raghav is India’s most infamous serial killer; he was responsible for terrorizing Mumbai (formerly Bombay) in the 1960s by bludgeoning slum dwellers to death. Known as the Psycho Killer, he was arrested in 1968 and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, later dying in prison.
While Japan relies on cultural platitudes that make the nation one of the most advanced in the world, it clearly hasn’t had an impact on the number of murderers residing in its borders. In fact, approximately 138 serial killers have been confirmed in Japan, the fourth-highest of any country on Earth.
The Japanese serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki, known as the Otaku Murderer, was the nation’s most prominent. He abducted and murdered four young girls between the ages of four and seven, and his gruesome crimes included mutilation and cannibalism. He was arrested in 1989 and executed in 2008.
The largest country in the world occupies this list’s third place. Russia has had 164 serial killers throughout its recorded history. Yet although the nation is rather old, the first confirmed serial murderer committed his crimes mostly in the 1980s.
Former Russian police officer Mikhail Popkov is one of the country’s most prolific serial killers. Between 1992 and 2010, he murdered at least 83 women and performed necrophilia on their corpses. Known as the Werewolf, he was arrested in 2012 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Second place goes to the United Kingdom, where 196 serial killers have made their home and murdered their victims. The UK has produced some of the world’s most prolific serial killers, and no one would be able to forget the nation’s first, Jack the Ripper.
But the status of the UK’s most notorious serial killer belongs to a doctor named Harold Shipman. Between 1975 and 1998, he murdered over 200 patients, mostly elderly women, by administering lethal doses of drugs. He was convicted in 2000 and later committed suicide in prison.
Probably unsurprisingly, the most number of serial killers have come from the United States, where a shocking 3,690 of them have left a trail of murder and heartbreak. The US is notorious for a plethora of infamously diabolical serial killers, but which one is the worst?
Ted Bundy is the most notorious serial killer in American history. His total victim count has been estimated to be as low as 36 and as high as 100.
Sources: (World Population Review) (Radford University) (Britannica)
See also: The most mysterious murders of all time
Countries with the highest number of documented serial killers
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Indeed, some countries around the world have earned a chilling reputation for experiencing some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. And they're not just one-off crimes: quite a lot of serial killers have managed to increase the homicide rate in these nations and cause chaos amongst the general public. By definition, a serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, on separate occasions, unlike a mass murderer, who kills multiple people at once.
So, which countries have experienced the most serial killers? Click through this gallery to find out.