The Chilling Legacy of Serial Killers:

The pathological compulsion that serial killers face to repeatedly extinguish lives sets them apart from other murderers. The bloodlust of a serial killer drives them to kill over and over again.

The most notorious multiple murderers in history are often known for their methods. Jack the Ripper, for example, "only" killed five women. The Zodiac Killer had the same number of victims.

Many of the world's most prolific serial killers are relatively unknown, despite having committed horrifyingly frequent killings.

Some you may have heard of, others not yet: Here are the 10 most prolific serial killers in modern history:

DR. HAROLD SHIPMAN

Confirmed victims: 218

We begin with a name that is very well-known compared to the others. 'Dr. Death,' born in Nottingham, killed over 200 patients under his care between 1975 and 1998. Most of his victims were elderly women. Harold Shipman was charged with only 15 morphine murders and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000. Four years later, he hanged himself in his prison cell.

LUIS GARAVITO

Confirmed victims: 138

Colombian Luis Garavito, also known as "La Bestia" ("The Beast"), is currently serving 1,853 years in La Tramacúa prison in the city of Valledupar. Since being incarcerated, he has confessed to killing more boys. The total number of his victims currently exceeds 300.

Garavito would bind, rape, torture, kill, and dismember his victims. Mass graves were uncovered by the police in Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela, containing his 138 young victims. All the murders were committed in just seven years (1992-1999).

PEDRO LÓPEZ

Confirmed victims: 110

Another Colombian who claims to have killed more than 300 children is Pedro López, born in Santa Isabel. He targeted young girls since 1969 and often crossed borders into neighboring countries to commit his unspeakable crimes. Initially, the police were skeptical of his confessions, but then a flash flood uncovered some of his burial sites.

What is most disturbing about the "Monster of the Andes" is the fact that he was arrested in 1980 but released in 1998 – he immediately fled. The current whereabouts of the serial killer are unknown.

JAVED IQBAL

Confirmed victims: 100

This Pakistani serial killer targeted homeless children. During his terrifying reign of terror in the late 1990s, he killed 100 innocent people on the streets of Lahore.

Iqbal would strangle his victims, dismember their bodies, and dissolve them in barrels of hydrochloric acid. The judge who pronounced the verdict wished for him a fate similar to what he inflicted on his victims: "You should be strangled to death in front of the parents whose children you killed. Your body should then be cut into 100 pieces and put in acid." However, Iqbal died in prison before this fate could befall him.

MIKHAIL POPKOV

Confirmed victims: 83

Mikhail "The Werewolf" Popkov was sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2019. The serial killer and rapist operated between 1992 and 2010. He was convicted of 78 murders of young women in various Russian cities and confessed to five more killings since his incarceration.

Popkov's modus operandi involved offering women a ride (which his victims willingly accepted since he was a police officer), then sexually assaulting and attacking them with weapons such as knives, baseball bats, axes, or screwdrivers.

DANIEL CAMARGO BARBOSA

Confirmed victims: 72

Some South American criminologists claim that Colombian serial killer Daniel Camargo Barbosa is responsible for strangling over 180 girls and young women between 1974 and 1986. He was found guilty of murdering 72 people. He ended up in the same Ecuadorian prison as Pedro López and was killed by another inmate in 1994: In an almost cinematic twist, Geovanny Noguera, the nephew of one of his victims, stabbed him.

PEDRO RODRIGUES FILHO

Confirmed victims: 71

Of Pedro Rodrigues Filho's 71 victims, 47 were fellow prisoners whom he killed behind bars. The "Brazilian Dexter" was sentenced to 128 years, but due to Brazilian law limiting prison sentences to only 30 years, he was released in 2018.

KAMPATIMAR SHANKARIYA

Confirmed victims: 70

This murderer, born in Jaipur, took the lives of 70 people in his home state of Rajasthan, India, in just one year (1978-1979). He was only 26 years old at the time. His last words before his execution were, "I killed in vain. Nobody should become like me." He was sentenced to death and hanged in 1979.

YANG XINHAI

Confirmed victims: 67

As a serial killer and rapist, Yang "The Monster Killer" Xinhai is the most prolific known serial killer that the People's Republic of China has seen since its founding. Yang summed up his callousness and lack of empathy by saying the following about his killing spree: "When I killed people, I had a desire. This inspired me to kill more people. I don't care if they deserve to live or not. That's not my concern... I have no desire to be part of society. Society doesn't concern me." He was executed by a firing squad on Valentine's Day 2004.

SAMUEL LITTLE

Confirmed victims: 60

Possible total number of victims: 93

American serial killer Samuel Little is the most prolific individual murderer in U.S. history. In a country with such a extensively documented history of serial killers, that says something. It is believed that "The Choke and Stroke Killer" killed women, primarily African-American sex workers, in approximately 19 states. Little died on December 30, 2020, at the age of 80 in a hospital in Los Angeles County.

OTHER DISHONORABLE MENTIONS:

Andrei Chikatilo (The Rostov Ripper) - 53 victims

Robert Pickton (The Butcher) – 49 victims

Gary Ridgway (The Green River Killer) – 49 victims

Moses Sithole (The South African Ted Bundy) – 38 victims

Ted Bundy (The Campus Killer) – 35 victims