Infamous british serial killers

Unidentified serial killer who stabbed at least five prostitutes and mutilated four in the Whitechapel district of London. Nobody was ever brought to justice for the crimes which are still considered one of Britain's most infamous unsolved murder cases. Jack the Ripper is the best known name given to an unidentified serial killer or killers active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in The name originated in a letter written by someone claiming to be the murderer that was widely disseminated in the media.

The letter is widely believed to have been a hoax, and may have been written by journalists in an attempt to heighten interest in the story and increase their newspaper's circulation. Within the crime case files as well as contemporaneous journalistic accounts the killer was called "the Whitechapel Murderer" as well as "Leather Apron".

Attacks ascribed to Jack the Ripper typically involved female prostitutes who lived and worked in the slums of London and whose throats were cut prior to abdominal mutilations. The removal of internal organs from at least three of the victims led to proposals that their killer possessed anatomical or surgical knowledge. Rumours that the murders were connected intensified in September and October , and letters from a writer or writers purporting to be the murderer were received by media outlets and Scotland Yard.

The "From Hell" letter, received by George Lusk of the Whitechapel Vigilance Committee, included half of a preserved human kidney, purportedly taken from one of the victims. Mainly because of the extraordinarily brutal character of the murders, and because of media treatment of the events, the public came increasingly to believe in a single serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper". Extensive newspaper coverage bestowed widespread and enduring international notoriety on the Ripper, and his legend solidified.

A police investigation into a series of eleven brutal killings in Whitechapel up to was unable to connect all the killings conclusively to the murders of Five victims: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly, all murdered between 31 August and 9 November , are known as the "canonical five" and their murders are often considered the most likely to be linked.

As the murders were never solved, the legends surrounding them became a combination of genuine historical research, folklore, and pseudohistory. The term "ripperology" was coined to describe the study and analysis of the Ripper cases.

There are now over one hundred theories about the Ripper's identity, and the murders have inspired multiple works of fiction.

The Execution of Margaret Waters. Waters was born in and lived in Brixton. She was known for baby-farming, that is, taking in other women's children for money; a practice often resulting in infanticide. Waters drugged and starved the infants in her care and is believed to have killed at least 19 children.

Charged with five counts of wilful murder as well as neglect and conspiracy, Waters was convicted of murdering an infant named John Walter Cowen. Her sister, Sarah Ellis, was convicted in the same case for obtaining money under false pretences and sentenced to eighteen months' hard labour. Margaret would then pocket the difference. It was far easier to drug the babies with opiates, which suppressed their appetites leaving them to slowly starve. Margaret would then wrap their frail bodies in brown paper before dumping them on the streets - a common sight in Victorian Britain due to the high cost of burial.

Eventually, Margaret was arrested and tried for the wilful murder of John Walter Cowen, the illegitimate son of year-old Janet Tassie Cowen. Rhoda Willis, or as she was known, tried and convicted as, Leslie James, has that honour. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk. The killings took place during late and Wright was found guilty in February Between 30 October and 10 December , Wright murdered five prostitutes in Ipswich.

Forensic evidence led to his arrest on 19 December. At the time of the murders Wright was working as a forklift truck driver.

He was found guilty of all five murders on 21 February On the following day, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and the judge recommended that he should never be released. It was announced on 19 March that Wright would be appealing against his convictions.

However, on 2 February , it was announced that Wright had decided to drop this appeal case. Wright is still being investigated in connection with other unsolved murders and disappearances. Called the "Acid Bath Murderer" for dissolving his victims in sulphuric acid under the belief that he could not be prosecuted for murder if no body was found.

He would then forge papers to sell the victims possessions. Confessed nine murders, convicted of six and hanged.

He was convicted of the murders of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. He used acid not to kill his victims but in what he believed to be a foolproof method of body disposal: he would dissolve their bodies in concentrated sulphuric acid before forging papers to be able to sell their possessions and collect substantial sums of money. During the investigation, it became apparent that Haigh was using the acid to destroy victims' bodies because he misunderstood the meaning of the term corpus delicti, thinking that, if victims' bodies could not be found, a murder conviction would not be possible.

The substantial forensic evidence, notwithstanding the absence of his victims' bodies, was sufficient for him to be convicted for the murders and subsequently executed. She was tried and hanged for one murder, but there is little doubt she was responsible for many more similar deaths—possibly or more. Amelia Elizabeth Dyer was a 'baby farmer'.

Someone who, for a fee, would look after children, usually illegitimate, until a home could be found for them. Born in and raised in Bristol to respectable parents and trained as a nurse before deciding that 'adopting' illegitimate infants was a more lucrative career. In she was sentenced to six months' hard labour after being found guilty on a charge of neglect. A doctor had become suspicious of the number of infants who had died while in Mrs Dyer's care and had reported the matter to the authorities.

On her release she spent several periods in mental institutions before resuming her child-care activities. In she moved to Kensington Road, Reading and began advertising. It was not long before small bodies were being fished out of the Thames.

One of the bodies recovered had a tape around its neck and was wrapped in a parcel. The paper enclosing the corpse had an address on it and this was traced to Mrs Dyer. The tiny corpse was identified as Helena Fry. Dyer was eventually arrested on 4th April By May, seven tiny bodies had been recovered from the Thames, all had the tape around their necks and all were parcelled. Three of the bodies were identified as four-month-old Doris Marmon, thirteen-month-old Harry Simmonds and the daughter of Elizabeth Goulding.

The others were to remain unidentified. She soon confessed, saying "You'll know all mine by the tape around their necks. She came to trial at the Old Bailey in May charged with just the murder of Doris Marmon, to which she pleaded guilty.

The defence tried to prove insanity but failed, despite her dubious mental history. The jury took five minutes to find Dyer guilty and she was sentenced to death. James Billington hanged her at Newgate on 10th June Police suspected that at least 20 other children had disappeared in a similar manner in the few months before her arrest.

Irish sailor who murdered two families and their servants in London's East End by bashing their heads with a hammer and cutting their throats. Hanged himself in prison while awaiting trial. The Ratcliff Highway murders sometimes Ratcliffe Highway murders were two vicious attacks on two separate families that resulted in seven fatalities. The two attacks occurred within twelve days in December , in homes half a mile apart near Wapping in London.

A principal suspect in the murders, John Williams also known as Murphy , was a lodger at the nearby Pear Tree public house in Old Wapping. He was a year-old Scottish or Irish seaman. He had nursed a grievance against Marr from when they were shipmates, but the subsequent murders at the Kings Arms remain unexplained. Williams was arrested, but committed suicide by hanging himself, in Coldbath Fields Prison.

His corpse was dragged through the streets, in a cart, that paused by the scene of the murders. His body was pitched into a hole and was buried, with a stake through its heart, at the junction of Commercial Road and Cannon Street Road. In August , the skeleton of John Williams with a stake driven through it was discovered during the excavation of a trench by a gas company. The landlord of the Crown and Dolphin public house, at the corner of Cannon Street Road, retained the skull as a souvenir.

These British murderers have many victims to their name and have done monstrous crimes that are hard to imagine. Who are the most famous British serial killers? One of the most famous - a London serial killer - went by the name of Jack the Ripper and his identity has never been uncovered. This list features British murderers from the 20th century and years prior. If you're interested in more information on serial killers, check out the most famous American serial killers , the most notable female serial killers , and art imitating life with the greatest fictional serial killers.

Beverley Allitt, AKA the "Angel of Death," was a pediatric nurse who killed four babies and attempted to murder at least nine others. Leslie Bailey is known to have killed at least three young boys near London in the s.

Bailey was murdered by two fellow inmates at Whitemoor prison in Scottish schoolgirl killer Robert Black was convicted of four murders , and is suspected of far more killings. As the girlfriend and accomplice of Ian Brady, Myra Hindley murdered five small children. William Burke was a killer who sold the corpses of his victims in Edinburgh in the 19th century. George Chapman poisoned three women. John Christie killed at least six women including his wife between and and hid the bodies in his house.

He has been implicated in the murders of one other woman and her infant child. Christie's fellow tenant, Timothy Evans, was convicted of those crimes in Mary Ann Cotton was a Victorian killer who reportedly poisoned more than 20 victims.

Amelia Dyer murdered infants in her care. Kenneth Erskine, AKA the "Stockwell Strangler," was sentenced to life imprisonment in for murdering seven pensioners.

He was convicted of six murders , but claimed to have killed nine. He was executed in A total of 26 people perished in fires Lee set. Patrick Mackay was charged with the murders of five individuals and was convicted on three counts of murder. Scottish killer Peter Manuel was convicted on seven counts of murder; however, he was suspected of killing many more. Robert Maudsley killed four people - three of them while in prison.

He is also believed to be the "Green Chain Rapist," responisble for at least 70 brutal attacks on women in southeast London. Dennis Nilsen killed at least 12 young men between and Colin Norris was convicted of killing four patients while working as a nurse in Leeds hospitals. William Palmer, AKA "Palmer the Poisoner," was a doctor suspected of numerous murders , although he was only convicted of one.

One-half of the "Finchley baby farmers," Amelia Sach operated a "lying-in" house where unwed mothers could discreetly give birth and also give their children up for adoption. Along with her partner, Annie Walters, Sach took in and later fatally poisoned possibly dozens of orphaned babies. Annie Walters operated a "lying-in" house along with Amelia Sach where unwed mothers could give birth and give their children up for adoption.

The duo is suspected of murdering dozens of babies. Harold Shipman was a doctor convicted of 15 murders. A later inquiry stated he had killed at least and possibly many more over a year period. George Joseph Smith was the man behind the infamous "Brides in the Bath" murders. He was convicted of killing of three women while they were in the bath. John Straffen was a child killer and Britain's longest-serving prisoner until his death on November 19, Peter Sutcliffe, AKA the "Yorkshire Ripper," was convicted in of murdering 13 women and attacking seven more between and Thomas Griffiths Wainewright was an artist who is believed to have poisoned four people.

Fred West is believed to have murdered at least 12 young women between and Many of the murders were committed with his second wife Rosemary West at the couple's home in Gloucester, later dubbed the "House of Horrors. Rosemary West committed a series of murders alongside her husband Fred West at their Gloucester home, which became knows as the "House of Horrors. She was convicted on 10 counts of murder in Catherine Wilson was a nurse who is believed to have poisoned seven people in the 19th century.

Beverley Allitt. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in Beverley Gail Allitt born 4 October is an English serial child killer who was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three other children, and causing grievous bodily harm to a further six. The crimes were committed over a period of 59 days between February and April in the children's ward at Grantham and Kesteven Hospital, Lincolnshire, where Allitt was employed as a State Enrolled Nurse.

She administered large doses of insulin to at least two victims and a large air bubble was found in the body of another, but police were unable to establish how all the attacks were carried out. In May , at Nottingham Crown Court, she received thirteen life sentences Leslie Bailey.

If you're interested in more information on serial killers, check out the most famous American serial killers , the most notable female serial killers , and art imitating life with the greatest fictional serial killers.

Beverley Allitt, AKA the "Angel of Death," was a pediatric nurse who killed four babies and attempted to murder at least nine others. Leslie Bailey is known to have killed at least three young boys near London in the s. Scottish schoolgirl killer Robert Black was convicted of four murders , and is suspected of far more killings.

Beverley Allitt. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in The Suffolk Strangler was at large from October to December of the same year. This killer had the whole country on watch as he committed his mysterious murders. The Suffolk Strangler was responsible for the deaths of five prostitutes. The case baffled police, though, as none of the women had been victim to any sort of sexual assault.

They were all strangled. Quickly police had narrowed down their search to a construction worker named Steven Wright. His trial received a lot of attention, and he was sentenced to serve multiple life sentences. Mary Ann Cotton was perhaps the first woman to join the line of England serial killers responsible for the deaths of up to 21 people.

She is thought that she murdered three of her four husbands for the insurance money. Cotton may have also killed 11 of her 13 children, too. Her weapon of choice was poison. She would use arsenic to slowly poison her victims causing their health to decline rapidly until they eventually die. She was convicted of the murder of her stepson and was hanged on March 24, These serial killers England are quite possibly among the worst humans to have lived in England.

I have always wondered what makes people succumb to madness and become a serial killer. I do not think any life experience, as bad as it may seem. I know people who survived the Holocaust as young children.