Article BY Shells Walter - Art by Joaquin Montalvan

A list of films based on real life serial killers, murderers & famous murder cases. I've mostly left off films about real life gangsters, terrorist groups & assassinations. Text summary under wikipedia link will obviously contain spoilers in many cases. Dec 2017 - IMDb seem to have allowed links to outside sites again now. Last week we talked about the most prolific serial killers in United States history but there were a few prolific serial killers left off the list. The reason for that was simple – as terrifying as it is, the serial killers left off the list were left off because their identities are still unknown.

Long Island Killer. Area: Long Island, New York; Murders: 10 to 17; Years Active: 1996 to Unknown; Long Island is not exactly known for its serial killers and it’s far from a crime riddled region. You won’t find many notorious serial killers here, but there is a major unsolved serial murder case that has hung over this area for many years. List of Famous Serial Killers. Serial killers plague information portals with their brutish, lethal, and alarming methods of harming others. While their acts are as horrid as they sound, it doesn't fail to fascinate and grip audiences, whilst reading in detail about these gruesome killings. That is our complete list of infamous serial killers and the most notorious serial killers. We thought about creating a top 100 serial killers list or narrowing the list down to the top ten serial killers, but neither were satisfying to us. We hope you enjoy this full list sorted alphabetically.

The 1800’s brought about some of the most extreme serial killers known. Names, such as Jack the Ripper, Dr. Thomas Neil Cream, were just a few of the murderers we look back on in History. The murders these killers committed were not only grotesque at times, but also more ‘motive’ orientated; sometimes even more cunning.

Poisoning was a popular way of killing. A lot of serial killers in the 1800’s took advantage of light regulations or none at all; such as the regulations on Arsenic.

Another thing that came about in the 1800’s was certain advances in Forensic Science. These advances proved troubling for serial killers of the era. It meant proving certain crimes such as poisoning, became easier. Some of these new advances in Forensic Science included:

The first use of photography in identification of a crime scene, evidence and criminals.

The first use of fingerprints in solving a crime.

The first use of arsenic detection in a jury trial. (James Marsh in 1930 developed a method for arsenic dectection and was the first one to use it in a trial basis.)

Bullet comparison to catch a murderer.

Though these new developments occurred and made things somewhat tricky for serial killers in this time, it didn’t stop them. There are well known serial killers such as Jack the Ripper, and others who killed and were never discovered. Serial killers were also not limited to one country. The killings occurred through out Europe, The United States and in other countries such as Canada.

The killings by these murderers brought shock and anger; sometimes even a mystery to the present day that is still questioned by experts and interested parties a like. The list of serial killers in the 1800’s are from any age group and from any gender as woman often killed too, poison often being their weapon of choice.

The list below is some of the recorded history and research of serial killers in that time period. Due to information that was not kept properly, or crimes not solved, some killers were never discovered and will always remain hidden to us.

Serial Killers of the 1800’s

Austin Axe Murderer

1854-1885
United States

There were at least 7 women who were murdered, most were servants. The murderer would drag the victims from whatever room they were in and proceed to rape them before slashing them to death. There were several of these victims who ended up being stabbed or even spiked in the ears or face. The first victim, Mollie Smith was in 1884. The last two victims were Eula Phillips and Sue Hancock in 1885. The murders were devastating and shocking. There was no one who was convicted of the crimes.

Patty Cannon

United States

She was part of a gang that kidnapped slaves and those who were not to sell, transport them to plantation owners. Thought to have murdered at least 25 victims, many slave traded. Bodies were found on the farm that was owned by Cannon in Delaware by the tenant farmer. The bodies included an infant female, an adult male, a male child and a boy. She was indicted for the four murders in 1829. Cannon died in her cell on May 11th, 1829. Authorities at the time suspected suicide.

Mary Ann Cotton

Approx.1865-1872
United Kingdom

Cotton killed those who were in her care. It is estimated that she had killed between 15-20 victims. Her choice of murder was poison. Cotton would extract arsenic from rat poison as the sale of it was not controlled at the time and give it to people in her care or that she wanted dead. Mary would move about in different areas marrying as she did so her name would change. The deaths were said to be contributed to gastric fever until traces of arsenic were found. She was finally caught trying to unload one of her victims into a warehouse. Arrested on July 18th, 1872 and was hung on March 24th, 1873.

Dr. Thomas Neil Cream

1880-1892
The United States and United Kingdom

It is said he has poisoned at least 7 women; the first being his wife Flora. However, with Flora it wasn’t discovered until later where traces of poison were found in her system. It was assumed she had died of consumption in 1877.

Cream had traveled away from Canada to England where he pursued his studies in medicine. A few years after, he returned to Canada where he went into being an
abortionist..

In May 1879, patient Kate Gardener was found dead behind a woodshed smelling of chloroform. She was pregnant at the time of her death. It was later discovered the chloroform was administered by force.

In August 1879 Cream went to Chicago. Another patient, Eleen Stack he gave anti-pregnancy pills that he designed. These pills were laced with strychnine. She died soon afterwards.

Julia Slott had an affair with Cream that would later lead to his capture. After the killing of her husband by poison in the pills, Slott would later turn state’s evidence to convict Cream in 1881. However, Cream was released in July of 1891 and went back to England.

Back in England he posed as a doctor and chose the name Thomas Neil. He poisoned at least two more women while there. He was finally caught again. Cream would not be released this time, but hung on Nov 16th, 1892.

Sarah Dazely

In March 1843, authorities charged Sara Dazely with murder. She had 3 husbands before who had died suspiciously. It was thought that she killed her husband just so she could marry again. Dazely was suspected of poisoning her past husbands as two of her previous husbands’ examination showed lethal doses of arsenic.

On August 5th, 1843 she was hanged after the conviction of two murders. The other corpses of the husbands were too decomposed to test for anything.

Frederick Deeming

1891-1892
Australia

Deeming was noted as having more than one family and disposing of the victims he murdered.

On March 3, 1892, police caught a smell coming from a house numbered 57 Andrew Street. What happened next started the process of catching Deeming. They unearthed the body of a young woman whose throat had been slashed, Emily Williams. It was estimated she had been dead for at least 3 months. The police also found children embedded in the cement laying at the woman’s feet.

Emily Mather was thought to be his wife after the murder of Emily Williams and the children. He took her to Australia where he married her and eventually murdered her.

He was caught on March 1892 in Perth, Australia. On May 23rd 1892 he was hung.

Amelia Dyer

Beginning unknown to 1896
United Kingdom

Amelia Dyer was thought to be trained as a nurse. The money she made was due to baby farming. She would advertise to adopt a baby or nurse a baby for one time payment and clothing. Dyer would then let them starve. If they did not go quickly, she would murder them and collect the fee.

In 1879, she was caught under suspicions of a doctor investigating the sudden deaths of children under her care. She was convicted and served hard labor for the crimes. Upon release she went back to her nursing duties and fell back and forth into mental ho

New York Serial Killers List