Béla Kiss
Hungarian serial killer, born in 1877. He is thought to have murdered at least 24 young women and attempted to pickle them in giant metal drums that he kept on his property.
Kiss was defrauding the women who had been looking for marriage. He had placed ads in the marriage columns of several newspapers and had selected mainly women who had no relatives living nearby and knew no one who would quickly notice their disappearance. He wooed them and convinced them to send him money. If they proved troublesome for him, he killed them.
He left his house in 1916 to fight in World War I. In July 1916, Budapest police received a call from a Cinkota landlord who had found seven large metal drums. The town constable had remembered Kiss’ stockpile of gasoline, and led needy soldiers to them. Upon attempting to open the drums, a suspicious odour was noted. Detective Chief Charles Nagy took over the investigation and opened one of the drums. There they discovered the body of a strangled woman. The other drums yielded similarly gruesome content. A search of Kiss’ house resulted in a total of 24 bodies.
Kiss was never found or arrested. He managed to escape police many times, using fake names and faking his death. The most famous reported sighting of Kiss was in 1932, when homicide detective Henry Oswald was certain he had seen Kiss coming out of Times Square Subway in New York City. There were also rumors that Kiss was living in the city and working as a janitor but they could not be verified.
Kiss’ eventual fate remains unknown.
Posts tagged Serial Killer
Gilles de Rais is considered to be the precursor to the modern serial killer. He was accused and ultimately convicted of torturing, raping and murdering dozens, if not hundreds, of young children, mainly boys.
According to surviving accounts, Rais lured children, mainly young boys who were blond haired and blue eyed (as he had been as a child), to his residences, and raped, tortured and mutilated them, often ejaculating, perhaps via masturbation, over the dying victim. He and his accomplices would then set up the severed heads of the children in order to judge which was the most fair. The precise number of Rais’s victims is not known, as most of the bodies were burned or buried. The number of murders is generally placed between 80 and 200; a few have conjectured numbers upwards of 600. The victims ranged in age from six to eighteen and included both sexes. Although Rais preferred boys, he would make do with young girls if circumstances required.
It has been testified Gilles de Rais hung his victims with ropes from a hook to prevent the child from crying out, then masturbated upon the child’s belly or thighs. Taking the victim down, Rais comforted the child and assured him he only wanted to play with him. The victims were killed by decapitation, cutting of their throats, dismemberment, or breaking of their necks with a stick. A short, thick, double-edged sword called a ‘braquemard’ was kept at hand for the murders.
Amelia Dyer was a “baby farm” murderer in Victorian England who was responsible for possibly over 400 deaths over a period of over 20 years, yet was tried and hung for one.
Ameilia trained as a nurse, which helped her to acquire useful skills, and she found an easy way to make a living; by using her own home to provide living accommodation for young women who had illegitimately conceived and then farming off the babies for adoption or allowing them to die through malnutrition and neglect. Unmarried mothers in Victorian England struggled to find a source of income due to the law and society where single parenthood and illegitimacy were stigmatized. As a result, “baby farming” was established, where individuals acted as ‘adoption or fostering parents”, in exchange for money. Many of these businesses took in young women and cared for them until they gave birth, where the mothers then left their child behind to be nursed.
Carers who could not afford to look after children resulted to starving the farmed out babies, and noisy or demanding babies were sedated with alcohol which was easily available at the time. Many children died as a result of these practices. Death from severe malnutrition would result, but the coroner was likely to record the death as “‘debility from birth,’ or ‘lack of breast milk,’ or simply ‘starvation.’” Mothers who chose to reclaim or simply check on the welfare of their children could often encounter difficulties, but some would simply be too frightened or ashamed to tell the police about any suspected wrongdoing. Even the authorities often had problems tracing any children that were reported missing.
Keen to make money from baby farming, Amelia would take in expectant females as well as advertising to nurse and adopt babies, in return for substantial amounts of money and clothing. Soon after receiving the children, she then murdered them through neglect and starvation, pocketing the entire fee. For a long period of time she managed to escape the interest of police and the newly founded “NSPCC”, however she was eventually caught when a doctor became suspicious of the amount of child deaths in Dyer’s care. In 1890, Dyer cared for the illegitimate baby of a governess. When she returned to visit the child, the governess was immediately suspicious and stripped the baby to see if a birthmark was present on one of its hips. It wasn’t, and prolonged suspicions by the authorities led to Dyer having, or feigning, a breakdown. Dyer at one point drank two bottles of laudanum in a serious suicide attempt, but her long-term abuse had built up her tolerance to opium products, so she survived.
In January 1896, Evelina Marmon, a barmaid gave birth to an illegitimate daughter, Doris, and gave it to Dyer for adoption, intending to go back to work and eventually reclaiming her child. Marmon intended to go back to work and hoped to eventually reclaim her child. Ameila took the child to London where her daughter was staying, found some white edging tape used in dress-amaking and wound it twice around the babies neck and tied a knot. Death would not have been immediate and as Amelia later stated, she “used to like to watch them.” With help, she wrapped the body in a napkin. The following day, she received another child and with no spare white edging tape available, she removed the corpse of Doris and used the tape around her neck to strangle the 13 month old boy.
On April 2, both bodies were stacked into a carpet bag, along with bricks for added weight. Dyer then headed for Reading. At a secluded spot she knew well near a weir at Caversham Lock, she forced the carpet bag through railings into the River Thames.
Joachim Georg Kroll (17 April 1933 - 1 July 1991) was a German serial killer and cannibal. He was known as the Ruhr Cannibal, Ruhr Hunter and the Duisburg Man-Eater. He was convicted of eight murders but confessed to a total of 13.
List of victims
(Source: wikipedia.com)
In 1932, Dr. Louis LaLaurie and his wife Delphine moved into their lavishly decorated three-story mansion in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Delphine quickly became one of the most influential Creole women in the city known for her wealth, beauty, intelligence and style.
The LaLaurie house was attended to by dozens of slaves. Delphine was brutally cruel to them. The neighbors were the first to notice the strange activity amongst the slaves. They came and went frequently and many would disappear, never to be seen again.
Then, one day a neighbor was climbing her own stairs when a scream rung out. She looked up and saw Delphine on the roof of the LaLaurie mansion chasing a servant girl with a whip. The girl was chased to the edge where she jumped to her death into the courtyard below.
Stories of Madame LaLaurie’s cruelty began to spread. The LaLauries’ status plummeted.
In 1834, the household cook (who was reportedly kept chained to the stove) set fire to the house, reportedly because she could no longer endure Delphine’s cruelty.
After the fire was put out, a terrible discovery was made. Behind a secret door in the attic, firefighters found more than a dozen slaves, both male and female, in a horrible state. Some were chained to operating tables and others were caged like dogs. Body parts and organs were scattered about and kept in buckets and grisly souvenirs were stacked on shelves next to a collection of whips and paddles. Mouths had been sewed shut and hands had been sewn to various parts of the body.
The men had endured even further torture: their fingernails had been ripped away, their eyes poked out and their genitals sliced away. One man had a hole drilled in his skull out of which a stick protruded - it had been used to “stir” his brains.
Many had been dead for some time, but others still lived and begged the firefighters to kill them and put them out of their misery. Of the ones who lived were a woman whose legs and arms had been removed and another woman whose limbs had been broken before she was stuffed into a small cage so that her arms and leg bones set at odd angles.
The LaLauries fled from their home and were never seen again. However, her victims are said to still walk the grounds. Their cries are heard and many have reported seeing the apparitions of slaves and even Madame LaLaurie.
(Source: lalaurie.denisesdreams.com)
Also known as the Vampire of Hanover or The butcher of Hanover, Fritz Haarmann is believed to be responsible for at least 27 murders, and was convicted of 24. Although his criminal career began in 1898 (for molesting children) and later came to include assault, petty theft and burglary, his first known murder did not take place until September of 1918.
From September of 1898 to June of 1924, he would go on to rape, murder and butcher at least 27 youths (spanning from ages 10 to 22). He killed many of his victims by biting through their throats. He sold personal belongings acquired from his victims, and reportedly sold their flesh on the black market, although this may just be a rumor. Haarmann is considered one of Germany’s most prolific killers, both for the number of victims and the extremely grisly nature of his crimes. He was charged with 27 murders, convicted of 24 and guillotined, on April 15, 1925. His last words were: “I repent, but I do not fear death.”
His head was preserved in a jar by scientists so they could study his brain, and is now at Gottingen medical school.
Robert C. Hansen killed approximately 15 women in Alaska during the late 1970’s and 1980’s. His young victims were prostitutes and/or exotic dancers.
When he was caught in 1983, police only knew about 3 murders and 1 attempted murder. After initially denying any knowledge of the killings, Hansen made a deal with investigators. As part of his deal, Hansen revealed the grave sites of 12 unknown women. With this information, police were able to recover 7 additional bodies.
Hansen’s one surviving victim told investigators investigators, she had been approached on the street and offered $200 for oral sex. She agreed, but midway through the act the man locked a handcuff around her wrist and pulled out a gun. He told her if she cooperated he would not kill her. He then drove to his house in Muldoon, an upper class area not far from town. Once inside, the man brutally raped her, bit her nipples, and at one point shoved a hammer into her vagina. After a brief rest, the man said that he was going to fly her to his cabin in the mountains and told her he would let her go if she cooperated. Upon their arrival at the airport, her kidnapper shoved her inside a small plane and began loading supplies. The young prostitute knew she was in serious trouble and that the man would probably kill her once they got to his cabin. Waiting until his back was turned, she shoved open the door and ran for her life.
During his confession, Hansen told police that after he got a victim under his control, he would normally take her to his plane and fly them out to his remote cabin. He would brutally rape and torture the women. Afterwards, he would strip them naked, sometimes going so far as blindfolding them, and set them free in the woods. Hansen would give his victim a brief head start and then hunt them down with a hunting knife or a high-powered rifle. In describing his hunts to investigators, Hansen said that it was like “going after a trophy Dall sheep or a grizzly bear.”
In 1988, Hansen was returned to Alaska and became one of the first inmates in the new Spring Creek Correctional Center in Seward, where he remains today.
(Source: trutv.com)
![“Brian Howe had no mother, so he wont be missed.” - Mary Bell
At age 10, Mary Bell killed Brian Howe, a 3-year-old boy. Brian was found covered with grass and purple weeds. He had been strangled. Nearby, a pair of broken scissors lay in the grass. There were puncture marks on his thighs, and his genitals had been partially skinned. Clumps of his hair were cut away. The wounds were bizarre: “There was a terrible playfulness about it, a terrible gentleness if you like, and somehow the playfulness of it made it more, rather than less, terrifying,” said Inspector James Dobson. Brians belly had been signed “M” with a razor blade.
Brian Howe was buried on August 7th. Detective Dobson was there: “Mary Bell was standing in front of the Howes house when the coffin was brought out. I was, of course, watching her. And it was when I saw her there that I knew I did not dare risk another day. She stood there, laughing. Laughing and rubbing her hands. I thought, My God, Ive got to bring her in, shell do another one.”
However, Brian Howe was not Mary’s first victim. Earlier that year, on May 25th, Martin Brown was last seen at approximately 3:15 pm, and was discovered at 3:30, lying on the floor of a boarded-up house with blood and saliva trickling down the side of his cheek and chin. Strangely, the police could not find any signs of violence. A bottle of aspirin was nearby — perhaps he ate them all. There were no visible strangulation marks or any other marks on the child, and therefore the authorities initially believed his death was accidental.
Meanwhile, the true menace of Scotswood, Mary and her friend Norma, were giving Martins aunt the creeps with their prying questions. “They kept asking me, Do you miss Martin? and Do you cry for him? and Does June [Martin’s mother] miss him? and they were always grinning. In the end I could stand it no more and told them to get out and not to come back.”
Eventually, Mary Bell was convicted for her crimes, but only served 12 years in prison. She was released at age 23 with a new identity. She is now in her 50’s and has a daughter and a grandchild. She resides in England.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lez6g1oylr1qg4igfo1_250.jpg)
“Brian Howe had no mother, so he wont be missed.” - Mary Bell
At age 10, Mary Bell killed Brian Howe, a 3-year-old boy. Brian was found covered with grass and purple weeds. He had been strangled. Nearby, a pair of broken scissors lay in the grass. There were puncture marks on his thighs, and his genitals had been partially skinned. Clumps of his hair were cut away. The wounds were bizarre: “There was a terrible playfulness about it, a terrible gentleness if you like, and somehow the playfulness of it made it more, rather than less, terrifying,” said Inspector James Dobson. Brians belly had been signed “M” with a razor blade.
Brian Howe was buried on August 7th. Detective Dobson was there: “Mary Bell was standing in front of the Howes house when the coffin was brought out. I was, of course, watching her. And it was when I saw her there that I knew I did not dare risk another day. She stood there, laughing. Laughing and rubbing her hands. I thought, My God, Ive got to bring her in, shell do another one.”
However, Brian Howe was not Mary’s first victim. Earlier that year, on May 25th, Martin Brown was last seen at approximately 3:15 pm, and was discovered at 3:30, lying on the floor of a boarded-up house with blood and saliva trickling down the side of his cheek and chin. Strangely, the police could not find any signs of violence. A bottle of aspirin was nearby — perhaps he ate them all. There were no visible strangulation marks or any other marks on the child, and therefore the authorities initially believed his death was accidental.
Meanwhile, the true menace of Scotswood, Mary and her friend Norma, were giving Martins aunt the creeps with their prying questions. “They kept asking me, Do you miss Martin? and Do you cry for him? and Does June [Martin’s mother] miss him? and they were always grinning. In the end I could stand it no more and told them to get out and not to come back.”
Eventually, Mary Bell was convicted for her crimes, but only served 12 years in prison. She was released at age 23 with a new identity. She is now in her 50’s and has a daughter and a grandchild. She resides in England.
(Source: trutv.com)
Three terrible murders took place between the months of June, 1945, and January, 1946, to startle not only Chicago, but the rest of the country as well.
On June 5, 1945, Josephine Alice Ross was the first victim. Finding the apartment aclutter drawers pulled out, chairs knocked over, newspapers unfurled across the floor Jacqueline Ross hurried to her mother’s bedroom where she found a horrendous sight. Josephine was sprawled across her bed, her throat gashed by multiple stabbings, her head wrapped in a dress; blood had spewed across the room onto the walls, the drapes, the furniture, and it soaked the mattress. In the adjoining bathroom, several articles of the woman’s clothing and undergarments lay in a pool of bloody water in the tub. Only change money was missing from the premises.
The killer’s second victim was Frances Brown. Her nude body was discovered the morning of December 11, 1945 by Martha Engels, the housemaid. Curious as to why the tenant’s radio was playing so uncharacteristically loud at 9 a.m., and why her door was ajar, Engels peeked into Room 611 to find Brown’s bed splattered with blood and a trail of it leading to the bathroom. There, she found the tenant stretched over the bathtub, her head wrapped in her pyjamas, a butcher knife rammed into her neck and a bullet hole in her skull.
Starkly written on the living room wall, in letters of lipstick, were the words: For heavens sake catch me before I kill more. I cannot control myself.
The third victim, Rosy-cheeked, tow-headed six-year-old Suzanne Degnan went to bed Sunday evening, January 6, 1946 and taken from her bed while her family slept.
As police searched for the missing child, an anonymous call suggested they check surrounding sewers. That evening, January 7, detectives did just that. Noticing that a sewer cover on nearby Winthrop Avenue looked misplaced, they shone their flashlight into the well and found what looked like the head of a golden-haired doll. But, it was no doll’s head. An alarm went out. Before the evening ended, the rest of Suzanne Degnan her legs and torso were found scattered in the debris of adjacent sewers. (Her arms were found several weeks later.) A basement washtub below an apartment off Winthrop Avenue proved to be the place of dismemberment. Blood, pieces of human flesh and blonde hairs were found in its drain.
(Source: truetv.com)
