On December 23, 1981, Thomas Sophonow, a Canadian man, was wrongfully accused of murder. 16 year old Barbara Stoppel was ruthlessly killed at the washroom of her workplace. Unfortunately, eyewitnesses mistakenly chose Mr. Sophonow as being the murderer. Eye witnesses stated that a man, whose appearance was very similar to that of Thomas Sophonow, locked the door and made his way to the back of the shop where he was presumed to have strangled Barbara Stoppel to death. Furthermore, while Thomas Sophonow was in custody, he showed an undercover officer a door locking technique.
On a cool day in Salt Lake City Utah, Gary "Green River Killer" Ridgway was born. July 7th 1982 was a day that would start the change of history in forensic science, this was the day waitress Amina Agisheff would leave for work and never be found alive again. This event started a killing spree that stretched potentially 19 grueling years. The very next day Ridgway kills Wendy Coffield a runaway teen. About one month later Debra Estes reported a man in a blue and white pickup truck who offered the girl a lift but then brandished a pistol and forced her to pleasure him sexually.
October 2nd, 2002 was the start of a long and horrific three weeks in the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. People were terrified to be in the area and everyone was on edge. What appeared to be random killings, turned out to be a well-organized series of senseless shootings that took the lives of ten innocent people. After days of people being scared to death and much confusion, investigators discovered that there were two suspects in the shootings; John Allen Muhammad and his teenage partner Lee Boyd Malvo and they were in a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan designed to terrorize people. This break in the case came when one of the suspects called the tip hotline and told them to look into a murder in Alabama, which lead to the case being
On January 29, 1991, a vile crime occurred in the Heikkila home in Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Twenty-year-old Matthew Heikkila, the adopted son of Richard and Dawn Heikkila loaded up a “sawed-off 20-gauge shotgun” (Sullivan). He labeled shotgun shells “Mom” and “Dad”, and shot his parents both in the head. Matthew plotted the murder to get the chance to steal his parent’s credit cards, and treat his girlfriend to a birthday dinner. Matthew then left his parent’s dead bodies on the floor of his home and he and his girlfriend enjoyed a night in NYC.
In order to know more about two serial killers, Alieen Carol Wuornos and Daniel Harold Rolling, I do some researches and concludes them in the next few paragraphs. Daniel Harold Rolling, “The Gainesville Ripper” that born in May 26, 1954, killed eight people through 1989 to 1990 by using his knife. When he was young, his father, a policeman, always abused his mother, his brother, and him. Although his mother tried to leave his father several times, his mother still returned. After few years, he attempted to kill his father when they got an argument.
Throughout the year of 1974 to 1975 an African American male suspected to be between the years of 19 to 22 years, tall, slim and between 5’10’’ and 6 feet. In bloody year, the African American male scouts the San Francisco area looking for gay males. It is believed that his MO was homosexuals, he then doodles his victims (this it is how he got his name The Doodler or The Black Doodler) that he is interested in and stalks, harass and even rapes his victims before he kill them. Investigators noticed that all of the victims that were murdered all had stabbed wounds. Through just one year, the African American male killed over 14 men and assaulted 3.
On November 15, 1959, Perry Smith and Richard Hickcock both, broke into the Clutter’s home hoping to find a safe. Unfortunately, there was no safe and Richard who was the mastermind behind this massacre felt best to murder the witnesses so they wouldn’t go to the police the next day. Richard Hickcock and his companion
July 31st Stacy Moskowitz and Robert Violante were shot while in Violante’s car near a park. Moskowitz died of injuries in the hospital and Violante survived. Moskowitz did not have long or dark hair so it was unlike any other victims Berkowitz has attacked. Several witnesses were able to give information on the suspect, one person said it looked like he had a wig on which would explain the different descriptions from past witnesses.
Imagine that you are taking a brief walk at night with your dog or by yourself and suddenly feel suffocated. The next thing you know, you have become the next victim of a gruesome sexual attack. However, you could never tell your tale because, at the lowest point of this heinous ordeal, you realize that your rapist will now turn into your murderer. This is the case of the Hillside Strangler, a story of two cousins, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, and the brutal crimes they were charged with.
In the BTK case, Rader killed many people throughout the years without being caught because of the scientific capabilities in the U.S. as the years went by, the technical field became more and more progressive when it came DNA and profiling victims and even criminals. The fact the Rader was so sure he wasn’t going to get caught any time soon, led to him sending out a digital disk and even a letter written with his own hand writing was incredible. It’s as if he wanted to get caught and gave investigators and law enforcement every opportunity but the capabilities just didn’t allow it at that time. Rader’s daughter’s DNA somehow got obtain by the hands of law enforcement years later and led to investigators being able to link her to her
A serial killer is defined as “an individual who kills more than three people in succession without a cooling off period”. From the beginning of recorded history to the present day, humankind has seen its share of serial killers from Giles De Rais to Jack the Ripper, murder is not a new concept. However in 2006 a new name was added to the ongoing list of serial killers, Robert Pickton, aged 58, plead not guilty to 27 charges of first degree murder. During the course of his trial, a lengthy delay, an error in the charge and an appeal to Supreme Court of Canada are elements which make the Pickton case an unprecedented case in Canadian history.
Jeffrey Dahmer was a notorious serial killer who liked to pick up men in bars telling them he was a photographer and he wanted to take their picture. Once at his place he would offer alcohol and drug them so they could not get away. Dahmer was a sadistic sexual serial killer who liked to have control over his victims even after they were dead. Dahmer who would dismember his victims’ bodies often saving their skulls or other body parts also practiced necrophilia and cannibalism.
The Golden State Killer, also known as The East Area Rapist, The Original Night Stalker, and to some The Diamond Knot Killer, was one of the most prolific criminal killers in all California history. He raped 50+ people, burglarized hundreds of homes, and brutally murdered, at the bare minimum, 12 people. His victims ranged from the ages of 12 to 41. His span of remorseless murders, sexual assaults, and burglaries lasted from February 2, 1978 - May 4, 1986. Even after more than 40 years, the serial rapist and serial murderer still remains unidentified.
The first murder involved a 17-year-old male and his 16-year-old girlfriend who were shot dead near their car at a secluded location on Lake Herman port. The police could not establish the motive of these initial killings or a suspect to the murders. The second incident involved the shootings of a woman aged 22 and her boyfriend who was aged 19 who were sitting in a car that was parked in a remote location similar to the first incident. A man with a flashlight who fired several shots at them attacked the two killing the man and seriously wounding the woman. After the shooting, a man called the police, gave the location of the crime, and claimed responsibility for the attack and the previous attack.
As I was watching the interview, I was astonished. I expected Joel Rifkin to be the typical Hollywood serial killer: a deranged man set on revenge, as a result of being abused and neglected, and now was in chains behind glass with armed guards aiming their weapons at his head. Instead, I saw a stoic person who wasn’t behind glass or had a gun to his head. He just sat there and answered questions like a normal person. He wasn’t angry or remorseful.
