Volumes have been read, films have been made and even poems have been written about the world’s most gruesome serial killers. They seem to exert a sickly sort of fascination over human imagination – probably because most of us fail to understand the reason behind taking another human’s life. In any event, in case you want to learn more about the stories of the world’s three most famous killers, read on… and prepare to be appalled.
Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy, born in 1946, executed in early 1989, probably stood a chance at greatness. He was handsome, charming and intelligent—unfortunately, he was also brutally lied to and had his heart broken. The shy child, who often made honor roll during his school years, had been born to a very young, unwed mother, whom he always believed was an older sister, while his grandparents presented themselves as his parents. The second contributing factor to Bundy’s extreme hatred of women was a failed engagement during college. Apparently Bundy was convinced his belle was the one he would marry, while the woman felt he simply wasn’t the one. Bundy went on with his life, but his heart had been broken forever. And so he ended up going on a killing spree that would spread over the course of four years and the territory of three states (Utah, Washington and Oregon). Typically, Bundy would have a drink, then lure his victim to his Volkswagen (most often by pretending he had an injured arm). Once inside, he would hit them over the head with a crowbar, leaving them dead. Kimberly Leach is the only one of his victims whose skull does not display damage from a blunt object. He would then engage in necrophilia, after which he would deposit the body at his Taylor Mountain hideout. Some bodies were beheaded with a hacksaw. Bundy would often return to the hideout, apply makeup to the women’s faces, have sex with their dead bodies or simply lie and sleep by their side, until putrefaction would force him to dispose of the remains. Bundy was eventually apprehended and insisted he represent himself during the trial. Upon sentencing him to the electric chair, the judge is said to have told Bundy, “take care of yourself, young man. I say that to you sincerely; take care of yourself, please. It is an utter tragedy for this court to see such a total waste of humanity as I’ve experienced in this courtroom.”
Andrei Chikatilo
Known as ‘The Butcher of Rostov’ and ‘The Red Ripper,’ Andrei Chikatilo is one of the most dreaded mass murderers in the history of the world. Over the span of twelve years, from 1978 until 1990, Chikatilo committed no fewer than fifty-two murders in and around the Ukrainian area of Rostov. It all started in 1978, when he moved to a small coalminers’ town called Shakhty. He there lured, raped and stabbed a nine year-old girl, while also discovering, in the process, that he could only ejaculate when stabbing someone to death. The monster went on killing regularly up until 1983 (when he went on hiatus until June). His modus operandi followed a rather clear pattern: he would approach vagrants, children (both boys and girls) or homeless women, lead them into the forest, attempt to have sex with them, fail to get an erection and then bludgeon them to death in a murderous fit of rage. He took a break until 1988, when he resumed killing and ended the year 1990 with a roster of no fewer than nine (seven little boys and two women). Ironically, another man was arrested, charged and imprisoned for his first murder, while the oppressive regime of the USSR at the time allowed him to carry on on his rampage undeterred. The media was not allowed to report on such negative occurrences as murders. He finally came to the attention of the police and was sent to jail in late 1990. He was convicted to death in 1992, amid relatives of many of his victims, who clamored wildly and asked the judges to let them kill him themselves. Then-Russian president Boris Yeltsin denied him his appeal and allowed him to be shot to death by a firing squad on Valentine’s Day, 1994.
Charles Manson
With a last name that has inspired the most famous shock-rock musician around (Marilyn Manson, of course), ‘good ole’ Charlie Manson sure has some background story to his name. Born in 1934, to a father who was never around and a mother who had been charged with armed robbery (and who had given birth to him at sixteen), Manson was not exactly destined for greatness from the outset, to say the least. He was raised by his aunt and uncle, who, however, don’t seem to have been doing such a great job at parenting. By the age nine, Charles was sent to a reformatory school, while, by the time he reached twenty-six, he had already been charged with pimping, rape, theft, drug charges—to name but a few. His main asset was his charisma, as well as the fact that he seemed to be the ‘right’ man at the right time. Against the drug-suffused backdrop of the liberated, swinging and hippie 1960s, Manson managed to start his own cult, known by the name of the Charles Manson Family. He was in his mid thirties, greatly charming and also very skilled at gathering troubled young women around him. He engaged in sexual orgies with them, loved the Beatles and was convinced that the Fab Four were out to let the world know that a second Armageddon was coming, through their music. Manson and his family members are best known for the gruesome murder of director Roman Polanski’s then-wife, actress Sharon Tate, which took place in 1969. Tate was pregnant at the time, and in spite of her pleas to be allowed to live long enough to have her baby, Manson and his accomplices hung her and stabbed her sixteen times, then left (not before writing “pig”) on the door to the house. The very next night, together with some Family members, Manson murdered local supermarket owner Leno LaBianca and wife Rosemary. He then proceeded to kill his very own ‘family,’ prior to his incarceration. Manson is still alive today, imprisoned at the Corcoran State Prison in California.
