Chilling True Crime Stories (eBook)

SERIAL KILLERS WHO WERE NEVER CAPTURED

There are of course a lot of serial killers who were never caught. In cases where serial killers were never caught, the most obvious suspects naturally become people who died or were incarcerated around the time the murders stopped. The Long Island Killer was the name given to a serial killer who is believed to have been active in the Long Island area for twenty years. His last victim was found in 2013. Because this killer was able (so far at least) to evade capture or identification, the police believe he might possibly have worked in law enforcement himself (something which, as we have seen in previous chapters, is far from unheard of when it comes to serial killers). The Long Island Killer is clearly very savvy and clever when it comes to not leaving any incriminating evidence in his (or her?) wake.

The Axeman of New Orleans was an American serial killer active in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1918 and 1919. There were six people killed and six injured during his bloody spree of violence. The killer was never identified and seemed to target the local Italian community. The killer used an axe or razor to kill the victims. The victims were mostly female but he killed a few men who were unfortunate enough to be in the houses he had broken into. Sexual sadism was the most likely motive as the killer never seemed to rob the victims. Because the victims were Italian-Americans some sort of Mafia link was suspected but this was never proven. The identity of the killer remains a mystery.

Zodiac was the name given to a killer who operated in California in the 60s and 70s. The killer, who was never found, claimed to have killed thirty people. The police still periodically re-open the case if fresh information comes to light. The Zodiac Killer targeted couples who were parked up in cars. He would shoot both the man and woman. This suggested that he was an outcast in society and was embittered and angered by seeing couples in love. Interestingly, Zodiac seemed to be something of a weekend killer so probably had a job. The killer began contacting newspapers in 1969 and identified himself as Zodiac. He was clearly eager to enjoy his moment in the spotlight. The killer wrote a number of letters which he said contained codes and ciphers which - if cracked - would reveal his identity. Although some of these codes have been cracked though so far they haven't actually revealed the true identity of the killer.

The Monster of Florence was a killer who murdered around sixteen people in Italy from 1968 to 1985. The killer had an MO very similar to the Zodiac Killer in America. The Monster of Florence would shoot couples who were sitting together in a car. The killer sometimes removed the sex organs of his female victims. The 1999 novel Hannibal was inspired by the Florence case. The killer was never caught by the Italian police although theories continue to abound. One such theory is that a satanic cult was behind the murders. The Thames Torso Murders was a series of unsolved murders which occurred in London from 1887 to 1889. There were four female victims in all and they were found floating in the Thames. The victims had legs and arms cut off and were often (as the name of the killer implies) just a torso. There was some mutilation of the stomachs. The police did not link these murders into the Jack the Ripper case because they felt the MO was too different.

Hammersmith in London was the scene of a number of murders in 1964 and 1965. The killer became known as Jack the Stripper because the murder victims were prostitutes. However, despite a huge police operation, the killer was never found and the murders remain a mystery. One of the more outlandish and bizarre theories (which, believe it or not, has even been the basis of a book) is that the killer was the world champion boxer turned actor Freddie Mills. The victims were nearly all in their twenties and are believed to have been killed in private before their bodies were dumped in a public place. Chief Superintendent John Du Rose was in charge of the investigation for Scotland Yard and had six-hundred police officers involved in the search for Jack the Stripper. They set up observation posts in a 24 square mile area of London and questioned thousands of potential suspects and yet - remarkably - they never found the killer.

The Texarkana Moonlight Murders featured an unknown killer who seemed to have stepped straight out of a real life horror film. 'Texarkana, a small town that straddles the state line between Texas and Arkansas, is also known as The Town That Dreaded Sundown, thanks to the 1976 horror flick of the same name,' wrote the Line-Up. 'Set in Texarkana and based loosely on a string of local slayings, the proto-slasher film came out just two years after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Black Christmas, and two years before Halloween. Yet the true story behind the Texarkana Moonlight Murders is as chilling as anything seen on the silver screen—and made all the more unsettling because the case remains unsolved nearly 70 years later. The mysterious Moonlight Murders rocked the sleepy southern town of Texarkana in 1946. Police on either side of the state line struggled to work as one while the killings themselves possessed the iconic quality of urban legend. Young couples parked at the end of a lonely country road, savaged after the sun went down.

'In fact, some claim that the infamous campfire tale of lovers who catch a report of a hook-handed killer on the car radio only to discover a bloody hook hanging from their back door can be traced to the Texarkana Moonlight Murders. The killer, described by witnesses as wearing a white mask or sack with holes cut for eyes, was dubbed the Phantom Killer or Phantom Slayer—a name that, like so much about the case, seemed ready-made for drive-in theaters. While the Phantom was on the loose, Texarkana was like a city under siege. Residents armed themselves and curfews were set for local businesses. In spite of the involvement of the Texas Rangers, no conclusive arrest was ever made in connection with the Moonlight Murders.

'Theories spread wildly about the Phantom Killer's identity. The killer's targeting of couples and lack of other identifiable motives, such as burglary or revenge, led many in the area to believe that the killer was some sort of "sex maniac". Nearly 400 people were arrested in connection with the killings. Suspects included a University of Arkansas freshman who committed suicide in 1948, an escaped German prisoner of war, and an L.A. resident who believed that he may have committed the crimes while in a coma. Many people believe that local man named Youell Swinney—arrested in 1947 for auto theft—was the Phantom. His wife confessed to as much at the time, but by law she could not testify against her husband. She later repudiated her confession. Swinney remained in prison as a habitual offender until 1973, and died in 1994, without ever implicating himself in the murders.'

The Atlanta Ripper was a killer who is believed to have killed around fifteen (and probably) more women in Atlanta in 1911 and 1912. However, this killer was never captured or identified. All the victims were young black women and the killer had a grisly habit of slashing the throats of his targets. The killer had a rather strange habit too of removing the clothes of the victim and then stacking them in a neat bundle next to the body. Emma Lou Sharp, who survived an encounter with the killer, described him as a tall dark skinned man who wore a black hat. The killer was very brutal. One victim was nearly decapitated and another had part of her skull crushed. A coupling pin from a train was used to bludgeon one victim. It is said that the Ripper cut the heart out of another victim and left it by the body.

The Belize Ripper was an unidentified Belizean serial killer responsible for the abduction, rape and murder of five girls in Belize between 1998 and 2000. No one was ever convicted of these murders. The Belize Ripper suspects included an American serial killer named Lonnie David Franklin Jr who had connections to the country. The Butcher of Mons was the name given to a Belgian serial killer who committed five murders in 1996 and 1997. The victims (all female) were expertly dismembered and left in plastic bags by an embankment. The identity of The Butcher of Mons was never established. In the seventies and eighties the remains of several boys were found in sewers in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main area of Germany. The victims were bound and many of them were rent boys or drug users (they were the usual type of vulnerable victims that serial killers target). Although they had some suspects the German police were never able to convict anyone of the sewer murders.

The Doodler was the name given to a serial killer who killed at least five men in San Francisco in 1974 and 1975. The victims, who were all gay, were usually picked up in bars. The killer got his name because he would 'doodle' a sketch of the victim as they chatted in a bar. The victims found this quite charming and it obviously lulled them into what can only be described as a false sense of security (to say the least). The killer was described as an urbane young black man but he was never arrested and to this day his true identity remains unknown. It is believed that the police actually questioned a man they suspected of being The Doodler in 1976. This man was never named in public and it seems the police simply didn't have enough evidence to charge him with anything. As a consequence, the identity of The Doodler remained an elusive mystery.

The...