A Disturbing Pattern
History has produced some truly terrifying criminals, but there's something especially disturbing about the ones who predominantly targeted women. The craziest thing about these stories isn’t necessarily just the predatory nature, either—what makes them even more unsettling is how often the perpetrators managed to escape suspicion, sometimes for years, despite leaving behind multiple victims. From eighteenth-century Russia to Victorian London, these 20 murderers became infamous for crimes against women.
1. Darya Saltykova
Don’t assume that every criminal is in a Netflix documentary. Some stretch as far back as 18th-century Russia, where wealthy noblewoman Darya Saltykova became notorious for torturing and murdering female serfs on her estate outside Moscow. An investigation found her responsible for 38 murders, although accusations involved many more. She got hit with a life sentence in 1768 and spent the rest of her life behind bars, dying in 1801.
2. Martin Dumollard
French laborer Martin Dumollard spent the 1850s convincing young women around Lyon that he could secure them well-paying jobs as domestic servants. However, instead of delivering them to wealthy employers, he led them into isolated countryside, where he attacked them and murdered at least three of them. It took one survivor, Marie Pichon, to expose him in 1861, after which he was executed in 1862. His wife, Marie-Anne Martinet, also got a prison sentence for her involvement.
3. Edward William Pritchard
Scottish physician Edward William Pritchard had an impressive professional reputation, but don’t let that fool you. In 1865, he poisoned his wife, Mary, and her mother, Jane Taylor. He was apparently hoping to benefit financially from their deaths, but once investigators uncovered his crimes, Pritchard was executed in 1865. He was the last person publicly hanged in Glasgow, too.
Cramb Brothers (James and John). 67 West Nile Street, Glasgow. on Wikimedia
4. Albert Pel
French watchmaker Albert Pel garnered more than enough suspicion in 1884, particularly from neighbors who complained about a terrible stench coming from his workshop. It didn’t take long for investigators to get involved, connecting him to disappearances and suspicious deaths of other women associated with him. The full extent of his alleged crimes was never proven, but he still died behind bars in 1924.
5. Henri Pranzini
In 1887, three women’s lives were taken inside a Paris apartment: Claudine-Marie Regnault, a woman acquainted with Henri Pranzini, her maid, Annette Grémeret, and Annette's young daughter, Marie-Louise. Pranzini worked as an interpreter and built relationships with wealthy women, but after this, he was convicted and executed that August.
6. Jack the Ripper
If you know anything about true crime, you know about this 1888 murderer. In case you don’t, though, an unidentified man began attacking women living in London's impoverished Whitechapel district. Five women are generally recognized as his victims: Mary Ann Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly, all killed within a few short months. But despite numerous suspects and more than a century of investigations, nobody has conclusively established who did it.
R. Taylor (R. & E. Taylor (Firm)) on Wikimedia
7. The Thames Torso Murderer
While Jack the Ripper terrorized London's East End, another disturbing series happened around the River Thames between 1887 and 1889. Investigators discovered several victims, including the woman associated with the notorious Whitehall Mystery and Elizabeth Jackson, whose remains were identified in 1889. Police never found a perpetrator, and historians still squabble over whether the misdeeds were done by one person or several.
8. Franz Schneider
Vienna went through its own nightmare in 1891 when Franz Schneider and his wife, Rosalie, started luring women into isolated areas under false pretenses. Their victims were generally young women just looking for a job, met instead by the couple’s horrors. Both were convicted; Franz was executed in 1892, and Rosalie got a lengthy prison sentence.
9. George Chapman
George Chapman, born Seweryn Kłosowski in Poland, operated public houses around London while cozying up to several women as he established himself. Between 1897 and 1902, three of his partners, Mary Spink, Elizabeth Taylor, and Maud Marsh, died after receiving repeated doses of antimony. Investigators eventually connected their deaths, leading to Chapman's conviction and execution in 1903.
10. Johann Otto Hoch
German-born Johann Otto Hoch became infamous in the United States for marrying women under different names—all so he could steal their savings or property. Authorities suspected him of poisoning numerous wives, but he was conclusively convicted of murdering only one, Marie Welcker, in 1905. Newspapers also theorized that he might have married dozens of women, but that was never fully verified before his execution in 1906.
11. Theodore Durrant
Medical student Theodore Durrant seemed like an everyday member of San Francisco's Emanuel Baptist Church, helping out with Sunday school activities and pitching in with his congregation. But in 1895, he claimed two young women’s lives, Blanche Lamont and Minnie Williams, whose bodies were found inside the church during preparations for Easter. His trial became a spectacle, and Durrant was hanged in 1898.
San Quentin State Prison on Wikimedia
12. George Joseph Smith
Between 1912 and 1914, three women married to English con artist George Joseph Smith died under remarkably similar circumstances: bathtub drowning. The victims, Bessie Mundy, Alice Burnham, and Margaret Lofty, all had money, too, which was the only thing he wanted. Well, investigators eventually compared the cases and noticed the similarities, resulting in Smith's conviction and execution in 1915.
13. John Reginald Christie
English serial killer John Christie murdered at least eight women in London during the 1940s and early 1950s, including his own wife, Ethel. But his crimes stretched well beyond his own victims. Poor Timothy Evans was wrongfully convicted and executed in 1950 for murdering his newborn, whose death was later attributed to Christie. When police finally caught up to the true suspect in 1953, they found multiple bodies around Christie’s property before he was arrested and hanged.
Uncredited police photographer. on Wikimedia
14. Gordon Cummins
During WWII, London's nighttime blackouts gave Gordon Cummins ample opportunity to carry out his sick fantasies. The Royal Air Force serviceman murdered four women in 1942, a terrifying series that earned him the nickname the Blackout Ripper. He was eventually arrested and executed just a few months after his spree.
Royal Air Force recruitment photograph. 1940 or 1941. on Wikimedia
15. Neville Heath
Cummins wasn’t the only one of his kind, though. Former Royal Air Force officer Neville Heath used his unassuming appearance and military background to gain the trust of women in postwar England. During the summer of 1946, he murdered Margery Gardner in London and Doreen Marshall near Bournemouth, with both cases revealing evidence of severe violence. His brief but horrifying crime spree finally ended after his 1946 execution.
Metropolitan Police on Wikimedia
16. Harvey Glatman
Long before Craigslist ads scared people away, photographer Harvey Glatman turned to the classifieds in the 1950s, offering promises of modeling work to attract young women. In 1957 and 1958, he murdered three unsuspecting women who fell for the scam. His crimes only ended when a prospective victim, Lorraine Vigil, fought back, leading to his arrest and eventual execution in 1959.
17. Charles Schmid
Charles Schmid became known as the Pied Piper of Tucson after investigators linked him to the murders of three teenage girls during 1964 and 1965. His victims were Alleen Rowe, who was 15, and sisters Gretchen and Wendy Fritz, who were just 17 and 13 when they disappeared. Schmid was convicted in 1966 and remained imprisoned until 1975, though not by old age or traditional execution—he was attacked by fellow inmates.
Press photographer. December 1965 on Wikimedia
18. Richard Speck
In 1966, Richard Speck entered a Chicago townhouse where several student nurses lived, turning an ordinary evening into one of the city's most notorious cases. He claimed eight young lives, while a ninth woman, Corazon Amurao, only made it out by hiding under a bed. Speck was convicted in 1967 and initially sentenced to death, although his sentence was later changed to imprisonment. Either way, he died in 1991.
19. Jerry Brudos
Oregon electrician Jerry Brudos murdered four young women between 1968 and 1969, quickly developing a reputation for stealing clothes from his victims. Investigators eventually uncovered evidence connecting him to the killings at his Salem-area property, and Brudos pleaded guilty to at least three murders in 1969. He spent the rest of his life in prison and died in 2006.
20. Robert Hansen
Sometimes, the scariest people are the ones who blend into society. Robert Hansen maintained the look of an ordinary 1970s Alaskan businessman, but he carried out a maniacal spree whereby he murdered ladies of the evening. Survivor Cindy Paulson was the one who helped identify him, and Hansen then confessed to a whopping 17 murders. He was slapped with a lengthy prison sentence in 1984 and died behind bars in 2014.
Alaska State Troopers on Wikimedia
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