Serial Killers True Crime

It’s a chilling reality that homicide investigators know all too well: The last face most murder victims see is not that of a stranger, but of someone familiar. Whether only an acquaintance or a trusted intimate, such killers share a common trait that triggers the downward spiral toward death for someone close to them: They are masters at hiding who they really are. Their clever masks let them appear safe, kind, and truthful. They are anything but - and almost no one can detect the murderous impulses buried deep in their psyches.

This book is for listeners of true crime podcasts and audiences of both fiction and true-crime nonfiction. It's the true story of first-generation Irish-American nurse Jane Toppan, born as Honora Kelley. Jane Toppan was absolutely a monster, but she did not start out that way. When Jane was a young child, her father abandoned her and her sister to the Boston Female Asylum. From there, Jane was indentured to a wealthy family who changed her name, never adopted her, and wrote her out of the will.

Chicago during the Gaslight Era was a place that embodied both the elegance of America’s Gilded Age and the vice, crime, and sin of the most corrupt city in the country. During the 1880s and early 1890s, Chicago was home to killers, thieves, gamblers, con artists, and whores–and hosted perhaps the greatest World’s Fair in our nation’s history. It was to this place that a man named H.H. Holmes was drawn like a moth to the flame, and Chicago embraced him as one of its own.

Trophy wife Celeste Beard wasn't satisfied with a luxurious lifestyle and her rich Austin media mogul husband's devotion--so she took his life! The wife: She wanted everything, but her husband stood in the way. The lesbian lover: a lovestruck, middle-aged woman with a history of mental illness. She would do anything to set Celeste free. The beauty salon receptionist: Celeste hired her to tie up the loose ends...in a second conspiracy to commit murder.

In this gripping – and sometimes terrifying – account, former South African Police Service (SAPS) head profiler Dr Gérard Labuschagne, successor to the legendary Micki Pistorius, recalls some of the 110 murder series and countless other bizarre crimes he analysed during his career. An expert on serial murder and rape cases, Labuschagne saw it all in his 14 and a half years in the SAPS.

Everyone thinks they know the story of Milly Dowler. Haunting headlines about the missing schoolgirl splashed across front pages. The family's worst fears realised when her body was found months later. The years of waiting for the truth, only to learn that the killer, known to the police, lived just yards from where Milly had vanished. The parents subjected to horrific psychological torture at a trial orchestrated by the murderer.

Fred and Rose West are virtually unique in British criminal history: a husband and wife who loved and killed together. During their long relationship, the Wests murdered a series of young women, burying the remains of nine victims under their home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, including those of their daughter. What was left of Fred West's eight-year-old stepdaughter was dug up from under the Wests' previous Gloucester home; his first wife and nanny were buried in open country.

Between December 1968 and October 1969, a hooded serial killer called Zodiac terrorized San Francisco. Claiming responsibility for 37 murders, he manipulated the media with warnings, dares, and bizarre cryptograms that baffled FBI code-breakers. Then, as suddenly as the murders began, Zodiac disappeared into the Bay Area fog. After painstaking investigation and more than 30 years of research, Robert Graysmith finally exposes Zodiac's true identity.

Michael Ross was a serial killer who raped and murdered eight young women between 1981 and 1984, and several years ago the state of Connecticut put him to death. His crimes were horrific, and he paid the ultimate price for them. When journalist Martha Elliott first heard of Ross, she learned what the world knew of him - that he had been a master at hiding in plain sight.

Every day, countless lives are shattered, invaded by an insidious force that lurks in the shadows—the haunting menace of stalking. It is an affliction that knows no boundaries, transcending age, gender, and social status. It preys upon the innocent, the unsuspecting, and the vulnerable, leaving its victims trapped in a web of fear, uncertainty, and anguish. These are their stories. Welcome to STALKED, an intimate and compelling anthology that gives voice to the survivors, the brave souls who have endured the torment of stalking. Within the pages of this book, you will encounter a tapestry...

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade - from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died tragically while investigating the case.

Bizarre! Shocking! Horrific! Depraved! 18 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases From Around The World, including; Beyond Evil: A 16-year-old girl falls into the hands of a group of drugged up miscreants. What happens next is truly beyond evil. Hard To Kill: Four desperate men decide to pull off a murder for profit scam. They could not have chosen a worse victim. No Sex Till She’s Dead: A joke that turned deadly, a brutal crime, an innocent life destroyed over petty jealousy. Rattlesnake James: Meet Robert James, quite possibly the most inventive serial killer to ever darken this planet. The ...

The International Serial Killers Encyclopedia series sheds light on the murderous minds of many killers, including their motivations, methods, and madness, through detailed research and explicit retelling of events. Some are notorious names that echo through history books, while others are lesser-known killers whose stories are no less harrowing. Each volume reveals a new layer of darkness. Australia is known for its breathtaking landscapes, exotic wildlife, and laid-back culture— but a darker side lurks beneath the surface of this serene country. Murderous Minds Australia, the fifth ...

From the summer of 1979 through the spring of 1981, Atlanta, Georgia, was held under siege by a serial killer, and dozens of victims started to appear. The series of murders, which became known as the “Atlanta Child Murders case”, gripped the city of Atlanta with fear and shocked the nation because most of the victims were children. In this true-crime audiobook, you will hear about how the Atlanta Child Murders case put a city under siege and how a task force of law-enforcement officers from several different agencies eventually captured the killer.

H.H. Holmes was a doctor, real estate speculator, pharmacist, bigamist, swindler, and America's first media superstar serial killer. As he awaited trial, he put out a series of autobiographical documents, press releases, and interviews that revealed his sociopathic tendencies and lies about his crimes. The infamous killer of the Chicago World's Fair published a memoir and a confession, both of which conceal more than they reveal of the truth.

In 1991, flight attendant Nancy Ludwig checked in to an airport hotel near Detroit. The next morning she was found gagged, raped, and tortured - her throat slit with such rage that she was nearly decapitated. Her husband Arthur never gave up hope that the future would bring enough evidence to close the case. But it was the past that held the clue. In 1985, 55-year-old Margarette Eby, a music professor, met the same grisly death at her cottage in Flint, Michigan. The case went cold - until six years later when the victim's son Mark came upon the story of Nancy Ludwig's slaying.

The tragic story of the murders of three women committed over three decades by one cold-blooded man in Maine's North Woods. Jennie Cyr disappeared in 1977. Jerilyn Towers vanished in 1982. Lynn Willette never came home on a night in 1994. Each woman had a relationship with James Hicks, who in 2000 confessed to murdering them, dismembering their bodies, and burying the remains alongside rural roads in Aroostook County. This is their story.

Bizarre! Shocking! Horrific! Depraved! 18 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases From Around The World, including; Kiss the Girls and Make Them Die: He had fantasized about this for a long time. Now here she was, a pretty teenager walking along a dark street. Alone. Pretty Awful: They say beauty is skin deep. Nowhere did that ring truer than with Susan Grund – liar, adulterer, abuser of children, cold-hearted killer. Dead Man’s Hand: A psycho is on the loose, marking his kills with playing cards. Will the police catch him before he takes another life? A Message in Blood: It looked like an ...

Bizarre! Shocking! Horrific! Depraved! 18 Shocking True Crime Murder Cases From Around The World, including; The Preacher’s Wife: The murder of a beloved pastor shocks a small Tennessee town. The secrets that are revealed in its aftermath are more shocking still. Love Kills: A homely accountant and a beautiful, aspiring actress tie the knot in an unlikely match-up. One of them won’t make it past the honeymoon. Every Contact Leaves a Trace: The tiny beach community of Port Hueneme, California is rocked by a trio of brutal homicides. The police are convinced that a serial killer is ...

Empire of Sin re-creates the remarkable story of New Orleans' 30-years war against itself, pitting the city's elite "better half" against its powerful and long-entrenched underworld of vice, perversity, and crime. This early-20th-century battle centers on one man: Tom Anderson, the undisputed czar of the city's Storyville vice district, who fights desperately to keep his empire intact as it faces onslaughts from all sides.