Serial Killers

Get a rare glimpse into the minds and methods of sadistic murderers. From notorious names like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy to lesser-known killers like “Death House Landlady” Dorothea Puente, what turns a regular person into a predator? Serial Killers is a Spotify Original. New episodes Mondays.

True Crime
History
Education
401
“The Gainesville Ripper” Pt. 1: Danny Rolling
It's likely that an abusive, loveless upbringing in the 1960s and ‘70s shaped Danny Rolling’s troubling violent sexual fantasies. After a young life of petty crime in Louisiana and Georgia, one incident set Danny off.
34 min
402
“The Scorecard Killer” Pt. 2: Randy Steven Kraft
For more than a decade, Randy Steven Kraft preyed upon vulnerable young Californian men—torturing, dismembering, and murdering dozens. His killings were made all the worse by the blasé approach authorities took to his case.
39 min
403
“The Scorecard Killer” Pt. 1: Randy Steven Kraft
From 1972 to 1983, the gay community of Southern California was plagued by a vicious killer.
32 min
404
“The Most Prolific” Pt. 2: Samuel Little
By the 1990s, he had spent twenty years murdering dozens of women across the United States.
41 min
405
“The Most Prolific” Pt. 1: Samuel Little
In 2018, he was serving a life sentence for the murders of three women in California—when he confessed to another.
38 min
406
The Axeman of New Orleans Pt. 2
After a 7-month hiatus between 1918 and 1919, the Axeman jumped back into his killing spree.
40 min
407
The Axeman of New Orleans Pt. 1
While the U.S. was wrapped up in the final days of World War I, New Orleans was facing an enemy right in their own backyard.
39 min
408
“The Golden State Killer” Pt. 2: Joseph DeAngelo
As Joseph James DeAngelo's crimes escalated from robbery to murder during the 1980s, he terrified the state of California.
33 min
409
“The Golden State Killer” Pt. 1: Joseph DeAngelo
His crimes earned him the moniker of the “Visalia Ransacker” and the “East Area Rapist.” But Joseph James DeAngelo would become most notorious for his final nickname, the “Golden State Killer.”
33 min
410
“The Boxcar Killer” Robert Joseph Silvera Jr.
He was a freight hopper who rode the rails of the western United States for over a decade. Robert Joseph Silvera Jr. was responsible for more than 30 slayings in that time, most of his victims being fellow transients—earning him the nickname, “The Boxcar Killer.”
37 min
411
False Confessions: Henry Lee Lucas
In the mid-1980s, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to nearly 600 murders. While most of those confessions were subsequently disproven, his case led to larger questions about United States interrogation methods.
41 min
412
“The Lust Killer” Pt. 2: Jerry Brudos
In many ways, Jerry Brudos wasn't in it for the kill—he was in it for the body.
44 min
413
“The Lust Killer” Pt 1: Jerry Brudos
He developed an obsession with women's clothing from a young age—a fetish which would eventually turn violent.
40 min
414
The Zodiac Killer Pt. 2
Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, taunting them for their inability to catch him.
38 min
415
The Zodiac Killer Pt. 1
In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac."
33 min
416
“H.H. Holmes” Pt. 2: Herman Webster Mudgett
Between 1891 and 1895, H.H. Holmes embarked on a vicious killing spree across the United States, terrorizing an entire nation in the process. No one knows exactly how many murders he committed. He confessed to twenty-seven, but only nine were confirmed.
43 min
417
“H.H. Holmes” Pt. 1: Herman Webster Mudgett
He was the master of the infamous “Murder Mansion,” and often cited as America’s first serial killer. H.H. Holmes began his career as a con artist in Chicago, taking advantage of anyone he could between 1886 and 1894—all the while hiding his darkest motives.
40 min
418
“The Campus Killer” Pt. 2: Ted Bundy
In 1974, Ted Bundy embarked on a murderous roadtrip across America committing dozens of murders from Colorado to as far as Florida.
50 min
419
“The Campus Killer” Pt. 1: Ted Bundy
He’s one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century, murdering dozens of young women on a bloody rampage across America that spanned four years.
48 min
420
“The Lambeth Poisoner” Thomas Neill Cream
In the late 1800s, Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was the go-to doctor for Chicago's Red Light District. The women, who grew to trust, admire, and even fall in love with Dr. Cream, would soon become victims of his quiet-but-deadly poisonings.
42 min
421
“The Classified Ad Rapist” Pt. 2: Bobby Joe Long
In 1984, Bobby Joe Long terrorized Tampa—sexually assaulting and murdering women with alarming frequency. But one 17-year-old girl escaped his clutches, living to see him brought to justice.
38 min
422
“The Classified Ad Rapist” Pt. 1: Bobby Joe Long
Bobby Joe Long was responsible for the murder of at least 9 Tampa women. Born in 1953, his early life was milestoned by several serious head injuries including a motorcycle accident which would leave him forever changed.
30 min
423
“The Gorilla Man” Pt. 2: Earle Leonard Nelson
From 1926-1928, Earle Nelson would roam across North America strangling unsuspecting land ladies. By the end of his rampage, he will kill at least 22 people, a record that would not be broken for another 50 years.
44 min
424
“The Gorilla Man” Pt. 1: Earle Leonard Nelson
Reputed to have abnormally long arms and unusually large hands, Earle Leonard Nelson roamed the United States and Canada, strangling unsuspecting landladies in their own homes during the 1920s.
37 min
425
Jeffrey Dahmer Special Pt. 3
While on probation after an early release from prison in March of 1990, Jeffrey Dahmer continued his wave of sadistic violence. A chance event would finally lead to his arrest, and a media spectacle would bring Dahmer to the masses.
50 min