The World's Most Evil Psychopaths: Horrifying True-Life Cases (14 page)

Harvey Glatman was an unusual child, alternately giggling and crying for no apparent reason.

Albert DeSalvo: DeSalvo’s father once attempted to sell Albert and his four young sisters to a farmer for nine dollars.

Mugshots of Richard Speck released by the Dallas County Sheriff Department in 1961.

Ed Kemper was once asked what he thought when he saw a young girl in the street, and replied, ‘One side of me says I’d like to talk to her and date her. The other side of me says I wonder how her head would look on a stick...’

Jerry Brudos strangled Jan Whitney in his house – then he left her body hanging from the ceiling.

Pietro Pacciani, a 68-year-old, illiterate farm labourer, got 13 years in prison for murdering a travelling salesman who had slept with his fiancée.

John Wayne Gacy was a pillar of the community, organizing themed block parties and entertaining as Pogo the Clown, but his sexual transgressions began to take on more and more sinister forms.

Handsome and articulate, Ted Bundy appeared to be a generous young man, but few got a glimpse behind the mask he wore each day – and those that did often regretted it. Starting with petty crime, Bundy worked his way up to murder.

Clifford Olson was born on New Year’s Day, 1940. He was jailed at the age of 14, the first of 83 convictions, ranging from parole violation to armed robbery, before his killing spree began.

Green River killer Gary Ridgway cries in court as he listens to testimony from relatives of his victims. Devoted husband Ridgway avoided the death penalty by agreeing to help police find the bodies of those who were still missing.

Aileen Wuornos had a disturbing upbringing. At the age of four, she was abandoned by her mother and brought up by grandparents. She says she was abused by her grandfather and suffered regular beatings.

Andrei Chikatilo’s behaviour in court was peculiar and disruptive, veering from exaggerated yawning to singing and talking gibberish. Twice he dropped his trousers and exposed himelf to those surrounding his iron cage.

Jack Unterweger occupied a strange position where as a ‘resocialized’ ex-con and best-selling author he was in a position to duplicitously comment in the media on crimes he had actually committed.