This list shows serial killers from the 20th century to present day by number of victims.
The term serial killer conjures up all sorts of gruesome images from popular fiction, but the truth is that they are a very much a reality, and just as terrifying as the ones portrayed in films. The term ‘serial killer’ or ‘serienmorder’ was first used in Germany in 1931, to describe Peter Kurten, also known as the Vampire of Dusseldorf, who failed to make this list. So, here in reverse order, are the top 30 serial killers according to their numbers of victims (deadliest).
| # | Name: | Number of victims: |
| 30. | Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour | 32 - 32+ |
| 29. | Vasili Komaroff | 33 |
| 28. | Ali Asghar Borujerdi | 33 |
| 27. | John Wayne Gacy | 33 - 34+ |
| 26. | Ted Bundy | 35 - 36+ |
| 25. | Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi | 36 - 36+ |
| 24. | Gennady Mikhasevich | 36 - 43-45 |
| 23. | Serhiy Tkach | 36 - 80-100 |
| 22. | Donald Harvey | 37 - 57-87 |
| 21. | Daniela Poggiali | 38 |
| 20. | Moses Sithole | 38 - 38+ |
| 19. | Thiago Gomes da Rocha | 39 |
| 18. | Ahmad Suradji | 42 - 70-80+ |
| 17. | Louay Omar Mohammed al-Taei | 43 |
| 16. | Wang Qiang | 45 - 45+ |
| 15. | Alexander Pichushkin | 48 - 60 |
| 14. | Gary Ridgway | 49 - 71-90+ |
| 13. | Anatoly Onoprienko | 52 - 52+ |
| 12. | Andrei Chikatilo | 53 - 56 |
| 11. | Abul Djabar | 65 - 300+ |
| 10. | Yang Xinhai | 67 |
| 9. | Kampatimar Shankariya | 70 - 70+ |
| 8. | Pedro Rodrigues Filho | 71 - 100+ |
| 7. | Daniel Camargo | 72 - 150 |
| 6. | Steven Massof | 100+ |
| 5. | Miyuki Ishikawa | 103 - 169 |
| 4. | Pedro Lopez | 110 - 310-350+ |
| 3. | Luis Garavito | 139 - 172-400+ |
| 2. | Hu Wanlin | 146 - 150+ |
| 1. | Dr. Harold Shipman | 218 - 250+ |
(See also 7 Myths About Serial Killers)
(See also The Last Words of 30 Famous Serial Killers)
(See also Top 30 Intelligent Serial Killers With Highest IQ)
30. Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour (32 - 32+)
 |
| (Ramadan Abdel Rehim Mansour) |
Other names: Al-Tourbini
Born: 1980
Died: 2007
Country: Egypt
Years active: 1999 - 2006
Proven victims: 32
Possible victims: 32+
Miscellaneous information: Gang leader known as al-Tourbini ("The Express Train"). Raped and tortured homeless children, mostly boys aged 10 to 14 years old, aboard the trains between Cairo, Alexandria, Qalyoubeya and Beni Sueif. The victims were usually thrown off the moving train when they were dead or in agony; other times they were thrown into the Nile or buried alive.
29. Vasili Komaroff (33)
 |
| (Vasili Komaroff) |
Other names: "The Wolf of Moscow", "The Shabolovka Street Killer"
Born: 1871
Died: 1923
Country: Soviet Union
Years active: 1921 - 1923
Proven victims: 33
Possible victims: 33
Miscellaneous information: Known as "The Wolf of Moscow"; horse trader who killed 33 men. Executed on June 18, 1923.
28. Ali Asghar Borujerdi (33)
 |
| (Ali Asghar Borujerdi) |
Other names: Ashare Qatel (Asghar the Murderer)
Born: 1893
Died: June 26, 1934
Country: Ottoman Iraq, Iraq, Persia
Years active: 1921 - 1923
Proven victims: 33
Possible victims: 33
Miscellaneous information: The first Iranian serial killer and rapist reported in the 20th century. Moving to Iraq as a child with his family, he started assaulting, raping and later murdering adolescent boys in Baghdad since he was fourteen years old. Escaped back to Iran in 1933, he continued his murders in Tehran where he was eventually arrested and executed.
27. John Wayne Gacy (33 - 34+)
 |
| (John Wayne Gacy) |
Other names: The Killer Clown
Born: March 17, 1942 Chicago, Illinois
Died: May 10, 1994 (aged 52) Crest Hill, Illinois
Country: United States
Years active: 1972 - 1978
Proven victims: 33
Possible victims: 34+
Miscellaneous information: Known as “The Killer Clown”, John Wayne Gacy was one of the most notorious serial killers in history. He was caught assaulting two teenage boys sexually and was then sentenced with 10 years in jail. Due to his excellent behavior as an inmate, he was released on parole. As the years went by, he enjoyed dressing up as “Pogo the Clown” and started volunteering at parades and parties. Behind the costume was the person who killed 33 young men, burying their bodies in his yard, house, and the river near his house. After he was arrested, the authorities found bones in his house, forcing him to confess to the murders.
Born: March 17, 1942 Chicago, Illinois
Died: May 10, 1994 (aged 52) Crest Hill, Illinois
Country: United States
Years active: 1972 - 1978
Proven victims: 33
Possible victims: 34+
Miscellaneous information: Known as “The Killer Clown”, John Wayne Gacy was one of the most notorious serial killers in history. He was caught assaulting two teenage boys sexually and was then sentenced with 10 years in jail. Due to his excellent behavior as an inmate, he was released on parole. As the years went by, he enjoyed dressing up as “Pogo the Clown” and started volunteering at parades and parties. Behind the costume was the person who killed 33 young men, burying their bodies in his yard, house, and the river near his house. After he was arrested, the authorities found bones in his house, forcing him to confess to the murders.
26. Ted Bundy (35 - 36+)
 |
| (Ted Bundy) |
Other names: Chris Hagen, Kenneth Misner, Officer Roseland, Richard Burton, Rolf Miller
Born: November 24, 1946 Burlington, Vermont
Died: January 24, 1989 (aged 42) Florida State Prison, Bradford County, Florida
Country: United States
Years active: 1974 - 1978
Proven victims: 35
Possible victims: 36+
Miscellaneous information: Theodore Robert Cowell "Ted Bundy" (November 24, 1946 – January 24, 1989) is one of the most widely known murderers of the 20th century, Ted Bundy was an American serial killer and rapist who kidnapped or overpowered numerous young women and girls during the 1970s. Bundy typically approached his female victims in a public place and led them to secluded areas where he would sexually assault and kill them. He decapitated at least 12 victims and kept the severed heads in his apartment as trophies. Repeatedly captured, he twice managed to escape from police and court houses before going onto commit three further killings. Convicted of multiple murders he sentenced to death. He was executed by the electric chair in 1989.
25. Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi (36 - 36+)
 |
| (Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi) |
Born: 1800s Morocco
Died: June 13, 1906 Marrakesh, Morocco
Country: Morocco
Years active: 1906 and earlier
Proven victims: 36
Possible victims: 36+
Miscellaneous information: Hadj Mohammed Mesfewi was a Moroccan serial killer who was found to have killed at least 36 women. He was a cobbler and public letter writer. The bodies of 26 women were found under his shop and an additional ten were found buried on property owned by Mesfewi.
24. Gennady Mikhasevich (36 - 55+)
 |
| (Gennady Mikhasevich) |
Other names: Patriots of Vitebsk
Born: 1947 Vitebsk Oblast, Byelorussian SSR, Soviet Union
Died: 1987
Country: Byelorussian SSR
Years active: 1971 - 1985
Proven victims: 36
Possible victims: 43 - 55+
Miscellaneous information: Gennady Modestovich Mikhasevich was a Soviet serial killer. Strangled females. Besides killing, he robbed his victims of money and valuable items (that he would sometimes give to his wife as a gift).
23. Serhiy Tkach (36 - 100+)
 |
| (Serhiy Tkach) |
Other names: Pologovsky Maniac
Born: September 15, 1952 (age 62) Kiselyovsk, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union
Country: Ukrainian SSR, Ukraine
Years active: 1984 - 2005
Proven victims: 36
Possible victims: 80 - 100+
Miscellaneous information: Serhiy Fedorovich Tkach is a former Ukrainian police criminal investigator, originally from Russia, and a convicted serial killer who claimed to have killed 100 people. He suffocated girls aged between 8 and 18 and performed sexual acts on their bodies after they were dead. Although Tkach admitted his crimes and demanded the death penalty, after a one-year trial, a tribunal in Dnipropetrovsk sentenced him to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of 36 women and girls over more than two decades.
Other names: Angel of Death
Born: April 15, 1952 (age 62) Butler County, Ohio, U.S.
Country: United States
Years active: 1970 - 1987
Proven victims: 37
Possible victims: 57 - 87
Miscellaneous information: Donald Harvey is an American serial killer who claims to have murdered 87 people. The official estimates of the number of people he murdered range anywhere from at least 37 to 57 deaths. Harvey claimed he started out killing to "ease the pain" of patients. As he progressed in his murders, he began to enjoy it more and more and became a self-professed "Angel of Death". Harvey is currently serving the first of 28 consecutive life sentences at the Allen Correctional Institution in Lima, Ohio.
21. Daniela Poggiali (38)
 |
| (Daniela Poggiali) |
Born: 1971-1972 (age 42) Italy
Country: Italy
Years active: 2014
Proven victims: 38
Possible victims: 38
Miscellaneous information: Daniela Poggiali is an Italian nurse who has been accused of killing 38 of her patients. She took photos of herself with some of the victims' bodies. She was arrested after an autopsy on 78-year-old Rosa Calderoni revealed dangerous levels of potassium in her body. 38 of 86 of her patients died within a three month period. She reportedly killed her patients because they were annoying.
20. Moses Sithole (38 - 38+)
 |
| (Moses Sithole) |
Other names: The ABC Killer, The South African Strangler, The Gauteng Killer
Born: 17 November 1964 (age 50) Vosloorus, Gauteng, South Africa
Country: South Africa
Years active: 1994 - 1995
Proven victims: 38
Possible victims: 38+
Miscellaneous information: Preyed on unemployed women, posing as a businessman and luring his victims with the prospects of a job, before leading them to an isolated place, where he raped, tortured, and murdered them. He was found guilty of 40 rapes and 38 murders. He had killed 37 young women and one child. The court sentenced him to a total of 2, 410 years in jail, with a possibility of parole after 930 years. Known as South Africa's Ted Bundy.
19. Thiago Gomes da Rocha (39)
 |
| (Thiago Gomes da Rocha) |
Country: Brazil
Years active: 2011 - 2014
Proven victims: 39
Possible victims: 39
Miscellaneous information: Brazilian security guard who confessed to the murders of 39 people. He attempted suicide in his prison cell on 16 October 2014 by slashing his wrists with a smashed light bulb.
18. Ahmad Suradji (42 - 80+)
 |
| (Ahmad Suradji) |
Other names: Dukun AS, Nasib Kelewang, Datuk Maringgi
Born: January 10, 1949 Medan, Indonesia
Died: July 10, 2008
Country: Indonesia
Years active: 1986 - 1997
Proven victims: 42
Possible victims: 70 - 80+
Miscellaneous information: He admitted to killing 42 girls and women over a period of 11 years. His victims ranged in age from 11 to 30, and were strangled with a cable after being buried up to their waists in the ground as part of a ritual. Suradji was arrested on May 2, 1997, after bodies were discovered near his home on the outskirts of Medan, the capital of North Sumatra. He buried his victims in a sugarcane plantation near his home, with heads of the victims facing his house, which he believed would give him extra power.
The trial began on December 11, 1997, with a 363-page charge against him, and although Suradji maintained his innocence, he was found guilty on April 27, 1998 by a three-judge panel in Lubuk Pakam. He was sentenced to death by firing squad and executed on July 10, 2008.
17. Louay Omar Mohammed al-Taei (43)
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| (Louay Omar Mohammed al-Taei) |
Country: Iraq
Years active: 2005 - 2006
Proven victims: 43
Possible victims: 43
Miscellaneous information: Dr Louay is an Iraqi medical doctor accused of murdering wounded policemen, soldiers and officials in Kirkuk while pretending to treat them.
According to police, Louay administered anti-coagulants to pro-Coalition forces brought into the hospital for treatment, to excaberate their bleeding and causing a number of deaths. A police investigation revealed that he had killed 43 people from October 2005 to March 2006. He claimed to be recruited into Jamaat Ansar al-Sunna in August 2005.
He was arrested after Malla Yassin was arrested in early 2006, and confessed to being the leader of an insurgent cell that included Louay.
Born: January 16, 1975 China
Died: November 17, 2005 (aged 30) China
Country: China
Years active: 1995 - 2003
Proven victims: 45
Possible victims: 45+
Miscellaneous information: One of the most notorious murderers and rapists in Chinese history. Wang committed his first murder on Jan 22, 1995. He was finally arrested on July 14, 2003. Official records show he was convicted of 45 murders and 10 rapes. Some young girls were raped post-mortem. He was executed on 17th November 2005, having shown no remorse for his actions.
15. Alexander Pichushkin (48 - 60)
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| (Alexander Pichushkin) |
Other names: The Bitsa Park Maniac, The Chessboard Killer
Born: 9 April 1974 (age 40) Mytishchi, Moscow Oblast, Russia
Country: Russia
Years active: 1992 - 2006
Proven victims: 48
Possible victims: 60
Miscellaneous information: Alexander had been seen as a normal, social child until a rough fall and hit to his head changed his personality. Many speculate that this lead to his aggressive, violent nature later in life. He would commit his first murder in 1992 and primarily targeted homeless men who he would pry with vodka. The majority of his 48 confirmed victims were found in a Moscow park where they were also believed to have been murdered. Convicted of murdering 48 victims and suspected of killing 60. Claimed to have murdered 62 people, because he didn't know that two of his victims had survived; stated goal of becoming Russia's most prolific serial killer.
14. Gary Ridgway (49 - 71-90+)
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| (Gary Ridgway) |
Other names: Green River Gary, The Green River Killer, The Riverman
Born: Gary Leon Ridgway February 18, 1949 (age 66) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.
Country: United States
Years active: 1982 - 2000
Proven victims: 49
Possible victims: 71 - 90+
Miscellaneous information: Ridgway became known as the Green River serial killer after he was revealed to have used waste land, near to the 65 mile long water course, to dump his victim’s bodies. During the 1980’s and 90’s he picked up teenage runaways and prostitutes, strangling his victims during sex. A married man, his wife and neighbours were shocked when his criminal activities were detected by advances in DNA testing in 2001.
Suspected of killing over 90 victims, confessed to 71, convicted of 49. He would go on to reach a plea bargain where he fully confessed and helped authorities locate his missing victim’s resting places in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
13. Anatoly Onoprienko (52 - 52+)
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| (Anatoly Onoprienko) |
Other names: The Beast Of Ukraine, The Terminator, Citizen O
Born: Anatoly Yuriyovych Onoprienko, July 25, 1959, Zhytomyr, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died: August 27, 2013 (aged 54), Zhytomyr, Ukraine
Country: Ukraine
Years active: 1989 - 1996
Proven victims: 52
Possible victims: 52+
Miscellaneous information: Convicted of the murders of 9 people in 1989 and 43 people in 1995–1996. Sentenced to death, later commuted to life. Traveled through Europe illegally from 1990 to 1995; whether he killed during this time is unknown.
Anatoly’s horrific crimes would lead to him being dubbed “The Beast of Ukraine.” Unusual in that he targeted whole families, Onoprienko started his spree in Bratkovychi, in the Ukraine. He always used the same method for the attacks, find an isolated building, cause a commotion and in the confusion target the man of the house, then his partner and finally the children. Captured in 1995 along with the murder weapons, he confessed, saying that voices in his head had driven him to it. A previous suspect had been tortured to death by the Police.
12. Andrei Chikatilo (53 - 56)
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| (Andrei Chikatilo) |
Other names: The Butcher of Rostov, The Red Ripper, The Forest Strip Killer, The Rostov Ripper
Born: 16 October 1936, Yablochnoye, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Died: 14 February 1994 (aged 57), Novocherkassk, Russia
Country: Russian SFSR
Years active: 1978 - 1990
Proven victims: 53
Possible victims: 56
Miscellaneous information: He confessed to a total of 56 murders between the years of 1978 to 1990, the details he gave corresponded to known murders of women and children. The crimes were particularly horrific, being of a sexual nature and involving a frenzied mutilation. At his trial Chikatilo admitted to becoming skilled at dodging the spurts of blood from his victims. One man was previously convicted and executed for his first murder.
11. Abul Djabar (65 - 300+)
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| (Abul Djabar) |
Born: Afghanistan
Died: October 21, 1970, Kabul, Afghanistan
Country: Afghanistan
Years active: 1970 and earlier
Proven victims: 60
Possible victims: 300+
Miscellaneous information: Killed 65 men and boys by strangling them with turbans while raping them. Suspected of over 300 murders. Djabar was arrested by police while trying to kill another victim. He was sentenced to death and hanged on October 21, 1970. Two innocent people had previously been executed for the murders.
10. Yang Xinhai (67)
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| (Yang Xinhai) |
Other names: The Monster Killer
Born: July 1968, Zhengyang County, Zhumadian, Henan, China
Died: February 14, 2004 (aged 35), China
Country: China
Years active: 2000 - 2003
Proven victims: 67
Miscellaneous information: Yang grew up poor and would leave home at the age of 17. Later he was sentenced to five years in a labor camp for an attempted rape. Upon his release, he would embark on his four year reign of terror.
Chinas most prolific serial killer, he would attack under the cover of darkness, entering homes and killing everyone he found with a variety of weapons. He confessed to 65 murders and 23 counts of rape between 1999 and 2003 but was convicted of 67 deaths and executed in February 2004.
9. Kampatimar Shankariya (70 - 70+)
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| (Kampatimar Shankariya) |
Born: 1952, India
Died: May 16, 1979, Jaipur, India
Country: India
Years active: 1977 - 1978
Proven victims: 70
Possible victims: 70+
Miscellaneous information: Kampatimar Shankariya was an Indian serial killer who was executed for the murders of at least 70 people with a hammer. He was convicted and sentenced to death in early 1979. He claimed that killing provided him with pleasure. His final words before being hanged at the gallows were "I have murdered in vain," he said. "Nobody should become like me."
8. Pedro Rodrigues Filho (71 - 100+)
 |
| (Pedro Rodrigues Filho) |
Other names: Pedrinho Matador (Killer Petey)
Born: June 17, 1954, Santa Rita do Sapucaí, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Country: Brazil
Years active: 1967 - 2003
Proven victims: 71
Possible victims: 100+
Miscellaneous information: Convicted and sentenced to 128 years, but the maximum one can serve in Brazil is 30 years. He has claimed to have killed over 100 victims, 47 of them inmates. He also killed his father and ate a piece of his heart. He killed his first two victims at the age of 14; he was first arrested in 1973. Despite being sentenced to over 128 years he was released after serving only 34 in 2007.
7. Daniel Camargo (72 - 150)
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| (Daniel Camargo) |
Other names: Manuel Bulgarin Solis
Born: 22 January 1930, Colombia
Died: 13 November 1994 (aged 64)
Country: Colombia, Ecuador
Years active: 1974 - 1986
Proven victims: 72
Possible victims: 150
Miscellaneous information: Daniel Camargo Barbosa was a Colombian serial killer who is believed to have raped and killed over 150 young girls in Colombia and Ecuador during the 1970s and 1980s. He calmly confessed to killing 71 girls in Ecuador after escaping from the Colombian prison. He led authorities to the dumping grounds of those victims whose bodies had not yet been recovered. After raping his victims, he had hacked the girls with a machete. He was convicted in 1989 and sentenced to just 16 years in prison, the maximum sentence available in Ecuador. In November 1994, he was murdered in prison by the cousin of one of his victims.
6. Steven Massof (100+)
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| (Steven Massof) |
Country: USA
Possible victims: 100+
Miscellaneous information: Massof, who worked at Kermit Gosnell's abortion clinic, testified that he snipped the spines of more than 100 babies after seeing them show signs of life. Was sentenced to 6-12 years in prison.
5. Miyuki Ishikawa (103 - 169)
 |
| (Miyuki Ishikawa) |
Other names: Oni-Sanba (demon-midwife)
Born: 1897, Miyazaki, Japan
Died: Unknown
Country: Japan
Years active: 1940s
Proven victims: 103
Possible victims: 169
Miscellaneous information: Miyuki Ishikawa was a Japanese midwife and serial killer who is believed to have murdered many infants with the aid of several accomplices throughout the 1940s. As a maternity nurse she killed infants born to parents unwilling to care for them during the prohibition of abortion in Japan. It is estimated that her victims numbered between 85 to 169, however the general estimate is 103. When she was finally apprehended, the Tokyo High Court's four-year sentence she received was remarkably light considering that Miyuki's actions resulted in a death toll so high that it remains unrivaled by any other serial killer in Japan. According to a report of Children's Rainbow Center, writer Kenji Yamamoto referred to the incident as unbelievable and unbearable.
4. Pedro Alonso Lopez (110 - 310-350+)
 |
| (Pedro Alonso Lopez) |
Other names: The Monster of the Andes
Born: October 8, 1948 (age 66), Santa Isabel, Tolima, Colombia
Country: Colombia, Ecuador, Peru
Years active: 1969 - 1980
Proven victims: 110
Possible victims: 310 - 350+
Miscellaneous information: Pedro Alonso López is a Colombian serial killer, accused of raping and killing more than 300 girls across South America was believed to have preyed on young and vulnerable girls in Peru. He lured them to secluded areas or inside unoccupied buildings where he raped each of them before killing them by a range of brutal methods, primarily strangulation. López was arrested when an attempted abduction failed and he was trapped by market traders. He confessed to over 300 murders. The police only believed him when a flash flood uncovered a mass grave containing many of his victims. Eventually 53 bodies were discovered. Imprisoned in 1980 he served just 18 years before being released from a Ecuadorian prison and was deported to Columbia where he was rearrested and in 2002 was sentenced to life.
3. Luis Garavito (139 - 172-400+)
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| (Luis Garavito) |
Other names: The Beast, Tribilín
Born: 25 January 1957, Génova, Quindío, Colombia
Country: Colombia
Years active: 1990s
Proven victims: 139
Possible victims: 172 - 400+
Miscellaneous information: Luis Alfredo Garavito Cubillos was born on January 25, 1957 in Genova, Colombia. He underwent trauma common to many serial killers in their youth, being subject to both physical and sexual abuse. When he reached adulthood, Luis would seek revenge on victims that were of a similar age to him when he was abused. He would gain trust of young boys then rape and murder them, ending their lives with a throat slashing.
He was finally caught in 1999 and confessed to the rape and murder of 147 young boys. He would be convicted of 139 of the murders and though he faced a maximum of 30 years he received 22 due to his helping authorities locate the bodies of his victims. Subsequent changes in Colombian law have since increased his maximum penalty to 60 years.
2. Hu Wanlin (146 - 150+)
 |
| (Hu Wanlin) |
Born: 1949, Mianyang, China
Country: China
Years active: 1997 - 1999
Proven victims: 146
Possible victims: 150+
Miscellaneous information: Hu Wanlin was thought to be one of the world's most prolific medical serial killers. He was arrested for killing 146 people.
Hu Wanlin was born in the city of Mianyang, Sichuan Province and only completed primary education. He was imprisoned for homicide in the 1980s as well as swindling, and abducting and trafficking in women. While in prison in 1993, he opened a medical practice.
He was acquitted on a retrial in 1997. On release he continued practising medicine illegally in the northern Shanxi Province and northwestern Shaanxi Province where he allegedly started two hospitals. This continued until February 1998, when he was banned by local authorities. Hu then went to Henan in June 1998.
Hu's 'treatments' were thought to have resulted in the death of at least 146 people. The “treatments” involved herbal preparations which were proved to contain high amounts of sodium sulphate which is poisonous in large doses. He also employed the traditional practice of qigong, in which the healer is said to emit qi from his body, which allegedly has curative powers without physical contact being necessary. Hu became well-known, having his medical practice and “medical miracles” described by a well-known Chinese novelist, Ke Yunlu. It seems that his malpractice continued for many years due to bribes paid to officials.
Hu was arrested on January 18, 1999 in Shangqiu, aged 50, on suspicion of causing nearly 150 deaths. He was convicted of practising medicine without a license on October 1, 2000, receiving 15 years imprisonment, suspension of voting rights for five years and a 150,000 yuan fine.
1. Dr. Harold Shipman (218 - 250+)
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| (Dr. Harold Shipman) |
Other names: Dr. Death, The Angel Of Death
Born: 14 January 1946
Died: 13 January 2004
Country: United Kingdom
Years active: 1975 - 1998
Proven victims: 218
Possible victims: 250+
Miscellaneous information: Dr. Harold Fredrick Shipman was a English doctor and is one of the world’s most prolific serial killers in recorded history, proven to have been responsible for up 250 murders. Known (after his arrest only) as Doctor Death. A trusted doctor, he was well respected in his community, however colleagues and local undertakers began raising concerns over the high death rate in the area and the large number of cremation forms for elderly women that he had countersigned. Several bodies were later exhumed and post mortems revealed diamorphine within their system. It was later established Shipman had purposely injected fatal doses of the drug in a huge number of patients, causing their death. He then forged their wills so he could inherit large sums of money and completed cremation requests to destroy the victim’s bodies. The trial judge sentenced him to 15 consecutive life sentences and recommended that he never be released. Shipman later hanged himself in January 2004 in his cell at Wakefield Prison.