Serial
killers hold a certain fascination in the general public, partially due
to their mysterious nature. People are interested in discovering
whether a serial killer’s last words hold any sort of answer or insight
into their lives. The last words of famous serial killers have a wide
range of emotion. Some killers, when faced with their execution, offer
their sincere apologies for the heinous crimes they committed. A few
serial killers’ final words were filled with anger and resentment, while
some even seemed indifferent to their situation. Some of the most
interesting final words are the quizzically strange rantings of a crazy
person, making them even more mystifying than before.
(See also Public enemy)
(See also Serial Killer)
(See also What "Psychopath" Means)
(See also 7 Myths About Serial Killers)
1. Ted Bundy
The exact number of women Ted Bundy kidnapped, killed, and raped in the 1970s is unknown, but some say the number is somewhere in the 100s. He was executed on January 24, 1989.
Age: Died at 43 (1946-1989)
Birthplace: Burlington, Vermont, United States of America
Profession: Criminal
Height: 5'10"
Cause Of Death: Electric chair, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Florida State Prison, Florida, United States of America
2. John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy raped and killed at least 33 boys between 1972 and 1978, all while dressed like a psychotic clown. He was executed on May 10th, 1994.
Age: Died at 52 (1942-1994)
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
Profession: Clown
Height: 5'10"
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Crest Hill, Illinois, United States of America
3. James French
James French has the distinction of being the last person to be executed in Oklahoma in 1966, after he killed his cellmate. He was executed via electric chair.
Age: Died at 30 (1936-1966)
Cause Of Death: Electric chair, Capital punishment
4. Aileen Wuornos
Last Words: "I'd
just like to say I'm sailing with the rock, and I'll be back like
Independence Day, with Jesus, June 6th. Like the movie, big mother ship
and all. I'll be back."
Between
1989 and 1990, Aileen Wuornos killed seven men, with the excuse that
each of them tried to rape her. She was executed by lethal injection on
October 9, 2002.
Age: Died at 46 (1956-2002)
Birthplace: Rochester, Michigan, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Florida State Prison, Florida, United States of America
5. Carl Panzram
Last Words: "Hurry up, you Hoosier bastard. I could kill ten men while you're fooling around."
Carl Panzram killed at least 22 people and raped over 1,000 men. He was hanged on September 5th, 1930.
Age: Died at 39 (1891-1930)
Birthplace: Minnesota, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Capital punishment, Hanging
Place Of Death: United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, United States of America
6. Peter Kürten
Last Words: "Tell
me. After my head has been chopped off, will I still be able to hear,
at least for a moment, the sound of my own blood gushing from the stump
of my neck? That would be a pleasure to end all pleasures."
Peter
Kurten, AKA "The Vampire of Dusseldorf," killed somewhere between 9 and
60 adults and children. He drank the blood of at least one of his
victims, as well as raped and beat many more. He was executed by
guillotine on July 2, 1931.
Age: Died at 48 (1883-1931)
Birthplace: Mülheim, Cologne, Germany
Cause Of Death: Decapitation
Place Of Death: Cologne, Germany
7. Sean Flanagan
Last Words: "I love you."
Sean Flanagan murdered two gay men in Nevada, claiming he was doing "good for... society." He was executed on June 23, 1989.
8. Tom Ketchum
Last Words: "I'll be in Hell before you start breakfast, boys. Let her rip."
Tom
Ketchum was sometimes known as Black Jack. He was said to have killed
many people, but was ultimately hanged for his part in a train robbery.
He was executed on April 26, 1901.
Age: Died at 38 (1863-1901)
Birthplace: Texas, United States of America
Profession: Cowboy
Cause Of Death: Decapitation, Capital punishment, Hanging
Place Of Death: New Mexico, United States of America
9. H.H. Holmes
Last Words: "Take your time. Don't bungle it."
Dr.
H.H. Holmes was one of the first American serial killers. He confessed
to 27 murders, some of which he took from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.
He was executed May 7, 1896.
Age: Died at 35 (1861-1896)
Birthplace: Gilmanton, New Hampshire, United States of America
Profession: Physician
Cause Of Death: Hanging
Place Of Death: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
10. Francis Crowley
Last Words: "You sons of bitches. Give love to Mother."
Francis "Two Gun" Crowley went on a three month killing spree that ended in 1932 when he was sent to the electric chair.
Age: Died at 20 (1912-1932)
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Electric chair
Place Of Death: Sing Sing, Ossining, New York, United States of America
11. James Allen Red Dog
Last Words: "I'm going home, babe."
James Allen Red Dog had been connected to at least five murders before he was executed in 1993.
12. Jeffrey Dahmer
Last Words: "I don't care if I live or die. Go ahead and kill me."
Jeffrey
Dahmer horrified people across the country when he was arrested for the
rape and murder of 17 men. His crimes also included cannibalism between 1978 and 1991. He was beaten to death by a fellow
inmate in prison on November 28, 1994.
Age: Died at 34 (1960-1994)
Birthplace: West Allis, Wisconsin, United States of America
Profession: Criminal
Height: 6'0"
Cause Of Death: Craniocerebral Trauma, Murder
Place Of Death: Portage, Wisconsin, United States of America
13. Ned Kelly
Last Words: "Such is life."
Ned Kelly is often considered a folk hero in Australia, but his multiple murders earned his execution in 1880 via hanging.
Age: Died at 26 (1854-1880)
Birthplace: Beveridge, Australia
Profession: Bushranger
Height: 5'8"
Cause Of Death: Capital punishment, Hanging
Place Of Death: Melbourne, Australia
14. Steven Timothy Judy
Last Words: "I don't hold any grudges. This is my doing. Sorry it happened."
Steven Judy killed a woman and her three children in 1979. On March 9, 1981 he was executed via electric chair.
Age: Died at 25 (1956-1981)
Cause Of Death: Electric chair, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Michigan City, Indiana, United States of America
15. Thomas J. Grasso
Last Words: "I did not get my Spaghetti O's. I got spaghetti. I want the press to know this."
Thomas
J. Grasso killed two old women in order to steal a small amount of
money. He was executed by lethal injection on March 20, 1995.
Age: Died at 33 (1962-1995)
Birthplace: Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: McAlester, Oklahoma, United States of America
16. Albert Fish
Last Words: "I don't even know why I'm here."
Fish was a kidnapper, murderer and cannibal. In the 1920s, he claimed that he had killed at least 100 children.
Fish was a kidnapper, murderer and cannibal. In the 1920s, he claimed that he had killed at least 100 children.
Age: Died at 66 (1870-1936)
Birthplace: Washington, D.C., United States of America
Cause Of Death: Electric chair, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Sing Sing, Ossining, New York, United States of America
17. John George Haigh
Last Words: In a letter to his girlfriend, Barbara:
"It
is difficult to say farewell under these circumstances, but you will
understand that you will always be in my thoughts. You know I have been
proud of our association: it has always been an honourable one. I shall
remember your great kindness and devotion. Now I must leave you."
In the 1940s, Haigh killed six women and then dissolved their bodies in acid, earning him the name "the Acid Bath Killer".
Age: Died at 40 (1909-1949)
Birthplace: Stamford, United Kingdom
Cause Of Death: Capital punishment, Hanging
Place Of Death: HM Prison Wandsworth, United Kingdom
18. Myra Hindley
Last Words: According to the Catholic priest who gave Hindley last rites,
"The
last conversation she had before she died concerned her mother. She
just expressed concern for her mother - but I will not say exactly what
she said."
Hindley, with her
lover Ian Brady shocked 1960s England when they killed five children; an
event that became known as the Moors murders.
Age: Died at 60 (1942-2002)
Birthplace: Crumpsall, United Kingdom
Cause Of Death: Myocardial infarction
19. Israel Keyes
Last Words: Keyes' suicide note ended with this chilling line:
'Okay,
talk is over, words are placid and weak. Back it with action or it all
comes off cheap. Watch close while I work now, feel the electric shock
of my touch, open your trembling flower, or your petals I'll crush.'
In the late 1990s and early 200s, Keyes traveled around the country seeking out victims, killing between three and eight people.
Age: Died at 34 (1978-2012)
Birthplace: Richmond, Utah, United States of America
20. Amelia Dyer
Last Words: “I have nothing to say.”
Dyer is believed to have killed 400 children during a 20 year period in Victorian England.
Age: Died at 59 (1837-1896)
Birthplace: Bristol, United Kingdom
Place Of Death: Newgate Prison, London, United Kingdom
21. Earle Nelson
Last Words: "I
am innocent. I stand innocent before God and man. I forgive those who
have wronged me and ask forgiveness of those I have injured. God have
mercy!"
During a two year
period in the mid 1920s, Nelso killed 22 women, most of whom were
landladies he approached about rooms they wanted to rent.
Age: Died at 31 (1897-1928)
Birthplace: California, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Capital punishment, Hanging
22. William Bonin
Last Words: "I
would suggest that when a person has a thought of doing anything
serious against the law, that before they did that they should go to a
quiet place and think about it seriously."
From
1979 to 1980, Bonin killed between 20 and 36 young men and boys in
southern California. His habit of dumping the bodies near freeways
earned him the nickname Freeway Killer.
Age: Died at 49 (1947-1996)
Birthplace: Connecticut, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, United States of America
23. Angel Maturino Resendiz
Last Words: "I
want to ask if it is in your heart to forgive me. You don't have to. I
know I allowed the Devil to rule my life. I just ask you to forgive me
and ask the Lord to forgive me for allowing the devil to deceive me. I
thank God for having patience in me. I don't deserve to cause you pain.
You do not deserve this. I deserve what I am getting."
Reséndiz
was a Mexican native who committed 15 murders in the U. S. He became
known as the Railway Killer because he left his victim's bodies near
railroad tracks.
Age: Died at 47 (1959-2006)
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Huntsville, Texas, United States of America
24. Donald Henry Gaskins
Last Words: “I’ll let my lawyers talk for me. I’m ready to go.”
Known
as the Meanest Man in America, Gaskin killed at least 100 people, most
of them hitchhikers, during a nearly 30 year period stretching from the
1950s to 1980s.
Age: Died at 58 (1933-1991)
Birthplace: Florence, South Carolina, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Electric chair
Place Of Death: Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America
25. Peter Manuel
Last Words: "Turn up the radio and I'll go quietly."
Manuel was an American born Scotish serial killer who is believe to have killed between 9 and 18 people during the 1950s.
Age: Died at 31 (1927-1958)
Birthplace: New York City, New York, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Capital punishment, Hanging
Place Of Death: HM Prison Barlinnie, Glasgow, United Kingdom
26. Carroll Cole
Last Words: "It's all right."
Cole killed 16 people between 1945 and 1980, possibly committing acts of cannibalism on some of his victims.
Age: Died at 47 (1938-1985)
Birthplace: Sioux City, Iowa, United States of America
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
27. Marcel Petiot
Last Words: "Gentleman, I have one last piece of advise: Look away. This will not be pretty to see."
Petiot
was a French doctor who killed around 60 people between the 1920s and
1940s. He was only found out when the remains of 23 of his victims were
found in his Parisian home during World War II.
Age: Died at 49 (1897-1946)
Birthplace: Auxerre, France
Profession: Politician, Physician
Cause Of Death: Decapitation, Capital punishment, Guillotine
Place Of Death: Paris, France
28. Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck
Last Words: Raymond Fernandez - "I wanna shout it out; I love Martha! What do the public know about love?"
Last Words: Martha Beck - "My
story is a love story. But only those tortured by love can know what I
mean [...] Imprisonment in the Death House has only strengthened my
feeling for Raymond...."
In
the 1940s, Fernandez and Beck would place personal ads in newspapers
with the intent of extorting money from the women who replied to the
personals. The couple killed three of their extortion victims and are
believed to have killed at least 20.
Age: Raymond Fernandez (aged 36) (December 17, 1914 - March 8, 1951); Martha Beck (aged 30) (May 6, 1920 - March 8, 1951)
Birthplace: Raymond Fernandez (Hawaii, USA); Martha Beck (Milton, Florida, USA)
Profession: Raymond Fernandez (Confidence artist); Martha Beck (Nurse)
Cause Of Death: Raymond Fernandez (Electric chair); Martha Beck (Electric chair)
Place Of Death: Sing Sing, Ossining, New York, United States of America
29. Kenneth McDuff
Last Words: “I am ready to be released. Release me.”
After
his death sentence for a 1966 triple-murder was commuted in 1989,
McDuff killed three days after his release from prison and then killed
ten additional people before being arrested in 1992.
Age: Died at 52 (1946-1998)
Birthplace: Paris, Texas
Cause Of Death: Lethal injection, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Huntsville, Texas, United States of America
30. Fritz Haarmann
Last Words: “I repent, but I do not fear death.”
This
German killer, active in the years following World War I became known
as the Vampire of Hannover because he would bite through his victims'
throats. After he was executed in 1925, hs head was preserved so
scientists could study his brain.
Age: Died at 46 (1879-1925)
Birthplace: Hanover, Germany
Cause Of Death: Decapitation, Capital punishment
Place Of Death: Hanover, Germany