True Crime Serial Murders

Warning: these books contain disturbing stories of true-life murder. Viewer discretion is advised. Serial killers have haunted the public imagination for hundreds of years. They have struck fear and terror into the collective consciousness for their gruesome and malicious crimes against humanity. What motivates them to commit these murders?

The fair sex. We've often heard this cliched expression being used to refer to women. Although it has become increasingly outdated, the mindset still exists that women are the gentle and nurturing sex. When it comes to murder, that notion gets turned on its head. And this isn't a recent phenomenon; we can find plenty of female killers going back in history. In fact, some of the world's most notorious serial killers have been women. These female killers give their male counterparts a run for their money and deserve to be counted among the most famous serial killers.

H. H. Holmes’ story has become one of legend. Holmes committed his crimes during a time in history where the idea of murdering on a mass scale was being introduced to the world through the actions of Jack the Ripper. Unlike Jack the Ripper, Holmes’ motives were clear; he killed out of greed, convenience, and curiosity.

Dennis Nilsen was jailed for life in 1983 after the murders of 12 men and the attempted murders of many more. Seven years after his conviction, Nilsen began to write his autobiography, and over a period of 18 years, he typed 6,000 pages of introspection, reflection, comment, and explanation. History of a Drowning Boy - taken exclusively from these astonishing writings - uncovers, for the first time, the motives behind the murders, and delivers a clear understanding of how such horrific events could have happened, tracing the origins back to early childhood.

Six true crime authors come together to present the second annual Serial Killers True Crime Anthology, which depicts 13 horrific cases of serial homicide told in detail. Each case will take the listener from the background of the serial killer to the crime scene, investigation, trial, and sentencing.

In Long Island, a farmer found a duck pond turned red with blood. On the Lower East Side, two boys playing at a pier discovered a floating human torso wrapped tightly in oilcloth. Blueberry pickers near Harlem stumbled upon neatly severed limbs in an overgrown ditch. Clues to a horrifying crime were turning up all over New York, but the police were baffled: There were no witnesses, no motives, no suspects. The grisly finds that began on the afternoon of June 26, 1897, plunged detectives headlong into the era's most perplexing murder.

No parent can conceive of finding that their 16-year-old daughter has been murdered. For two days Beverly Jarosz’s parents, Thaddeus and Eleanor, along with her sister Carol, held out hope that there would be a quick solution to the crime. Those 48 hours must have flashed around them; a whirl of anger, guilt, fear, and horror. Each minute simultaneously lasting hours but disappearing as soon as it arrived.

Eighteen baffling true-crime cold cases—solved.

Charles Manson is instantly recognizable as the deranged cult leader who was responsible for the deaths of nine people in the late 1960s. Manson was a career criminal who got his education in the US prison system and learned at an early age that only those who have power over others will survive. In less than three years, Manson transformed his followers from a group of freedom-loving, LSD-dropping hippies into a pack of blood-thirsty murderers who carried out acts of astounding brutality at his request.

The World Encyclopedia of Serial Killers is the most comprehensive set of its kind in the history of true crime publishing. Created and compiled by Susan Hall, the four-volume set has more than 1,600 entries of male and female serial killers from around the world.

In fall 1967, friends Linda Tomaszewski and Christine Rothschild are freshmen at the University of Wisconsin. The students in the hippie college town of Madison are letting down their hair - and their guards. But amid the peace rallies lurks a killer. When Christine's body is found, her murder sends shockwaves across college campuses, and the Age of Aquarius gives way to a decade of terror. Linda knows the killer, but when police ignore her pleas, he slips away. For the next forty years, Linda embarks on a cross-country quest to find him.

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.

Some of the scariest and most interesting criminals are broken down and analyzed by Dr. Kris Mohandie, an expert police and forensic psychologist who has met - and evaluated - some of the most dangerous people who have walked among us. This book has numerous first-hand accounts of his work, and interviews for cases like the Angel of Death serial killer, racist serial assassin Joseph Paul Franklin, and even the O.J. Simpson case.

Ted Bundy’s Murderous Mysteries is a deep-dive into the archival record of the America’s most notorious serial killer. It’s a veritable goldmine of information on Bundy, his victims, and this very voluminous case. Written by the foremost authority on Ted Bundy, this latest examination of this brutal serial killer contains new, revealing, and never-before-published interviews with those close to Bundy, close to his victims, and a potential victim who barely escaped his clutches.

As a chilling listen for true crime fans and the morbidly curious alike, Israel Keyes: The True Crime Story of the Gruesome Serial Killer offers a play-by-play of his life, complete with real transcripts and interviews. This audiobook is perfect for anyone who wants to get into the distorted mind of a remorseless murderer and witness the strange inner contradictions within.

The best of this year's true crime writing from master true crime authors RJ Parker, Peter Vronsky, JJ Slate, Sylvia Perrini, and Michael Newton, who give us nine new shocking case accounts of serial killers.

The lush, green hills that mark the border of North and South Carolina are home to a close-knit community. When the savaged remains of high-spirited Heather Catterton and sweet-natured Randi Saldana were found and a local man was linked to their murders, residents were forced to face an evil in their midst. The killer was one of their own….

Early one morning in May, 1997, a young couple in the mountains of Colorado spotted a man dragging a body up a secluded trail. The man fled, leaving behind a bloody, dying woman. The investigation into the death of young street-walker Anita Paley would lead from that idyllic spot to the seamy underbelly of Denver and a world of prostitution, drug dealers, and violent criminals. And it would expose the lives of suspect Robert Riggan and Anita's friend Joanne Cordova, a former cop-turned-crack-addict and hooker.

For years he'd stalked elementary schools and playground looking for young girls from low-income neighborhoods to abduct, rape and murder. He thought of them as "throwaway kids" - hardly missed, and soon forgotten, except by those who loved them. He was ever parent's worst nightmare. The bogeyman they warned their children about ... the fiend who lurked outside bedroom windows.

From award-winning journalist David Kushner, Alligator Candy is a reported memoir about family, survival, and the unwavering power of love. David Kushner grew up in the early 1970s in the Florida suburbs. It was when kids still ran free, riding bikes and disappearing into the nearby woods for hours at a time. One morning in 1973, however, everything changed. David’s older brother, Jon, biked through the forest to the convenience store for candy, and never returned.