50 Serial Killers in 50 States of America | Part 1

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today is the first of two parts exploring the most infamous serial killer connected to each US state. We’ll be looking at those who were either born in or committed their terrible crimes within each state’s borders.

Alabama: Nannie Doss

With the moniker of the Giggling Granny, Doss sounds like she’d be a sweet woman. However, she was anything but. Born and raised in Alabama, a childhood head injury may have led to her descent into darkness. Doss was married five times, but only her first husband survived the union. Finding subsequent husbands through lonely hearts columns and clubs, she'd take life insurance out on them before poisoning them. Yet it wasn’t just the husbands who were Doss’s targets; so were other family members, including two of her children. When final husband Samuel Doss died in 1954, it was discovered that arsenic was the cause, and this was traced to his wife. After confessing to 11 murders, Doss was sentenced to life in 1955.

Alaska: Robert Hansen

Born in Iowa, Hansen moved to Alaska to set up a bakery after serving time for arson and being diagnosed with several mental health disorders. He brought his criminal impulses with him, eventually abducting, assaulting, and murdering numerous women starting in 1972. In 1983, Cindy Paulson was abducted but managed to escape, which later led to Hansen’s arrest. During the investigation, it was discovered he’d been kidnapping women, taking them to a remote cabin, assaulting them, and often releasing them to hunt them in the wilderness. After pleading guilty to four murders, Hansen made a deal to lessen his sentence by showing the authorities 17 graves. However, it’s expected he might’ve taken many more lives. Hansen received 461 years in prison before dying in 2014.

Arizona: Mark Goudeau

In 2006, Phoenix, Arizona, was in a state of fear as the “Baseline Killer” was taking lives. Most of the murder victims were found near Baseline Road, hence the moniker. The killer had taken nine lives and had committed various assaults and robberies, too. DNA evidence taken from the victims matched another case involving Goudeau assaulting two sisters in 2005. The construction worker, who was born in the city, was soon arrested. His wife stated he was innocent, despite Goudeau’s previous conviction for violent assault. In 2011, Goudeau was found guilty of all nine murders and many other charges, earning him the death penalty nine times over and 1,762 years in jail.

Arkansas: Freddrick Jackson

Even as a child, Jackson was known to the cops in Little Rock, Arkansas. After all, on top of several violent episodes, theft, and possessing illegal substances that earned him probation, his uncle was fatally shot by the police and his pregnant mother was murdered. In 2020, Jackson began his spree. By 2022, he’d taken the lives of four people when he was aged 15 to 17 years old. After being arrested, Jackson pleaded guilty to the murders, earning him 50 years in jail. However, due to being a minor when the killings were committed, instead of needing to serve 70% of the sentence before parole, he’ll become eligible after 25 years.

California: Edmund Kemper

Many serial killers harmed animals as children, and Kemper fit that profile. After a dysfunctional upbringing, in 1963 he went to live with his grandparents in the state of his birth, California. The next year, the 15-year-old took their lives, earning him five years in a state hospital for mentally ill criminals. Yet Kemper had a high IQ and an imposing size, which combined to make him a serious threat. In 1972 and 1973, he morphed into the “Co-ed Killer,” murdering six female students who were hitchhiking. Then, after taking the lives of his mother and her friend, Kemper handed himself in to the police. Including his grandparents, he’d taken 10 lives. While he requested execution, Kemper was sentenced to eight concurrent life sentences.

Colorado: Scott Lee Kimball

After a troubled childhood and being the victim of abuse, Kimball began committing fraud and other crimes in his home state of Colorado and other nearby areas. He was sent to jail and while there, Kimball became an FBI informant, earning a paycheck for telling the authorities about what other inmates may have been up to. Following his release in 2002, Kimball moved on to murder, most of which took place as he was operating as an informant. Between 2003 and 2004, on top of allegedly attempting to kill his own son, Kimball took the lives of at least four people. In 2006, after he was arrested for fraud, his murders came to light. In 2009, Kimball was sentenced to 70 years in jail.

Connecticut: Michael Bruce Ross

In 2005, Ross became the first person since Joseph Taborsky in 1960 to be executed in Connecticut. After graduating from college and working in insurance, Ross began his killing spree in New York and his home state of Connecticut. Between 1981 and 1984, he took the lives of at least eight women and girls, most of whom he assaulted, too. While awaiting his sentence, the killer nicknamed “The Roadside Strangler” found religion inside. He spent years fighting his fatal punishment but in his final months welcomed it. After the execution, a psychiatrist who fought for Ross not being competent enough to waive appeals received a posthumous letter from the killer stating, “Check, and mate. You never had a chance!”

Delaware: Steven Brian Pennell

At the current time, Pennell has the distinct dishonor of being Delaware’s only recognized modern serial killer. Known as “The Route 40 Killer” due to most of his victims being taken from that highway, Pennell targeted women between 1987 and 1988 within his home state. The police sent an officer undercover on his hunting grounds, eventually coming into contact with Pennell when he tried to pick her up in his car. Following the jury’s verdict, the Delaware native fired his lawyer and represented himself. Instead of fighting the prosecution, Pennell requested capital punishment, which was granted. He was convicted by jury of two murders and pleaded no contest to two more. In 1992, Pennell’s execution was carried out.

Bonus - District of Columbia: John Allen Muhammad & Lee Boyd Malvo

While not technically a state, instead being a federal district, we couldn't ignore the nation’s capital. In 2002, US Army veteran Muhammad and his teenage accomplice, Malvo, began their killing spree. Over the space of several months, the duo, usually with a sniper rifle, fatally shot people in D.C. and many other states, including Virginia, Washington, and Maryland. During their rampage, 17 people were murdered and 10 were injured. Following several trials across various states, Muhammad was sentenced to death, which was enacted in 2009. Malvo received 10 consecutive life sentences without parole. However, due to being a minor at the time of the killings, his convictions have been reduced in recent years.

Florida: Aileen Wuornos

After an abusive upbringing in Michigan, Wuornos became a sex worker, eventually moving to Florida. After committing several crimes, she moved on to killing in 1989. Wuornos would execute her male clients and then rob them. Nearly exactly a year after her spree began, she’d taken the lives of seven men. Originally, Wuornos claimed it was self-defense after being assaulted by the victims. However, she later changed her motives to desiring to steal from them and leave no witnesses. Yet when speaking to documentarian Nick Broomfield later, Wuornos changed to self-defense again. She was sentenced to death for her crimes. In prison, Wuornos found religion and stated she deserved capital punishment as she rejected appeals. The sentence was carried out in 2002.

Georgia: Paul John Knowles

In 1974, Knowles escaped from jail after being arrested for attacking someone in his home state of Florida. That night, he began his spree that led him to be labeled as “The Casanova Killer.” From July to November, Knowles robbed and took 18 lives in several States, including Nevada, Florida, and Georgia. In the latter, after committing two more murders, he got into a car chase with the police but was eventually arrested with help from an armed citizen. Some weeks later, while in a car with two officers, Knowles attempted to grab one of the cop’s weapons, leading to the other officer fatally shooting the killer. Knowles is known to have admitted to murdering up to 35 people, although many believe this is an exaggeration.

Hawaii: Eugene Barrett

Born in California and then relocated to Hawaii during childhood, Barrett would become the first identified serial killer in Hawaii. In 1959, the Army veteran was angry that his girlfriend had dumped him. So Barrett, who had an alcohol use disorder, took her life. While he was sentenced to life, he was mysteriously paroled by Hawaii Governor John A. Burns in 1967. He married, but in 1972, after his wife left him, Barrett killed her, too. He pled guilty and was handed a 10-year sentence, getting out by 1976. Some years later, Barrett became obsessed with his neighbor, leading him to admit himself into a psychiatric hospital. In 1995, shortly after his release, Barrett killed her, earning him life imprisonment before dying in 2003.

Idaho: Thomas Eugene Creech

After a life of crime, in 1974, Creech and his girlfriend, Carol Spaulding, were hitchhiking in Idaho when a car offered a ride. During the trip, he killed the two people who pulled over. After being accused of further murders, the Ohio native was arrested. During the trial, Creech claimed to have killed 42 people in various States as far back as 1966. However, many details didn’t always match up. Regardless, Creech was found guilty of four murders and received multiple life sentences. However, in 1981, he killed an inmate, earning him the death penalty. In 2024, Creech’s execution was halted due to issues with an intravenous line. While another date was set, a judge postponed it to allow Creech to legally challenge it.

Illinois: John Wayne Gacy

A pillar of his Illinois community, Gacy seemed on the surface to be a good person. After all, he owned his own business, participated in politics, and entertained children as a clown. Yet in reality, he was a monster. Between 1972 and 1978, Gacy lured boys and young men to his home, typically with the promise of work, only to assault and take their lives. However, after being seen with his last victim, the police eventually searched Gacy’s property to find human remains in the crawl space. In 1980, the Illinois native nicknamed the “Killer Clown” was found guilty of 33 counts of murder, earning him the death penalty. The sentence was carried out in 1994.

Indiana: Belle Gunness

Born in Norway, Gunness relocated to Illinois, where she got married. However, she seemed to have horrible luck. As well as her home and candy store burning down, Gunness’s husband perished. With the insurance money, she purchased a pig farm in Indiana. Yet still her string of bad luck continued as her next husband died mysteriously, earning her more cash. Strangely, several men who responded to Gunness’s marriage advertisements vanished after moving to the farm. In 1908, the truth was discovered when a fire destroyed her home. As well as the bodies of her three children and the remains of 11 people being found, so was a headless body purported to be Gunness. However, there’s speculation she faked her death.

Iowa: Gayno Smith

In 1962, Smith took three of his cousins to a nearby dance in Iowa. At the time, he was living with his uncle, aunt, and their children. Smith vanished for several hours, then returned and took his cousins back home. However, the kids found that the power was out, and as they searched, they discovered their mother and father’s bodies. Smith suddenly appeared with a firearm and fatally shot two, while the third escaped. She found a third sibling also killed but managed to get help. When Smith was arrested, he admitted to taking his family’s lives, as well as his stepmother’s, who vanished in 1961, taking his victim count to six. No known motive was discovered, and he was sentenced to life in jail.

Kansas: Dennis Rader

From 1974 to 1979, a serial killer known as BTK was terrorizing Kansas. However, while the police believed the case to be cold, the killer continued his fatal crimes until 1991. In 2004, local newspaper The Wichita Eagle published an article on the case. Shortly after, the paper and TV station KAKE began getting letters from BTK. However, the killer wanted to send a floppy disc of his writings. So he asked the police if it could be traced. They told him it was fine. Unfortunately for him, the metadata showed it was created in a church, and by its council president, Rader, who was arrested. The Kansas native pled guilty to 10 counts of murder, earning him 10 consecutive life sentences.

Kentucky: Donald Harvey

After an abusive childhood in Ohio, Harvey seemingly found his feet working as an orderly in a Kentucky hospital. However, in 1970, after getting angry at a patient, he took their life. For the next 17 years, Harvey worked at several medical facilities in Kentucky and Ohio. While he claimed he killed them to end their suffering, the orderly admitted that sometimes it was from anger. Harvey also murdered those close to him who weren’t ill. It came to an end in 1987 when an autopsy of one of Harvey’s victims showed cyanide in his system. He pleaded guilty to 37 murders, earning him multiple life sentences as he confessed to at least 50 killings. In 2017, Harvey was murdered by a fellow inmate.

Louisiana: Derrick Todd Lee

From 1998 to 2003, Louisiana experienced a murder spree by “The Baton Rouge Serial Killer,” who attacked in the city and nearby areas. Time was wasted when a profile and eyewitnesses pointed towards a White man. In reality, Lee, who was Black, was behind the violent crimes. After one victim survived and managed to get a description to a sketch artist, another police station realized the similarities to Lee, whom they'd previously arrested. DNA samples from the murders matched his sample from his arrest. In 2004, while he was found guilty of two murders, Lee had been tied to other incidents since 1992, bringing his count to over seven. Lee died in 2016 before he could be executed.

Maine: Arthur Shawcross

Despite committing his violent crimes in New York, earning him the moniker of the “Genesee River Killer,” Shawcross was born in Maine before his family moved. In 1972, he claimed his first victims after assaulting them, earning him a maximum of 25 years in jail. By 1987, Shawcross was released and began his rampage. From 1988 to 1989, he took the lives of 12 more people. However, the last one would lead to Shawcross’s downfall. After the body was discovered in early 1990 by the police, the killer was seen by aerial surveillance watching the event while on a nearby bridge. In 1991, Shawcross was found guilty of 10 murders, earning him a combined 250 years in jail. In 2008, he passed away.

Maryland: Joseph Metheny

Every so often, on social media, the infamous image of Metheny appears to creep out everyone who sees it. Born and raised in Maryland, he said he became hooked on illegal substances following his stint in the Army. Metheny used his imposing size to his advantage against his victims. In 1996, he contacted a friend to help him dispose of a body he’d been hiding. However, the friend went to the cops. After his arrest, while Metheny did show evidence of one additional murder, he confessed to several more. He even claimed to sell remains to unsuspecting restaurants. Metheny was sentenced for two murders, earning him life imprisonment, but he claimed he’d taken up to 13 lives. In 2017, he died in jail.

Massachusetts: Jane Toppan

Typically, killer medical staff are known as “angels of mercy,” who take patients’ lives to end their suffering. However, Toppan seemed to have found a more intimate connection with her killing. Born and living in Massachusetts, in the late 1800s she became a nurse at general hospitals before working privately for patients. Known as “Jolly Jane” to staff, Toppan would often administer lethal medications and poisons to patients and their families. A toxicology report from one victim led to Toppan’s arrest in 1901. She later admitted to taking 31 lives, but could only be tied to 12. After being declared not guilty by reason of insanity, she was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where she remained until her passing in 1938.

Michigan: Carl Watts

Following his parents’ split, Watts moved to Michigan. As a teenager, he attacked at least one woman. After spells in mental health facilities, Watts soon moved from attacking women to taking their lives in 1974 - although it’s speculated he started earlier. In 1982, after an attempted victim escaped, Watts was arrested and confessed to 13 murders in Texas adn Michigan. Due to a plea deal, he wasn’t charged with them but was sentenced to 60 years. In 2004, due to a technicality, Watts was nearing a possible release. After the police pleaded publicly for more information, Watts was then found guilty of two Michigan murders, earning him life inside before dying in 2007. Police think he may have killed dozens more.

Minnesota: Joseph Ture Jr.

From 1978 to 1980, police in Minnesota were desperately searching for a violent attacker and killer. During this time, he’d taken the lives of 6 people, including four from the same family during a robbery. In 1980, multiple women and teenagers went to the authorities to disclose their assaults by Ture, who they swiftly arrested. Born and living in Minnesota, he was sentenced to 30 years for the assaults. However, Ture was soon tied to one of the shocking murders. Over the years, Ture had been found guilty of the other remaining murders, including the family in 2000, earning him multiple life sentences.

Mississippi: Nathaniel Burkett

Switching between his birth state of Mississippi and Nevada, Burkett had a long criminal history. In 1978, after being found intoxicated near a murder scene in Las Vegas, he was sent away with no evidence to tie him to the deed. Five years later, Burkett was sentenced to 20 years after murdering his mother. Upon his release in 1992, he continued his violent crimes killing several people. One finally resulted in a conviction of manslaughter in 2003, but he was released in 2009. However, Burkett’s DNA was tested and matched the evidence from the 1978 murder. In 2018, after pleading guilty to two murders, he was given 10 years to life in prison, as it's believed he’d taken upwards of 5 lives. In 2021, Burkett passed away.

Missouri: John Edward Robinson

Sometimes, a person may appear to be a friendly grandpa but is actually responsible for horrific deeds. Case in point: Robinson. Born in Illinois, he was a Boy Scout before descending into crime, often into fraud. However, he showcased himself as a good, community person. Yet by 1984, he had moved on to murder. After being released in 1993 following a conviction for fraud, Robinson began using the internet. Under the alias “Slavemaster,” he frequented adult websites for victims, making him believed to be the first internet serial killer. After being accused of battery, the police investigated Robinson and found human remains on his property. By 2003, he had been found guilty of eight murders and sentenced to capital punishment.

Would you have selected a different serial killer for a particular state? Let us know below.