- (React) Today, we're going to explore
the most dangerous active serial killers.
- I'm sorry, active?
- Active?
- Active serial killers. They're still out there right now.
- I'm so excited.
- (Mikki) In winter of 2016, a young woman's body was found
burning in the alley. - Aw!
- Oh my God!
- (Mikki) In this area behind these homes.
One was found here, one was found a few blocks away.
A few blocks that way, and further south
might be where you find another story.
- (narrator) In November 2007, two women were found
strangled in burning dumpsters near Washington Park on the south side.
- Oh man!
- (narrator) They had been killed within 48 hours of one another.
Those cases, and at least four others we found
over a 10 year period were never solved.
- Burning them just gets rid of a lot of evidence too,
so it makes it so hard to track.
- (man) There have been far too many strangulation murders,
mostly of African American women, whose crimes went unsolved.
No arrest was made.
- (narrator) Unsolved murders aren't anything new in Chicago.
The city has solved less than 20% of its murders.
- Less than!?
- (Mikki) This isn't someone got shot.
- This is a hateful crime.
- (Mikki) They're literally stripped naked,
and stuffed in a garbage can, and then set on fire.
- Yeah, it's very premeditated.
- (Mikki) That seems really specific. - Yeah.
- (man) I believe that there are probably more than one serial killer
active in Chicago. - What?
(sighs)
- I hope he's not implying that those were different people who did that.
- You got like that specific,
and then what you're doing to the bodies after,
like, the mutilation with the fire and all that stuff.
That's more like race.
- Light these women on fire and put them in trash cans?
You obviously hate women.
- A lot of these murders, like okay, you shoot, they leave.
They took the time to like take their clothes off,
put them in a bin, light 'em on fire,
and it's in the same, they said it was like
two blocks away from each other within 48 hours.
- If there is enough of a pattern to where you can put it on TV,
that's enough of a pattern to be able to find who's doing it.
- (narrator) New York is where the serial killer preys on his victims
and this is where he dumps the bodies.
- Oh.
- Ugh.
- (narrator) Driftwood beaches of Long Island.
- Oh, it's Long Island.
They make a great iced tea.
- (narrator) With the discovery of bones, body parts,
and shallow graves.
- Oh my God!
- We don't even know for how long they've been doing it.
- (narrator) 11 bodies have been discovered.
- 11!
- (narrator) Victims of this serial killer
that's been dubbed the Long Island Ripper.
- Oh my God, of course, all women.
- (narrator) Melissa advertised her services on Craigslist.
- Not the Craigslist.
- You can't trust people from Craigslist.
- (narrator) This is how the Long Island Ripper
found his victims, who were all escorts.
- The amount of people that have died
just through Craigslist alone.
- As if it's not hard enough for sex workers.
- (narrator) After the killer had dumped Melissa's body,
he kept a souvenir. - Huh.
- (narrator) Her mobile phone.
He went through her contact list, found her sister's number,
and started calling her. - What?
- Oh my God, did they go through their phone,
and kill people from their numbers?
- Imagine like your sister's killer calling you?
- (sister) I hear a man's voice, and I just like,
my whole body like shut down, like I was just...
- Oh my goodness. - (sister) In shock.
- (narrator) As police continue to search the area for more bodies,
the Long Island Ripper is still out there.
- That is terrifying.
- So we'll just wait for someone else to die,
and then hopefully we'll get him.
- They should've been able to find him from the phone.
Maybe it's the police chief.
- They have a leg up, because we know he goes for prostitutes.
- They prey on these women who are, they know,
gonna be by themselves.
- When they target this sort of things,
it's like, there's been something with a female figure in their life.
- At this point, with how much technology it is that we have,
there's got to be some sort of paper trail at this point.
- (narrator) The shocking story of Hercules.
- Okay, wait a minute. It's those...
- Not the stock photos.
- Can we get some better stock footage?
- (narrator) Starts on January 24th, 2019, when it was reported
that in a paddy field in the Jhalokati District of Bangladesh,
laid a body. - Ooh.
- (narrator) The strangest part of the scene
was the note tied around his neck.
The note read I am Sajal, I am a [censored],
signed Hercules.
(Haley gasps)
- This is a vigilante type of situation.
- Okay Dexter, I see you.
- (narrator) Roughly two weeks earlier,
a teenage girl had allegedly been attacked,
and forced into sex by Sajal and his friend Rakib.
- Oh my God.
- (narrator) Some investigators had the realization
that this killing bore a striking resemblance
to a man named Ripon, who was a key suspect
in the [censored] and murder of an 18 year old garment factory worker
who was found dead in her house only hours after reporting
her [censored] to police.
- Well, that's not good.
- (narrator) Was found dead on January 17th.
- Wait.
- (narrator) With a note around his neck
matching almost word for word that of Sajal's.
- Damn.
- (narrator) By now, police had come to the obvious conclusion
that these murders were done by the same perpetrator.
- I love it, I love it. - (narrator) A vigilante of sorts.
- You think you're entitled to someone else's body,
okay, then they're entitled to your body.
- (narrator) Despite his celebrated role as seen by the community,
the National Police Force initiated a nationwide hunt.
- Mmm, nationwide for the vigilante.
- (narrator) In an effort to track down the vigilante killer.
- It's most likely gonna happen in prison anyways.
I don't condone murder,
but they were already dead the second they did it.
- (narrator) Whoever Hercules really is,
he hasn't been caught to this day.
- I hope Hercules is out there.
- Mm, they'll hate me, 'cause I'm like never catch him.
- That's one of those ones that's real conflicting. (laughs)
- The government itself puts people in Death Row,
so this is just like a step ahead.
- I feel like there are a lot of people out there
who wanna take things into their own hands.
The thing is, as much as we wanna trust the justice system,
it has a process.
- There is something wrong with this guy,
to be able to kill people, even if they're bad.
Maybe he already had those feelings inside of him.
- (narrator) In this region. - Uh oh.
- (narrator) There exists acres of land.
- Oh.
- (narrator) That have gruesomely been dubbed
the Texas Killing Fields. - Houston.
- (narrator) The bodies of 30 murder victims...
- 30!? - (narrator) Have been found,
cruelly discarded in them.
- Why is it always just women?
- (narrator) This infamous patch of land
was the final resting place of four victims.
- Jesus.
- (narrator) The bodies of two missing teenagers.
- Not teenagers!
- (narrator) 15 year olds Maria Johnson and Debbie Ackerman.
A former classmate reported seeing them talking to a man.
- Crazy.
- (narrator) That was driving a white van.
- Aw, not the white van!
- Don't ever talk to anybody in a white van.
- And it's always, of course, a sketchy van.
- (narrator) It was the last time anyone would see them alive again.
- Aw!
- (narrator) Police reports state that the killer had unlocked a gate
that prevented access to an old, unpaved road.
- Oh my goodness.
- (narrator) He then drove his van down this road,
and parked it near an old wooden bridge.
- Oh.
- (narrator) Where he either carried forcibly marched the girls onto it.
- How do they not get caught?
- (narrator) It is known that the killer had
a .38 caliber pistol on him.
The pair were then forced into the waist deep water at gunpoint.
Murders or disappearances that occur in this area
are most likely doomed to remain unsolved for years.
- That looks like such a scary street. (laughs)
If you live there, move.
- How do you have that much information,
and we still don't have a lead?
- The families are never gonna get peace for what happened.
- Us being in L.A.,
it's like how could someone get away with that?
Places like that, where it's so secluded,
and you can hide anywhere between where you are leaving these bodies.
- (narrator) Since 2008, nearly 200 people have died.
- No!
- (narrator) In the canals, rivers, and waterways
around Greater Manchester.
Most of them ruled suicides or tragic accidents,
but many people feel it's the work of a serial killer.
A person stalking the canals of an evening.
Student David Plunkett was found dead in the Manchester Ship Canal.
The coroner ruled it was an accident,
but his parents strongly disagree, as they heard screaming and howling
in the last phone call he made before his death.
(Haley gasps)
- There's only so many people who can die in that river
before it's like come on, dude.
- (narrator) Nathan Tomlinson, age 21 was found dead in the River Irwell.
- It looks like they're all like really young men.
- (narrator) She also believes her son's death was suspicious,
as his coat, phone, passport, and wallet were all missing.
- Yeah, that is a little suspicious.
- (narrator) Souvik Pal, 18. - That's so sad.
- (narrator) Body was found by police divers in the Bridgewater Canal.
Souvik's father, Santanu, said police should investigate.
- Aw.
- (narrator) The possibility that his son and others
were the victim of a serial killer.
- Obviously, you should.
- (narrator) The police, carrying out a review of all the cases.
He's still stood by that claim that it's more than just an accident.
- And that's why you have people like Hercules.
- Maybe it's a known spot for people to have taken their lives there.
Killers, if they know about that, too,
they'll take advantage of something like that.
- This is not normal.
There are other canals and rivers and [censored]
where this is not happening.
- (narrator) The Little Rock Slasher.
These murderous crimes involve the use of a knife,
brutal excessive stabbing, and the targeting of victims
in the early morning hours.
This unidentified serial killer's first known murder
occurred in the early morning hours of August 24th, 2020,
in Little Rock, Arkansas. - Okay.
- (narrator) Larry McChristian, age 64,
was discovered by a member of the public,
found deceased in someone's yard.
The unknown killer had murdered Larry with a knife.
- Aw. - (narrator) And upon stabbing him,
police would reveal that the killer had returned to his body,
proceeding to stab him even more, as he laid dying on the ground.
- To stab him that many times, that's anger.
- (narrator) Just under a month later, on September 21st of 2020,
another seemingly random murder scene would be discovered.
It was in the early morning hours that a friend of the victim
would call police to state they'd come across his friend
deceased in front of his own house.
- See, that's just why it's scary to even go outside,
to take out your garbage, like you don't even know.
- (narrator) The use of knives for crimes, especially like these,
is extremely rare in Arkansas,
let alone in the United States.
Most homicides tend to involve the use of firearms.
- Mm-hmm.
- (narrator) It would seem that the Little Rock Slasher
was going out in the early morning hours
to troll for victims, and he wasn't going to halt any time soon.
- That's personal,
when you have to get that close to someone to kill them.
- (narrator) 2021 would roll around, and police would be no closer
to figuring out who their killer was.
The two previous murders bore similarities,
but it would not be until the attempted murder of Debra Walker...
- Oh!
- (narrator) That police would have to come to the reality
that this crime was linked to the two unsolved cases.
Debra Walker was ambushed in the early morning hours.
- Jesus.
- (narrator) By a black male who having approached her,
just began stabbing her repeatedly.
All the crimes were now connected.
- This is wild.
- (narrator) ...took place in a relatively small area of Little Rock.
- Mm-hmm.
- (narrator) Residents were, and still are on high alert,
and going out in the early morning hours is not advisable,
given the active serial killer threat.
Based on the crimes, it is guaranteed
that the Little Rock Slasher is comfortable with the area,
and knows the streets well.
He's thought to live and/or work in the community,
and reward money is still being offered for information
leading to his arrest and conviction.
- Yeah, they're definitely a local.
- It's always, oh, it's gotta be a drifter.
It's gotta be someone from out of town,
and no one wants to believe that it's someone living amongst them
in their community.
- When we were talking about the person who would
throw people in a dumpster and burn them,
that's a portion of the sense of control that people get
from taking people's lives,
or taking things away from other people.
- If he is black, and all the victims are white,
we have the same as the previous crime, just reversed.
- It's just terrifying to know that there are people who are just,
who are specifically out,
ready to take someone's life at any given time.
- I don't know what the [censored] happened to you as a kid,
you know what I mean?
And you're taking it out repetitively,
so you either get a high from it, or some sort of satisfaction.
- They don't always look like that creepy guy walking past you
who gives you a bad feeling.
They look normal, a lot of the time.
- It doesn't always have to be somebody that's unwell,
like, somebody could be of perfectly sane mind,
and just wanting to do something like this,
'cause they're just sick.
- Thanks for watching this episode.
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- And leave a comment with any true crime topics
you want to hear about next.
- Bye guys! - Bye!
- Bye!