serial killers aren't exactly known for making good decisions
but among their worst decisions is sending messages
messages from serial killers
are usually either to confess their crimes, or to taunt police
They give a chilling glimpse into the mind of a murderer and some of them might surprise you
while investigating Jack the Ripper, local police received hundreds of letters
Many of which from people claiming to be the murderer
Most letters were obviously fake
but some are thought to be genuine
The most famous was sent along with a human kidney it reads like this:
it was received by George Lusk, who was the head of a neighborhood watch
Dennis Rader was a setial killer known by his signature:
BTK
That's how he would sign off the many letters he sent to the police
it was these letters that eventually led to his capture and conviction on 10 murders
one of his letters read like this:
known as the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski killed several people with homemade bombs
he sent copies of his manifesto to newspapers and demanded they publish it
if the manifesto wasn't published, he would send bombs to more people
the manifesto was 35 thousand words long but here is a small segment
The Long Island serial killer has claimed 17 victims but still police have no idea who he is
after murdering Melissa Barthelemy, he contacted her younger sister with her phone
he asked if he was speaking to Melissa's sister and any calls her a
And then he called her a whore
in the coming weeks he would call several more times to engage in similar conversations
But he would never stay on the phone long enough for police to determine his location
as an unidentified serial killer he could be anywhere
In murdering 6 people, David Berkowitz came to be known as the Son of Sam
for a whole year he terrorized New York with his killing spree
After being arrested, he claimed to have been just obeying the orders of a demon
He said the demon had possessed his next door neighbor's dog and that's how they communicated.
he also claims to have been part of a satanic cult who helped him look for his victims
at crime scenes he would leave messages for police to
things like:
He is known to have enjoyed the media attention his messages received
last month a Bangladeshi man and his wife were found shot dead in California
their two sons were soon arrested for committing the murder
no one's really sure why they did it
But they left two messages at the crime scene
the first message read:
The second read:
it's a strange case
Darius Kotwica has been called Europe's first serial killer
He commit murder all across Europe, rather than in just one or two countries
He was recently caught after killing six people in six countries
and strangely he would carve messages into his victim's skin for police to discover
the messages told that he enjoys torturing people before they die
other messages told that he was forced to commit murder by voices in his head
much like David Berkowitz, he believed the voices were from an evil demon commanding him
some of the messages were just random words that don't make any sense when put together
there is an unidentified serial killer known as the original Night Stalker
He killed at least 10 and raped at least 50
in 1977 he wrote a series of letters to newspapers
in the letters were poems like this one:
The Zodiac killer took at least 5 lives but he claimed 37 victims
It was the late 1960's, and he sent 4 encrypted messages to local newspapers
only one of the messages has been solved and we can't be sure what the others say
the killer said that solving the messages would reveal his identity
but he's never been identified
This is how the deciphered letter starts and ends:
Eddie Seda was a copycat killer, who modelled himself on the zodiac
In the early 90s, he sent messages to local newspapers
in them he declared himself the Zodiac
and said he would kill 12 people
One for each zodiac symbol
in reality, he only managed to kill 3
he was arrested after attacking his own sister
and police recognized his handwriting from the letters