Nothing is more terrifying than a horrific unsolved murder and the possibility that the
perpetrator is still at large, free and waiting to strike again.
While conviction rates have improved dramatically in the last few decades, thanks to improvements
in police forensic techniques and tools, there remain an unsettling number of truly chilling
unsolved cases that haunt the communities affected, as neighbor watches neighbor, knowing
there's a possibility a killer lives amongst them.
Welcome to this episode of The Infographics Show- top ten most heinous unsolved murders.
At number 10 is the women of Ciudad Juarez.
Ciudad Juarez- or Juarez City- is a Mexican border town known for its extreme drug-trafficking
related violence, with the US State Department warning Americans to steer clear at all costs.
Yet for the last three decades, someone has been killing the women of Juarez, and seems
to have absolutely no connection to cartel violence.
Specifically targeting young, slim, brunettes with big eyes, anywhere from 260 to over 400
women have been raped, tortured, and killed since 1993, their bodies further mutilated
after death, and discarded in ditches, fields, or even on roadways in plain public sight.
Despite the obvious danger, young women continue to come to Ciudad Juarez, lured by employment
opportunities in a growing industrial sector that aren't available at home.
In November 2017, two bus drivers were arrested and confessed to the rape, torture, and murder
of 8 new victims, but later it was suspected that their confessions were coerced under
torture by a frustrated police force.
Whether the bus drivers were guilty or not, their arrest did not stop the killing, with
two more victims discovered while the men awaited trial in jail.
Mexican authorities remain convinced that the killings are not related to cartel violence,
but are completely stumped as to the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, the head of the FBI office across the border in El Paso warns that there is
a real possibility the killings are the responsibility of an American serial killer, drawn to the
area due to the known ineffectiveness of local Mexican police.
At number 9 is a Hollywood legend and cautionary tale to young starlets everywhere: the murder
of the Black Dahlia.
On the morning of January 15,1947, a mother walking with her child in a Los Angeles neighborhood
stumbled upon what she thought was at first a discarded mannequin, but upon closer inspection
realized to her horror that it was the nude and dismembered body of young 22 year old
Hollywood hopeful Elizabeth Short.
The young actress had apparently been tied up and tortured for days before finally being
killed.
The killer then cut her body neatly in half along the waist and drained it of all blood,
carefully laying it down on an abandoned lot and posing it with arms raised over the shoulders
and legs splayed in a lurid, seductive pose.
Her mouth had also been sliced open from ear to ear to extend her smile.
Due to the precise and nearly surgical nature of the way the body had been cut and exsanguinated,
police immediately conducted interviews with medical students at the University of Southern
California Medical School but found no suspect.
Weeks later the police received an anonymous letter possibly sent by the killer, but were
unable to match the fingerprints with anything in the FBI's files.
At number 8 is the haunting murder of JonBenet Ramsey.
On December 26th, 1996, John Ramsey found his 6 year old daughter dead in the basement
of his Boulder, Colorado home.
Just eight hours prior, his wife had found a ransom note demanding $118,000 in cash for
their daughter's safe return, though the kidnappers never contacted the couple again.
With no kidnappers trying to collect a ransom, the entire family was under suspicion for
murder of the six year old beauty pageant queen, with John Ramsey's two adult children
from a previous marriage the first to be cleared of suspicion.
The police then shifted their focus to her 9 year old brother Burke, and then to John
Ramsey and his wife Patsy.
Three years later, at age 12, Burke was questioned by a grand jury but not charged, and in 2006,
John Mark Karr was arrested on suspicion of murdering JonBenet, only to have the case
dropped when DNA proved he could not have been at the crime scene.
John and his now-dead wife Patsy were finally cleared of suspicion after new DNA evidence
was discovered, pointing to a mysterious and unknown third party.
Though John Ramsey maintains hope that the killer will be brought to justice, there seems
to be little chance that that will actually happen.
At number 7 is a baffling case from Vancouver, British Columbia.
Since August 2007, a total of fourteen human feet have washed ashore, still stuffed into
the sneakers the individuals were wearing at the time of death.
While DNA tests matched some of the feet to missing people with mental health issues,
the other feet have yet to be identified, and no killer or motive is apparent.
While some have proposed natural explanations, such as the feet belonging to drowning victims,
it's mysterious that the feet only began to appear in 2007 and have not stopped yet.
Number 6 is a classic American crime story- the double-murder of Nicole Brown and Ron
Goldman.
On June 12, 1994, American football player OJ Simpson alleged that he came home to discover
his wife and her lover dead.
While most Americans remain extremely suspicious of Simpson's guilt, and with large amounts
of circumstantial evidence all piled up against him, Simpson was eventually found not guilty
of the murder- though a civil suit filed by Nicole Simpson's family would find him guilty,
and Simpson would go on to release a book entitled “If I Did It”.
Despite these developments, the criminal matter remains technically unsolved.
One of the most famous authors in American history, Edgar Allan Poe's death, is our number
five unsolved mystery.
Leaving New York City late in 1849, and bound for Richmond, Virginia, Poe would only make
it as far as Baltimore, where a passerby noticed Poe delirious and incoherent outside of a
bar on October 3rd.
Taken to a nearby hospital, Poe would be dead within four days, with the official cause
listed as “congestion of the brain”- a euphemism of that age for alcohol poisoning.
Accepted at the time as a valid explanation, scholars in later years would discover that
the rumors of his drug and alcohol abuse were greatly exaggerated by vindictive literary
critics hoping to discredit the talented author.
While some historians believe he may have suffered from rabies, cholera, or even syphilis,
others believe that Poe may have fallen victim to a practice known as “cooping”, wherein
corrupt politicians paid thugs to kidnap homeless men, drug them, disguise them, and then drag
them to polls all over the city or state- possibly explaining why Poe was headed for
Richmond, but only made it as far as Baltimore, and wearing clothes that weren't his.
At number four is a truly terrifying crime- the Tylenol murders of 1982.
When buying medicine, the last thing you expect is for it to make you feel worse, let alone
kill you- yet that's exactly what happened to seven individuals who ingested potassium
cyanide-laced tylenol capsules.
No killer was ever discovered, and in later years, more people would die from copycat
crimes- ultimately leading to major industry reforms in package anti-tampering devices
and laws both.
While no one was officially charged with the murders, New York City resident James William
Lewis was considered a prime suspect and convicted of extortion after sending a letter to Tylenol
manufacturer Johnson & Johnson, taking credit for the deaths and demanding $1 million to
stop them.
At number three is the murder of American hip-hop legend Tupac Shakur.
On November 30th, 1994, Tupac was shot a total of five times, three times in the chest and
twice in the head- but survived.
The rapper immediately pointed a finger at several New York rappers, including Sean Combs
and the Notorious B.I.G., as responsible for the murder attempt.
This would lead to the further escalating of an already explosive east-coast-west-coast
rivalry that spread violence throughout the hip-hop community.
On September 7th, 1996, as Tupac Shakur left a boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas,
a white Cadillac pulled up alongside his vehicle and shot the rapper multiple times.
Rushed to a hospital, Shakur would die six days later of internal bleeding.
The Notorious B.I.G. and Sean Combs were immediately suspected of having orchestrated the murder,
but suspicion also spread to Tupac's own manager and notorious hip-hop producer Suge Knight.
In the end, the case remains unsolved, with some fans believing the rapper faked his own
death and still produces music somewhere in secret.
“I like killing people because it is so much fun”.- so begins one of several encrypted
letters to San francisco newspapers by a man calling himself the Zodiac.
At the number 2 spot, the Zodiac killer's story is by now the stuff of American crime
legend, and several films have been produced following the 1969 murder spree that terrorized
Bay Area residents.
Starting on December 20th, 1968, with the murder of a couple shot to death in their
car as they parked on lover's lane, the killer would strike again over the next ten months
killing a total of five- though there are strong possibilities he killed even more.
What made the Zodiac's murder spree so fascinating though were the enigmatic and coded letters
he sent to newspapers, teasing at his motives and identity.
Though the investigation would go on for years, and several suspects were considered, the
Zodiac was never caught and remains at large.
And finally, at number 1, is the single most haunting unsolved crime in all of history-
the murder spree of Jack the Ripper.
Between August 7th and November 10th 1888, a total of five prostitutes were killed in
the Whitechapel district of London's east end.
The victims all had their throats slashed and bodies mutilated, some with body parts
or internal organs missing, including one victim whose kidney was mailed to the police,
along with a series of notes taunting investigators, and signed by someone calling themselves 'the
Ripper'.
Though three suspects were identified early in the investigation, the search for the ripper's
real identity ultimately proved fruitless, and nobody was ever charged with the murders.
Terrified Londoners became so outraged at the police's failure to apprehend the killer,
that both the home secretary and London police commissioner would end up resigning in disgrace.
When we're kids, we believe in monsters, until we grow up enough to learn that monsters don't
really exist nor are they lurking under your bed waiting to eat you.
Yet as these top ten unsolved murders all show, monsters may be more real than we would
like to believe, and a great deal of them all remain at large, waiting for their next
victim.
So, which of these heinous unsolved murders do you think is the most chilling?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called 50 Insane World War 2 Facts That Will
Shock You!
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