Murder Made Me Famous

Richard Speck always believed he would shock the world and make headlines. He did just that when he systematically tortured, raped, and murdered eight student nurses from South Chicago Community Hospital on the night of July 13–14, 1966. He craved the attention he felt deprived of as a child, and he, unfortunately, found it in the kindness of nurses. His personal life in shambles, Speck couldn't find employment and struggl...

The killer that brought New York City to its knees; David Berkowitz went on a yearlong murderous rampage killing six people in 1976. He mostly targeted long-haired brunettes, leading many women in New York City to cut and dye their hair blonde. Given up for adoption as an infant and bullied as a child, Berkowitz always felt unwanted and alone. After finally finding acceptance in a satanic cult, he decided to act on the rag...

It is one of the most famous cases of serial murder in American history. Albert DeSalvo wanted fame more than anything. He finally found it by striking fear into women - young and old. DeSalvo’s rape and murder spree took the lives of thirteen women between 1962 and 1964. Many of his victims were strangled to death by their own nylon stockings. During this time, no woman in Boston was safe and some even resorted to leaving...

Enjoy this sneak preview of CopyCat Killers! 

The Sopranos – Tony Soprano, the fictional New Jersey mob boss in HBO’s The Sopranos, could seemingly get away with anything, even the eight murders his character committed in the series. But for Riverside, CA residents, Jason Bautista and his half-brother Michael Montejo, one particular Sopranos episode inspired them to murder their mentally ill mother and dismember her in an ...

Notorious gangster Whitey Bulger was one of the most prominent figures in Boston’s organized crime scene. From 1975 to 1990, Bulger also served as an informant to the FBI and tipped off police of other crime families while simultaneously building his own crime network. Bulger spent 12 years on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for charges that included racketeering, extortion, conspiracy and 11 murders. Bulger was the...

He was a modern day Robin Hood, with a vicious bite. Pablo Escobar dreamed of being a millionaire as a small child and with ruthlessness and determination, he killed his way to the top, becoming the Columbian Cartel Kingpin of the 1970-80s. Escobar had a saying, “silver or lead,” meaning either you were with him and took the bribe or you were against him and you would die by bullets. He turned Columbia into the murder capi...

A mathematical prodigy and former professor at Cal Berkeley, Ted Kaczynski became widely known as the “Unabomber” after mailing bombs to universities and airlines between 1978 and 1995. After struggling at Berkeley, he decided to live a survivalist lifestyle in a cabin in Montana and adopted an anti-government and anti-technology philosophy. His bombing campaign resulted in the death of three people and injured 23 more. He...

He was the king of terrorism. On the FBI’s Most Wanted list for more than a decade, Bin Laden was the founder of Al Qaeda and crusaded for global jihad. The prime target of his attacks was the United States of America. The most tragic was the attack on the World Trade Center, in New York, September 11th, 2001 - yet another date that will live in infamy. Bin Laden orchestrated his plan with 19 militants used to hijack four ...

A former Texas music teacher and choir leader, Marshall Applewhite was the founder of the Heaven’s Gate, a religious group which organized the largest American mass suicide since Jonestown. Applewhite lured and brainwashed willing followers with promises that extraterrestrials would grant them new bodies for spiritual enlightenment. In 1985, Applewhite and his followers rented a mansion in San Diego and planned a mass suic...

Police officer turned killer, Laurie Bembenek, was convicted for the 1981 murder of her then husband’s ex-wife, Christine Schultz. Schultz’s home was broken into and she was gagged and blindfolded along with her sons. The cold-blooded killer then made the sons listen as she cruelly shot their mother dead. Bembenek claimed she was framed but the evidence was overwhelming. The murder weapon was her husband’s police revolver ...

Hitchhiking, sex worker, Aileen Wuornos garnered national attention after she was charged with murdering at least six different men in less than a year by shooting them at point-blank range. Wuornos’ sanity proved to be a challenge for prosecutors, but she confidently plead guilty to each charge made against her. She was executed by lethal injection in 2002. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for her portray of Wuornos in the mo...

The Canadian serial killer, alongside her husband Paul Bernardo, drugged, raped and murdered three women, including her own younger sister. While the world watched in shock as her sentencing unfolded, Karla struck a deal claiming that she had been an unwilling accomplice to her husband and walked away a free woman in 2005 after only serving 12 years in prison. In recent years, she was met with protesters trying to prevent ...

18-year-old Melissa Drexler attended high school in New Jersey where she was impregnated by her boyfriend in 1997. Ignoring her stomach cramps, Drexler arrived at her school’s Prom and gave birth to her son in a bathroom stall. The miraculous moment turned into murder when the teen suffocated the child, wrapping him in a plastic bag and discarding her baby in the trash. Drexler returned to the dance floor as if nothing hap...

From All-American to convicted murderer, Aaron Hernandez’ early career success as tight end for the New England Patriots was shockingly overshadowed by his violent life as a killer. Hernandez’ temper seemed to get the best of him in situations, and he was charged with the first-degree murder of friend Odin Lloyd and also indicted in connection with two drive-by murders in 2012. Without the possibility of parole on his life...

For three weeks in 2002, the streets of D.C. were terrorized as two men, 17 year-old Lee Boyd Malvo and 42 year-old John Muhammad, hunted random civilians in broad daylight with a rifle. The sniper attacks made national news and Americans became fearful that they could be the next victims. After training to be a marksman in the military, Muhammad recruited the help of friend Malvo to shoot 17 people from the trunk of his c...

Murder. Rape. Mutilation. August 1990. After 675 suspects and thousands of pieces of evidence, it all came down to one man: Danny Rolling. Three years after five brutal and disturbing murders in Gainesville, Florida, Danny Rolling is called to trial. He is accused of several counts of murder, rape, and burglary. But before Rolling can step foot into his trial he unexpectedly pleads guilty to each charge. His motive for the...

Although a seemingly average husband and father of two, Dennis Rader lived a double life as a serial killer who terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area from the 1970s to the ‘90s. In letters to police and local news outlets that detailed his murders, Rader would sign them as the BTK Killer. The acronym stood for: “Bind, Torture, Kill”. During all ten of his murders, Rader lived a normal working life and was an active member of...

The original “Killer Clown,” Gacy is widely thought to be the inspiration for the terrifying and nightmare inducing Stephen King character, Pennywise the Clown. Gacy’s death count totals 33 young men and teen boys, most of whom he buried in the crawl space under his home. An active member of his community, Gacy often dressed up as a clown to perform for charitable events and parties. He’d lure his victims to his house with...