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20 Scariest Los Angeles Serial Killers and Murderers

Los Angeles is a city that is usually known for having great views and sunshine also has a darker side with serial killers having terrorised the area for quite a long time. The city has had a string of serial killers that started as early as 1999s and left an irreparable impact on the residents of the area. Therefore, in this article, we are going to explore the twenty scariest serial killers that have terrorised Los Angeles to give the reader insight into how the city was plagued by dangerous people. The article will also be a good read for true crime enthusiasts who want to explore serial killers who operate in different parts of the country.

1 Richard Ramirez

A mug shot of serial killer Richard Ramirez. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Popularly known as the Night Stalker, Richard Ramirez, was a serial killer who was active in the mid-1980s in Los Angeles.  The serial killer committed a number of crimes ranging from burglaries, murder and sexual assaults during this time.  Ramirez did not have a particular type of people that he chose as his victims and instead picked victims at random which made him dangerous and unpredictable. He would break into the homes of his victims and assault them before killing them. Ramirez would then proceed and leave pentagrams on the crime scenes before disappearing. He was finally apprehended in 1995 and charged with 13 counts of murder, 11 counts of sexual assault and 5 counts of attempted murder.  He was found guilty and sentenced to death but he died while on death row in 2013.

2 Lawrence Bittaker

The serial killer went on a six-month murder spree together with his accomplice Roy Norris and caused a lot of damage in the Los Angeles area in 1979. During the six months that the duo were active, they killed five young women with their first victim being a sixteen-year-old girl named Lucinda Lyn Schaefer. The duo would lure girls into their van and proceed to torture them with their toolbox which had a series of instruments. The two criminals went further and even recorded their actions. They were finally apprehended and Lawrence was sentenced to death for the murders.

3 Gordon Northcott

A mugshot of serial killer Gordon Nothcott. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The serial killer was active in Los Angeles County in the 1920s. Gordon who was originally from Canada would kidnap young boys from neighbouring towns and sexually assault them before proceeding to kill them by cutting them with an axe and dissolving their bodies using quick lime to get rid of the evidence. He was finally arrested when his cousin who had been living in the property alerted the police of what his cousin had been up to. He was charged and convicted on three counts of murder but his victim count is said to be higher than that.

4 Angelo Bueno Jr.

The serial killer was active in 1the 1970s. Together with his cousin, Kenneth Bianchi, the duo killed at least a dozen women on their murderous rampage. Operating in the Los Angeles area, the two became known as the Hillside Strangler because they dumped the bodies of their victims in Highland Park. Angelo and his cousin would pose as police officers and abduct their victims when they stopped. They would then proceed to torture them by using methods like electric shock and poisoning their victims until they died. The duo was finally arrested in Washington state and they were sentenced to life in prison for their crimes.

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5 Lonnie Franklin Jr.

A mugshot of the Grim Sleeper. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The serial killer who was dubbed the Grim Sleeper by the Los Angeles press was active in Los Angeles in the 1980s. During this time it was believed that he killed more than 25 women and he mostly targeted vulnerable people like sex workers and homeless people as it was not easy for them to be noticed as missing. He went dormant in the 1990s hence the nickname and it was not until 2010 that DNA evidence linked him to 10 murders. When his home was searched, more photos of different victims suggested that his victim count was higher than that. He was convicted on ten counts of murder and sentenced to death.  He is currently on death row in San Quentin prison.

6 Charles Manson

A mugshot of Charles Manson. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The cult leader who had several followers is responsible for the death of nine people in different parts of the Los Angeles area.  He also orchestrated a series of other murders that were carried out by his goons including the murder of Actress Sharon Tate. The brutality that is associated with his family terrified Los Angeles residents after his dealings were revealed. He was imprisoned but he died serving time at the San Quentin prison.

7 Wiliam Bonin

A mugshot of William Bonin. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Also known as the Freeway Killer, William Bonin was a serial killer active in the Los Angeles area in the 1970s. The serial killer would target adolescent boys and young men who were hitchhiking kidnap them and then proceed to bind them and sexually assault them before killing them. His modus operandi involved strangling his victims either with a cord or their t-shirts. He was arrested in 1980 and convicted on 14 counts of murder but he later confessed to an additional 7 murders. He was sentenced to death and executed by lethal injection in 1996.

8 Chester Dwayne Turner

The killer was popularly known as the Southside Slayer. He was active in the 1980s and 1990s and his crimes went on for so long as there were many serial killers during this time in the Los Angeles area which made it hard to believe that a janitor was loose on a murder rampage. A man known as David Allen Jones was even wrongly incarcerated while Turner went free allowing him to kill more women. He was finally linked to the murders after he was arrested on sexual assault charges and DNA evidence linked him to the crimes. He was charged with several counts of murder and sentenced to death.

9 Harvey Glatman

The serial killer who was active in the Los Angeles area in 1957 and 1958 was popularly known as the Lonely Hearts Killer. The killer moved to Los Angeles in 1957 and started killing in the next year. In a span of two years, Harvey had killed at least three women. He would target models as his victims and he would lure them to his car and then proceed to kidnap them. The serial killer took pictures of his victims before killing them. He was finally apprehended and sentenced to death in 1959 where he was later executed in San Quentin prison.

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10 Rodney Alcala

The serial killer was active in the Los Angeles area in the 1970s. The serial killer was featured on a television show that was known as The Dating Game in 1972 while he had been convicted for the assault of an 8-year-old girl. This is quite bizarre as a criminal entered a show without being detected. He also went on a murder spree during the time that he was on the show. Before joining the show, he had killed four other victims. He was finally arrested and sentenced to death. When police searched his house, they found many other photographs which suggests that his victim count was higher than what he was charged with.

11 Timothy Joseph McGhee

Timothy McGhee. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Timothy McGhee was a gang leader who resided in the northeast part of Los Angeles. He was convicted for the murder of three victims that happened between 1997 and 2001. The serial killer is said to have loved bragging about how he loved killing and his hate for the police. When he was put on trial before a jury in 2007, the gang leader was found guilty of three counts of murder and 4 counts of attempted murder with two of the victims being police officers.

12 Daniel Douglas Clark

The serial killer together with his accomplice Carol Mary Bundy were popularly known as the Sunset Strip Killers. The duo terrorised the Los Angeles area in 1980. In a span of three months from June to August, the pair had killed more than six victims. They would target sex workers and homeless girls by luring them into their homes with the promise of money in exchange for sex. Daniel would then kill the girl while having sex with them with Mary Bundy helping him. He would then proceed to decapitate their bodies and keep the chopped head of the victim as a memento. Daniel Clark was finally arrested on August 12, 1980, and charged with six counts of murder while his partner Mary was charged with two. Clark was sentenced to life in prison while Mary was sentenced to fifty-two years to life imprisonment.

13 Skid Row Stabber

The skid row stabber was responsible for the death of 10 homeless men in the Los Angeles area. The real identity behind the Skid Row Stabber was never discovered but in 1984, Bobby Joe Maxwell was convicted of the two murders associated with the Skid Row Stabber. However, his sentence was later overturned in 20q8 after it was discovered that the witness who testified against Maxwell was a habitual liar and his testimony might not have been true.

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14 Michael Hughes

A mugshot of Michael Hughes. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The serial killer was active in Los Angeles and he is also believed to have been active in other states like Michigan and Maryland. His crimes spanned from 1986 to 1993 and during this time, his victim count was more than seven. The killer’s modus operandi involved the strangulation of his victims. He was first sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his four victims but DNA evidence linked him to four other murders that had happened in Los Angeles between the period that he was active. His sentence was then reviewed and he was given the death penalty. He is now on death row awaiting execution in San Quentin prison.

15 Ted Bundy

Ted Bundy is one of the most notorious serial killers in the history of the United States of America.  The killer committed murders in different states and cities with one of the murders that he had committed being in Los Angeles in the 1970s. Bundy would prey on young women by pretending to be hurt and charming them into helping him to his car. When they reached his car, he would kidnap them and then proceed to torture them and then kill them. He was later apprehended and sentenced to death.

16 John Floyd Thomas

A mugshot of John Floyd. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The serial killer who was born in Los Angeles, California was active in the Los Angeles area from the 1979s to the 1980s. He was also known as the Westside Rapist. The serial killer is responsible for the murder of seven women in the area but his victim count is said to have been as high as 2022. He was later arrested and charged for the seven murders and he pleaded guilty in an effort to avoid the death sentence.  He is imprisoned at the California Health Care Facility.

17 Randy Kraft

The serial killer who was popularly known as the Freeway Killer or the Scorecard Killer was active between 1973 and 1983 and his victim count is said to be between 16 and 67. The serial killer was known for leaving cryptic references about his murders on a scorecard hence the nickname. He was arrested in May 1983 and charged with murder, sodomy and mutilation. He was found guilty and given the death sentence.

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18 Patrick Kearney

The serial killer shares a nickname with serial killer Randy Kraft as he was also known as the Freeway Killer. He was active during the 1970s and during this time he committed 21 murders. He would target men and pick them up as they were hitchhiking or in gay bars and then sexually assault them before shooting them.  When he was arrested he admitted to having committed seven more murders in addition to the 21 that he had been charged with. He was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

19 Samuel Little

A mugshot of srial killer Samuel Little. , Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Samuel Little is one of the most prolific serial killers in the history of the United States. The serial killer was active in different states including California, Ohio and Texas. He was active in crime between 1970 and 2005 and during this time, he killed 69 women and is also suspected of having killed 93 more. Samuel Little was arrested in 2012 and given four life sentences without the possibility of parole.

20 Daniel Lee Siebert

The serial killer was active in the 1980s and the 1990s. He went on a murder spree in different states and even committed murder in Los Angeles. His crimes featured a lot of brutality which indicated that his victims were gruesomely tortured before being killed. He was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to death.

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