Which serial killers have killed the most people?

The serial killer is an inescapable part of the chilling world of true crime. But how many murders does it take to be labeled such?

While general definitions will label a serial killer as someone who murders three or more people, that number pales in comparison to the amount of deaths some of the most notorious killers have been responsible for. Indeed, there have been men that have been responsible for as much as 60, to even 300 murders! Let’s take a look at eight of them, who gruesomely raked up chilling numbers of deaths. With so many unsolved mysteries out there, we can breathe a sigh of relief that these monsters were finally apprehended.

8. Yang Xinhai

Known as the “Monster Killer,” Yang Xinhai instilled terror in China from 1999 to 2003. His gruesome acts resulted in the deaths of a minimum of 67 people, sending shockwaves throughout the nation. Yang entered victims’ homes at night and used instruments such as meat cleavers, shovels, hammers, or axes to carry out his brutal murders. In 2004, he was sentenced to death and subsequently executed by gunshot.

7. Kampatimar Shankariya

Shankariya was an Indian serial killer who wielded a hammer as his weapon of choice. He admitted to deriving pleasure from the act of taking the lives of over 70 men and women during the harrowing period of 1977 to 1978. Employing a method that earned him the ominous nickname “Kanpatimar” (meaning the one who hits under the ear), he executed his victims by striking them with a hammer on the neck below the ears. In early 1979, he faced justice and met his end by hanging.

6. Pedro Rodrigues Filho

The notorious Brazilian serial killer Pedro Rodrigues Filho gained infamy for his brutal acts, which took place between 1967 and 2003. The killer claimed to have killed over 100 victims, with 47 of them being inmates. Rodrigues also killed his father and ate a piece of his heart. While he was convicted and sentenced to 128 years, the maximum one can serve in Brazil is 30 years. He was released from prison in 2018, and was killed by two men in 2023.

5. Daniel Camargo Barbosa

Daniel Camargo Barbosa, an infamous Colombian serial killer, cast a sinister shadow over criminal history through his atrocious deeds. He operated during the 1970s and 1980s, earning notoriety for committing brutal crimes against women and children. Barbosa is suspected of raping and murdering over 150 victims, having admitted to 72 killings. Initially apprehended for strangling girls in Colombia, he managed to escape, resuming his spree in Ecuador. In 1986, he was recaptured and met his demise in jail, where he was killed by the nephew of one of his victims.

4. Mikhail Popkov

Dubbed “The Werewolf,” Mikhail Popkov, a former police officer, used his position to enact his rapes and murders. Operating for two decades in Angarsk, Vladivostok, and Irkutsk, Popkov was initially convicted of 22 murders in 2015. However, he later confessed to an additional 59 murders. In 2020, his admission extended the count to 83 victims. Popkov received a life sentence for his heinous crimes.

3. Javed Iqbal

Hailing from Pakistan, Javed Iqbal was a child murderer and rapist known as “Kukri.” He was convicted of brutally murdering and dismembering over 100 young boys. He covered up his crimes by dissolving the bodies in acid. Arrested in 1999, Iqbal was set to be executed by strangling and cut into 100 pieces in front of his victims’ parents, but he died by suicide before he could be executed. His story was told via the Pakistani film, titled Kukri.

2. Pedro López

Dubbed “The Monster of the Andes,” Pedro López is a convicted Colombian serial killer and child molester. López’s crimes spanned multiple South American countries, where he preyed upon young girls between the ages of eight and twelve. Although convicted of killing 110 girls, estimates say he may have murdered as many as 300 girls. He was arrested in 1980 but was released in the late 1990s. López is now a fugitive, and hasn’t been seen since 1999.

1. Luis Garavito

Infamously labeled as “La Bestia (the beast),” Luis Garavito, a Colombian serial killer, who was a child murderer, torture-killer, and rapist. His sinister acts targeted young boys, and he admitted to the gruesome killings of 140 boys aged between six and sixteen. Suspected of an even higher body count of 300, Garavito was initially sentenced to 1,853 years in prison. However, this sentence was later reduced to 22 years after he assisted the police in locating many of his victims’ remains. He passed away in October 2023.