The Worst Serial Killers We’ll Never Identify

It’s no secret that monsters live among us. Many of them, from John Wayne Gacy to Jeffrey Epstein, lay hidden in plain sight, flying safely under the radar until the truth is revealed. Sometimes, more than a few blind eyes are wilfully turned the other way. But serial killers are a slippery lot, decidedly hard to catch for a number of reasons. There are plenty that have remained undetected for the majority of their lives, even after committing some of the most heinous acts we could possibly conceive. They could be your neighbour, your postman…even your closest friend.

Below are just some of the most terrifying serial killers that remain at large to this day. Some of the most famous, like Jack the Ripper and the Zodiac Killer, will be missing off of this list, because their notoriety is already well-documented. Please also remember and respect that these cases are painful realities for many people.

The Oakland County Child Killer

Between 1976 and 1977, a serial killer was snatching children from the streets of Michigan. The total number of victims is unknown, but at least four are conclusively linked to the perpetrator.

The first to go missing was 12-year-old Mark Stebbins. When his body was found just days after his disappearance, he’d been bound, strangled and beaten about the head. Jill Robinson, also 12, had been shot in the face with a 12-gauge shotgun. Kristine Mihelich, 10-years-old, had been smothered, and Timothy King, 11, had been suffocated. All of the children had been held in captivity for days or weeks before their deaths, during which they were fed and bathed, and found, fully clothed, in what they’d last been seen wearing. Only the boys had been sexually assaulted.

A man seen talking to Timothy King shortly before his disappearance, and thus suspected to be involved, was described by witnesses to investigators as a white male, aged between 25 and 35, with a dark complexion, long, shaggy hair and sideburns. Investigators determined the perpetrator was likely to have a job that afforded him relative freedom, that he was familiar with the area and that he likely appeared approachable to children.

Several notable suspects have been questioned, including Ted Lamborgine, found to be behind a child pornography ring in the 70s, and Christopher Busch, a convicted paedophile. While there is DNA available, such as fibres and hairs found on the victim’s bodies, none of it matches any suspect named in the case. The perpetrator has yet to be identified, and after so many years, he may forever remain nameless.

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact investigators at 833–784–9425.

The Family

In Adelaide, South Australia, a spate of kidnappings, rapes, and murders hung heavy on the public consciousness. Exact dates remain unclear as to when the chain of crimes actually began, but the first murder took place in 1979.

Alan Arthur Barnes was the first victim, followed by Neil Fredrick Muir in the same year, Peter Stogneff in 1981, and Mark Andrew Langley in 1982. Muir was the oldest at 25, the rest being teenagers. Various threads connected the crimes, such as the discovery of drugs in the blood of 3 of the victims, post-mortem dismemberment and mutilation, and similar causes of death.

Another victim, 15-year-old Richard Dallas Kelvin, was killed in much the same way in 1983. A suspect, Bevan Spencer von Einem, was convicted of Kelvin’s murder, and although he hasn’t been charged with any of the other murders in the chain, it’s strongly believed by many that he is the sole perpetrator. Certainly, there’s a chance that he could be, but a lack of convictions means that speculation has run wild.

Authorities believe that up to 12 people could be involved, not just in the murders, but in any number of rapes and assaults of young men in South Australia between 1973 and 1983. Three other suspects believed to have been accomplices of von Einem have been identified, but with no charges filed against them the murders remain unsolved, and the suspected high-profile paedophile ring of Adelaide has never been cracked.

If you have any information regarding any of the Family murders, please contact Marshall at dminvestigates@foxtel.com.au.

The Bigfoot Killer

During the 1970s, the Cass Corridor neighbourhood of Detroit was known for being a poorer area prone to crime. It was a prime hunting ground for a serial killer who chose to victimise the young prostitutes who lined the streets.

There were 7 victims in total, all of them sex workers between the ages of 16 and 22. They were beaten, raped, sodomised and strangled. The killer also committed at least 4 rapes, the victims of which went to the police and helped create a facial composite of the perpetrator. A few significant details were reported, particularly that he drove a beige Oldsmobile, and was African-American with unusually large hands and feet, possibly due to acromegaly. This detail birthed the nickname of ‘Bigfoot’.

Unfortunately not much more information surrounding this case, including the names of the victims, is available publicly. One man, a Detroit native named Carl Mayweather Jr., was arrested in 1976 and looked at seriously as a suspect in the Bigfoot killings. However, his alibi eliminated him as a suspect, and since then the case has grown cold.

If you have any information regarding this case, please contact the Detroit Police Homicide Section at (313) 596–2260 or Crime Stoppers of Michigan at (800) SPEAK UP.

The Cleveland Torso Murderer

Otherwise known as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run, between 1935 and 1938, this killer carried out the most gruesome and violent crime spree Cleveland had ever seen.

The Mad Butcher had 12 known victims, although recent developments have shown there could be at least 20. The killer was indiscriminate, killing both males and females of various ages, all of them beheaded, many of them dismembered. The males were often castrated to boot, and the heads of many of the victims were never found. Of all 12 of the victims, only 3 were ever identified — Edward Andrassy, Florence Polillo, and Rose Wallace. What we do know of the identified victims, and can perhaps deduce about the Does, is that they were lower-class individuals, either living in or frequenting ‘The Roaring Third’, an area east of Kingsbury Run known for its bars, brothels and homeless population.

While thousands of suspects were interrogated, only 2 men were ever seriously considered — Frank Dolezal, and Francis E. Sweeney. Over the years, it’s been theorised that there were multiple murderers working together, or that the murderer was surgically trained, working as a doctor or even a coroner. Similar murders in other states could indicate that the killer was transient and that there’s far more to the Torso murders than first thought. Ultimately, however, no charges were ever brought against Dolezal, Sweeney, or anyone else in the case of the Torso killings, and it seems they never will.

The Stoneman

The Stoneman killings refer to 2 different series of murders, the first in Bombay between 1985 and 1988, and the second in Calcutta in 1989. While the two have not been officially linked, the choice of weapon, choice of victim and time of the attacks are all similarities that make it a strong theory.

There were 12 victims in total in the Bombay killings, all of them homeless people sleeping alone in an isolated area. Their heads were all crushed with large, heavy stones, hence the perpetrator’s nickname of Stoneman. One survivor reported the attack to the police, but he hadn’t had a good look at the assailant and thus, not much could be done.

The Bombay killings stopped suddenly in 1988, but the summer of 1989 in Calcutta saw a spate of fresh murders. Within 6 months, 13 people were killed, again by a large stone or slab of concrete crushing their heads. All the victims were once again homeless.

Because of the weight of the weapons, police speculated that the perpetrator was likely a well-built male, but no actual physical description was ever confirmed. In the absence of any solid suspects or evidence, nobody was ever charged, and the case remains unsolved.

The Axeman of New Orleans

The many sensational details around this case mean it’s relatively well-known and has been studied and pored over by detectives, both professional and amateur, since it began in 1918. The mystery cloaking the case, and the identity of the axeman himself, means the crimes will remain infamous for many more years to come.

It started with the murder of Joseph and Catherine Maggio, their throats cut and heads bashed in with an axe in their bed. The axeman attacked 6 more times, killing 6 people in total, and leaving 6 more injured, but alive. They were all beaten about the head by an axe or hatchet, the assailant often forcing his way into the victim’s homes in the dead of night and often using weapons found at the victim’s own houses. The majority of the victims were Italian-American business owners, prompting speculation that the murders could be ethnically motivated.

A letter purported to have been sent by the axeman during his spree was published in newspapers at the time and is available online today. In the letter, he calls himself a spirit, and a demon from hell. Undoubtedly, that claim jibed with the general feeling of fear felt by the entire city of New Orleans during that fateful year.

The spree ended suddenly in 1919 and no other murders have been attributed to the axeman. Despite the numerous survivors, many of them struggled to give specific details other than that the assailant was dark and hulking. While some suspects were considered, including Joseph Maggio’s brother Andrew, and Lewis Oubicon, a previous employee of one of the victims, nobody has ever been charged.