Top 20 infamous serial killers who are still alive and where they are (2024)

When serial killers are apprehended, authorities and the community expect them to be charged and probably given hefty sentences, including death row. It is often a relief for the victims and their families when the killers are sent to prison. Serving time in prison is among the worst experiences humans can go through. Apart from the restricted freedom, the prison environment is harsh. Find out the infamous serial killers who are still alive and where they are today.

Most, if not all, serial killers who are still alive are in prison. They are heavily guarded to ensure they do not escape prison. These people are known for committing heinous murders for different reasons. Discover who they are and where they are based.

Overview of infamous serial killers who are still alive

Infamous serial killers who are still alive and their whereabouts

A serial killer is typically defined as an individual who murders more than two people with a cooling-off period. Serial murderers are assumed to kill for motives such as sexual compulsion or even recreation. Here is a list of the most infamous serial killers that are still alive in 2024 and their whereabouts.

1. Scott Lee Kimball

• Date of birth: 21 September 1966
• Age: 58 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Boulder, Colorado, USA
• Known victims: 4+
• Crime Span: 2002 – 2004

58-year-old Scott Lee Kimball is serving a 70-year sentence at United States Penitentiary, Florence High, after pleading guilty in 2009. He is among the most famous serial killers in the world. He was also a conman and fraudster.

His forgery skills enabled him to run a good business of buying and selling organic beef. Kimball was arrested for forgery and fraud and, after being released, worked as an FBI informant.

It was during this period that Kimball murdered his victims. He confessed to killing at least four people, two of them being the girlfriends of the Englewood inmates whom he befriended after his release. The other victims were his uncle and stepdaughter.

2. Dennis Rader, aka BTK

• Date of birth: 9 March 1945
• Age: 79 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Pittsburg, Kansas, USA
• Known victims: 10
• Crime span: 1974 – 1991

Dennis Rader is also known as BTK or the BTK Killer. The initials BTK stand for bind, torture, kill, a title he gave himself. BTK is currently under incarceration.

He killed ten people in Wichita and Park City, Kansas. He also sent taunting letters to police and newspapers describing the details of his crimes. Dennis Rader was convicted in 2005 and is serving ten consecutive life terms.

3. Adre Baroz

• Date of birth: 28 October 1994
• Age: 30 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Colorado, USA
• Known victims: 5
• Crime span: 2020

Adre Baroz is arguably the most recent serial killer caught in the USA. Nicknamed Psycho, Adre Baroz killed five people in the San Luis Valley area of southern Colorado in 2020.

The killer was sentenced to life in prison in May 2024 for crimes he pleaded guilty to, including five counts of first-degree murder and five counts of tampering with a deceased human body. Baroz dumped his victims' bodies near the New Mexico border after killing them.

4. Rustam Kiknadze

• Year of birth: 1980
• Age: 44 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Jambyl Region, Kazakhstan
• Known victims: 6
• Crime span: 2004 - 2020

Rustam Musadinovich Kiknadze rap*d, murdered two women and set their bodies on fire in 2004. He served time in prison before being paroled in 2014.

In an unexpected twist of events, he was re-arrested for sexually abusing a young girl who was abled differently. He was paroled for the second time in 2020. Following his release, he killed three more women in Taraz in 2020. Rustam Kiknadze was sentenced to 26 years in prison.

5. Maina Ramulu

• Year of birth: 1976
• Age: 48 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Arutla village, Telangana, India
• Known victims: 16
• Crime span: 2003 - 2020

Maina Ramulu was incarcerated for 16 counts of murder, four counts of larceny, and escaping police custody in December 2011. He was convicted of murdering multiple women during three separate murder sprees due to his hatred of women.

He has since been charged with the murders of two more women. Maina Ramulu committed these murders after he was released from prison in 2020.

6. Charles Cullen

• Date of birth: 22 February 1960
• Age: 64 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: West Orange, New Jersey, USA
• Known victims: 400
• Crime span: 1988 - 2003

When Charles Cullen, alias Angel of Death, was first apprehended, he confessed to killing 240 patients during his career as a nurse in New Jersey. This number changed after it was established that the nurse may have killed more.

He committed his first murder at St. Barnabas Hospital. On 11 June 1988, Cullen administered a lethal overd*se of intravenous med*cation to a patient. Even after leaving St. Barnard, he continued killing other patients in the hospitals he took jobs in.

The last known murder by Cullen is reported to be in 2003. He was apprehended on 15 December 2003 and is serving 18 consecutive life sentences.

7. David Berkowitz

• Date of birth: 1 June 1953
• Age: 71 years
• Place of birth: Brooklyn, New York, USA
• Known victims: 6
• Crime span: 1976 – 1977

David Richard Berkowitz is one of the serial killers that are still alive. Also known as the Son of Sam and Caliber Killer, he murdered six people and wounded seven others by July 1977.

After the killing sprees, David Berkowitz eluded authorities and went on to write letters that mocked the police. He also highlighted how he was set to commit more crimes in the letters. On 10 August 1977, he was indicted for eight shootings. He is serving six consecutive life sentences.

8. Gary Ridgway

• Date of birth: 18 February 1949
• Age: 75 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
• Known victims: 80
• Crime span: 1982 - 1998

Gary Leon Ridgway is also known as the Green River Killer. He is one of the most famous serial killers. The 75-year-old serial killer mainly murdered sex workers and women in vulnerable situations.

Gary got the nickname Green River Killer because his first victims were found in Green River. By the time he was arrested, Gary Ridgway had murdered about 80 people. Ridgway was sentenced to 48 life sentences with no possibility of parole.

9. Kristen Gilbert

• Date of birth: 13 November 1967
• Age: 58 years (as of August 2024)
• Place of birth: Fall River, Massachusetts, USA
• Known victims: 4
• Crime span: 1995-1996

Serial killer Kristen Heather Gilbert is a former nurse convicted at least four murders. She was also charged with two attempted murders of patients admitted to the Veterans Affairs Medical Centre in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Kristen killed her victims by inducing cardiac arrest in patients. She injected patients' intravenous therapy bags with massive doses of epinephrine. She was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, plus 20 years.

10. Wayne Williams

• Date of birth: 27 May 1958
• Age: 66 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• No. of victims: 30
• Crime span: 1979 – 1981

Wayne Williams is also known as the Atlanta Monster, Atlanta Boogeyman, or the Atlanta Child Killer. He is among the worst serial killers alive. Though he was convicted of two murders, he is believed to have killed about 30 victims.

The murders that sent him to jail are the 1981 killing of two men in Atlanta, Georgia. Most of Wayne Williams' victims are believed to be children. He was never tried for the other murders and is serving life imprisonment for the two Atlanta murders.

11. Joseph James DeAngelo

• Date of birth: 8 November 1945
• Age: 78 years (as of August 2024)
• Place of birth: Bath, New York, USA
• Known victims: 13
• Crime span: 1974 – 1986

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. is also known as Visalia Ransacker, Creek Bed Killer, East Area Rap*st, or the Original Night Stalker. He is a former policeman who murdered people and committed other crimes like ra*pe, burglary, and robbery.

DeAngelo was apprehended in 2018 and incarcerated in 2020. He was sentenced to life in prison. Joseph DeAngelo Jr. is among the most famous serial killers.

12. Rosemary West

• Date of birth: 29 November 1953
• Age: 70 years
• Place of birth: Northam, United Kingdom
• Known victims: 10
• Crime span: 1973 - 1987

Rosemary Pauline West is a serial killer convicted of killing about ten women. She tortured her victims before ending their lives. She committed most of these crimes with her husband, Fred West.

One of her victims was her eight-year-old stepdaughter, Charmaine Rose. Her husband was apprehended in 1994. While awaiting conviction, Fred took his life. Rosemary West is among the most notorious female serial killers still alive but serving life imprisonment.

13. Beverley Allitt

• Date of birth: 4 October 1968
• Age: 56 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Grantham, United Kingdom
• Known victims: 4+
• Crime span: February 1991 - April 1991

Beverley Allitt is a serial child killer also known as The Angel of Death. Beverley Gail Allitt was convicted of murdering four children, attempting to murder three other children, and causing severe bodily harm to an additional six.

The English serial killer was apprehended in 1991 and given 13 life sentences. She, however, lost her mind while in prison and was sent to Rampton Hospital, where she is held indefinitely. Allitt suffers from some mental illness that causes her to injure others.

14. Heather Pressdee

• Date of birth: 28 August 1982
• Age: 42 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: USA
• Known victims: 3
• Crime span: 2022 – 2023

The name Heather Pressdee appears on the A-Z list of serial killers. The American nurse is serving life imprisonment. She was convicted of murdering three patients by lethal injection.

She is also connected to the deaths of 17 in total. All deaths took place in Western Pennsylvania. Heather Pressdee is serving three life sentences without parole and 380 to 760 years.

15. Denis Kazungu

• Year of birth: 1989
• Age: 35 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Rwanda
• Known victims: 14
• Crime span: 2023

Denis Kazungu is a serial killer from Rwanda who murdered 14 people. Most of his victims were women. On 21 September 2023, he pleaded guilty to the murders.

He lured his victims into a rented house in Gashikiri before killing them. At the time of his arrest, he ran a motorcycle spare parts shop. Denis Kazungu is currently serving a life sentence in his home country.

16. Juan Carlos Villa

• Year of birth: 1991
• Age: 33 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Risaralda, Colombia
• Known victims: 11
• Crime span: 2012 - 2023

Serial killer Juan Carlos Villa Cardona confessed to being responsible for the death of 11 people. These were ten older adults and one minor. He committed the last three murders alongside his brother José Alfredo Villa.

His modus operandi was posing as a person with a disability to gain the victims' trust. He then murdered them with knives. Most of the victims had wounds on the back of the thorax. He is serving a sentence of 45 years in prison.

17. Efraín Sarmiento Cuero, aka The Beast

• Date of birth: 20 May 1996
• Age: 28 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Policarpa, Nariño, Colombia
• Known victims: 3
• Crime span: 2017 – 2023

The Beast's real name is Efraín Sarmiento Cuero. The serial killer was held in the El Barne prison in Cómbita, Boyacá, after killing his romantic partner in the middle of a conjugal visit.

He was serving prison sentences for two separate murders when he killed his girlfriend. Efraín Sarmiento Cuero has a penalty of 34 years and eight months imprisonment for killing Cristiana Mendoza Maya, his first victim, and 20 years and eight months for killing his second victim, Jacqueline Muñoz Ojeda.

18. Slamet Tohari

• Year of birth: 1977
• Age: 47 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Central Java, Indonesia
• Known victims: 12
• Crime span: 2020 – 2023

Slamet Tohari is a serial killer and scammer who fatally poisoned at least 12 people in Banjarnegara, Central Java, between 2020 and 2023. Slamet Tohari admitted to police that dozens of victims were buried on his land.

Tohari was jailed in 2019 on counterfeit money charges. After his release, he conned people by claiming that he had shamanic powers. He said he would multiply money, so people gave it to him.

When confronted by those who wanted their money back, he would kill them by giving them drinks laced with potassium cyanide. He is serving a death sentence.

19. Lucho Plátano

• Date of birth: 5 May 2002
• Age: 22 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: San Ramón, Chile
• Known victims: 4
• Crime span: 2022 – 2023

Luis Ignacio Vásquez Villenas, alias Lucho Plátano, is currently imprisoned for four murders that happened in the Santiago Metropolitan Region between May 2022 and January 2023.

The murders culminated with the murder of the commissioner of the Investigations Police of Chile, Daniel Valdés Donoso. While he was a fugitive, he was declared by the courts as the “most wanted in Chile”. He was apprehended in February 2023.

20. Roberto José Carmona, aka The Human Hyena

• Year of birth: 1963
• Age: 61 years (as of 2024)
• Place of birth: Buenos Aires Province, Argentina
• Known victims: 4
• Crime span: 1986 – 2022

The Human Hyena's real name is Roberto José Carmona, and he is serving a sentence of life imprisonment.

Initially imprisoned for killing a teenage girl in 1986, Carmona went ahead to kill two inmates in separate incidents. He murdered a taxi driver during an escape attempt in 2022. He is considered one of the most dangerous murderers in Argentina's history.

FAQs

• Who was the worst serial killer? Dr Harold Shipman, with 218 probable murders and possibly as many as 250, is arguably the worst serial killer. After conviction in 2000, Shipman was sentenced to life in prison. He hanged himself while in his cell in 2004.
• Are any serial killers still active? There are always serial exterminators lurking and getting caught by authorities. It is reported that around 25 - 50 active serial exterminators lurked on the streets in America at one time.
• How did Jeffrey Dahmer die? The notorious Dahmer was beaten to death by Christopher Scarver, a fellow convict at the Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage, Wisconsin.
• Who is the #1 serial killer in the US? Samuel Little is arguably the most prolific serial killer in United States history by number of confirmed victims.
• Who is the youngest serial killer? Amarjeet Sada was responsible for the murders of three, out of which two went unreported. His horrific actions made him known as the world's youngest serial killer.
• Are there serial killers that are still alive and free in 2024? Pedro López, the Lainz Angels of Death, Karla hom*olka, Aleksandr Rubel, and Charlene Gallego are among the serial killers that are still alive and free. Most have served time in prison and are now out.
• What serial killers are still alive? Scott Lee Kimball, Dennis Rader BTK, and Charles Cullen are some of the killers alive.
• Are there serial killers that were never caught? Serial killers who have never been caught include The Babysitter Killer, The Highway of Tears Killer(s), Bible John, The Alphabet Killer, The West Mesa Bone Collector, Servant Girl Annihilator, The Long Island Killer, The Black Doodler, The Zodiac Killer, and Jack the Ripper.

Most serial killers who are still alive are believed to have murdered more victims than the number for which they are convicted. Even so, they are serving long or life sentences for their heinous crimes.

Yen.com.gh recently published Nikko Jenkins' biography. Jenkins is a serial killer who committed four murders in one month after being released from prison in 2013.

He was found guilty and sentenced to death in 2017. His run-in with the law began when he was seven after being charged with bringing a gun to school. In 2017, he was convicted of four murders and sentenced to death.

Source: YEN.com.gh