Serial Killers

He was a freight hopper who rode the rails of the western United States for over a decade. Robert Joseph Silvera Jr. was responsible for more than 30 slayings in that time, most of his victims being fellow transients—earning him the nickname, “The Boxcar Killer.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the mid-1980s, serial killer Henry Lee Lucas confessed to nearly 600 murders. While most of those confessions were subsequently disproven, his case led to larger questions about United States interrogation methods. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In many ways, Jerry Brudos wasn't in it for the kill—he was in it for the body. Between 1968 and 1969, he dressed his victims up and posed them, like living dolls. After killing them, he continued to defile and manipulate the bodies, keeping trophies for himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He developed an obsession with women's clothing from a young age—a fetish which would eventually turn violent. As a teenager, Jerry Brudos started attacking young women… just to steal their shoes. But when footwear wasn't enough to satiate his desires, Brudos graduated from thief to kidnapper. And eventually, murderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the string of brutal murders throughout the 1960s, the masked man known as the Zodiac Killer continued to write letters to the press and police, taunting them for their inability to catch him. Fifty years later, there is still no confirmed suspect as to the identity of the murderer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 1969, newspapers in San Francisco began receiving coded letters from a man who would come to identify himself as "the Zodiac." The killer confessed to a string of brutal murders and would go on to terrorize the Bay area into the early 1970s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Between 1891 and 1895, H.H. Holmes embarked on a vicious killing spree across the United States, terrorizing an entire nation in the process. No one knows exactly how many murders he committed. He confessed to twenty-seven, but only nine were confirmed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He was the master of the infamous “Murder Mansion,” and often cited as America’s first serial killer. H.H. Holmes began his career as a con artist in Chicago, taking advantage of anyone he could between 1886 and 1894—all the while hiding his darkest motives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1974, Ted Bundy embarked on a murderous roadtrip across America committing dozens of murders from Colorado to as far as Florida. But after two prison escapes, and multiple trials, Bundy was far from finished. In 1979, he captivated the entire country by representing himself in the first televised murder trial in U.S. history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

He’s one of the most notorious serial killers of the 20th century, murdering dozens of young women on a bloody rampage across America that spanned four years. But Ted Bundy’s metamorphosis as a killer began during childhood—long before his first murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices