The serial killers we never caught

Shadow of Madman Source: Supplied

IT'S a scenario nightmares are made of.

A person who randomly selects their victims and kills them without leaving enough clues for investigators to catch them.

So they kill, again and again, their shocking crimes going unsolved forever.

Fortunately in Australia such occurrences are quite rare and when they do happen the offenders are caught and jailed.

But around the world there are dozens of examples of killers who have obviously pulled off the perfect crimes.

Despite its grim nature, the subject of serial killers is something many of us remain fascinated by — from a distance of course — if the growing numbers of books and television shows dedicated to serial killings are any guide.

Here are some of the killers who literally got away with murder.

1. The West Mesa Bone Collector

A relatively new entry to the serial killer hall of infamy, the West Mesa Bone Collector is believed to have killed 11 women between 2003 and 2005. The youngest was aged 15, the oldest was 32 and they were all prostitutes. Their remains were found buried in the desert near Albuquerque (yes, of Breaking Bad fame) in 2009. There are no witnesses, no DNA and no suspects.

Victims of the West Mesa Bone Collector Source: Supplied

2. The Babysitter Killer

The monster responsible for the deaths of at least four children in Michigan, United States, in the 1970s was not dubbed the Babysitter Killer because he or she killed babysitters.

Instead the deranged killer abducted the kids and held them for days — the longest was more than two weeks- before finally killing them, in the most cruel ways, suffocating or strangling them.

As you can imagine the public was terrified. Despite having several suspects police never closed the case.

Mark Stebbins, 12, of Ferndale. Victim of Oakland child killer. Source: Supplied

3. The Rainbow Killer

In 2007 and 2008, 13 gay men were murdered in Paturis Park, a gay meeting point in Brazil. The victims were all aged between 20 and 40 and were killed with gunshots to the head. Similar killings in a neighbouring city were thought to have been related and no one has been convicted.

Paturis Park in Brazil was where the Rainbow Killer selected his victims. Source: Supplied

4. The Zodiac Killer

He is one of the most infamous serial killers thanks to a number of books, and movies including Zodiac starring Jake Gyllenhaal.

He murdered at least five people and was different to many others because the Zodiac killer frustrated police by sending cryptograms to local media. He was never caught but there have been many claims about his identity, including a new book this month by Gary L Stewart who believes his father was the Zodiac Killer.

Zodiac's victims. Source: Supplied

5. The Stoneman

Blamed for more than a dozen murders of homeless people in India over a six-month period, the Stoneman was named because of the way in which the victims were killed — bashed over the head with a stone.

There was much debate on whether the Stoneman was one person or several, and if a copycat killer was at work.

6. The Grim Sleeper

Still technically unsolved, there has been an arrest made in the case although the suspect, Lonnie Franklin Jr, has not been put on trial.

Thought to be behind 10 murders from 1985 to 2007 the Grim Sleeper was named because, well, it seems he went on a 14-year break from his favourite pastime - murder.

With so many murders in crime-ridden Los Angeles, police initially didn't connect the cases. That was until a breakthrough in DNA testing revealed a link between whoever killed a 25 year-old woman in 2007 to unsolved murders going back to the 1980s.

Lonnie David Franklin Jr is accused of being the Grim Sleeper but has yet to face trial and has not been convicted. Source: Supplied

7. The February 9 Killer

The known death toll from the so-called February 9 Killer isn't as high as many others but deserves a mention because it is so bizarre it could be taken straight from a crime novel.

In 2006 Salt Lake City police found the body of Sonia Mejia, who was pregnant, inside her apartment. She'd been strangled to death.

Then two years later, on exactly the same date, Damiana Castillo, was killed in exactly the same way. Police have a DNA profile linking the murders but don't have a match for the profile and the case remains unsolved.

The February 9 killer struck in 2006 and then again in 2008. His first victim, Sonia Meija, (left) and his second Damiana Castillo Source: Supplied

8. The Monster of Florence

This killer is blamed for a total of 16 murders in Florence, Italy, usually targeting couples. The same .22 caliber pistol was used during a killing spree between the late 1960s and mid 1980s. Several people have been questioned, arrested and even convicted for the murders — but they were all eventually cleared when the killings continued.

9. Bible John

Three shocking murders in Glasgow, Scotland in 1969 are all blamed on Bible John, named because the suspect introduced himself to the sister of his third victim as John and quoted bible verses.

All three victims were raped, strangled with their stockings and had their handbags taken, possibly as some form of trophy.

A police drawing of what Scottish killer Bible John looked like Source: Supplied

10. Jack the Ripper

No list of serial killers would be complete without the most famous of all. Jack the Ripper.

His victims were usually prostitutes and his MO was deep cuts to the throat, face and abdomen and in some cases removal of their internal organs.

That fact sparked theories a doctor or someone with medical training was to blame.

The killing spree started in the poor London district of Whitechapel in 1888 and despite perhaps the most scrutiny of any serial killer ever, the mystery of Jack the Ripper has never been solved.

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