Serial Killers Who Are Still Alive Today and in Prison

Serial killers such as the Green River Killer, the BTK Killer and the Golden State Killer are remembered for their heinous acts. What makes their stories even more terrifying is that they, and many other serial killers, are still alive today.

Serial killings are a relatively rare event. According to the FBI, only 1 percent of murders that occur in the U.S. in a year are committed by serial killers. John Douglas, a former chief of the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit and author of Mind Hunter, believes that a “conservative” estimate of how many active serial killers are in the United States at any given time is between 25 and 50. In 2019, the CDC reported that there were 19,141 homicides in the United States, meaning that out of these victims, 191 people could have been murdered by a serial killer.

However, people remain horrified and fascinated by serial killers. There are countless books, movies and television programs, both fiction and non-fiction, dedicated to certain cases. It may be because people see serial killers from a safe distance: there are few active serial killers and the most notorious are likely long dead.

The Radford University/FGCU Serial Killer Database, a collection of serial killer data assembled by forensic psychology professor Dr. Mike Aamodt, shows that the number of serial killers peaked in the 1980s — decades ago.

While this all seems comforting the reality is there are still serial killers alive and well today. Even some of the most well-known murderers who have been caught, such as Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a.k.a. the “Golden State Killer,” is still alive. He was active during the 1970s and ’80s but was arrested in 2018 at the age of 74. Theoretically, the quiet grandparent next door could have a terrifying past.

Deal of the Day

Only $12! — (And No One Will Know They Aren’t Designer) View Deal

“The majority of serial killers are not reclusive, social misfits who live alone. They are not monsters and may not appear strange,” the FBI’s report, Serial Murder Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives for Investigators, reads. “Many serial killers hide in plain sight within their communities. Serial murderers often have families and homes, are gainfully employed, and appear to be normal members of the community.”

“We’re all vulnerable. It doesn’t matter how much you know, how experienced you are, how many suspect interrogations you’ve handled successfully,” Douglas wrote in Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit. “It doesn’t matter if you understand the technique. Each of us can be gotten to.”

Keep scrolling to see the most terrifying murderers who are alive today.

Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.

Gary Ridgway

Gary Ridgway, also known as the Green River Killer was convicted of 49 murders of women and girls in Washington in the 1980s and 1990s. He is suspected of being responsible for a lot more. Though he was arrested in 2001, he didn’t plead guilty until 2003. He was sentenced to 48 life sentences with no possibility of parole, an additional life sentence, and 480 more years for tampering with evidence.

Dennis Rader

BTK stands for bind, torture, and kill — pretty much Dennis Rader’s modus operandi when it came to his crimes, which were committed between 1974 and 1991. He’s known to have killed 10 people in Kansas — eight women and two men — and stalked several more. He even taunted the police with letters describing his killings. He pled guilty and was sentenced in 2005 to 10 life sentences, and though he’s eligible for parole, it won’t be until he’s served at least 175 years.

David Berkowitz

Also known as the .44 Caliber Killer and the Son of Sam, David Berkowitz went on a shooting spree in 1976 and 1977, killing six. In 1978, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for each murder. He has been denied parole 16 times. His next parole hearing was set for 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Paul Bernardo

Bernardo and his wife, Karla Homolka, committed several rapes, sexual assaults, tortures, and murders in the ’80s and ’90s. They even killed Karla’s younger sister, Tammy, when they drugged and raped her. Responsible for a spate of Scarborough rapes and the “Schoolgirl Killer” murders in Canada, Bernardo was convicted in 1995 on two counts of first-degree murder and two aggravated sexual assaults. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole for 25 years. He was denied parole in 2021 for the second time.

However, his wife Karla made a plea deal with prosecutors to serve 12 years on a count of manslaughter in return for testifying against her husband. In 2005, she was released. She remarried and had three children.

Charles Cullen

Cullen was a nurse in New Jersey for 16 years, starting in 1988. During those 16 years, he killed multiple patients by overdosing them and contaminating IV bags. He was ultimately arrested in 2003 and confessed to murdering up to 40 patients. However, in interviews after his arrest, it became clear he had killed many more people; some experts believe he has up to 400 victims.

He was sentenced to eleven life sentences in 2006. He will not be eligible for parole until 2403.

Joseph James DeAngelo Jr.

DeAngelo was a former police officer who committed at least 13 murders, 50 rapes and 120 burglaries in California between 1974 and 1986. He had multiple nicknames, but his most famous is the “Golden State Killer.” He wasn’t arrested until 2018, when DNA tracing from family members on genealogy sites linked him to his crimes.

In June 2020, he pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 rapes. In August of that same year, he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.