A look into the life and crimes of the world’s most infamous serial killers. Featuring interviews with family members, forensic experts, law enforcement, and witnesses. From John Wayne Gacy and Jeffrey Dahmer to the “Night Stalker” Richard Ramirez and the Butcher of Plainfield, Ed Gein–What Makes a Killer explores how they became killers.

What Makes a Killer

On August 2nd, 2012, twelve year old Tia Sharp went missing after supposedly traveling by train to meet up with some friends for the day. She is due back home in the evening evening, but she never arrived. What followed her disappearance was one of the most publicized search campaigns in British history. But on August 10th, it all came to an abrupt end, with a twist that shocked both the public...

11: Stuart Hazell

On June 20, 1970, the hunt was underway for a missing 12-year-old girl named Robin Samsoe. She had last been seen with her friend talking to an older man with a camera. When the man's description was circulated, he was immediately recognized by his parole officer . . . but also recognized for having appeared on a television show - The Dating Game. This episode is sponsored by:
Spycast Podcast (...

10: Rodney Alcala, The Dating Game Killer

On May 31st, 1983, Polish police were dispatched to check out a supposed robbery. A neighbor had called when he realized his pig cooker was stolen . . .but police were well aware that the accused man, Pawel Tuchlin, was guilty of things that were far more sinister. For years, the man had been stalking women around Poland and attacking them with a hammer . . . and for years, police had done noth...

9: Pawel Tuchlin, The Scorpion

On November 12th, 2002 police received a call from a terrified 14 year old boy and his 11-year-old sister. They had returned home from school to find their mother, Heather Barnett, brutally murdered. Police arrive at the scene to find the victim’s children being comforted by a neighbor. Neither police nor the children realize they are being consoled by the very man who murdered their mother. An...

8: Danilo Restivo

In February 1988, a 29-year-old John Duffy was on trial for the rape and murder of three women. He was a terrifying figure, and infamous across London. His arrest brought an end to a horrific four-year crime spree across the British capital, but he was only a half a murderous duo. Duffy refused to give up the name of his accomplice, and without any leads, the police have no choice but to wait. ...

7: John Duffy and David Mulcahy, The Railway Killers

On February 8, 1983, a plumbing engineer arrived at an apartment in Cranley Gardens to investigate a blocked drain. When he opened the drain cover, he knew right away that the smell was not anything that would usually be in a pipe . . .and he pulled out large pieces of flesh. It was traced back to the top floor, where lived 27-year-old Dennis Nilsen. When he was arrested, Nilsen was discovered ...

6: Dennis Nilsen, The Muswell Hill Murderer

On December 1st, 1996, single father Lee Harvey was murdered on the side of the road. The only person who witnessed what happened was his fiancé, Tracie Andrews, who claimed he had been killed in a road rage incident by strangers. But not long after a tearful plea to the press, Andrews’s story began to fall apart. And she went from the number one witness to the number one suspect. Original musi...

5: Tracie Andrews

In August 1985, California police officers rescued a man from an angry mod that attacked him as he exited a bus. What they didn't know, was that they had just detained a man the media had dubbed "The Night Stalker". The killer had spent 14 months terrorizing the state of California, claiming 13 victims. After finally getting a good look at the man, police realized they had just made the arrest ...

4: Richard Ramirez

In February 1994, in Sunderland, England, a badly burned body of a teenager was found on a plot of land. It was the third in just three months. Despite all three deaths being similar, and suspicious, pathologists initially ruled out murder. Police didn’t know it yet, but there is a serial killer on the loose, and his name, was Steven Grieveson. This episode is sponsored by: Raycon (https://rayc...

3: Steven Grieveson

On November 25th, 1987 in Paris, France. 87-year old Bertha Finalteri was strangled and robbed. It was the latest in a string of older women being robbed, tortured, and murdered . . . but Bertha survived. The culprits were a pair of young lovers, Thierry Paulin and Jean-Thierry Maturin. And when they split up, Paulin continued to steal from helpless women – and admitted to killing at least 21 p...

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What Makes a Killer

What Makes a Killer

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