Serial Killers That Left Disturbing Symbols At Crime Scenes

1. 'The Zodiac Killer'

Image source/ ComplexThe Zodiac Killer was a prolific murderer in 1969 particularly rampaging through the hippie scene in the USA. He was called as such because of the cryptogram he would draw after murdering his victims. He would also send cryptic messages tot he police as his disturbing symbol or calling card. He would also say 'this is the Zodiac speaking'.

2. Richard Ramirez The Night Stalker

Image source/ wikimediaRichard Ramirez is better known as the Night Stalker, an infamous and brutal serial killer. He went through Los Angeles and the area between 1984/5 murdering and raping women. He would draw a pentagram besides the victim's bodies as his serial killer symbol.

3. Jack the Ripper

Image source/ wikiJack the Ripper is known all around the world. He was active in London in 1988 where he killed many, many people. He was never identified, but he was referred as such because of some letters which were found besides his victims which read, 'Yours truly, Jack the Ripper'. These have never been proven to have belonged to him however.

4. William Heirens, 'The Lipstick Killer'

Image source/ Fox NewsWilliam Heirens has been names the Lipstick Killer. He killed women in and around Chicago. He left a note which read, “catch me before I kill more I cannot control myself.” The note was written in lipstick on the wall, and from here on the name stuck because of his disturbing symbol.

5. Dennis Rader, 'The BTK Killer'

Image source/ WIREDDennis Radar murdered 10 people from the years 1974 and 1991. He was extremely brutal and disturbing and he wrote the words “yours, truly guiltily,” after the letter “the code words for me will be…Bind them, Torture them, Kill them, B.T.K., you see be at it again. They will be on the next victim.”

6. David Berkowitz, 'The Son of Sam'

Image source/ listverseDavid Berkowitz murdered many victims in the 1970s in the USA. He used to write messages which he would sign by saying 'I am the son of Sam'. This was his calling card and his signature killing symbol. In the end, he was tracked by a parking ticket and incarcerated.

7. Keith Jesperson, 'The Happy Face Killer'

Image source/ blogspotKeith Jesperson was nicknamed 'the happy face killer' because he write a confession which he then signed with a smiley face. He ended up being caught, and when he confessed to the police he told them that he had killed 186 people - which has not been proven.

8. Charles Albright, 'The Eyeball Killer'

Image source/ Fox NewsCharles Albright had a very disturbing symbol which he would do after each of his murders which he committed from the years 1990-1991 throughout the state of Dallas. He would remove their eyeballs and was hence dubbed 'the eyeball killer'.

9. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, 'The Beltway Snipers'

Image source/ TMZJohn Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo, 'The Beltway Snipers' were 40 and 17 years old. The pair of them went on a killing spree in 2002 in the USA. They committed shootings, and in the mass of injured and dead bodies they would leave tarot cards as their disturbing killer symbol.

10. The Smiley Face Killings

Image source/ Time OutIn 1997 there was a serial killer or a group of killers (it was never actually discovered) who it is believed had participated in the drownings of hundreds of college students, all of whom were male. There was a smiley face left nearby many of the bodies.

11. The Beer Killer Forcibly Made His Victims Drink Bottles Of Beer

Image source/ PinterestThere was a serial killer who was active from the years 2006 and 2007 in Mumbai. He made his victims drink a bottle of beer before murdering them, and then he would always leave a bottle by their body which is why the deaths were suspected to be the work of a serial killer. Ravindra Kantrole was suspected but never convicted due to faulty evidence.

12. The giggler

Image source/ militarytimesIn 1970, Kenneth Harrison terrified Boston as he went on a killing spree where at least four people were killed. He would then phone the police, and giggle manically into the phone as he told the police he had committed a murder. He was caught and committed suicide in prison.

13. The Boston Strangler

Image source/ WIREDAlbert DeSalvo is more commonly referred to as The Boston Strangler. He murdered 13 women in the 1960s in their own homes or hotel rooms. He had a signature symbol where he would use items of their own clothing to kill them. He was then killed in prison when his inmates stabbed him to death.

14. Scorecard Killer

Image source/ serialkillerceRandy Steven Kraft was a serial killer who was named 'The Scorecard Killer' after it was found that he kept a ring binder full of his victim's names. He killed around 16 people in total. He raped and tortured young males before brutally murdering them.

15. The Unabomber

Image source/ CNNTed Kaczynski murdered people by mailing bombs to Universities and Airlines. He would then write letters about how society was falling apart and failing and try and claim he was fixing the world through his monstrous actions. He killed 3 and injured 27 people before a member of his own family identified his handwriting and he was caught.

16. The sock killer

Image source/ wikiSerial Killer Deanangelo Martin lived and murdered in Detroit in the years 2018-2019. He targeted sex workers and raped and killed them and he made a disturbing symbol with each of his victims by leaving them with their socks pulled up and nothing else.

17. 'Sad Face Killer'

Image source/ ABC7The 'sad face killer' as he was known, targeted young brunette women that he had spotted in the local newspapers. His calling card was a sad face on windows or mirrors by the victim, or he even sometimes made a sad face out of rocks. This symbol made it easier to determine who had killed these people.

18. Lucien Staniak 'Red Spider'

Image source/ NBCnewsLucien Staniak was 26 years old from Poland, he became known as the “Red Spider”. He murdered young women and disembowelled them and Staniak also wrote letters in spikey spidery red writing to the police, so that it became seen as his disturbing symbol.

19. Randy Kraft

Image source/ FBIRandy Kraft killed multiple men aged between 13 and 35 in West Coats and Michigan. His disturbing symbol was that Kraft kept records of his killings. These records were later found and details of the 16 murders helped stack up the evidence against him.

20. Amelia Dyer

Image source/ wikiAmelia Dyer was a horrific serial killer who murdered illegitimate babies when mothers paid her money to take their children away from them. She would either strangle them or give them an overdose of opium or neglect them until they died and then she would take their body and dump it in the Thames. She is responsible for the murder of around 200 and 400 babies.

21. H.H. Holmes, “America’s First Serial Killer

Image source/ RankerH.H. Holmes is attributed 'America’s First Serial Killer'. In the 1890s, Chicago he killed around 200 people. He custom built his 'murder castle'. It was designed as a hotel purely to be able to murder his victims there. The hotel had fake doors and stairs that didn't lead anywhere.

22. Charles Cullen, the “Angel of Death”

Image source/ blogspotCharles Cullen between the years of 1988 and 2003 killed around 300 people in New Jersey. He would murder his victims by poisoning patients, disturbingly killing around 300 people. He would tamper with the bags of IV fluid in hospital to kill his patients.

23. Richard Rogers, “The Last Call Killer”

Image source/ ArrowMediaRichard Rogers was deemed the 'last call killer'. He would dismember the bodies of gay men in the 1990s mainly in Manhattan. He would cut them into pieces and dump them in green bin bags. His disturbing symbol was to take photographs of all of his victims.

24. Michael Ross, “The Roadside Strangler”

Image source/ YouTubeMichael Ross is known as the 'Roadside Strangler'. He would strangle women aged 14 to 25 and then rape and murder the women. He lived in the city of New York where he committed most of his crimes and murders. Strangling became his disturbing signature symbol.

25. John Wayne Gacy, “The Killer Clown”

Image source/ PeopleJohn Wayne Gacy was a prolific serial killer in the USA. He sexually assaulted boys and men and then murdered them embalming them and burying them in his crawl space which became a theme for all of his murders. The remains were later found in his home.

26. Rodney Alcala, “The Dating Game Killer”

mage source/ Los Angeles TimesRodney Alcala became known as the 'Dating Game Killer' after he murdered around 50 women 1968. His signature method of murder was strangling them repeatedly so that they would become unconscious and then regain consciousness before he did it again.

27. Andrei Chicatilo The Tostov Ripper

Image source/ BBCAndrei Chicatilo aka 'The Tostov Ripper' was from the Soviet Union. He gained notoriety for being a serial killer and four gouging his victims eyes out. He would rape, assault, and mutilates his victims before killing them. In total he murdered 52 women and children. He was eventually found through ink analysis.

28. Albert Fish The Brooklyn Vampire

Image source/ wikiAlbert Fish was a horrendous serial killer and cannibal. He was notorious for murdering young children, as well as raping them and he would then cut the body up and eat it. His name stirs fear by the mere mention of is, he has become known all over the world for his horrifying murders.

29. Jeffrey Dahmer the Milwaukee Cannibal

Image source/ ListverseCold blooded Jeffrey Dahmer is known all around the world for his sick and monstrous killings between 1978 and 1991 where he would lure young boys and men back to his apartment and kill them. He stored body parts of his victims in his house as his disturbing symbol of death.

30. Ed Gein 'The Body Snatcher'

Image source/ RankerThe name Ed Gein strikes fear in us all. He was a prolific murderer and he also exhumed bodies. He was one of the most notorious and brutal murderers. His symbol was to keep trophies and keepsakes of his victims as a sick reminder of who he had killed.