Earle Nelson — The Gorilla Killer

Earle Leonard Nelson, known as the "Gorilla Killer" or "Dark Strangler," murdered at least 22 women across the United States and Canada between 1926 and 1927, making him one of the earliest recognized serial killers in North American history. He targeted landladies who advertised rooms for rent, posing as a prospective tenant before sexually assaulting and strangling them. He often concealed their bodies in the very rooms they had been showing him. Nelson had a well-documented history of mental illness and had been committed to a psychiatric facility multiple times, escaping at least once before beginning his killing spree. His method was remarkably consistent — he preyed exclusively on women who lived alone and rented rooms. As murders mounted in cities from San Francisco to Philadelphia, newspapers dubbed him the "Strangling Landlady Killer" and published his descriptions widely. Nelson crossed into Canada in June 1927 and killed two women in Winnipeg, Manitoba — his final victims. The city was on high alert, and Nelson was arrested within days after witnesses recognized him from published descriptions. He was tried in Canadian courts, convicted of the Winnipeg murders, and hanged in January 1928. Nelson's case is notable in the history of criminology as one of the earliest instances of cross-jurisdictional cooperation between American and Canadian law enforcement. His crimes preceded the era of FBI profiling by decades, yet investigators pieced together the pattern through basic detective work and widespread newspaper coverage — an early example of public media playing a role in catching a serial offender.