Dennis Rader, known as BTK (Bind, Torture, Kill), murdered ten people in Wichita, Kansas, between 1974 and 1991. He taunted police with letters for decades before his arrest in 2005 — over 30 years after his first murders.
Ted Kaczynski conducted a nationwide bombing campaign against universities and airlines from 1978 to 1995, killing 3 and injuring 23. He was arrested in 1996 after his brother recognized his writing style in his manifesto.
David Berkowitz, known as the "Son of Sam," conducted a shooting spree across New York City between July 1976 and July 1977 that killed six people and wounded seven others, triggering one of the most intensive manhunts in New York City history. He targeted young couples and women sitting in parked cars, firing a .44 caliber Bulldog revolver and leaving no apparent motive connecting his victims. The city was gripped by fear, with nightlife noticeably declining as residents feared becoming the next target. Berkowitz compounded the terror by writing taunting letters to police and to New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin, signing them "Son of Sam." In the letters he described hearing voices commanding him to kill and spoke of demonic dogs belonging to his neighbor — a claim he later admitted was fabricated to support an insanity defense. The letters generated enormous press coverage and turned the case into a national obsession. He was caught in August 1977 through methodical police work: a parking ticket placed near the scene of his final shooting was traced back to him. Officers conducting surveillance arrested him outside his Yonkers apartment building. At the time of arrest he was calm, apparently expecting to be caught. He pleaded guilty to six murders and was sentenced to six consecutive life terms with no possibility of parole. In prison, Berkowitz claimed he had converted to Christianity and became a born-again Christian, co-authoring a book and participating in victim-awareness programs. He has consistently been denied parole, which he himself has reportedly supported. His case changed New York law — "Son of Sam laws," which prevent criminals from profiting from their notoriety through books or media deals, were enacted in direct response to his case and later adopted across the United States.
Ted Bundy was one of the most notorious and charismatic serial killers in American history, using his intelligence, charm, and good looks to gain the trust of victims before attacking them. During the 1970s he kidnapped, raped, and murdered numerous young women across multiple states, confessing shortly before his execution to 30 homicides committed in seven states between 1974 and 1978. Investigators believe the true number may be considerably higher. Bundy's crimes spanned the country from the Pacific Northwest through Utah, Colorado, and Florida. He escaped from custody twice — once from a courthouse law library in Aspen and once from a county jail in Glenwood Springs — and was at large for a combined period that allowed him to commit additional murders. His second escape culminated in the January 1978 Chi Omega sorority house attack in Tallahassee, Florida, in which he bludgeoned four women and killed two, and the subsequent abduction and murder of twelve-year-old Kimberly Leach. Bundy was convicted in Florida of the sorority house murders and the Leach murder in two separate trials, both of which he attended as his own attorney — a decision widely seen as an exercise in narcissistic control. He was sentenced to death three times. On death row he gave extensive interviews to investigators and journalists, and began confessing to murders as his execution date approached — confessions many believe were deliberately incomplete to extend negotiations. He was executed in Florida's electric chair on January 24, 1989. His execution attracted a crowd of supporters and protesters outside the prison. Bundy's case had a lasting influence on American criminal justice, contributing directly to the development of the FBI's behavioral science unit and the concept of the organized serial killer. He remains a subject of intense cultural fascination, having inspired dozens of books, films, and documentaries.