serial killer biography online

Ed Gein (Serial Killer Biography)

What do Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs have in common? For one, they are all classic horror movies, even considered some of the greatest films of all time. But what you might not know is that they are all based on one man: Ed Gein.

Who Was Ed Gein?

Ed Gein was a grave robber and murderer whose crimes and trial horrified the country in the 1950s. His influence on pop culture and the true crime genre has shaped the way that many look at mental illness and its relation to the legal system. 

Learn more about Ed Gein and how this one man became the horrifying serial killer and villain in so many stories that we continue to tell today.

Where Was Ed Gein Born?

Ed Gein was born in 1906 in Wisconsin. His early days were spent on his family’s farm in Plainfield. It was said that Ed Gein, as a child, experienced his first moment of arousal (and not the type of arousal we discuss in psychology ) while watching his mother gut a slaughtered pig on that farm.

Ed Gein Family and Early Life

At home, he dealt with constant fighting between his mother and father. The fighting got violent, and it was said that Ed’s mother would pray for her husband’s death in front of Ed and his brother, Henry. Ed’s mother was a religious fanatic, keeping the family on a farm as a way to keep the family away from the evils of the world. One “evil” that remained at the focus of her attention was other women. She poured hot water on her 12-year-old child when he was caught masturbating, and severely punished him in violent ways if he tried to make friends outside of the farm. But while his brother Henry spent his adult life trying to escape the family by creating one of his own, Ed remained devoted to his mother. Later in life, Ed would describe her as a saint. Some say that he was obsessed.

Ed Gein’s father died in 1940 of heart problems. In 1944, Henry died at the age of 43 under mysterious circumstances. The two were fighting a grass fire near the farm. Ed claimed Henry started the fire, but that the fire got out of control and ended up killing Henry. Not only do reports believe that Ed started the fire, but police reports also show that Ed ended up stepping away from Henry while the fire raged, filing a missing person’s report after the fire was extinguished, and then leading police to Henry’s body when the police showed up at the farm. Still, he was not arrested, and Henry’s cause of death was listed as asphyxiation, related to the fire.

Shortly after the fire, Henry’s mother suffered a stroke. In 1945, she suffered a second one and died.

What Did Ed Gein Do?

When his family died, Ed Gein was left alone on the family farm. He shut off certain rooms in the house and didn’t work the farm. People around town knew him as a weirdo and a loner, but despite this reputation he found odd jobs babysitting children in the area. When Ed Gein wasn’t babysitting or working around the town, he was reading books on crime, murder, and anatomy. He was fascinated with Nazi officers, especially those who were particularly grisly and sadist.

Ed Gein didn’t start visiting graveyards until after his mother died. Eighteen months after her death, these visits turned criminal. Gein claimed to have made 40 visits to various graveyards between the years 1947 and 1950. Not all of these visits resulted in digging up bodies - but he is said to have dug up around 10 bodies during those years. Some of these women were people that Ed had known while he was alive. He would leave the graveyard with part of or an entire body. Most of the time, he would at least leave with the body’s genitalia. Heads and chests were also removed and made into various clothing or household items.

Mary Hogan: Ed Gein's First Victim

In 1954, Ed Gein took his first victim, although this wasn’t obvious right away. Mary Hogan was a divorced bartender who resembled Gein’s mother. She was reported missing when a puddle of blood and a .32 cartridge were discovered at the tavern where she worked.

Shortly after this, Gein would start to make jokes about the missing woman to townspeople. At first, these were ignored; Gein was weird, but he was harmless. After rumors started spreading about a shrunken head collection and the death of Bernice Worden in 1957. Worden, who also resembled Ed Gein’s mother, was shot and killed in her store in Plainfield with a .22 rifle. When her son returned to the store, he saw that his mother was gone, blood was on the floor, and the cash register had gone missing.

He had suspected Ed Gein because he had stopped in the night before and chatted with Worden’s son. Her son had mentioned that he was going hunting the next day and would not be around. After Worden’s son shared this information with the sheriff of the town, an investigation was made at Ed Gein’s farm.

How Was Ed Gein Caught?

Gein was arrested on the night of November 16, 1957. The local law enforcement investigated his home during that time and were horrified by what they found. The shrunken head collection was there, but so was a collection of body parts and corpses that inspired Buffalo Bill’s character in Silence of the Lambs .

Human skulls were fastened into soup bowls. Skin was taken from bodies and made into furniture upholstery and lampshades. A belt of nipples was found in his home, as well as a chest made into a human skin suit. Multiple vulvae were found in jars, among a long list of atrocious sights. At least four other Wisconsin residents, all living within an hour of Plainfield, disappeared during the time when Ed Gein was visiting graves. Whether these four residents’ body parts were in the house at the time may never be verified.

Shortly after this investigation finished, Gein confessed to Worden’s murder. He said that he was in a daze at the time that it happened, a daze that he said he felt while visiting graveyards. Although he claimed that he did not kill anyone else at the time of the confession, police later identified Mary Hogan as one of the faces that Gein had in a paper bag in his home.

Reports show that while Gein was rather agreeable during his initial interrogations, many external factors got in the way of his trial. When the sheriff of the town first interrogated Gein, he threw him up against a wall. That assault made Gein’s first admission of guilt inadmissible to the court. As reporters and the public started to learn about the case, they too would interfere.

Was Ed Gein a Cannibal?

It is believed to be the general public that first speculated that Gein was a cannibal; however, until his death he denied eating any body parts. The media frenzy was also what gave Gein the nickname “The Butcher of Plainfield.”

Trial and Sentencing

In 1957, Ed Gein was officially charged with the murder of Bernice Worden. It was said that Mary Hogan’s murder, as well as Gein’s graverobbing crimes, were left out of the charges due to budgetary reasons. The county simply could not afford to investigate these crimes and the disappearances of the 4+ other Wisconsin residents. (Polygraph tests claimed that Ed Gein had not murdered these missing residents, but modern criminal investigations rarely rely on polygraph tests anymore.)

Ed Gein pleaded “not guilty” on the grounds of insanity. In order for that recognition to get Gein out of a guilty verdict, expert witnesses would have to prove that mental illnesses messed with Gein’s ability to discern right from wrong. Not all of the expert witnesses agreed, with one saying he was just barely legally sane due to his ability to communicate and confer with his defense attorney. Still, the judge ruled Ed Gein “insane.” Gein was sentenced to a mental hospital in Wisconsin for an “indeterminate” time.

Ed Gein was also diagnosed with schizophrenia and sexual psychopathy, specifically necrophilia. Necrophilia is a term that doesn’t always mean that a person had sex with a dead bodies - they are just attracted to dead bodies. He insisted that he didn’t have sex with anyone (dead or alive) throughout his entire life. But his attraction to the dead bodies - in his case, ones that looked like his mother - was enough at the time to earn him the label.

This wasn’t the end of Gein’s time in court. In 1968, he stood trial. The public had been asking for the case to be appealed, and because of Gein’s “model behavior” at the mental hospital, he was deemed fit enough to stand trial. Once again, although he was found not guilty on the grounds of insanity.

Is Ed Gein Still Alive?

Ed Gein remained in mental hospitals for the rest of his life. In 1984, he died of cancer.

Influence on Pop Culture

Although the two murders of Mary Hogan and Bernice Worden do not technically make Ed Gein a serial killer, his body snatching and place in popular media have made him a classic study in true crime. Before true crime podcasts and Netflix documentaries, Ed Gein was the inspiration for multiple horror movies.

In 1959, two years after the murder of Bernice Worden, Robert Bloch published Psycho. The book tells the story of Norman Bates, a motel owner who has a peculiar relationship with his mother. This relationship becomes a motive for Norman’s murderous behavior. Like in the case of Ed Gein, the corpse of Norman Bates’s mother was preserved after the murder took place.

Bloch wrote the book in Wisconsin, but he claims that Ed Gein was just one of the inspirations for Norman Bates and the Psycho plotline. The book was adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into a movie of the same name in 1960. Psycho is considered one of the greatest films of all time and also one of the first “slasher films.”

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

In 1974, Tobe Hooper introduced the world to Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Leatherface was part of a larger family of cannibals that used body parts to make furniture and robbed graves. The antagonists in this movie are said to be based off of Ed Gein, although Gein claimed to never have eaten his victims.

The Silence of the Lambs

Ed Gein was also the inspiration for cannibal Hannibal Lecter in the 1988 book and 1991 movie Silence of the Lambs. His violent tendencies also provided inspiration for Buffalo Bill.

Ed Gein had a fascination with gender reassignment surgery and becoming a woman. Like the Buffalo Bill character in Silence of the Lambs, he would wear the suits he made from women’s clothes. This trope also appears in Norman Bates’ character in Psycho, although Robert Bloch did not attribute this part of Bates’ character to Ed Gein. Gein was also said to have used vulvas that he dug up from graves and put them over his genitalia. People who knew him around town had noted that he was fascinated with Christine Jorgensen, a transgender World War II veteran.

Was Ed Gein Transgender?

Does this mean Ed Gein was transgender? It’s hard to know for sure now that Ed Gein has died. Similar to the poor understanding of the reliability of polygraph tests, psychologists had a poor understanding of sexual orientation and gender identity throughout Ed Gein’s lifetime. They classified cross-dressing and homosexuality as deviant acts. “Transgender” wasn’t even a word until the early 1970s. Labeling Ed Gein and Buffalo Bill as transgender is said to have done more harm than good for the transgender community. (For more information on this, I highly recommend watching Disclosure .)

Much has changed since the time of Ed Gein. If he had committed these acts today, he might not have gotten away with just being charged for one murder “for budgetary reasons.” Miranda rights were only put into law after his initial trial had ended. The classification for different mental illnesses, which ultimately lead to his not guilty ruling, have vastly changed. Yet, Ed Gein remains one of the most classic examples of a figure in true crime, and his influence on pop culture has forced many people to think about the capabilities of humanity, the effect of trauma on young children, and what makes a person a psychopath .

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8 of History’s Most Notorious Serial Killers

By: Barbara Maranzani

Updated: July 17, 2023 | Original: July 18, 2017

From the widow who became known as “Lady Bluebeard” and the man who inspired Psycho to the British doctor who killed in the hundreds and the handsome slaughterer whose charm proved lethal, get the facts on some of history’s most infamous serial killers.

1. Harold Shipman, aka 'Dr. Death,' killed 218 patients

One of history’s deadliest serial killers was a married family man who managed to squeeze in 218 credited murders (and as many as 250) while working as a popular British physician. Harold Shipman began his murderous spree in 1972, and it’s believed he killed at least 71 patients while working at his first practice, and doubled that number at a second practice he joined after butting heads with colleagues who found him arrogant, brusque and overconfident.

Finally, in 1998, both a local undertaker and another doctor noticed the unusually high number of cremation certificates Shipman had signed off on. They also noticed striking similarities in the recently-deceased patients themselves; the majority were elderly women who were found sitting up and fully clothed, not in bed as would usually be the case with the gravely ill. Despite these clues, this initial investigation was shoddily handled, allowing Shipman to kill three more times.

Shipman’s luck ran out later that year, when the daughter of his final victim, lawyer Kathleen Grundy, claimed he’d not only killed her mother but had also tried to create a new, fake will, naming him as her sole beneficiary. Unlike his earlier victims, Grundy had not been cremated, and an autopsy revealed lethally high levels of diamorphine (the drug Shipman used for most of the killings). He was formally charged with 15 murders and was convicted and sentenced to life without parole in 2000. Shipman died in 2004, after committing suicide in his cell. He never admitted to any of the killings.

2. Belle Gunness married to kill

The woman who became known as the “Lady Bluebeard” immigrated to America from Norway in 1881, settling in Chicago where she married a fellow Norwegian immigrant. The couple had four children (two of whom died young) and ran a candy store. By 1900 the store had mysteriously burned down, and Gunness’ husband was dead. Although both happened under suspicious circumstances, Gunness was able to collect multiple insurance policy payouts allowing her to purchase a farm in La Porte, Indiana.

She quickly remarried, and just eight months later her second husband died. Gunness claimed that he’d received a fatal burn from scalding water and had been hit on the head by a heavy meat grinder. While an inquest was held, no proof of foul play could be produced, leading to another hefty insurance payout. She then began placing newspaper advertisements in search of a third husband, with the requirement that potential suitors had to visit her Indiana farm. Several prospective suitors made the trek, only to disappear forever–just one made it out alive, after reportedly waking up to see a sinister-looking Gunness standing over him.

Nobody knows for certain just how many people Belle Gunness murdered, but it seems she herself met a grisly end. In February 1908, a fire devastated the farm. Amongst the wreckage were the bodies of Gunness’ remaining children and the decapitated corpse of a woman. Although officials identified the remains as Gunness’, doubt quickly spread, as the body was much smaller than the tall, heavyset Belle. The search for her missing head (which never turned up) led to the gruesome discovery of almost a dozen bodies, including the missing suitors and several children. Ray Lamphere, a former farmhand that she had fired a few years earlier and later claimed was threatening her life, was arrested and tried for the crimes, but was only convicted of arson. Belle’s true fate remains unknown, although unverified “sightings” continued for decades after her death.

3. Ed Gein: The inspiration behind 'Psycho'

The man whose macabre and horrific acts helped inspire Psycho , Silence of the Lambs and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre grew up in an isolated area of Wisconsin . He was an abused child of an alcoholic father and a puritanical and domineering mother who instilled in her son a pathological fear of both women and sex. When his father, brother and mother died within a 5-year period, he was left alone at the family farm, where he eventually cordoned off parts of the house turning it into a shrine, of sorts, to his mother.

Thirteen years later, local police arrived at the farm, following up on a tip regarding missing hardware store owner Bernice Worden. They discovered Worden’s headless corpse hanging upside down from the rafters. Their search of the property revealed a hall of horrors that included human body parts turned into household items such as chairs and bowls, faces used as wall hangings and a vest made up of a human torso. Many of these gruesome items were from already-dead bodies that Gein had stolen from their graves, but he had murdered one other woman in addition to Worden. He claimed that he was using the body parts to assemble a new version of his beloved mother. Gein was diagnosed with schizophrenia and declared unfit for trial. A decade later, he was convicted of one of the murders, but was declared insane at the time of the crime. He spent the rest of his life in a mental hospital.

4. John Wayne Gacy performed as a clown at children's parties

To most of his suburban Chicago neighbors, John Wayne Gacy was a friendly man who threw popular block parties, volunteered in local Democratic politics and often performed as a clown at local children’s parties. But Gacy, who had already served a stint in prison for sexually assaulting a teenage boy, was hiding a horrific secret right beneath his neighbors’ unseeing eyes.

In 1978, when a 15-year-old boy who had last been seen with Gacy (whose construction business the teenager was hoping to work for) went missing, police obtained a search warrant for Gacy’s house. There they found a class ring and clothing belonging to several young men previously reported missing. In a 4-foot crawl space beneath the house, where a penetrating odor was present, they were shocked to find the decomposing bodies of 29 boys and teenagers that Gacy had raped and murdered. Gacy’s ex-wife had complained about the odor for years, but Gacy had chalked it up to moisture-causing mildew.

Law enforcement also came under criticism, as the family members of several of the victims had previously pointed to Gacy as a possible suspect. In addition to the bodies found at his house, Gacy admitted to killing several additional men, and disposing of their bodies in a nearby lake. His attempts at presenting an insanity defense failed, and he was convicted on 33 counts of murder and executed by lethal injection in 1994.

5. Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder at 18

Jeffrey Dahmer committed his first murder in 1978 when he was just 18. He would go on killing until his arrest in 1991, after an African American man escaped his clutches and hailed down police near Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When the victim led police back to his captor’s apartment, they discovered photographs of dismembered bodies, the severed heads and genitalia of several other men and a tub full of acid that Dahmer had used to dispose of some of his 17 victims.

Dahmer had lived a shiftless life, dropping out of college and the Army and living with various family members before being kicked out by his grandmother and settling in the Milwaukee apartment. Three years before his 1991 arrest—and with several murders already under his belt—Dahmer was convicted of drugging and sexually molesting a young teenager. After serving only a year, he was released and continued his killing binge, which focused almost entirely on young men of color.

Dahmer’s sensational trial, featuring lurid descriptions of his eating the body parts of some of his victims and admissions of necrophilia, renewed the world’s interest in serial killers. In 1992, Dahmer was sentenced to 957 years in jail, but was killed by a fellow inmate just two years later.

6. Ted Bundy: The first televised murder trial

Handsome, well-educated and brimming with charm, Ted Bundy seemed the unlikeliest of serial killers. Which made his decade-long, multi-state killing spree all the more surprising—and to some, appealing. Born to an unwed, teenage mother, Bundy never learned his father’s identity and was raised believing that his grandmother was actually his mother (and his mother actually his sister).

Following a difficult adolescence, Bundy graduated from the University of Washington—and soon embarked on his murderous spree, killing his first victim in Seattle in 1966. Focusing primarily on attractive college co-eds, Bundy committed a series of murders across the Pacific Northwest. He continued on to Utah and Colorado, killing several more women before being arrested. Despite being convicted of kidnapping, he managed to escape police custody not once, but twice, while awaiting trial in Colorado. He moved to Florida, where he killed several members of a sorority and his final victim, a 12-year-old girl who he raped and murdered.

When Bundy was finally apprehended while driving a stolen car a week after his last murder, his trial quickly became a media sensation. It was the first murder trial to be fully televised and featured Bundy front-and-center acting as one of his own defense attorneys. He became a media star, welcoming journalists to his cell, receiving letters of admiration from lovelorn fans (and even marrying one of them) and providing an endless list of clues about additional murders he may have committed, in the hopes of delaying his execution. It didn’t work; he was executed in the electric chair in 1989, with the true number of his victims unknown.

7. Jack the Ripper: There are over 100 possible suspects

In 1888, London’s Whitechapel district was gripped by reports of a vicious serial killer stalking the city streets. The unidentified madman lured prostitutes into darkened squares and side streets before slitting their throats and sadistically mutilating their bodies with a carving knife. That summer and fall, five victims were found butchered in the downtrodden East End district, sparking a media frenzy and citywide manhunt. A number of letters were allegedly sent by the killer to the London Metropolitan Police Service (also known as Scotland Yard), taunting officers about his gruesome activities and speculating on murders to come.

Without modern forensic techniques, Victorian police were at a loss in investigating the Ripper’s heinous crimes. After taking his final victim in November, the killer seemed to disappear like a ghost. The case was finally closed in 1892, but Jack the Ripper has remained an enduring source of fascination. The most popular theories suggest that the killer’s understanding of anatomy and vivisection meant he was possibly a butcher or a surgeon. Over 100 possible suspects have been proposed.

8. H.H. Holmes: A pharmacist who built a 'murder castle'

H.H. Holmes spent his early career as an insurance scammer before moving to Illinois in advance of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to work as a pharmacist. It was there that Holmes built what he referred to as his murder “castle” —a three-story inn that he secretly turned into a macabre torture chamber . Some rooms were equipped with hidden peepholes, gas lines, trap doors and soundproofed padding, while others featured secret passages, ladders and hallways that led to dead ends. There was also a greased chute that led to the basement, where Holmes had installed a surgical table, a furnace and even a medieval rack.

Both before and during the World’s Fair, Holmes led many victims—mostly young women—to his lair only to asphyxiate them with poisoned gas and take them to his basement for horrific experiments. He then either disposed of the bodies in his furnace or skinned them and sold the skeletons to medical schools.

At the same time, Holmes worked insurance scams—collecting money from life insurance companies. Holmes was finally caught when one of his co-conspirators tipped off the police after Holmes failed to deliver his payout. Holmes was eventually convicted of the murders of four people, but he confessed to at least 27 more killings before being hanged in 1896.

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Biography of Albert Fish, Serial Killer

Fish was one of the most notorious serial child killers of all time

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Roots of Insanity

Leaves the orphanage, father of six, polite mr. howard, six-year investigation, insanity plea, additional source.

Hamilton Howard "Albert" Fish was known for being one of the vilest pedophiles , serial child killers , and cannibals of all time. After his capture he admitted to molesting more than 400 children and torturing and killing several of them, though it wasn't known if his statement was true.   He was also known as the Gray Man, the Werewolf of Wysteria, the Brooklyn Vampire, the Moon Maniac, and The Boogey Man.

Fish was a small, gentle-looking man who appeared kind and trusting, yet once alone with his victims, the monster inside him was unleashed, a monster so perverse and cruel that his crimes seem unbelievable. He eventually was executed and, according to rumors, turned his execution into a fantasy of pleasure.

Fish was born on May 19, 1870, in Washington, D.C., to Randall and Ellen Fish. His family had a long history of mental illness. His uncle was diagnosed with mania,his brother was sent to a state mental institution, and his sister was diagnosed with a "mental affliction." His mother had visual hallucinations. Three other relatives were diagnosed with mental illness.

His parents abandoned him at a young age, and he was sent to an orphanage, a place of brutality, in Fish's memory, where he was exposed to regular beatings and sadistic acts of brutality. It was said that he began to look forward to the abuse because it brought him pleasure. When asked about the orphanage, Fish remarked, "I was there 'til I was nearly nine, and that's where I got started wrong. We were unmercifully whipped. I saw boys doing many things they should not have done."

By 1880 Ellen Fish, now a widow, had a government job and soon removed Fish from the orphanage. He had very little formal education and grew up learning to work more with his hands than his brains. It wasn't long after Fish returned to live with his mother that he began a relationship with another boy who introduced him to drinking urine and eating feces.

According to Fish, in 1890 he relocated to New York, New York, and began his crimes against children. He made money working as a prostitute and started to molest boys. He lured children from their homes, tortured them in various ways—his favorite was using a paddle laced with sharp nails—and then raped them. As time went on, his sexual fantasies with children grew more fiendish and bizarre, often ending in murdering and cannibalizing them.

In 1898 he married and fathered six children. The kids led average lives until 1917, when Fish's wife ran off with another man. At that time they recalled Fish occasionally asking them to participate in his sadomasochistic games. In one such game he asked the children to paddle him with the nail-filled paddle until blood ran down his legs. He also enjoyed pushing needles deep into his skin.

After his marriage ended, Fish wrote to women listed in the personal columns of newspapers, describing in graphic detail the sexual acts he would like to share with them. The descriptions were so vile and disgusting that they were never made public, although they later were submitted as evidence in court.

According to Fish, no women ever responded to his letters asking them for their hand in administering pain.

Fish developed a skill for house painting and often worked in states across the country. Some believed he selected states largely populated with African-Americans because he thought police would spend less time searching for the killer of African-American children than of a Caucasian child. Thus, he selected Black children to endure his torture using his "instruments of hell," which included the paddle, a meat cleaver, and knives.

In 1928, Fish answered an ad from 18-year-old Edward Budd, who was looking for part-time work to help with the family finances. Fish, who introduced himself as Mr. Frank Howard, met with Edward and his family to discuss Edward's future. Fish told the family that he was a Long Island farmer looking to pay a strong young worker $15 a week. The job seemed ideal, and the Budd family, excited by Edward's luck in finding the job, instantly trusted the gentle, polite Mr. Howard.

Fish told the Budd family that he would return the following week to take Edward and a friend of Edward's to his farm to begin working. Fish failed to appear on the day promised but sent a telegram apologizing and setting a new date to meet with the boys. When Fish arrived on June 4, as promised, he came bearing gifts for all the Budd children and visited with the family over lunch. To the Budds, Mr. Howard seemed like a typical loving grandfather.

After lunch, Fish explained that he had to attend a children's birthday party at his sister's home and would return later to pick up Eddie and his friend. He then suggested that the Budds allow him to take their oldest daughter, 10-year-old Grace, to the party. The unsuspecting parents agreed and dressed her in her Sunday best. Grace, excited about going to a party, left the house and was never seen alive again.

The investigation into Grace's disappearance went on for six years before detectives received a substantial break in the case. On November 11, 1934, Mrs. Budd received an anonymous letter giving grotesque details of the murder and cannibalism of her daughter.

The writer tortured Mrs. Budd with details about the empty house her daughter was taken to in Worcester, New York, how she was stripped of her clothing, strangled, and cut into pieces and eaten. As if to provide solace to Mrs. Budd, the writer stated emphatically that Grace had not been sexually assaulted.

Tracing the paper the letter was written on eventually led police to a flophouse where Fish was living. Fish was arrested and immediately confessed to killing Grace and other children. Fish, smiling as he described the grisly details of tortures and murders, appeared to the detectives as the devil himself.

On March 11, 1935, Fish's trial began, and he pleaded innocent by reason of insanity . He said voices in his head told him to kill children and commit other horrendous crimes. Despite the numerous psychiatrists who described Fish as insane, the jury found him sane and guilty after a 10-day trial. He was sentenced to die by electrocution .

On January 16, 1936, Fish was electrocuted at Sing Sing prison in Ossining, New York, reportedly a process Fish looked upon as "the ultimate sexual thrill," though later that assessment was dismissed as rumor.

• Schechter, Harold. " Deranged: The Shocking True Story of America's Most Fiendish Killer !" Pocket Books.

Petrikowski, Nicki Peter. "Albert Fish." Cannibal Serial Killers . Enslow Publishing, 2015, pp. 50–54. 

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The Killer Across the Table

• Unlocking the Secrets of Serial Killers and Predators with the FBI's Original Mindhunter
• By: John E. Douglas, Mark Olshaker
• Narrated by: Jonathan Groff
• Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 6,012
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 5,411
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 5,367

In The Killer Across the Table , John E. Douglas, legendary FBI criminal profiler, number one New York Times best-selling author, and inspiration for Netflix’s Mindhunter , delves into the lives and crimes of four of the most disturbing and complex predatory killers....

• 5 out of 5 stars

Excellent narration, finally some new insight

• By T. Kennedy on 05-17-19
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• 5 out of 5 stars 6,012 ratings

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• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 9,367
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 9,332

Ann Rule was working on a story tracking the trail of victims left by a brutal serial killer. Little did she know the savage slayer she was hunting was the young man she counted among her closest friends....

• 4 out of 5 stars

Another Good One from Ann Rule

• By Malia on 08-24-12
• Release date: 03-23-12
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 10,511 ratings

Bind, Torture, Kill

• The Inside Story of BTK, the Serial Killer Next Door
• By: Roy Wenzl, Tim Potter, L. Kelly, and others
• Narrated by: Keith Sellon-Wright
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,278
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,923
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,905

For 31 years, a monster terrorized the residents of Wichita, Kansas. A bloodthirsty serial killer, self-named "BTK" - for "bind them, torture them, kill them" - he slaughtered men, women, and children alike, eluding the police for decades while bragging of his exploits to the media....

Stomach churning

• By 6catz on 02-19-18
• By: Roy Wenzl , Tim Potter , L. Kelly , Hurst Laviana
• Release date: 02-06-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,278 ratings

The Search for the Green River Killer

• The True Story of America's Most Prolific Serial Killer
• By: Carlton Smith, Tomas Guillen
• Length: 17 hrs and 27 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,155
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,028
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,028

This is the ultimate authoritative account of the Pacific Northwest killing spree that held a nation spellbound - and continues to horrify and fascinate, spawning dramatizations and documentaries of a demented killer who seemed unstoppable for decades....

The Definitive Green River Killer Book

• By Christopher on 04-16-19
• By: Carlton Smith , Tomas Guillen
• Release date: 04-09-19
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,155 ratings

I: The Creation of a Serial Killer

• By: Jack Olsen
• Narrated by: Kevin Pierce
• Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,354
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,211
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,201

Prize-winning journalist Jack Olsen, armed with unprecedented access to one of the most infamous serial killers in American history, provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a murderer in the killer's own words....

The last of Jack Olsen

• By Jodi Pearce on 11-19-18
• Release date: 10-25-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,354 ratings

The Big Book of Serial Killers

• An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers - 150 Serial Killer Files of the World's Worst Murderers
• By: Jack Rosewood, Rebecca Lo
• Narrated by: Kevin Kollins
• Length: 17 hrs and 38 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 533
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 464
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 461

This A-Z encyclopedia of 150 serial killers is the ideal reference audiobook. Included are the most famous true crime serial killers....

• 2 out of 5 stars

GREAT FOR TRUE CRIME DEVOTÉES, BUT....

• By The Louligan on 10-31-17
• By: Jack Rosewood , Rebecca Lo
• Series: An Encyclopedia of Serial Killers , Book 1
• Release date: 08-02-17
• 4 out of 5 stars 533 ratings

Jeffrey Dahmer: A Terrifying True Story of Rape, Murder & Cannibalism

• The Serial Killer Books, Book 1
• By: Jack Rosewood
• Narrated by: David L. White
• Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 584
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 514
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 513

In this true crime story, you will listen to how Dahmer transitioned from a loner to serial killer, committing numerous unnatural acts along the way such as necrophilia and cannibalism....

• 3 out of 5 stars
• By Ms.Bliss on 11-16-17
• Series: The Serial Killer Series , Book 1
• Release date: 05-03-17
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 584 ratings

Evil Has a Name

• The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
• By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
• Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
• Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
• Original Recording
• Overall 5 out of 5 stars 21,154
• Performance 5 out of 5 stars 19,014
• Story 5 out of 5 stars 18,917

For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity....

Audible Raises The Bar On True Crime Genre

• By R. Squyres on 11-16-18
• By: Paul Holes , Jim Clemente , Peter McDonnell
• Narrated by: Paul Holes , Jim Clemente
• Release date: 11-15-18
• 5 out of 5 stars 21,154 ratings

The Complete Jack the Ripper

• By: Donald Rumbelow
• Narrated by: James Cameron Stewart
• Length: 14 hrs and 25 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 119
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 99
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 98

Fully updated and revised, Donald Rumbelow's classic work is the ultimate examination of the facts, theories, fictions, and fascinations surrounding the greatest whodunit in history....

catch the facts if you can

• By Alexandra on 11-17-19
• Release date: 07-31-18
• 4 out of 5 stars 119 ratings

The Devil in the White City

• Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
• By: Erik Larson
• Narrated by: Scott Brick
• Length: 14 hrs and 58 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 30,106
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 24,852
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 24,842

The true tale of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the cunning serial killer who used the magic and majesty of the fair to lure his victims to their death....

A Rich Read!

• By D on 09-18-03
• Release date: 12-29-02
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 30,106 ratings

• The Pursuit, Conviction, and Execution of Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos
• By: Joseph Michael Reynolds
• Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
• Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 44
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 41
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 38

This is the story of Aileen Wuornos, one of the first women to ever fit the profile of a serial killer. Written by the Reuters reporter who initially broke the story, this is a thrilling firsthand account of Wuornos' capture, trial, and ultimate sentencing to death by lethal injection....

• 1 out of 5 stars
• By Angela R. Coleman on 04-26-21
• Release date: 03-19-19
• 4 out of 5 stars 44 ratings

The Demon Next Door

• By: Bryan Burrough
• Narrated by: Steve White
• Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 30,701
• Performance 4 out of 5 stars 27,490
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 27,382

In this chilling tale, best-selling author Bryan Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do....

Odd narration choice

• By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
• Release date: 02-28-19
• 4 out of 5 stars 30,701 ratings

Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders

• By: Greg King
• Narrated by: Lewis Arlt
• Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 72
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 66
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 66

It began as a home invasion by the “Manson family” in the early hours of August 9, 1969. It ended in a killing spree that left seven people dead....

Creepy Stuff

• By Judy on 06-02-19
• Release date: 05-02-19
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 72 ratings

John Wayne Gacy: Defending a Monster

• By: Sam L. Amirante, Danny Broderick
• Narrated by: Robin Bloodworth
• Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,814
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,438
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,428

For the first time Gacy’s lawyer and confidant tells his chilling tale of how he defended an American serial killer....

Ultimately an excellent listen

• By A.R. on 03-03-13
• By: Sam L. Amirante , Danny Broderick
• Release date: 02-07-13
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,814 ratings

• The Shocking True Story of the Nation's Most Bizarre Mass Murderer
• By: Robert Graysmith
• Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
• Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,119
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,667
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,666

After Jack the Ripper and before Son of Sam there was only one name their equal in terror....

Interesting

• By Z on 05-19-06
• Release date: 05-09-06
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 2,119 ratings

I'll Be Gone in the Dark

• One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
• By: Michelle McNamara
• Narrated by: Gabra Zackman, Gillian Flynn - introduction, Patton Oswalt - afterword
• Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 32,440
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 28,917
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 28,806

A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer - the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade....

A haunting masterpiece

• By Kat - Audible on 03-02-18
• Narrated by: Gabra Zackman , Gillian Flynn - introduction , Patton Oswalt - afterword
• Release date: 02-27-18
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 32,440 ratings

The Misbegotten Son

• Length: 18 hrs and 11 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,949
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,752
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,747

An account of the crimes of Arthur Shawcross describes how the paroled child killer shot, stabbed, suffocated, and strangled 16 Rochester, New York, prostitutes....

Not the Typical True Crime Book

• By Angela on 12-12-15
• Release date: 12-04-15
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,949 ratings

More than Just a Pretty Face: Can You Identify Any of Us? Victims of the Dating Game Serial Killer Rodney Alcala

• By: Victoria Best, R J Parker
• Narrated by: Katrina Medina
• Length: 2 hrs and 14 mins
• Overall 4.5 out of 5 stars 15
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 14
• Story 4.5 out of 5 stars 14

Hiding in the shadows of depravity, Rodney James Alcala was one of the most cunning and terrifying of all serial killers. Highly mobile, and able to fit in anywhere, Alcala "flew under the radar" during his murderous career in the 1960s and 1970s....

suspenseful

• By charles bennett on 02-24-20
• By: Victoria Best , R J Parker
• Release date: 05-23-19
• 4.5 out of 5 stars 15 ratings

Furious Hours

• Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
• By: Casey Cep
• Narrated by: Hillary Huber
• Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 1,387
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,190
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 1,194

Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim....

Great book, needs a Southern narrator

• By Joseph Wu on 06-06-19
• 4 out of 5 stars 1,387 ratings

Hell's Princess

• The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men
• By: Harold Schechter
• Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
• Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
• Overall 4 out of 5 stars 1,463
• Performance 4.5 out of 5 stars 1,274
• Story 4 out of 5 stars 1,275

In the pantheon of serial killers, Belle Gunness stands alone. She was the rarest of female psychopaths, a woman who engaged in wholesale slaughter, partly out of greed but mostly for the sheer joy of it....

Can a book about a serial killer be entertaining?

• By Lori Hanson on 05-08-18
• Release date: 04-01-18
• 4 out of 5 stars 1,463 ratings
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‘Potential serial killer’: Police Arrest Florida Man for Deaths of Women He Allegedly Strangled, Pushed Out of Truck

Florida police say a man detained for the savage killings of two women could potentially be a serial killer.

During a press briefing Monday, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said police arrested 24-year-old Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves in connection with the homicides of Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44.

Mina said Flowers’ remains were uncovered on March 14, while Daniels’ body was located near the same area in East Orange County on April 17.

. @SheriffMina updates the community on the murders of two women in East Orange County, and how our homicide detectives’ vigilance may have stopped a potential serial killer. Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves targeted the most vulnerable women he could – transient women who traded sex… pic.twitter.com/8HZ7Z8HlCO — Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) April 29, 2024

ABC 6 South Florida reports that investigators discovered video surveillance footage capturing Daniels entering a “ distinctive pickup truck ” truck at a 7-Eleven convenience store before her death.

Mina said the truck belonged to Baez-Nieves, who was attempting to sell it at the time of his arrest.

According to Mina, Baez-Nieves targeted transient sex workers. He allegedly strangled them following sexual encounters and then disposed of their bodies by pushing them out of his truck.

Mina said the defendant has confessed to killing both victims.

On two occasions about a month apart, Baez-Nieves picked up Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44. He had sex with them and strangled them to death.   Then he drove to an intersection, pushed their lifeless bodies out of his truck, and drove home. pic.twitter.com/mR23LPPA3J — Orange County Sheriff's Office (@OrangeCoSheriff) April 29, 2024

“I’m very confident because of our detectives’ relentless efforts in this case that they stopped Baez-Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer,” Mina said. “He targeted women who he clearly thought would not be missed. He murdered them and dumped their bodies on the side of the road like they were trash.”

Baez-Nieves remains behind bars without bail. Check back for updates.

For the latest true crime and justice news,  subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast . Listen to our latest episode below. 

Join Nancy Grace for her new online video series designed to help you protect what you love most – your children.

[Feature Photo via Orange County SO]

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What we’re reading: writers and readers on the books they enjoyed in April

Authors, critics and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

Noreen Masud, author

I have been travelling a lot this month, back and forth between London and Devon and my mum’s house in Scotland. Train journeys feel like permission to read. The Quick and the Dead by Joy Williams has been on my shelf for years, but I finally finished it while on the tube two weeks ago. What a writer! Her mind is like cold, alien moonlight. She goes to the heart of the things we don’t talk about.

My recent reading has been steered by the violence in Gaza. Minor Detail by Palestinian author Adania Shibli is every bit as good as everyone says. I read it in a single train journey: just over 100 pages, and not a word wasted. Shibli asks us: what counts as a minor detail? Which events matter and which “don’t”? Whose lives matter, in short. Now I’m halfway through Namesake: Reflections on a Warrior Woman by NS Nuseibeh . I worried that this would be saccharine and predictable – I was so, so wrong. Writing about Muslim history and life in and beyond Jerusalem, British-Palestinian writer Nuseibeh consistently and courageously refuses to take the easy route out, to settle for straightforward narrative closure. I recognise a great deal in this book, and I have also learned so much from it.

On top of that, I have been reading the books that have been shortlisted alongside mine for the inaugural Women’s prize for nonfiction . So far I’ve read Code Dependent by Madhumita Murgia and How to Say Babylon by Safiya Sinclair , both of which are just breathtaking – I’d be so thrilled to see either of them win. Next up is Tiya Miles’s All That She Carried !

A Flat Place by Noreen Masud is published by Penguin (£10.99 ). To support the Guardian and Observer order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply

Laura Wilson, author and critic

I have just finished reading the books I got as Christmas presents, the last of which was The Dictionary People by Sarah Ogilvie . It is the story of the first complete Oxford English Dictionary, published in 1928 after more than 70 years’ work, and the hundreds of men and women who were instrumental in its creation. The disparate group contained not only academics and well-educated, intellectual women who, in more enlightened times, would have been allowed academic careers, but also three murderers, a cannibal, a prodigious collector of pornography, the inventor of the tennis-net adjuster, Eleanor Marx, daughter of Karl, and several inhabitants of what were then referred to as “lunatic asylums”. Lexicographer Ogilvie does a marvellous job of bringing them all to life, using an appropriately alphabetical format. It’s surprisingly moving: I found myself in tears at the end. I think any lover of words would enjoy this as much as I did.

I have been trying to re-read my way through the work of the two Celias, Fremlin and Dale, who are the grandmothers of British domestic noir. Mystery writer Dale deserves to be far better known than she is, and A Helping Hand, first published in 1966, is one of her finest. There are shades of both Patricia Highsmith and Muriel Spark in this subtle, scalpel-sharp, and utterly chilling study of co-dependency. The “helping hands” belong to Josh and Maisie Evans, who take vulnerable elderly ladies into their home, offering both practical and emotional care – but seeming kind is not always being so …. The horrors that lurk behind Dale’s genteel facades are a thousand times more unnerving than any serial killer gore-fest, precisely because they are so very, very close to home.

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Andrew, Guardian reader

I recently read Biography of X by Catherine Lacey , which is a novel about a woman known as X, told from the perspective of her widow. It is set in an alternative US in which the southern and northern and western states separated after the second world war. X, we learn, migrated to the northern states at the end of the 60s after being involved in a terrorist group. She then took on a new identity and became a songwriter, author and artist throughout the 70s and 80s, working with David Bowie at one point. Lacey intersperses the text with photographs and artwork specifically made for the book. It was a joy to read and definitely one of the best books – along with Gabrielle Zevin’s Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow – that I have read in the last couple of years. I loved the way it weaves US history and contemporary issues together.

Peter Hain, author and Labour peer

I recently enjoyed In at the Kill by master thriller writer Gerald Seymour, featuring crotchety MI5 anti-hero Jonas Merrick. Seymour has a knack of getting right inside his characters in plots that are drily compelling.

A quite different novel is Nicole’s War by Andrée Rushton, a fascinating under-the-radar insight on life in Nazi-occupied Paris, intriguingly drawn from the experience of the author’s late mother.

The brilliant Nelson & Winnie by Jonny Steinberg swept me along – penetrating rather than prurient, intriguing and insightful on Nelson Mandela and his indomitably defiant wife.

James O’Brien made my blood boil with his meticulously researched but readable exposé, How They Broke Britain . He clinically takes apart those culpable for Brexit, austerity and the neoliberal curse inflicted on us hapless citizens, leaving a sadly diminished society.

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The Secret Push That Could Ban TikTok

U.s. lawmakers have long worried that the chinese government could use the app to spread propaganda..

This transcript was created using speech recognition software. While it has been reviewed by human transcribers, it may contain errors. Please review the episode audio before quoting from this transcript and email [email protected] with any questions.

From “The New York Times,” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. And this is “The Daily.”

[THEME MUSIC]

American lawmakers have tried for years to ban the video app TikTok over concerns that its ties to China pose a national security risk. Last week, they passed a law that might finally do it. Today, my colleague, Sapna Maheshwari, on the secret effort behind the law and what a ban would mean for the company’s 170 million American users.

It’s Tuesday, April 30.

So Sapna, tell me about this law that just passed that potentially bans the social media app TikTok. We’ve seen efforts in the past to rein in TikTok, but this one really seems like the most substantial yet.

It’s a huge deal. What this law really does is it puts the future of this hugely popular app with 170 million American users into question. TikTok has reshaped the way many people listen to music. It’s changed the way we cook. It’s made a whole different kind of celebrity.

But it’s never been able to shake these concerns around the fact that it has really close ties to China. It’s owned by a Chinese company, ByteDance. And lawmakers, for years, have been worried that the Chinese government could somehow use ByteDance and TikTok to get information on Americans or possibly spread propaganda.

President Trump tried to ban it in 2020. The State of Montana tried to ban this app last year. TikTok has largely survived those challenges, but this time it could actually be banned in the United States.

So let’s talk about this. Why did this effort succeed where the other ones failed?

So it’s an interesting story.

Here we go.

The committee will come to order.

And it really dates back to this hearing about a year ago that Congress had with Shou Chew, the CEO of TikTok.

Mr. Chew, you are here because the American people need the truth about the threat TikTok poses to our national and personal security.

Members of the committee, thank you for your time.

— TikTok has repeatedly said that it has addressed these national security concerns and that there’s no issue here. And you can hear that when Shou Chew testified.

Let me start by addressing a few misconceptions about ByteDance of which we are a subsidiary. ByteDance is not owned or controlled by the Chinese government.

He’s saying American investors are behind ByteDance.

Now, TikTok itself is not available in mainland China. We’re headquartered in Los Angeles and in Singapore.

And I myself am Singaporean. I live in Singapore.

The bottom line is this — American data, stored on American soil, by an American company, overseen by American personnel.

And we are actually going above and beyond what American technology companies do to keep things safe.

And I look forward to your questions. Thank you very much.

And is Congress convinced by that?

Congress is not convinced by that.

ByteDance is a Chinese company?

Well, ByteDance owns many businesses that operates in China.

Is it or is it not a Chinese company?

Congressman, the way we look at it, it was founded by Chinese entrepreneurs.

No, no, no, no. I’m not asking how you look at it. Fact, is it a Chinese company or not? For example, Dell is a company —

It was this really fiery, five-hour hearing, where Republicans and Democrats asked really contentious questions.

We do not promote or remove content at the request of the Chinese government. Will you repeat —

The question is, are you percent certain that they cannot use your company to promote such messages?

It is our commitment to this committee and all our users that we will keep this free from any manipulation by any government.

OK. If you can’t say it 100 percent certain I take that as a no.

There’s this underlying sense of distrust around the company and its ties to China.

I will remind you that making false or misleading statements to Congress is a federal crime.

I understand. Again, you can go on our platform. You will find that content.

And it becomes clear through the hearing that, across the board, Republicans and Democrats largely feel the same way.

Mr. Chew, I got to hand it to you. You’ve actually done something that in the last three to four years has not happened except for the exception of maybe Vladimir Putin. You have unified Republicans and Democrats.

So within weeks of this hearing, this small group of lawmakers gets together. And they say, let’s come up with a law that works where all the other ones have failed and actually make TikTok answer to its Chinese connections once and for all.

So tell me about this small group of lawmakers. Who are they?

So it starts with Republicans. Among them is Steve Scalise, one of the most powerful Republicans in the House. And a small group sort of works together for a few months, but they realize that in order to really make this law work, they’re going to need Democrats. So they end up working through this House Committee that’s focused on China and competition. And this is where the bulk of the work on this bill takes place.

And just to note, this is a really small group. There’s less than 20 key players who are working on this. And all throughout, they are keeping this very, very secret.

And why exactly are they keeping it secret? What’s the point of that?

So this group really wanted to keep this out of the eyes of TikTok, which has a huge lobbying presence in DC, and has successfully worked to kill bills that targeted TikTok in the past. And what they’re really doing is looking at all of the past efforts to either force a sale or a ban of TikTok, and trying to work their way through why those plans didn’t succeed and what they can do differently.

But while the lawmakers are working on this bill, something big happens that kind of changes the politics around it. And that’s October 7.

Your social media feeds are unique to you, but could they be shaping how you view the Israel-Gaza War? The BBC’s —

As the war breaks out and people start getting information about it, a lot of people are getting information about the Israel-Hamas War on TikTok, especially young people.

Social media algorithms seem to be driving some users towards increasingly divisive posts —

And there’s this big messy argument spilling out into living rooms and all over the internet, and, of course on TikTok. And it’s getting very heated. For instance, there’s this moment in the fall where a bunch of TikTok users start sharing this old manifesto.

I read Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America.”

It’s wild, and everyone should read it.

Go read “A Letter to America.” Seriously, go read it.

That was actually written by Osama bin Laden, defending the 9/11 attacks and criticizing the United States’ support of Israel. TikTok users start trying to tie it to the modern day conflict.

Reading this letter, it becomes apparent to me that the actions of 9/11 were all just the buildup of our government failing other nations.

The way this letter is going viral right now is giving me the greatest sense of relief. Now it’s all coming to light because of Palestine.

And there’s these accusations that TikTok may be promoting one side of the conflict over the other. And a couple of researchers look at hashtags around Palestine, and they say that the data they pulled shows that TikTok is showing way more pro-Palestine videos and not so much for Israel. And this sets off huge alarm bells for this small group of lawmakers.

But isn’t that just a function of the fact that TikTok, at this point, is the public square in the United States for young people? I mean, this is what young people were talking about, and this is where they’re doing the talking.

TikTok has pushed back really forcefully against these accusations. They said that Gallup polls show that young people view Israel differently than older generations. They say that they’re not the ones influencing what people post, that the hashtags and the videos are a reflection of the user base and nothing that they’re doing to influence.

But for lawmakers, this doesn’t really make their concerns go away. Instead, this conflict shows them how TikTok could be used to spread propaganda. It made lawmakers feel that TikTok could be really dangerous when it comes to shaping the views of Americans on foreign policy, on US elections. And what it also does is, it provides this driving force to this group that’s drafting this bill. And they suddenly see that this might be a way to bring more people into their effort.

And so heading into November against this backdrop, they even bring in the White House and the Justice Department to help work on this bill. And with the White House, they want to make sure that this is a bill that the president will support. And they work with the Justice Department to shore up the language in the bill to help defend against court challenges.

Because the Justice Department, of course, would be the one that would have to defend the bill, right?

That’s exactly right. And so they’re trying to make it as rock solid as possible so that they can win in court when TikTok challenges this law. And so March rolls around, and they decide that it’s time to unveil this bill that they’ve been working on for close to a year.

The battle over TikTok on Capitol Hill is intensifying.

This morning, House lawmakers have agreed unanimously to move a bill to a full floor vote.

And TikTok is caught completely flat footed. They didn’t see this coming. And this is just what the group wanted. So TikTok has this army of lobbyists that’s suddenly scrambling. And they go into damage control mode. They start reaching out to members of Congress.

This app is so much more than just an app for dumb TikTok dances.

They fly a group of TikTok stars and small businesses to come to DC —

This is a life-changing apps.

— and lobby on the steps of the Capitol and meet with lawmakers.

Standing up here with all these amazing TikTokers behind me is a complete honor, and every single one of them would voice their opinion just like this. This is how we feel. This has to stop.

They set up interviews between these TikTok creators, as they’re known, and big TV shows and news programs. And they’re doing everything they can to fight against this bill before it goes any further. And then they decide to do something unusual, which is use TikTok itself to try and derail this bill.

How exactly do they do that?

So days after this bill is announced, a ton of TikTok users get a message when they open the TikTok app that basically says, call Congress and tell them not to ban TikTok.

Hmm. OK. So like, literally this window comes up and says, call Congress. Here you go.

Exactly. You can enter your zip code, and there’s a button that appears. And you can press it, and the call goes straight to your representative.

So offices are quickly overwhelmed by calls. And TikTok sent out this message to users on the same day that a House committee is going into vote on this bill and whether to move it forward. And so the stunt happens. They go into vote, and they come out, and it’s 50 to 0 in support of the bill.

One of the representatives who worked on the bill said that this stunt by TikTok turned a lot of no’s into yeses and yeses into, quote, “hell yeses.”

[LAUGHS]: so the whole episode sounds like it actually backfired, right? Like, TikTok’s stunt essentially just confirmed what was the deepest fears of lawmakers about this company, that the app could be used to influence American politics.

That’s definitely how a lot of lawmakers viewed it. And when this bill is brought to the full House a week later, it passes by an overwhelming majority. And weeks later, it passes in the Senate as part of a broader aid package. And on Wednesday, it’s signed into law by President Biden.

But now the question is, what does it mean? Like, how will this actually work? And how will it affect the tens of millions of Americans who use TikTok every day?

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We’ll be right back.

So Sapna, now that Biden has signed this bill, what does it actually mean in practice for TikTok? What does the law do?

So the law is really trying to push ByteDance, the company that owns TikTok, to sell to a non-Chinese owner. And the company basically has nine months for this sale to happen. There’s an option for President Biden to add another three months to that clock. And if the company doesn’t find a buyer or refuses to be sold, it will be banned.

And what would a ban actually mean, Sapna? I mean, people would still have the app on their phones, right? So it wouldn’t disappear overnight.

Yeah, no one’s coming to pick up your phone and to forcibly delete this thing. What the law says is that app stores and web hosting services wouldn’t be allowed to carry TikTok anymore. So basically, it would kind of die a slow death over time, where it wouldn’t be updated and just kind of peter out.

So the bottom line here is that the clock has started on this potential sale, right? They have 12 months to find a buyer. So what are the obstacles here? I mean, it sounds pretty ferociously complicated.

There’s a ton of challenges here. And it’s a very messy choose-your-own adventure. So one of the first big questions is who could buy this?

ByteDance and TikTok are private. We don’t know their financials. But analysts estimate that it will cost tens of billions of dollars. That narrows the buying pool pretty quickly. And a lot of the companies that could afford to buy it, like Meta, the owner of Facebook, or Google, which owns YouTube, would probably be kicked out of the running because they are simply too big. Regulators would say, you already own these big apps. You can’t possibly add this to your stable.

There’d be a monopoly concern there.

Exactly. And then, there’s a lot of questions around how this would work, technically. ByteDance and TikTok are very much global organizations. You have the CEO in Singapore. They have huge operations in Ireland. They have this big workforce in the US. And of course, they do have engineers in China.

So how do you extract all those things, make it all work? It’s a very big international transaction.

And then there is the chance that the Chinese government blocks this sale and says, you cannot do this, ByteDance. We will not allow it.

So Sapna, how does that actually work, though, in terms of China? I mean, can China actually just ban the sale of this company? I mean, it is a private company after all, right?

Well, here’s one way it could work. The Chinese government could block the export of TikTok’s algorithm. And let me explain that in kind of plain English.

They could basically block the technology that fuels the TikTokiness of this app, the recommendations, the magic of it, why you see what you see when you’re looking at TikTok.

TikTokiness, is that an adjective?

That is now an adjective.

[LAUGHS]: Nice.

And there’s a chance that Beijing could say, hey, you can’t export this technology. That is proprietary. And if that happens, that suddenly makes TikTok way, way less valuable.

So the Chinese government could let the sale go through potentially, but as a kind of an empty shell, right? The thing that makes TikTok TikTok, the algorithm, wouldn’t be part of the company. So that probably isn’t very appealing for a potential buyer.

Exactly. And I mean, the role of the Chinese government here is really interesting. I’ve talked to experts who say, well, if the Chinese government interferes to try and block a sale of this app, doesn’t that underscore and prove all the concerns that have been expressed by American lawmakers?

If you’re worried about China being in control of this thing, well, that just confirmed your fears.

Exactly. And I mean, it’s an interesting thing that ByteDance and TikTok have to grapple with.

So bottom line here — selling TikTok is quite complicated, and perhaps not even possible for these reasons that you’re giving, right? I mean, not least of which because the Chinese government might not allow the algorithm to leave the country. And that’s not something that the US Congress has a lot of control over.

So is this law fundamentally just a ban, then?

That’s what TikTok is calling it. Right after this bill was signed into law on Wednesday —

Make no mistake, this is a ban, a ban on TikTok and a ban on you and your voice.

— Tiktok’s CEO made a TikTok — what else?— that explained the company’s position.

Because the freedom of expression on TikTok reflects the same American values that make the United States a beacon of freedom.

He actually argued that TikTok reflects American values.

TikTok gives everyday Americans a powerful way to be seen and heard. And that’s why so many people have made TikTok part of their daily lives.

And he said that this law infringes on the First Amendment free speech rights of Americans who love it and who use it every day.

The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail again.

So it’s very clear that TikTok plans to challenge this law in court. And the court fight to follow will determine the fate of TikTok’s future in the US.

So is that First Amendment argument that the TikTok CEO is making here going to work?

Nobody wants to put money on that. I mean, the company is really approaching this with the idea that the First Amendment rights of Americans are being infringed on. But if you remember, the government has been working on this law. They’ve been anticipating those challenges. And they can justify an infringing of First Amendment rights in certain cases, including with national security concerns. And so it’ll be up to a judge on whether those concerns pass muster and justify this sale and even a potential ban of TikTok.

Got it. So TikTok will argue free speech, First Amendment. And the government will counter by saying, look, this is about China. This is about America’s national security interests.

That’s right. And the legal experts that I’ve spoken with say this is a really big and sticky area of the law, and it’s a huge case. And they really think that this will go to the Supreme Court, regardless of who wins in the first round of this.

So where does that leave the millions of Americans who use TikTok, and many of them, of course, who earn a living on the platform?

I mean, it’s really uncertain what happens now with the company, and the clock has started ticking. When I’ve looked at TikTok and looked at videos from users —

This is about the impending TikTok ban. And it just triggered me so much. It makes my blood boil, and I have to get this out there.

There’s a lot of shock —

The most success I’ve had has been here on TikTok, and now they’re trying to take it away.

This is so stupid!

— and anger.

You can’t ban apps! You can’t ban things from people!

People are confused.

Word on the street is that in the next 9 to 12 months, TikTok could be banned.

And they’re also caught a bit off guard, just because there have been these years of efforts to do something about TikTok. People on the app have been hearing about a TikTok ban, really, since 2020.

The government can take away a literal app on our phones, and we’re supposed to believe we’re free?

A few TikTokers have said, how can this be the thing that the government is pushing through so quickly?

Can we stop funding a genocide? No. Can we get free COVID tests? No. Can we stop killing the planet? No. Can we at least watch videos on an app of people doing fun things and learn about the world around us? No.

So there’s this sense of distrust and disappointment for many people who love this app.

We got rid of TikTok. You’re welcome. Protecting you from China. You know that phone was made in China. Ah!

And I think there’s also this question, too, around what about TikTok makes it so harmful? Even though it has increasingly become a place for news, there’s plenty of people who simply use this app for entertainment. And what they’re seeing out of Washington just doesn’t square with the reality they experience when they pull out their phones.

And I wonder, Sapna, I mean, just kind of stepping back for a second, let’s say this ban on TikTok succeeds. If it goes through, would Americans be better off?

It depends who you ask. For the users who love TikTok, if it actually disappeared, it would be the government taking away a place where maybe they make money, where they get their entertainment, where they figure out what to read or what to cook next. To free speech advocates, this would be dystopian, unheard of for the government to crack down on an app with such wide usage by Americans.

But for the American political class And the National security establishment, this is a necessary move, one that was years in the making, not something that was just come up with on the fly. And ultimately, it all comes down to China and this idea that you can’t have a social media app like this, a source of news like this, that is even at all at risk of being influenced by the Chinese government and our greatest adversaries.

Sapna, thank you.

Here’s what else you should know today. On Monday, in its latest high-profile showdown with pro-Palestinian protesters, Columbia University gave students until 2:00 PM to clear out from an encampment at the center of campus or face suspension. It appeared to be an effort to remove the encampment without relying on New York City Police, whose removal of a previous encampment there two weeks ago inspired similar protests on campuses across the country.

Free Palestine!

Hi, this is Sharon Otterman reporting for “The New York Times.”

00 PM deadline for protesters to clear out of the encampment at the center of Columbia University has come and gone, and there’s still quite a large contingent inside the encampment.

But Monday’s warning seemed only to galvanize the Columbia protesters and their supporters.

And hundreds of students and others from around the campus have come out to support them. They are currently walking around in a picket around the encampment.

Hundreds of students, standing for or five people deep, encircled the encampment in a show of solidarity. They were joined by members of the Columbia faculty.

There’s also dozens of faculty members, who are prepared to stand in lines in front of the main entrance to the encampment, in case Public Safety or the NYPD move in. But as of 2:00, there was no sign of that happening.

Then, on Monday evening, Columbia announced it had begun to suspend students who had failed to leave the encampment. It was unclear exactly how many students had been suspended.

[PRO-PALESTINE CHANTING]:

Today’s episode was produced by Will Reid, Rachelle Banja, and Rob Szypko. It was edited by Marc Georges and Liz O. Baylen, contains original music by Dan Powell and Marion Lozano, and was engineered by Chris Wood. Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sharon Otterman.

That’s it for “The Daily.” I’m Sabrina Tavernise. See you tomorrow.

• May 1, 2024   •   35:16 The New Abortion Fight Before the Supreme Court
• April 30, 2024   •   27:40 The Secret Push That Could Ban TikTok
• April 29, 2024   •   47:53 Trump 2.0: What a Second Trump Presidency Would Bring
• April 26, 2024   •   21:50 Harvey Weinstein Conviction Thrown Out
• April 25, 2024   •   40:33 The Crackdown on Student Protesters
• April 24, 2024   •   32:18 Is $60 Billion Enough to Save Ukraine?
• April 23, 2024   •   30:30 A Salacious Conspiracy or Just 34 Pieces of Paper?
• April 22, 2024   •   24:30 The Evolving Danger of the New Bird Flu
• April 19, 2024   •   30:42 The Supreme Court Takes Up Homelessness
• April 18, 2024   •   30:07 The Opening Days of Trump’s First Criminal Trial
• April 17, 2024   •   24:52 Are ‘Forever Chemicals’ a Forever Problem?
• April 16, 2024   •   29:29 A.I.’s Original Sin

Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise

Featuring Sapna Maheshwari

Produced by Will Reid ,  Rachelle Bonja and Rob Szypko

Edited by Marc Georges and Liz O. Baylen

Original music by Marion Lozano and Dan Powell

Engineered by Chris Wood

Listen and follow The Daily Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music

American lawmakers have tried for years to ban TikTok, concerned that the video app’s links to China pose a national security risk.

Sapna Maheshwari, a technology reporter for The Times, explains the behind-the-scenes push to rein in TikTok and discusses what a ban could mean for the app’s 170 million users in the United States.

On today’s episode

Sapna Maheshwari , who covers TikTok, technology and emerging media companies for The New York Times.

Background reading

A tiny group of lawmakers huddled in private about a year ago, aiming to bulletproof a bill that could ban TikTok.

The TikTok law faces court challenges, a shortage of qualified buyers and Beijing’s hostility .

Love, hate or fear it, TikTok has changed America .

There are a lot of ways to listen to The Daily. Here’s how.

We aim to make transcripts available the next workday after an episode’s publication. You can find them at the top of the page.

Special thanks to Sharon Otterman .

The Daily is made by Rachel Quester, Lynsea Garrison, Clare Toeniskoetter, Paige Cowett, Michael Simon Johnson, Brad Fisher, Chris Wood, Jessica Cheung, Stella Tan, Alexandra Leigh Young, Lisa Chow, Eric Krupke, Marc Georges, Luke Vander Ploeg, M.J. Davis Lin, Dan Powell, Sydney Harper, Mike Benoist, Liz O. Baylen, Asthaa Chaturvedi, Rachelle Bonja, Diana Nguyen, Marion Lozano, Corey Schreppel, Rob Szypko, Elisheba Ittoop, Mooj Zadie, Patricia Willens, Rowan Niemisto, Jody Becker, Rikki Novetsky, John Ketchum, Nina Feldman, Will Reid, Carlos Prieto, Ben Calhoun, Susan Lee, Lexie Diao, Mary Wilson, Alex Stern, Dan Farrell, Sophia Lanman, Shannon Lin, Diane Wong, Devon Taylor, Alyssa Moxley, Summer Thomad, Olivia Natt, Daniel Ramirez and Brendan Klinkenberg.

Our theme music is by Jim Brunberg and Ben Landsverk of Wonderly. Special thanks to Sam Dolnick, Paula Szuchman, Lisa Tobin, Larissa Anderson, Julia Simon, Sofia Milan, Mahima Chablani, Elizabeth Davis-Moorer, Jeffrey Miranda, Renan Borelli, Maddy Masiello, Isabella Anderson and Nina Lassam.

Sapna Maheshwari reports on TikTok, technology and emerging media companies. She has been a business reporter for more than a decade. Contact her at [email protected] . More about Sapna Maheshwari

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'Potential serial killer' arrested for murders of 2 Florida women: Deputies

by WEAR Staff

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WEAR) — A 25-year-old man whom Florida deputies call a "potential serial killer" has been arrested for the murders of two women in Orange County.

Carlos Yadiel Baez-Nieves is in Orange County Jail on two counts of First Degree Murder. He's charged with the murders of Fatia Flowers, 41, and Nichole Daniels, 44.

"He had sex with them and strangled them to death," the sheriff's office said in a release. "Then he drove to an intersection, pushed their lifeless bodies out of his truck, and drove home."

According to the sheriff's office, Baez-Nieves "targeted the most vulnerable women he could -- transient women who traded sex for money."

Deputies said the murders of the two women happened about a month apart.

“I’m confident that through their vigilance in these cases, our detectives have prevented Baez-Nieves from becoming a prolific serial killer,” said Sheriff John Mina. “Baez-Nieves clearly targeted women he thought wouldn’t be missed. He murdered them and dumped them on the side of the road like trash. But our detectives knew that Fatia and Nichole’s lives were meaningful -- and that they are worthy of justice.”

The sheriff's office said Baez-Nieves confessed to both murders during an interview with detectives.

The Zodiac Killer

The self-named Zodiac Killer is directly linked to five murders in the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and claimed to commit as many as 37. He has never been caught or identified.

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Zodiac Killer Letters, Symbol, and Cipher

Zodiac killer’s identity: theories and possible suspects, the case today: solved cipher and more theories, movies and tv about the zodiac killer, who is the zodiac killer.

The self-proclaimed Zodiac Killer is directly linked to at least five murders in Northern California in 1968 and 1969, with two other victims surviving despite serious injuries. However, he might have been responsible for more killings. He taunted police and made threats through letters sent to area newspapers from 1969 to 1974, before abruptly ceasing communication. Through that correspondence, he claimed to have killed as many as 37 people. Despite intensive investigations—and multiple theories pertaining to the killer’s identity—no one was ever caught for the crimes, and the case remains open. The mystery surrounding the murders has been the subject of numerous books and movies, including director David Fincher’s acclaimed 2007 movie Zodiac .

On August 1, 1969, the San Francisco Examiner , San Francisco Chronicle , and Vallejo Times-Herald each received an identical handwritten letter in an envelope without a return address. Beginning, “Dear Editor: I am the killer of the 2 teenagers last Christmas at Lake Herman,” the letters contained details from the Zodiac Killer’s murders that only the perpetrator could have known. The killer went on to threaten further attacks if the letters weren’t printed on the front page of the papers.

Each letter closed with a symbol consisting of a circle with a cross through it, in what would come to be known as the Zodiac Killer’s symbol. The letters were also each accompanied by one part of a three-part cipher that he claimed contained his identity.

While Bay Area police departments, with the support of the FBI, worked feverishly to track down the killer, another letter soon arrived at the San Francisco Examiner . Beginning, “Dear Editor: This is the Zodiac speaking,” it also described the murders in detail and taunted police for not having been able to crack his code or catch him.

Several days later, high school teacher Donald Harden and his wife, Bettye, were able to solve the cipher. “I like killing people because it is so much fun,” it read. “It is more fun than killing wild game in the forest because man is the most dangerous animal of all.”

Three days after the fourth known Zodiac killing, the 1969 murder of taxi driver Paul Stine, the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter claiming the crime. Written in the same erratic print as the Zodiac’s previous letters, it gave the details of Stine’s murder and was accompanied by a bloody scrap of Stine’s shirt. At the end of the letter, the killer mused that he would next shoot out the tire of a school bus and “pick off the kiddies as they come bouncing out.”

The Zodiac Killer continued his taunting correspondence with Bay Area papers, in which he included more ciphers, claimed to have committed several more murders, and mocked the police for their inability to catch him.

In 1974, the letters stopped, though the investigation continues to this day.

Four separate attacks involving seven people have been definitively attributed to the Zodiac Killer. The first confirmed incident took place on the night of December 20, 1968, when 17-year-old David Faraday and his 16-year-old girlfriend, Betty Lou Jensen, were shot to death near their car at a remote spot on Lake Herman Road, on the outskirts of Vallejo, California. Police were baffled, unable to determine the motive for the crime or a suspect.

Early in the morning of July 5, 1969, Darlene Ferrin, age 22, and her boyfriend, Mike Mageau, age 19, were sitting in parked car in a similarly remote Vallejo location, when they were approached by a man with a flashlight. The figure fired multiple shots at them, killing Ferrin and seriously wounding Mageau.

Within an hour of the incident, a man called the Vallejo Police Department, giving them the location of the crime scene and claiming responsibility for both that attack and the 1968 murders of Faraday and Jensen.

Despite evidence that included fingerprints, Mageau’s description, the decoded cipher, and a wave of tips and leads, police were unable to track down the Zodiac Killer.

On the evening of September 27, 1969, he struck again, approaching young couple Cecelia Shepard and Bryan Hartnell as they relaxed on an isolated part of the shore of Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Wearing a hood and a shirt bearing a circle-cross symbol, he tied them up before brutally stabbing them, scrawling a message for police on their car door and leaving the scene. He then called the Napa Police Department to claim responsibility. Shepard and Hartnell were both in critical condition but alive when emergency services arrived. However, Shepard died of her wounds shortly thereafter.

Two weeks later, on October 11, 1969, the Zodiac claimed another life, shooting 29-year-old taxi driver Paul Stine in San Francisco’s Presidio Heights neighborhood. As the murder didn’t seem to fit the Zodiac’s pattern, it was initially deemed a robbery until the San Francisco Chronicle received a letter claiming the crime.

At least five other murders have been tentatively linked to the Zodiac Killer, including the 1963 shooting of Robert Domingos and Linda Edwards near Santa Barbara, California, and the 1966 stabbing death of college student Cheri Jo Bates in Riverside, California.

With descriptions from witnesses who had seen a man leaving the scene of Paul Stine’s 1969 murder, police were able to create and circulate a composite sketch of the killer. But despite mounting evidence and the investigation of numerous suspects, the Zodiac remained at large.

More than five decades after the Faraday-Jensen murders, no suspect has ever been arrested. The inability to identify the Zodiac Killer has continued to frustrate law enforcement.

The mystery surrounding the Zodiac case also continues to fascinate the public and has inspired more than its fair share of theories regarding the killer’s identity. Ranging from plausible to absurd, these include the claims that he was Unabomber Ted Kacznyski , or convicted murderer Charles Manson , or that he eventually moved to Scotland and committed more murders there before finding happiness and giving up his wicked ways. Some other theories include:

Arthur Leigh Allen

True-crime author and former San Francisco Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith wrote two separate works on the killer (1986’s Zodiac and 2002’s Zodiac Unmasked ), ultimately identifying a man named Arthur Leigh Allen as the most likely suspect. Allen died in 1992, however, and was never conclusively connected to any of the murders.

Earl Van Best Jr.

In 2014, HarperCollins published The Most Dangerous Animal of All by Gary L. Stewart, in which he claims that his father, Earl Van Best Jr.—who bears a strong resemblance to the man in the police sketch—was the Zodiac Killer.

Louie Myers

Another man came forward in 2014 to reveal that a friend named Louie Myers had confessed to being the killer before his death in 2002. Certain events in Myers’ history matched up with those connected to the Zodiac, but as with Allen and Van Best, there was no conclusive proof.

Multiple Killers

A 2023 Peacock docuseries Myth of the Zodiac Killer posits the murders were carried out by multiple people. “It’s very unusual for cold cases to have this much information. But if you read all the police files, you see that there’s very little linking these crimes together,” series director Andrew Nock told the New York Post . “Different weapons, different M.O., different victim profile, even eyewitness statements, different locations—or a trophy being taken from one but none of the others.”

In 2020, after more than 50 years, amateur codebreakers solved the Zodiac Killer’s cipher . The decoded message read:

“I hope you are having lots of fun in trying to catch me that wasn’t me on the TV show which brings up a point about me I am not afraid of the gas chamber because it will send me to paradice all the sooner because I now have enough slaves to work for me where everyone else has nothing when they reach paradice so they are afraid of death I am not afraid because I know that my new life is life will be an easy one in paradice death.”

In October 2021, a team of 40 former law enforcement investigators called the Case Breakers, claimed to have identified the Zodiac Killer. They believed that Gary Francis Poste, who died in 2018, was responsible for the murders.

According to USA Today , this claim relied largely on DNA evidence found at the scene of Cheri Jo Bates’ murder in 1966 at Riverside City College in California. Additionally, the Case Breakers claimed that Poste had the same shoe size and similar forehead scars to the Zodiac Killer and that letters to the press contained anagrams of his name. However, police have remained adamant that Bates is not a confirmed victim of the Zodiac Killer, meaning Poste was not made a suspect.

In 2022, author Jarett Kobek wrote an investigative book titled How to Find Zodiac and hypothesized the killer’s identity as Poel Doerr, a San Francisco Bay Area man who died in 2007. He found that both Doerr and the Zodiac had shown an interest, through writing, in making homemade bombs—particularly of ammonium nitrate and fertilizer. Along with having a similar build to the suspected killer, Doerr also worked at a shipyard in Vallejo at the time of the muders.

The Zodiac Killer was the inspiration for the psychopath in the 1971 Clint Eastwood classic Dirty Harry , which includes a scene involving a school bus full of children being hijacked.

Years later, Robert Graysmith’s writing fueled the creation of David Fincher’s critically acclaimed film Zodiac , which hit the big screen in 2007 with Jake Gyllenhaal , Mark Ruffalo , and Robert Downey Jr. in starring roles.

Subsequent dramatized takes on the subject include the 2017 feature Awakening the Zodiac , about a couple that investigates the murderer before falling into his crosshairs.

Also in 2017, The History Channel featured a nonfiction TV series, The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer , about investigators’ hunt to decipher the Zodiac Killer’s code.

In March 2020, FX released a documentary series called The Most Dangerous Animal of All , based on Gary L. Stewart’s book of the same name.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us !

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

Tyler Piccotti first joined the Biography.com staff as an Associate News Editor in February 2023, and before that worked almost eight years as a newspaper reporter and copy editor. He is a graduate of Syracuse University. When he's not writing and researching his next story, you can find him at the nearest amusement park, catching the latest movie, or cheering on his favorite sports teams.

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