14 Serial Killers Who Left Behind Terrifying Calling Cards

Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, murdered at least ten women and possibly more. BTK means "Bind, Torture, Kill," the method Rader used to slowly kill victims. Rader began killing people in 1974, but the name did not become central to his identity.The name became central to his identity by 1977.Rader sent letters, postcards, and poems to the police, claiming responsibility and mocking detectives for failing to catch him. In one letter, he signed BTK, but he arranged the letters to look like a woman, using the B for breasts and the K for splayed legs.

This was just the start of his calling card. Rader started leaving messages at crime scenes, even carving them into women's bodies as he killed through the 1990s. During this time, he acted as a family man, a loving father, and even led a Cub Scout troop. His calling card ended up causing his downfall. One letter sent to a local TV station in 2005 was on a floppy disk. The document held coded information tracing back to Rader's church, which broke the case. He was arrested two weeks after sending the letter.

Jack the Ripper might be one of history's most famous serial killers because he remains uncaptured. In 1888, Jack the Ripper operated in Whitechapel, London.Five women died brutally in the dead of night.Police found the women the next day with their genitals and bodies horribly mutilated. Parts of them were sometimes missing or rearranged, but that was not the Ripper's most memorable calling card.

Police started receiving letters claiming responsibility for the murders. The killer wrote them in red ink and called himself "Jack," referencing "springheeled Jack," a legend about a terrifying demon man. The letters were well-written, taunting, and showed intimate details of the killings, including how the women screamed. When police doubted the letters, Jack escalated. He sent a package containing part of a victim's kidney, claiming he ate the rest. This was one of the first times a murderer taunted police this way, though it was not the final act.

Like Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer escaped capture. He also sent taunting messages to the police searching for him. Unlike Jack the Ripper, the Zodiac Killer made his messages harder to figure out.He put his messages into code.This code is so unusual and unique that several letters he wrote remain unsolved.

The Zodiac Killer started his attacks in 1968. He targeted young couples in Northern California who went to secluded spots to make out. For five years, he sent letters to newspapers, police, and media. These letters discussed the murders and included strange codes. The killings kept going, but one victim escaped. That victim described the killer as wearing glasses and being white. He claimed to kill at least 17 people, but only five murders connect directly to him. The killer remains at large, though he appears to have stopped killing.

From 1984 to 1985, the San Francisco area faced vicious murders. Fourteen people died. Many showed signs of sexual assault and body damage. They slashed their throats, shot, and sustained beatings before and after death. One chilling detail was a calling card found at every scene.

The Night Stalker, that is what he was called then,He always left an upside-down pentagram somewhere at the crime scene.He sometimes drew it on the victims' bodies. He used the victim's own lipstick for the drawing. He even drew it on the inner thighs of a victim who had been sexually assaulted before death. Police identified Richard Ramirez as the killer in 1985 and gave him a death sentence. Even during his trial, Ramirez flashed an upside-down pentagram at the audience and shouted, "Hail Satan." He died on death row in 2014 from B-cell Lymphoma.

Keith Hunter Jesperson began killing in 1990 near Portland, OR. He drove a truck. He killed and raped at least eight women, possibly more, while driving along the West Coast. Jesperson could not stay anonymous. He wrote a confession for one murder on the wall of a truck stop.He signed that confession with a happy face.This did not get him much attention. Disappointed, he started writing letters to media sources about his killings. He signed each letter with a happy face. This eventually led people to name him The Happy Face Killer.

Police tried to track Jesperson after he became popular. Tracking proved hard because he kept moving. Authorities finally arrested Jesperson in 1995. They sentenced him to life in prison a few years later. Jesperson remains imprisoned, serving his sentence today.

In 2002, two unknown men started shooting random people from rooftops near Washington D.C. They killed five people within 24 hours. They did not stop there. They killed in Virginia, Maryland, and Washington D.C. They also killed 17 people and injured at least 10 others. The attacks might not have been linked if the killers had not left a calling card.

John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd MalvoThe Beltway Snipers placed tarot cards at crime scenes. One card was the death card, instructing police to "call me God." The pair also left letters asking for money. They also called a tip line, boasting about their work, including a reference to a robbery Malvo committed in Montgomery, AL. Police matched Malvo's fingerprints from that robbery to prints found at a crime scene.

The two were caught in 2002. Muhammad received a death sentence by lethal injection in 2009. Malvo still serves life in prison.

Between 2006 and 2007, at least seven people died in Mumbai. Each victim showed signs of beating; some had signs of sexual assault. Everyone left a calling card: a beer bottle or can. This made the killer known as The Beer Killer.

The Beer Man, also known by this name, has no confirmed identity. Ravindra Kantrole was named a suspect, but faulty evidence led to his release.He supposedly confessed to killing all seven victims.He also killed at least eight others, leaving a beer can or bottle at every crime scene. He claimed he forced his victims to drink the beer before leaving the empty container. No motive exists for these crimes, and no arrest has occurred.

The name of this killer sounds lighthearted, but the darkness behind it chills you. In 1970 Boston, a man named Kenneth Harrison admitted killing a nine-year-old boy, then admitted he had killed before. This uncovered the answer to a mystery police had long pursued. He claimed he killed at least four people and called the police multiple times reporting the deaths.

When he called, people heard him laughing at the end. He called himself..."The Giggler."The high-pitched, wild laughter made him known. People near the victims remembered hearing it. He strangled victims, disposed of bodies, and claimed he once set fire to a hotel. He said he did it "for shits and giggles." He went to prison and committed suicide in 1989 by swallowing his antidepressants.

Some killers leave calling cards at crime scenes; others take items from the scene. Charles Albright belongs to the latter group, in the worst way. Albright appeared happy, well-adjusted, and normal, but he secretly loved killing women. He targeted prostitutes, beat them, shot them, and took his trophy home: The women's eyes.

Charles Albright cut out the eyes of dead women. When police found the women, their eyes were shut, and they looked like they had been beaten. But opening their eyes showed empty sockets. No tissue remained. This made Albright the Texas Eyeball Killer. He was sentenced in 1991 and remains in prison.

Most serial killers use a specific killing method or weapon. The Boston Strangler follows this pattern. In the early 1960s, Albert DeSalvo began strangling women in their homes or rooms, ending up killingat least 13 women.Some women suffered sexual assault or rape. Police only arrested DeSalvo in 1964.

DeSalvo killed using only items from the victims' clothing. Silk or nylon stockings seemed his favorite. This suggests other unsolved murders in the area might involve him. He confessed to his crimes. Prison stabbed him to death in 1973. The inmates who stabbed him never got identified.

The Scorecard Killer stands out. His calling card surfaced only after his 1983 arrest. Randy Steven Kraft raped, mutilated, and tortured young men for over ten years, killing at least 16. Some reports suggest he killed more, backed by evidence found at his home.

Police found a strange three-ring binder in Kraft's car when he was caught. Inside the binderheld a coded list.The list related to the murders. Some entries named a location; others held actual names. Police could not fully read the list. It has 61 entries. We do not know how many entries link to dead bodies. Kraft awaits execution on death row and never confessed to the unknown entries.

David Berkowitz was originally known as the Son of Sam.He was known as the .44 Caliber Killer.Berkowitz killed by shooting people with a .44 Caliber gun. Everything changed when he left his calling card at a crime scene. He started killing in 1976. Police took time to realize one person committed these killings. Berkowitz shot at least six people before the police connected the dots. He began taunting the police at this point.

In March 1977, police found a murdered couple: Valentina Suriani and Alexander Esau.A note was at the scene.The note rambled about demons, possession, being a monster, and claimed the name "Son of Sam." He left other notes, speeding his capture. David Berkowitz was arrested in August 1977 and remains in life imprisonment.

The Unabomber went beyond taunting police or media. He started as a smart young kid, but...Ted Kaczynski is listed among 14 serial killers who left behind terrifying calling cards.Kaczynski's bright future ended. Instead, Kaczynski mailed bombs to universities and airlines starting in 1978. He killed three people and injured 27 people then. He sent out his packages for nearly 20.

Kaczynski did not stop at killing or injuring people. Kaczynski wanted to annoy the FBI. The FBI pursued him for some time. He sent them taunting letters and essays about society's collapse and his attempts to fix the world. He sent the media a huge manifesto; they published it, showing his beliefs. This self-centered calling card ended his life. A family member recognized his writing style. In 1996, police caught him. He currently serves time in prison for his crimes.

William Heirens killed at least three women in 1945 and 1946. Police found all three victims murdered horribly. They were stabbed, strangled, and left for the police to find. Most showed signs they fought back, but they were overpowered. His second victim, Francis Brown, faced a strange note.Francis Brown was left with a strange note.That note gave Heirens his name.

Police found a message on the wall at the crime scene. The message had the victim's lipstick on it. It read:

William Heirens wrote, "For heavens [sic]"

William Heirens wrote, "sake catch me"

William Heirens wrote, "before I kill more"

I cannot control myself."

Heirens became known as The Lipstick Killer after that. He later kidnapped a young girl and left notes for police that way too. This led to his arrest in 1946. He died in prison in 2012.