Notorious serial killers like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski and Edmund Kemper have surprisingly high IQs. Despite the average serial killer IQ being 94.7, the individuals on this list are highly intelligent, yet phenomenally cruel. This list explores the IQs and crimes of 11 infamous serial killers.
About this list
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Rodney Alcala had an estimated IQ of 170 and was listed among the 11 Serial Killers With High IQs.
Rodney Alcala.Rodney Alcala, also known as The Dating Game Serial Killer, had an estimated IQ of 170. Alcala won a 1978 episode ofThe Dating Game.Alcala committed these killings while he killed women in California.
Investigators found over 1,000 photos of Alcala's crimes and estimated 50 victims after his trial. Alcala only got guilty of five murders. He escaped the first murder trial on a technicality but was convicted in 2005 based on DNA evidence.
Rodney Alcala is listed in '11 Serial Killers With High IQs'.died in prison.He died from natural causes in 2021.
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Ted Kaczynski had an IQ of 167.
Ted Kaczynski.Ted Kaczynski, also known as the Unabomber, had an IQ of 167 and was a math prodigy. Kaczynski entered Harvard at 16 but disliked modern technology. To oppose it, he mailed bombs between 1978 and 1995, killing three people and injuring 23 others.
Kaczynski left messages encrypted with math codes thatthe FBI could not crack.He escaped capture for 17 years. After his manifesto was released, his brother and sister-in-law recognized the writing style and alerted the FBI.
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Charlene Gallego had an IQ of 160.
Charlene Gallego.Charlene Gallego committed many murders with her husband, Gerald Gallego, in the late 1970s. A violin prodigy with an IQ of 160, some think Charlene planned the couple'skillings.They kidnapped 10 people, some aged 13, mostly women. They sexually assaulted and held them captive before eventually murdering them.
Charlene later agreed to testify against her husband and received only a 17-year prison sentence. She was released in 1997.
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Carroll Edward Cole had an IQ of 152.
As a child, Carroll Edward Cole's mother made him watch her have sex with other men while his father was gone. She threatened him with violence to stop him from telling his father. Cole later claimed this trauma affected his issues with women as an adult.
Authorities believe his first murder was drowning his friend at age 10; nobody knew it was murder then. As an adult, he picked up women in bars and killed them, targeting women he thought were "loose" or adulterers. Police caught Cole twice during violent acts, but he talked his way out of them.to talk his way out of them.Carroll Edward Cole is listed in '11 Serial Killers With High IQs'.
He eventually received a sentence and execution for five women's deaths, though his total death count might be higher.
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Andrew Cunanan had an IQ of 147.
Andrew Cunanan is known for murdering fashion designer Gianni Versace, but he also had four other victims. He was reportedly a bright student and spoke seven languages but faced problems in school when he started lying pathologically.
Cunanan reportedly had an obsession with violent sex from a young age and even had sex for money as a teenager. Despite the numerous murders he committed,he began with his former lover, Jeff Trail; the FBI could not catch him.Andrew Cunanan committed murders starting with his former lover, Jeff Trail; the FBI failed to catch him.
Versace was Cunanan's final victim. Cunanan ended his own life eight days later, never revealing why he killed the designer.
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Edmund Kemper had an IQ of 145. He acted as a "natural born killer," and this has good reason. Kemper was huge: six feet nine inches tall and over 300 pounds. He scored an IQ of 145. Kemper killed his grandparents, several women, and his own mother. Authorities think Kemper murdered ten people total. He reportedly kept some victims' heads for days before disposing of them.
Investigators described Edmund Kemper as a "natural born killer," and with good reason. Kemper stood tall at 6'9" and weighed over 300 pounds. He had an IQ of 145. Kemper killed his grandparents, several women, and his own mother. Authorities think Kemper murdered 10 people total. He reportedly kept some victims' heads for days before discarding them.Edmund KemperKemper evaded law enforcement. He eventually turned himself in and asked for the death penalty. Instead, he received eight life sentences.
Kemper managed to evade law enforcement.Jeffrey Dahmer murdered 17 men and boys from 1978 to 1991. Dahmer picked them up, often at gay bars. He took them home, then drugged and strangled them. After sex acts, Dahmer dismembered bodies while taking photos. He stored body parts in a freezer, practiced cannibalism, and performed lobotomies.Kemper managed to evade law enforcement until he turned himself in and requested the death penalty. Instead, Kemper was given eight life sentences.
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Jeffrey Dahmer had an IQ of 144.
Jeffrey DahmerDahmer murdered seventeen men and boys from 1978 to 1991. He picked them up, usually at gay bars, and took them home. He then drugged and strangled them. After sex acts with their dead bodies, he dismembered them while taking photos. Dahmer also kept body parts in his freezer, practiced cannibalism, and performed lobotomies.
Police caught Dahmer when they found Tracy Edwards, a man wandering around with handcuffs on his wrists who said.IQ: 143Stephen Christopher Stanko had an IQ of 143 and "a grandiose sense of self-importance, failure to conform to social norms, and lack of remorse." Stanko had already served time for kidnapping. He published a book about prisons while in jail. After release, Stanko researched serial killers; articles on famous killers appeared in his home.
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Lawrence Bittaker had an IQ of 138.
Lawrence Bittaker, one half of theTool Box KillersBittaker abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered five teenage girls. Before the murders, he struggled with the law. In prison, he showed "paranoid and borderline psychotic" behavior, with little control over his impulses.Bittaker had little control over his impulses.Bittaker somehow got released.
When Bittaker met Roy Norris, they started murdering together. They bought a van, nicknamed the "Murder Mack." They committed many atrocities during their killing spree. They were only discovered when Norris was arrested for minor drug offenses.
John Douglas, the FBI agent on the case, described Bittaker as the most disturbing person he had ever profiled.
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Stephen Christopher Stanko had an IQ of 143.
With an IQ of 143, Stanko showed "a grandiose sense of self-importance, failure to conform to social norms, and lack of remorse."Stephen StankoStanko had already served a prison sentence for kidnapping. He published a book about prisons while incarcerated. After release, Stanko began researching serial killers; articles on famous killers appeared in his home.
Stanko killed his girlfriend and a fellow library patron. He also sexually assaulted his girlfriend's daughter. The daughter escaped and contacted the police, leading to Stanko's capture in 2005. Stanko serves a death sentence in South Carolina.
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Ted Bundy had an IQ of 136.
Ted BundyBundy confessed toBundy confessed to murdering 30 women.Bundy committed murders between 1974 and 1978, though his total victim count remains unknown. Bundy mutilated victims' bodies and performed sex acts on their remains.
The FBI put him on its 10 Most-Wanted List. He was arrested, yet he escaped jail multiple times.
Authorities captured Bundy. They tried him for his crimes. The electric chair executed him in Starke, FL, on January 24, 1989.
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John Christie had an IQ of 128.
John Christie, also called the “Whispering Killer of England,” killed at least eight people. This included his wife during the 1940s and early 1950s. Police only learned of his crimes after he left his apartment and victims' bodies appeared.The bodies were hidden in a wall.Two more bodies appeared in the back garden. His wife's body was found under the living room floor.
Police suspected Christie of murder. Investigation mistakes let Christie escape his crimes for years. Bodies were found later. In 1953, they hanged Christie for murdering his wife.
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