Ridgway’s crimes began with his stabbing of a six–year–old boy when Ridgway was 16. In the 1980s and 1990s, Ridgway said he had killed so many women he lost count. His first five victims were discovered in the Green River in Washington state. Ridgway strangled and dumped the bodies of mostly sex workers and vulnerable women in Washington and Oregon while he worked as a commercial truck painter. 18, 1949, has been proven to be responsible for the deaths of 49 people but is suspected of killing at least 90. He was most recently sentenced to death again in November 2015. He was sentenced to death in 1989, 1994, and 2006, but the Oregon Supreme Court rescinded these verdicts when laws changed or technicalities arose. Rogers has remained in prison since 1988. In all, Roger’s eight murder victims and many victims of assault have ranged in age from 15 to 35. He sawed the feet off some of them, and one had her entire abdomen gutted. Rogers hogtied, slashed, and tortured his victims.

The bodies of six women that didn’t survive were found off the side of logging roads in the Molalla woods. Rogers abused some women several times over, and their testimony was crucial to his convictions. Before that, Rogers had been targeting prostitutes that were addicted to heroin and taking them on “dates” to the woods and giving them miniature vodka bottles and orange juice before torturing them. Prosecutors said Rogers’ killing had been for a sexual thrill. Rogers dumped her body behind a restaurant in Oak Grove. 30, 1953, was arrested for stabbing and killing Jennifer Lee Smith, a 25–year-old prostitute. The Molalla Forest Killer: Oregon’s most prolificĭayton Leroy Rogers, born Sept. So since it’s Halloween, let’s get right to a few of the most notorious serial killers from the Pacific Northwest. Perhaps because any one of us could fit the profile, mystery drives our obsession. However, the news, documentaries, crime shows and horror movies are obsessed with crazed serial murders. Research put out by the Federal Bureau of Investigation says “ there is a macabre interest in the topic that far exceeds its scope and has generated countless articles, books and movies.” While the FBI doesn’t seem to keep or release numbers on the amount of serial murders that happen each year, we do know that no specific age, race, or psychological profile exists. However, the government says they are a minimal threat. Terrifying, right? Though Oregon ranks number six in the nation for serial murders, we actually know very little about what drives these killers.īy definition, serial murder means three or more killings completed in a style that suggests they were done by the same person. Seven out of every million of you beanie-toting Oregonians will be murdered by a serial killer. The Lizzie Borden House where her parents were found murdered is now a popular tourist attraction and was featured on an episode of 'Supernatural.Look to your left. But the townsfolk of Fall River never stopped believing that she was guilty and ostracized her for the rest of her life. Police could find no evidence of who committed the crime, but arrested their daughter Lizzy and charged her with murder.īecause the evidence against her was purely circumstantial, she was acquitted after the jury deliberated for less than an hour. On August 4, 1892, Andrew Jackson Borden and his second wife, Abby, were bludgeoned to death with an ax, New England Today reports. That might not be how the original rhyme goes, but it is more accurate since Lizzie was acquitted of her parents' murder in 1893. Lizzie Borden allegedly took an ax and gave her mother 40 whacks, when she saw what she had done she allegedly gave her father 41.

The Borden home in Fall River, Massachusetts.ĭonna Hageman/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images

Current unsolved serial killers