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10 Horrific Crimes Everyone Forgot

Bad people do bad things every day, and even when these crimes make their way to the media, a lot of them get forgotten over time. Here are some of the most awful people and the horrific crimes they've committed throughout history.

By Morgan E. WestlingPublished 5 years ago 5 min read
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Horrific crimes happen every day. As much as we’d like to think that everyone is inherently good, it’s just not true. There are serial killers who commit gruesome murders and are seriously messed up in the head. Many of these real-life criminals went down in history, such as Ted Bundy and Jack the Ripper, because they were convicted of manslaughter and committed truly heinous crimes. However, some of the worst criminals are talked about for only a brief period and then they are forgotten about. Here are some of the killers everyone forgot and the horrific crimes they committed.

Fred and Rose West were serial killers who committed gruesome murders on their own children, as well as other women. They sexually assaulted and tortured their daughters, and then beat them to death before burying them under the porch. Normally, the wife is simply an accomplice to her husband in murder cases. However, Rose West was a killer all on her own. When Fred spent years in prison, Rose continued to commit murders. Their daughter Heather was beaten to death by Fred, because Fred didn’t like the look on her face. These crimes made it to the media, but no one remembered them for long.

Dorothea Puente committed horrific crimes in the 1980s when she murdered up to 15 people in the boarding house that she managed in Sacramento, California. The boarding house was for elderly people, and there was a common pattern of people checking in for several months and never checking out. Puente would bury the bodies in her back yard and take their social security checks for herself. Puente was convicted of manslaughter and became infamous for her crimes. For a brief time, she was known as the, “Death House Landlady,” but back in the '80s, no one wanted to accept that there were female serial killers, so this case was forgotten about fairly readily.

Rader committed some of the most atrocious crimes possible, and he may be one of the killers you’ve never heard of. One of Rader’s home break-ins involved him tying up a family, putting plastic bags over their heads, and making the young daughter watch as the young boy and father suffocated. He then took the daughter to the basement where he tied a noose around her neck and intermittently choked her, finding enjoyment in watching her suffer. This is a true crime story that will make you shiver, and it was portrayed on an episode of Bones.

Amelia Dyer doesn't even appear on the list of serial killer nurses who murdered their patients. In the Victorian period, she murdered close to 400 infants and did so by tricking new mothers into believing she was a great nurse and caretaker. The mothers would pay her to care for their baby, and once she got the baby and the money, she would kill the baby and keep the money. Dyer said she liked to watch the babies die.

John Haigh was known as the “Acid Bath Murderer,” which immediately tells you that he committed some horrific acts. He claimed to have killed nine people, but he was sentenced to life in prison for killing six. Haigh got his name, because he used sulphuric acid to dissolve the bodies of his victims after killing them. Eventually, Haigh was put on death row and executed for his crimes.

The Columbian serial killers include three Columbian men that committed horrific crimes and became famous for a short period for these crimes. Daniel Camargo raped and killed close to 100 girls in the 1970s. Luis Garavito raped and killed close to 150 kids in the 1990s. Lastly, a man they refer to as, “The Monster of the Andes,” was accused of torturing, raping, and killing 300+ children in the 1990s. He was jailed for his crimes, but eerily, was released from prison in 2002 and now lives freely.

Karla Homolka committed some terrible crimes, such as raping and murdering her own sister, as well as doing the same to other girls. Though she was convicted for her crimes and sent to prison, she has been released from prison and now lives freely in Canada, because the court believed she was a victim. Homolka is even allowed to have children and take care of them, which is very scary.

Jack Unterweger is an interesting case, and his horrific crimes sparked discussion around the world for a while. Unterweger was jailed in 1976 for murdering a young sex worker. While in jail, he wrote a best-selling autobiography and was thought to be reformed. After 15 years in prison, he was released on parole. He went on to kill nine more sex workers in Europe and California, was convicted a second time, and committed suicide in 1994. Obviously, his reformation was fake, and when escorts reveal what it's like to be a sex worker, they skim over the gruesome details of this reality.

Ed Gein was particularly messed up in the head, and he committed some very horrific crimes. Gein collected human body parts, both by murdering people and by digging them up. The crime scenes, which were discovered from searching his house, came up with some very disturbing artifacts, including many items made from human skin, human skulls used as home décor, human face masks lying around, human hearts in paper bags, and much more.

Richard Trenton Chase, known as “The Vampire Killer of Sacramento,” committed heinous crimes even in his youth, such as capturing and killing animals. Many times, he would use a kitchen knife to kill these animals and then eat the animals, either raw or blended up. He got the name vampire killer, because he would bite the heads off birds and suck their blood. Eventually, he started murdering humans. There is one pregnant woman who he disemboweled days before drinking her blood out of a cup. He committed suicide in 1979.

All these horrific crimes are hard to even imagine, yet they happened and were forgotten by the public over the years. Whether the victims were calling 911 or didn’t even have the chance to open their eyes, these serial killers had plans and they saw them through. It’s important that we remember the crimes of these killers, so we can be aware of our surroundings always, lest we become victims of one of the creepiest murder cases you've never heard of either.

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About the Creator

Morgan E. Westling

Avid Reader, Freelance Writer/Editor, and Lifestyle Blogger

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