Criminal Minds is a gripping crime drama series. While much of the series is fiction, it does have elements of truth. Criminal Minds is based on the FBI’s Behavioural Analysis Unit which exists in real life, though it works differently than portrayed in the show. Throughout Criminal Minds, the team of profilers catch countless serial killers and solve many crimes.
Fans were enthralled by the BAU’s many cases and the sequence that introduced Criminal Minds’ 15 seasons. These real-life killers can be spotted in Criminal Minds’ intro where their mugshots are shown. While they are sometimes referenced by the team, no more detail is given.
Content Warning: This article contains mentions of violence, abuse, and murder.
10 David Berkowitz AKA The Son Of Sam
David Richard Berkowitz is 68 years old. On July 29, 1976, he started a series of 8 shootings using a .44 special caliber Bulldog revolver. By July 1977, he had killed 6 people and wounded 7 others while evading the NYPD’s biggest manhunt. He left taunting letters to the police, which were publicized by the press.
When he was caught on August 10, 1977, he confessed and said he was obeying the commands of a demon manifested in his neighbor Sam’s dog. He was sentenced to 6 consecutive life sentences and later admitted that the story about the dog was false. After becoming an Evangelical Christian in prison, Berkowitz no wishes to be referred to as Son of Hope. He is mentioned and his mugshot is seen in many episodes, including L.D.S.K, Unfinished Business, and The Last Word.
9 Charles Manson, Infamous Cult Leader
Charles Milles Manson was born on November 12, 1934. He was an American cult leader of the Manson Family who were based in California in the late ’60s. Members of the cult committed a series of murders at 4 locations between July and August in 1969. In 1971, Manson was convicted of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder of 7 people. One of these victims was the actress Sharon Tate.
Manson never directly ordered his cult members to commit murder, but his ideology suggested that they should. Mason was a singer-songwriter and in 1968, The Beach Boys recorded one of his songs which was later renamed Never Learn Not To Love with no credit to Manson. Manson died in prison in late 2017 at 83 years old.
8 Ted Bundy, The Definition Of Heartless
Theodore Bundy was born on November 24, 1946. He was a serial kidnapper, rapist, and killer who targeted young women and girls during the 1970s (if not earlier). For over a decade, he denied his crimes until he confessed to 30 homicides in 7 different states between 1974 and 1978. His true victim count is unknown.
As shown in the biographical crime drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile, Bundy was known to be handsome and charismatic which he exploited to reach his victims. Bundy decapitated at least 12 of his victims, keeping some of their heads as trophies, and visited the decomposing bodies of his victims to groom and perform sexual acts on them. He was arrested in 1975 and executed by electrocution in 1989 at age 42.
7 Ted Kaczynski, A Domestic Terrorist Known As The Unabomber
Theodore John Kaczynski was born on May 22, 1942. He was a former mathematician professor and prodigy, which he abandoned to live a primitive life in 1969. He is now known as the Unabomber after a nationwide bombing campaign targeted people he believed were advancing modern technology and the destruction of the environment. These bombings took place between 1978 and 1995, killing 3 people and wounding 23 others.
In 1995, The New York Times received a letter where Kaczynski promised to desist from terrorism if the Times or The Washington Post published his essay and manifesto, Industria Society And Its Future. After recognizing the writing, Kaczynski’s brother reported his suspicions to the FBI who arrested Kaczynski in 1996. He refused to plead insanity. Eventually, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 8 life sentences in prison where he befriended Ramzi Yousef and Timothy McVeigh. A Thousand Suns featured an Unsub based on Kaczynski, Hayman Vasher.
6 Timothy McVeigh, Responsible For The Oklahoma City Bombing
Timothy James McVeigh was born on April 23, 1968. McVeigh was responsible for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people, including 19 children, and injured more than 680 others. This was the deadliest act of terrorism in the United States before the September 11 attacks.
McVeigh defended the bombing as a legitimate tactic against what he believed to be a tyrannical government and hoped to inspire a revolution. He was arrested shortly after the bombing and sentenced to death in 1997. McVeigh was executed by lethal injection in June 2001 at age 33.
5 Aileen Wuornos, A Sex Worker And Serial Killer
Aileen Carol Wuornos was born on February 29, 1956. She was an American serial killer who murdered clients during her work as a prostitute from 1989 to 1990 along the highways of Florida. She shot and killed 7 of her male clients before robbing them.
Wuornos claimed that all the murders were in self-defense and said that her clients had either raped her or attempted to do so. She was sentenced to death for 6 of the murders. After 12 years on death row in Florida, she was executed by lethal injection on October 9, 2002.
4 Richard Ramírez AKA The Valley Intruder, The Walk-In Killer, And The Night Stalker
Ricardo “Richard” Leyva Muñoz Ramírez was born on February 29, 1960. He was an American serial killer, rapist, kidnapper, child molester, and burglar known as The Night Stalker. His crime spree took place in California between June 1984 and August 1995. Ramírez’s abusive childhood is considered an influence on his crimes.
After moving to California at the age of 22, he began frequently using cocaine and committed burglaries to support his addiction, which later led to include murders, rapes, and assaults. Ramírez was convicted in 1989 of 13 counts of murder, 5 attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults, and 14 burglaries. Ramírez never expressed any remorse for his actions. He died in 2013 at age 53 after complications from B-cell lymphoma while waiting for his execution.
3 Angelo Buono, One Of Two Hillside Stranglers
Angelo Anthony Buono Jr. was born on October 5, 1934. Buono was born in Rochester, New York, to parents who were first-generation Italian emigrants. Before getting in touch with his adopted cousin, Kenneth Bianchi, Buono already had an extensive criminal history. When meeting Bianchi in 1975, Buono convinced Bianchi to join him in prostituting the two women he had been holding prisoner.
In October 1977, Buono and Bianchi began using fake badges to convince victims they were undercover cops. They brought the victims back to Buono’s home where they sexually abused and tortured women before strangling them. The women and girls were 12 to 28 years old. Buono was sentenced to life imprisonment and died in prison at age 67 in September 2002.
2 John Wayne Gacy AKA Pogo The Clown, Patches The Clown, And The Killer Clown
John Wayne Gacy was born on March 17, 1942. He regularly performed as a clown at charitable events and children’s hospitals before it was discovered that he was a serial killer and sex offender. At least 33 young men and boys were Gacy’s victims.
Gacy lured his victims to his home and convinced them to wear handcuffs to demonstrate a magic trick, only to rape and torture them before strangling them. 26 of Gacy’s victims were buried in the crawl space of his home. He was arrested on December 21, 1978, and sentenced to death on March 13, 1980. He was executed by lethal injection on May 10, 1994.
1 Jeffrey Dahmer, A Real Life Hannibal
Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer was born on May 21, 1960. He is an American serial killer and sex offender known as the Milwaukee Monster or the Milwaukee Cannibal after murdering and dismembering 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991. His later murders involved cannibalism, necrophilia, and the preservation of body parts.
He was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and a psychotic disorder, but was still found legally sane at his trial. He was convicted of 15 of the murders and on February 17, 1992, was sentenced to 15 life sentences. In 1994 and at age 34, Dahmer was beaten to death by fellow inmate Christopher Scarver.
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