Most notorious serial killers from Ohio whose crimes shook the state
Serial killers usually have a motive for killing people, and they have various methods of executing it. Some kill for financial gain, attention seeking, anger or revenge. Ohio is known for some of the notorious serial killers whose crimes shook the state. Others passed away while serving their time in prison, while others are still behind bars.
Source: UGC
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Serial killers find pleasure and satisfaction in killing people. In Ohio, serial killers have caused a lot of damage, leaving people shattered because of their crimes. Data from multiple sources, such as 1077 WRKR, StrawPoll, and Discover Walks, were used to compile this list.
Serial killers from Ohio
How many serial killers are from Ohio? There are several serial killers from Ohio, but the exact number is not known; some of them include Donald Harvey, Michael Madison and Martha Wise. Below are infamous serial killers from Ohio whose crimes shook the state.
| Names | |
| 1 | Anthony Edward Sowell |
| 2 | Donald Harvey |
| 3 | Thomas Lee Dillon |
| 4 | Gary Michael Heidnik |
| 5 | Michael Madison |
| 6 | Martha Wise |
| 7 | Shawn Grate |
| 8 | Robert Berdella |
| 9 | Posteal Laskey Jr |
| 10 | Edward Edwards |
| 11 | Rebecca Auborn |
Anthony Edward Sowell
- Date of birth: 19 August 1959
- Date of death: 8 Feb 2021
- Place of birth: East Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Anthony Edward Sowell is one of Cleveland's serial killers whose crime left many shocked. He murdered 11 women between 2009 and 2010.
According to the Ohio serial killer documentary with VICE Media, he assaulted and tortured women after inviting them to his apartment. He was convicted of attempted assault in 1989. In 2005, he got out. After his release, a series of women started disappearing. The first woman to go missing was Crystal Dozier in 2007. His other victims include Kim Smith, Nancy Cobbs, and Janice Webb.
He was later charged with the murder of 11 people and 74 counts of assault, kidnapping and tampering with evidence on 14 September 2011. He was sentenced to death at Chillicothe Correctional Institution and later died inside the prison on 8 Feb 2021.
Donald Harvey
- Date of birth: 15 April 1952
- Date of death: 30 March 2017
- Place of birth: Toledo, Ohio, USA
Donald Harvey, known as 'The Angel of Death', is another serial killer who will never be forgotten in the history of Ohio. He pleaded guilty to killing 37 people but admitted that he killed around 70 individuals in total. Donald committed a lot of killings in Marymount Hospital in Kentucky, where he was working as a nurse aide.
He also killed terminally ill patients at Drake Hospital in the 1980s. He believed he was an 'angel' when working at Drake Hospital. He worked there as a nurse for terminal illness patients. According to reports, he used cyanide, arsenic, and rat poison.
He was investigated and later sentenced to three concurrent terms of life in prison. He pled guilty to killing nine patients at Marymount in the 1970s. He was admitted to the Ohio Prison in 1987. On 28 March 2017, Donald Harvey died in prison after a severe beating.
Thomas Lee Dillion
- Date of birth: 9 July 1950
- Date of death: 21 October 2011
- Place of birth: Canton, Ohio, USA
Who was the serial killer in Ohio in the 90s? Thomas Lee Dillon is known for shooting and killing at least five men in southeastern Ohio between 1 April 1989 and 5 April 1992. He heard voices in his head that gave him directions to kill.
His first victim was Donald Welling, who was jogging on the road near his home. By the time he killed three people, that is when people started suspecting the killings were done by one person.
He was investigated, and his high school friend, Richard, helped in the investigation. According to a documentary about Thomas Lee Dillon, Richard had confirmed to the investigators that Thomas had suspicious behaviour as a young boy. He was always fascinated with death and serial killers.
After the investigation, he was arrested and imprisoned in the Southern Ohio Correctional facility for five consecutive sentences of thirty years to life for murder. He died on 21 October 2011 after an illness.
Gary Michael Heidnik
Source: UGC
- Date of birth: 22 November 1943
- Date of death: 6 July 1999
- Place of birth: Eastlake, Ohio, USA
Gary Michael is infamous for multiple killings, kidnappings, and assaults. He kidnapped six women, assaulted them and murdered two of them. His first crime was aggravated assault and an unlicenced firearm in 1976.
On 1 July 1988, he was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, six counts of kidnapping and five counts of assault. He was executed by lethal injection on 6 July 1999 after he was found to be legally insane.
Michael Madison
Source: UGC
- Date of birth: 15 October 1977
- Age:46 years old (as of 2024)
- Place of birth: East Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Who are serial killers in Ohio right now? Michael Madison is one of the serial killers in Ohio who is currently serving his life sentence for eliminating three women, Shetisha Sheeley, Angela Deskins, and Shirellda Helen Terry, inside his apartment.
He committed the crimes between October 2012 and July 2013. He was charged with three counts of aggravated murder on 22 July 2013. His execution was scheduled to be on 15 May 2024 but got postponed.
Martha Wise
- Date of birth: 18 April 1883
- Date of death: 18 June 1971
- Place of birth: Hardscrabble, Ohio, USA
Martha Wise's crimes shock the entire Ohio State. She poisoned 17 members of her family for forcing her to end her new relationship with her lover. Three of her family members died from the poison. She had a husband, Alberta, who died in 1922.
According to the Ohio serial killer documentary Brief Case, after her loved one's death, she started participating actively in the mourning process, openly crying and lamenting at funerals no matter who had died.
Her behaviour surprised her community. She later found a new lover whom her family disapproved of. During Thanksgiving, members of her family complained of severe stomach pain, and her mother, Sophie, and two other family members died. An autopsy showed that they had arsenic in their systems. Martha confessed that she had used arsenic to poison them.
She was sentenced to life imprisonment after she was found guilty. In 1962, her sentence was commuted to second-degree murder by Governor Michael DiSalle due to her good behaviour in prison. She was paroled but had nowhere else to go because her family did not want her. She died in prison on 28 June 1971.
Shawn Grate
Source: UGC
- Date of birth: 8 August 1976
- Age: 47 years old (as of May 2024)
- Place of birth: Marion, Ohio, USA
He is an American killer known for crimes such as assault and murder. He confessed to killing five women in a period between 2006 and 2016. He murdered his victims through choking. Shawn is imprisoned after being sentenced to death. His execution is scheduled to be in 2025.
Robert Berdella
Source: UGC
- Date of birth: 31 Jan 1949
- Date of death: 8 October 1992
- Place of birth: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA
He is one of the notorious serial killers whose crimes shook the state and left many devastated. He is known as The Kansas City Butcher. He assaulted six men and killed them in a period between 1984 and 1988. He killed his first victim on 5 July 1984 when he was 19 years old. He was sentenced in 1989.
Posteal Laskey Jr.
Source: UGC
- Date of birth: 18 June 1937
- Date of Death: 29 May 2007
- Place of birth: Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Posteal Laskey Jr. is one of the serial killers from Cincinnati who murdered 7 women in Cincinnati between December 1965 and December 1966. He was arrested on 9 December 1966 for one of the murders and later convicted for the rest after an investigation showed that the killings ceased after his arrest.
He was sentenced to death in the electric chair and was to be executed on 8 July 1968, but his lawyer appealed the verdict. He later died in 2007.
Edward Edwards
- Date of birth: 14 June 1933
- Date of death: 7 April 2011
- Place of birth: Akron, Ohio, USA
He is an American serial killer who is known for escaping from jail in 1995. He was later captured in Georgia, Atlanta, on 20 January 1962. He was paroled in 1967
After his release, Edwards murdered at least five people within a period of between 1977 and 1996. He was sentenced to death, and he passed away at the Corrections Medical Centre on 7 April 2011, four months before his execution by lethal injection.
Rebecca Auborn
- Date of birth: 1991
- Age: 34 years old (as of 2024)
- Place of birth: Columbus, Ohio, USA
Rebecca Auborn is one of the serial killers from Columbus, Ohio. She was charged with killing four men. She is known for drugging men after meeting with them and later stealing their properties. Four of her victims died of drug overconsumption between December 2022 and June 2023. She was charged with four counts of murder, five counts of Aggravated robbery and felonious assault.
What serial killer was found in Ohio?
Rebecca Auborn is the serial killer who was discovered recently. She was arrested in September 2023 after being accused of killing four men. He pleaded not guilty when taken to court.
Who are the 3 most famous serial killers?
According to Fox News, the three most notorious serial killers in history are Jack The Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer and Harold Shipman. Harold Shipman is believed to have killed at least 215 people, Jeffrey murdered 17 men, and Jack The Ripper took the lives of at least five women.
Who was the serial killer in Canton, Ohio?
Thomas Le Dillon is one of the notorious serial killers from Ohio. He murdered five men within three years.
Most notorious serial killers from Ohio have devastated the state due to their brutal killings of men and women. Most of them are known for other crimes, such as robbery, kidnapping, and assault.
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