The five murders commonly attributed to Jack the Ripper took place in Whitechapel, in London’s East End, in autumn 1888. The killer was never identified. This guide places that case alongside seven other widely covered cases—Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy, the Zodiac Killer, Albert DeSalvo, Gary Ridgway and Joseph DeAngelo—using locations that can be described from documented accounts. It is not an objective ranking: no authoritative measure establishes which killers are “most infamous.”
What counts as a crime location?
A crime location can mean where an attack happened, where a victim’s remains were found, or the wider area where investigators connected a series of cases. Those are not always the same place. The FBI’s definition, cited in its overview of serial murder, describes serial murder as the unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender or offenders in separate events.
| Case | Geographic scope supported by the cited accounts | Location distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Jack the Ripper | Whitechapel, London | Area where police linked five murders |
| Ted Bundy | Washington, Utah, Idaho, Colorado and Florida | Murders across several states; arrested in Pensacola |
| Jeffrey Dahmer | Milwaukee, Wisconsin; investigative leads also reached places he had lived | Arrest and discovery of remains at his Milwaukee apartment |
| John Wayne Gacy | Chicago, Illinois | Thirty bodies were recovered at his home |
| Zodiac Killer | Northern California | Regional case; claimed and confirmed victim counts differ |
| Albert DeSalvo | Boston area, Massachusetts | Geographic scope of his admission; his responsibility for a specific murder was disputed |
| Gary Ridgway | Washington state | Statewide case description in the cited summary |
| Joseph DeAngelo | California | Broad state-level scope in the cited summary |
Jack the Ripper: Whitechapel, London
The London Museum says police linked five murders committed within three months in autumn 1888 in Whitechapel, a poor, overcrowded district in London’s East End. Two victims were killed on the same night. The five women were Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes and Mary Jane Kelly. The killer’s identity remains unknown.
The museum also cautions against treating every nearby murder as part of the same series: some people have linked other local deaths to the case, but the evidence does not establish the exact number. Nor is it accurate to describe all five women as sex workers. The museum says Kelly is the only one known to have been working in the sex trade at the time of her murder. Newspapers sensationalized the killings, and modern identity theories often rely on little evidence.
Ted Bundy: a multi-state series in the United States
The FBI account traces disappearances in Washington state by 1974, followed by murders in Utah, Idaho and Colorado after Bundy moved to Salt Lake City. It also describes further murders while he was on the run, including at Florida State University in January 1978. He was arrested in Pensacola the following month.
Keep the different kinds of evidence separate: Bundy was convicted and executed, and the FBI says he admitted to more than two dozen murders. That admission is not the same as a confirmed victim total; the FBI notes that the total may have been higher.
Jeffrey Dahmer: Milwaukee and the investigative trail
Milwaukee police arrested Dahmer in July 1991 at his apartment on North 25th Street after a man reported being threatened there. Investigators found remains of multiple victims at the apartment. The FBI provided forensic support and says investigators also examined possible links in places Dahmer had lived, including Ohio, Florida and Germany.
Prosecutors charged him with killing 15 men in Wisconsin. He was convicted of another murder in Ohio and died in prison in 1994. The wider investigative trail should not be confused with the location where police made the arrest and found remains.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Rank #3
John Wayne Gacy: bodies recovered at his Chicago home
The National Institute of Justice reports that 30 bodies were recovered at Gacy’s Chicago home in 1978. That figure describes bodies found at the home, not a complete account of where every crime occurred. The NIJ also describes later identification work using facial reconstruction and DNA-related forensic programs, illustrating how forensic methods helped resolve identities in the case.
The Zodiac Killer: Northern California
The FBI describes its support for local and state law enforcement investigating the Zodiac case in Northern California. The National Institute of Justice reports a crucial distinction in the numbers: the Zodiac Killer claimed 37 victims, while investigators confirm five homicides and two attempted homicides. The larger figure is a claim, not a confirmed count.
Albert DeSalvo: the Boston-area murders and a disputed confession
The National Institute of Justice reports that DeSalvo admitted to killing 13 women in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. His culpability in the murder of Mary Sullivan became disputed after he recanted his confession concerning her death. DNA testing in 2013 linked evidence from Sullivan to DeSalvo’s remains; that finding should not be stretched into proof for every murder attributed to him.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Gary Ridgway: the Green River case in Washington state
The NIJ account says Ridgway was convicted in 2003 of killing 49 women and was suspected in as many as 90 homicides. The conviction figure and the higher suspected figure are not interchangeable: the latter describes suspicion, not a set of additional proven killings. The cited summary places the Green River case in Washington state.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsBest Value
Joseph DeAngelo: the Golden State Killer case in California
The NIJ summary describes DeAngelo’s identification in 2018 and a confirmatory DNA match in California. It identifies the case as the Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist case and gives California as its geographic scope. The account supports that statewide framing, but does not establish a more specific location breakdown here.
Quick Recap
How to read the numbers and locations
- Claims are not confirmations. The Zodiac’s claimed 37 victims, for example, are distinct from the five homicide and two attempted-homicide victims investigators confirm.
- Admissions are not convictions. Bundy’s admission to more than two dozen murders is not a precise confirmed total; DeSalvo’s recantation concerning Sullivan adds a separate dispute to his confession.
- Suspected totals are not proven totals. Ridgway’s conviction for 49 killings differs from the suspicion that he may have been responsible for as many as 90.
- A discovery site is not necessarily an attack site. The NIJ’s 1978 figure for Gacy refers to bodies recovered at his home, while the Dahmer account distinguishes his apartment arrest and discovery site from the places investigators examined for possible connections.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
