List of serial killers before 1900

The following is a list of serial killers i.e. a person who murders more than one person,[1] in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons[2][3] who began committing their crimes before 1900. This list does not include mass murderers, spree killers, war criminals, or members of democidal governments. This list is chronological by default, but can be re-ordered using the button at the top of each column.

  1. ^ Hough, Richard M.; McCorkle, Kimberly D. (2016). American Homicide. SAGE Publications. ISBN 978-1-4391-3885-4. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2020. [...] Serial killing has been defined by different researchers or groups as either two or more, three or more or even four or more people killed over at least one month with a cooling off period between each of the murders.
  2. ^ Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying entry on "Serial Killers" Archived 5 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine (2003) by Sandra Burkhalte Chmelir
  3. ^ A serial killer is most commonly defined as a person who kills three or more people for psychological gratification; reliable sources over the years agree. See, for example:
    • "Serial killer". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved 15 June 2016. A person who murders 3+ people over a period of > 30 days, with an inactive period between each murder, and whose motivation for killing is largely based on psychological gratification.
    • Holmes, Ronald M.; Holmes, Stephen T. (1998). Contemporary Perspectives on Serial Murder. SAGE Publications. p. 1. ISBN 978-0-7619-1421-1. Retrieved 15 June 2016. Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the murders [...] The baseline number of three victims appears to be most common among those who are the academic authorities in the field. The time frame also appears to be an agreed-upon component of the definition.
    • Wayne Petherick (2005). Serial Crime: Theoretical and Practical Issues in Behavioral Profiling. Academic Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-08-046854-9. Retrieved 15 June 2016. Three killings seem to be required in the most popular operational definition of serial killing since they are enough to provide a pattern within the killings without being overly restrictive.
    • R. Barri Flowers (2012). The Dynamics of Murder: Kill or Be Killed. CRC Press. p. 195. ISBN 978-1-4398-7974-0. Retrieved 15 June 2016. In general, most experts on serial murder require that a minimum of three murders be committed at different times and usually different places for a person to qualify as a serial killer.
    • Harold Schechter (2012). The A to Z Encyclopedia of Serial Killers. Simon and Schuster. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-4391-3885-4. Retrieved 15 June 2016. Most experts seem to agree, however, that to qualify as a serial killer, an individual has to slay a minimum of three unrelated victims.