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Countries That Have Produced The Most Serial Killers · Murder Files Unsealed

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  Speaker 1: All right, so you found some pretty intense stuff on
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  serial killers.
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  Speaker 2: Huh. Yeah, it's it's definitely some dark material.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and we're going to dive right into it. I mean,
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  this is a deep dive after all, right, it's get
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  to it. Just to be clear though, like we always say,
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  this isn't about you know, glorifying these horrible acts or anything,
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  not at all. We're all about trying to understand the
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  patterns maybe why these things happen, and you know, if
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  there's anything we can learn from.
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  Speaker 2: It, absolutely, knowledge is power, as they say.
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  Speaker 1: Right exactly. So you said over some excerpts from this,
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  it's like a ranking of the top ten countries with
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  the most serial.
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  Speaker 2: Killers, right, fascinating stuff.
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  Speaker 1: And I gotta say the data was well, pretty startling
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  right from the beginning.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, some big numbers in there, for sure.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so the United States, yeah, holds the top spot
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  by a lot.
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  Speaker 2: Actually, I'm I'm not surprised. But how much are we talking?
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  Speaker 1: Three six hundred and fifteen recorded serial killers? Wow, which
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  is like over three times higher than any other country.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's that's a lot to unpack. And I'm assuming
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  that's taking population into account.
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  Speaker 1: Oh for sure. Yeah, it's adjusted for population size. So
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  what do you make of that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's definitely a complex issue, right. The US has
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  a you know, a very thorough system for tracking and
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  documenting these kinds of crimes, that's true, which probably contributes
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  to a higher official count. But even with that in mind,
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  it's still it's still a big outlier globally.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, No, you're right, You're right. Even if other countries
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  are you know, under reporting or whatever, the US is
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  still like a major focal point when it comes to
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  two serial killers. I mean, think about it, We've got
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  it's true.
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  Speaker 2: Some of the most infamous cases are, right, Bundy of course, Dahmer, well, yeah, domer.
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  Speaker 1: And and Gacy just absolutely horrific.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, those names are They're seared into our collective memory
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  for a reason, absolutely horrific.
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  Speaker 1: And it makes you wonder, right like, is there something
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  And I'm kidding here, but is there something in the water?
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  Speaker 2: Right right though?
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  Speaker 1: Those cases? Bundy in his like charm, you know.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, the manipulation was part of it, definitely.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, and I'm not going to sugar coat this.
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  We're talking cannibalism.
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  Speaker 2: Here, Yeah, truly horrific.
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  Speaker 1: And then gaycy burying his victims.
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  Speaker 2: Under his house. It's it's unfathomable.
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  Speaker 1: It's those kinds of cases that I think really stick
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  with people, like they're just so so messed up and
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  they make you question everything.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it really makes you wonder about the nature of evil,
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  doesn't it.
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  Speaker 1: It does, it really does. But you mentioned earlier about
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  how the US system for like keeping track of these
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  crimes it might be more, well, more robust. Yeah, so
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  does that mean that other countries might have just as
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  many or even more cases, but they're just not.
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  Speaker 2: You know, hidden or not as thoroughly documented. Yeah, it's
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  definitely a possibility.
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  Speaker 1: See, that's what I'm thinking. Like, it's not about downplaying
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  the issue here, but it does make you wonder about
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  the bigger picture. You know.
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  Speaker 2: For sure you have to consider that when you're comparing
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  numbers from different countries, it's not always an apples to
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  Apple's situation, you know what I mean?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, totally like comparing the US to I don't know,
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  pick a country.
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  Speaker 2: How about Russia?
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Russia. Yeah, they've got the second highest number on
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  this list, one hundred and ninety six serial killers. But
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  Russia is huge, Yeah, and they've had so much upheaval Yeah, absolutely,
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  Politically historically, I mean, who knows what happened, especially during
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  like the Soviet era.
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  Speaker 2: You know, you're right, it's very likely there's some level
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  of underreporting going on there, or even cases that were
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  deliberately hidden by the authorities. It's a very different context
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  than what we see in the US, So we.
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  Speaker 1: Could be talking about way more cases in a place
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  like Russia. Yeah, that just like never saw the light
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  of day, exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And that's something that's really crucial to keep in mind
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  as we, you know, kind of go deeper into this
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  whole topic, the societal and cultural stuff. It plays a
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  huge role not just in how many of these crimes
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  actually happen, but also how they're seen, investigated all of it.
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  Speaker 1: That's really interesting. It's like it's not enough to just
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  look at the numbers. Have to understand the whole story behind.
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  Speaker 2: Them, exactly. The numbers are just the starting point.
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  Speaker 1: So speaking of Russia and layers of complexity, we've got
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  to talk about Andre.
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  Speaker 2: Chikatilo, butcher of Rostov.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, man, that guy terrorized the whole region HM for
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  over a decade, preying on women and children mostly.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Chikitatillo's case is really fascinating in a well, in
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  a horrifying way, But it really exposed some major flaws
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  in how the Soviet system dealt with.
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  Speaker 1: Crime, Like what kinds of flaws.
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  Speaker 2: Well, for one thing, there was a lot of reluctance
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  to even admit that this kind of brutality could happen
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  within their society. They wanted to believe it was, you know,
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  a symptom of the West or something, so like they
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  tried to ignore it basically. Yeah, they swept it under
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  the rug, hoping it would just go away. But of course,
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  ignoring a problem doesn't make it disappear, It just makes
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  it worse. And in Chikatilo's case, it allowed him to
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  continue killing for years longer than he should have.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like pretending something doesn't exist makes it go.
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  Speaker 2: Away, exactly. And in this case, the system itself basically
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  helped him stay hidden. You know, it's a scary thought.
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  Speaker 1: Like the system was enabling him in a way.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and chick Tilo's case, it's like a really really
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  dark reminder. That's stuff like government being transparent, a justice
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  system that actually works, that plays a big role in
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  all of this, you know, more than people realize.
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  Speaker 1: Totally and it makes you think about like not just
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  catching these guys after they've you know, done terrible things, right,
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  but like seeing the warning signs maybe, or fixing the
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  systems that are like broken, you know, so doesn't even
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  get to that point.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, prevention is just as important, if not more so,
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  than just reacting after the fact and speaking of well,
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  this one's a tough one too. Alexandra Patushki oh Man
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  the chessboard killer, right, Yeah, his goal was to kill
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  get this, sixty four people.
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  Speaker 1: One for every square on a chess board exactly. That's
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  I mean, just the level of planning, the symbolism of it,
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  it's just chilling, you.
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  Speaker 2: Know, it's beyond disturbing. But you know, Patrishkin, his case,
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  it really highlights how crucial mental health is in all
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  of this. Clearly this guy was deeply, deeply troubled. Yeah,
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  no kidding, and yet there's no indication that he ever
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  got any help. You know. It makes you wonder what
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  if someone had intervened gotten him the support he needed,
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  could those sixty four lives have been saved?
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  Speaker 1: That's always the question, isn't it, Like could something have
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  been done differently? It's easy to look back and say
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  what if. But it's important to ask those questions too,
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  because we might learn something.
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  Speaker 2: You know, we have to learn from these tragedies so
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  that maybe, just maybe we can prevent them from happening again.
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  Speaker 1: Right, exactly. So we've got the US, we've got Russia
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  to totally different places, right, different cultures, different systems, but
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  both dealing with this really dark side of humanity.
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  Speaker 2: It's a global phenomenon, unfortunately, it really is.
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  Speaker 1: So let's jump across the pond for a second. What
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  about the UK. They've got a pretty intense history too, right, Oh, yeah.
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  Speaker 2: The UK is fascinating when it comes to this stuff.
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  On one hand, you've got Jack the Ripper, still unsolved,
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  still captivating people over a century later.
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  Speaker 1: Talk about a cold case, right, he's like the ultimate
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  unsolved serial killer. I mean, books, movies, everything's been done
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  about Jack the Ripper.
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  Speaker 2: Right, He's become a legend, which is in a way
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  kind of unsettling. You know, this really dark, violent figure,
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  almost romanticized by history.
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  Speaker 1: It's true, it's like he's transcended just being a criminal.
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  He's like a story we tell.
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  Speaker 2: Ourselves, exactly, a ghost story. But then you've got cases
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  like Harold Chipman.
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  Speaker 1: Oh God, Shipman, that one always gets me. Just the
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  ultimate betrayal.
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  Speaker 2: Right, I mean a doctor, someone you trust with your
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  life and he he used.
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  Speaker 1: That trust to hurt people. It's awful.
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  Speaker 2: It really makes you question human nature, you know, like,
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  how could someone, especially someone in a position of power
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  do something like that.
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  Speaker 1: It's a chilling thought for sure. Okay, So from unsolved
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  mysteries to like deep betrayals of trust, the UK definitely
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  has its own thing going.
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  Speaker 2: On for sure, and it shows that this can happen
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  anywhere to anyone. There's no one profile, no single factor
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  that can fully explain it.
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  Speaker 1: Right, which makes it even scarier, I think. But we're
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  on a global tour here, so what about other parts
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  of the world.
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  Speaker 2: We've only scratched the surface we have, and there are
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  definitely some interesting cases to explore. Like Japan, for example.
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  They have this culture that's often seen as being very ordered, very.
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  Speaker 1: Structured, perspective, authority, all.
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  Speaker 2: That exactly, and then you have someone like Sutomu Miyazaki,
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  the Otaku murderer.
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  Speaker 1: Miyazaki. Yeah, that case was huge in Japan right here.
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  I remember reading about it.
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  Speaker 2: It had a massive impact and it really shook people
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  up because it challenged their perceptions of well, a lot
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  of things. Miyazakia was really into anime and manga, which
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  you know, at the time we're seen as kind of niche.
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  Speaker 1: Interests, right, definitely not mainstream.
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  Speaker 2: And suddenly you had all this fear and distrust directed
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  at this whole subculture just because of this one guy's
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  horrific action.
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  Speaker 1: So it's like those crimes had ripple.
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  Speaker 2: Effects, huge ripple effects. They changed how people viewed a
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  form of entertainment a whole group of people. And that's
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  another layer to all of this. You know, it's not
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  just about the individual crimes, but the way those crimes
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  then impact society as a whole.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot to process, to be honest. We've gone
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  from the US and Russia to the UK now Japan.
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  Each one of these places has its own unique relationship
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  with this whole serial killer phenomenon. What about like South Africa,
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  I mean, they've had so much going on politically and socially,
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  it seems like well other level of complexity.
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  Speaker 2: It is, and South Africa is a prime example of
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  how like societal unrest and inequality can create this breeding
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  ground for violence. You know, you've got figures like Moses Sidhell,
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  the ABC killer.
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  Speaker 1: Right, Sidhole, what was his deal?
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  Speaker 2: He prayed on women, mostly women who were desperate for work.
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  This was during a time of huge economic hardship in
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  South Africa, and he used that to lure his victims in, so.
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  Speaker 1: He was exploiting their vulnerability.
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  Speaker 2: That's awful, it is, it's really heartbreaking. And then you
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  have someone like Norman afsal Simon's the Station Stranger.
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  Speaker 1: The Station Strangler, I don't think I've heard of him.
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  Speaker 2: He targeted young boys in Cape Town, and his case
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  really ignited a lot of fear and anger. It highlighted
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  how vulnerable children are, especially in communities that are already marginalized.
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  Speaker 1: Right, because they're often the ones with the least amount
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  of protection, the least amount of resources exactly.
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  Speaker 2: And that brings us back to this point we've been
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  circling around, which is that we can't just focus on
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  the individual killers. We have to look at the bigger picture,
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  at the societal factors that might be contributing to all
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  of this.
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  Speaker 1: Like if we just focus on catching the bad guys
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  after the fact, are we really solving the problem or
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  are we just like putting a band aid on a
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  much larger wound exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's like trying to treat the symptoms without addressing the
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  underlying illness.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so we've talked about the US, Russia, UK, Japan,
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  and South Africa. That's a pretty diverse group of countries.
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  Speaker 2: And it shows that this issue is not confined to
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  any one part of the world.
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  Speaker 1: Definitely. But there's one more place I want to get
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  to before we move on. India. You know, it's a
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  country known for its culture, its warmth, its hospitality, right,
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  but they've also got this history with serial killers that's
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  pretty intense.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely. India is a really interesting case study. You have
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  figures like Thug Barum, who's shrouded in myth and legend.
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  They say he might have killed hundreds, maybe even thousands
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  of people.
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  Speaker 1: Thousands come on, that can't be true.
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  Speaker 2: Right, Well, it's hard to separate fact from fiction. With Barum.
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  It's like he's become this almost mythical figure in Indian history,
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  a boogeyman.
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  Speaker 1: That's kind of creepy, right, like a real life boogeyman.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, and his story, even if we don't know how
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  much of it is true, it still says something about
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  this undercurrent of violence that's been present for centuries. It's
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  like it gets passed down through generations, you know, becomes
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  part of the cultural fabric almost.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, even if we don't want to believe, it makes
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  you wonder like what's true?
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  Speaker 2: What is exactly? But then you've also got modern cases
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  in India like the stoneman who targeted homeless people in Kolkata.
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  Speaker 1: Right, right, It's like in these big modern cities there
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  are still these dark corners, yeah, you know, and people
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  who are vulnerable they end up paying the price.
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  Speaker 2: It's a sad reality, unfortunately, and it just reinforces the
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  point that this can happen anywhere to anyone. It doesn't
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  matter how rich or poor country is or what their
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  culture is. Like, these things they transcend all of that.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot to wrap your head around. You know,
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  we've covered so much ground in this deep dive, the numbers,
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  the stories, the whole like cultural and societal stuff. It
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  can be overwhelming, to be honest.
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  Speaker 2: It is a lot to take in, that's for sure.
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  Speaker 1: So like where do we even go from here? What
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  can we actually do with all this information?
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  Speaker 2: That's a million dollar question, right, and it's something experts
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  have been trying to figure out for decades. You know,
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  our source mentions Robert Wrestler. He's the FBI agent who
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  actually came up with the term serial killer.
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  Speaker 1: Oh wow, I didn't know that.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, he spent his whole career trying to understand these
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  people why they do what they do. And from what
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  I understand, there's no easy answer.
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  Speaker 1: So there's no like one thing that makes someone a
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  serial killer. It's not like a simple.
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  Speaker 2: Equation, not even close. Human behavior is way too complex
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  for that. I mean, there are some common things like
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  childhood trauma, screwed up families, sometimes mental illness.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, that makes sense. But I guess what I'm getting
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  at is if there's no easy answer, then how do
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  we even begin to address this? Like, are we just
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  fighting a losing battle?
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  Speaker 2: I don't think so, I really don't. I mean, just
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  because we don't have all the answers doesn't mean we
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  should just give up. We have to see them somewhere, right,
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  And maybe instead of focusing so much on catching these
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  guys after they've already hurt people, we should be thinking
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  more about prevention.
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  Speaker 1: Prevention so like stopping it before it even starts. But
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  how do you even do that?
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  Speaker 2: Well, we've talked about all these societal issues, right uh, Poverty,
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  a lack of mental health care, people feeling isolated and alone.
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  What if we started treating those things not just as problems,
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  but as crime prevention strategies.
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  Speaker 1: I like the way you think it's like, instead of
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  just reacting to the symptoms, we're actually trying to cure
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  the disease exactly.
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  Speaker 2: It's about creating a world where people are less likely
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  to become serial killers in the first place. It's about
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  giving them support, opportunities, a sense of community.
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  Speaker 1: It's a tall order, but somebody's got to do.
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  Speaker 2: It right right, and it starts with conversations like this,
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  raising awareness, asking tough questions, and refusing to accept that
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  this is just the way things are.
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  Speaker 1: Well said, well said. You know, for such a dark topic,
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  you've given me some hope today.
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  Speaker 2: Me too. It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the darkness,
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  but we can't let it paralyze us. We have to
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  use that feeling, that anger, that's sadness, and turn it
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  into action.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, we can't bring back the lives that have been lost,
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  but we can honor their memory by fighting for a
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  better future.
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  Speaker 2: Couldn't have set it better myself.
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  Speaker 1: Well, this has been one hell of a deep dive,
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  and I think we've given our listeners a lot to
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  chew on. We've learned about the chilling reality of serial killers,
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  the complex factors that contribute to their crimes, and most importantly,
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  the urgent need for a more proactive approach to prevention.
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  It's about creating a world that's more just, more equitable,
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  more compassionate, and that's a mission we can all get behind.
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  Thanks for joining us for this intense but hopefully thought
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  provoking deep dive. We'll see you next time.