Detroit Predator: Benjamin Atkins

Murder Files Unsealed · Oct 1, 2026 · 44m · transcript

Between December 1991 and May 1992, a fast-moving serial killer named Benjamin Atkins terrorized the abandoned buildings of Detroit and Highland Park, murdering 11 vulnerable women who struggled with drug addiction. Because his victims were primarily marginalized sex workers, the initial killings went largely unnoticed by law enforcement and the media until mounting bodies sparked widespread public fear and outrage. A multi-agency task force eventually formed, but the breakthrough in the case came when a survivor named Darlene Saunders bravely partnered with police to identify her attacker on…