Have you heard of Henry Louis Wallace? He is one of the most notorious black serial killers. He put 11 lives to death in the span between 1990 and 1994. There are many other black notorious serial killers and serial killers from the Afro-American community.
Though most serial killers in the USA are white people, 29% of American serial killers are black people. Along with Henry Louis Wallace, there are other names, such as Chester Turner and Samuel Little, who committed crimes that can give you a chill down the spine.
Do you want to know more about these serial killers? Here is a brief account of their crimes.
Most Infamous Black Serial Killers
The murder motives behind the actions of these black serial killers are primarily psychological. Further, there is the presence of compulsive behaviors and how they found intense sado-sexual pleasure in those crimes. Greed is also involved in many murder cases.
Here, I have enlisted the names and crimes of the serial killers whom I find the most notorious.
1. Henry Louis Wallace
Taco Bell Strangler or Henry Louis Wallace was a terror in the 1990s. He was the manager at the Taco Bell in Charlotte. He killed eleven black women, and most of them were his friends or colleagues at the Taco Bell.
It’s shocking to know that Wallace even attended the funerals of many of his victims. However, with time, he got grabbed by police by killing two women in the same building.
The police arrested him in 1994, and he received a death sentence for the crime he committed.
2. Chester Turner
Crime records remember Chester Turner as “The Southside Slayer.” One of the most notorious serial killers, Chester Turner, took the lives of more than 15 people. His conviction happened in Los Angeles on charges of killing ten women. He committed these murders during the span of 1987 to 1998.
The superior court judge, William R. Pounders, found out that Turner strangled all these women to death to derive sexual pleasure. Also, the cruelty he projected while killing his victims was unmatched.
There was also the charge of killing an unborn child in the womb of one of these women.
In 2014, there were changes of four additional murders against him. As a result of his criminal activities, he received a death sentence. DNA evidence proved his association with all these murders.
3. Samuel Little
What can you say about a serial killer who confessed to killing around 93 people? His deeds of crime started in 1970, and they continued till 2005. Further, his acts of crime were stretched across 19 states in the USA.
Samuel Little was already in prison when he was found guilty of three murder charges in 2014.
In a 2019 report issued by the FBI, ViCAP Crime Analyst Christie Palazzolo said,
“For many years, Samuel Little believed he would not be caught because he thought no one was accounting for his victims. Even though he is already in prison, the FBI believes it is important to seek justice for each victim—to close every case possible.” (Source)
As a result of that endeavor, by 2020, the FBI could prove Samuel Little’s association with around 50 murders. He breathed his last in 2020 while he was still in prison.
4. Charles Lendelle Carter
Charles Lendelle Carter was charged with killing three women. However, there are strong speculations about more people falling victim to his prey. He used strangulation and stabbing to kill women.
He received three life sentences for the murders he committed. Confessing his crime and showing atonement at the time of conviction, he said,
“Whatever I am, a monster or whatever, I do have a conscience, and I am sorry.”
5. Derrick Todd Lee
Even before the conviction of murder, Derrick Todd Lee was accused of stalking women in their homes. He was convicted of killing eleven people.
He received a death sentence for his crimes. However, in 2016, a cardiac arrest took his life. He died at a hospital in Louisiana.
6. Debra Brown
Debra Brown is one of the most notorious female black serial killers who also committed armed robberies and kidnappings. Alton Coleman, her boyfriend, was her partner in crime.
Between May and July 1984, Alton Coleman and Debra Brown were involved in murdering eight people. She got her death sentence on 23rd June 1986.
7. Paul Durousseau
Paul Durousseau’s story is about a taxi driver turning into a notorious serial killer. His first victim was a 26-year-old woman who he raped and killed. Later, he took the lives of five other women who were aged less than 25.
His arrest in 2003 happened on account of these five murders. However, DNA reports established his link with the murder of the 26-year-old woman.
Paul Durousseau initially received a death sentence. However, in 2021, the State Court of Florida revoked the death sentence and instead gave him life imprisonment.
8. Craig Price
Craig was exposed to the dark thoughts of murders at the age of 13. According to WJAR, he is one of the youngest serial killers in the history of the USA.
He first murdered a white woman from his childhood, and his killing spree continued as he took the lives of another white woman and her two daughters. Along with murders, he was also found to be associated with assault, robbery, and stalking.
He was still a minor when the conviction happened. His punishment was about to get over in 2017. However, he continued his criminal activities even behind bars, extending the tenure of his punishment.
9. Zebra Killers
Zebra Killers, or a group of young black serial killers, was a terror in the 1970s. Their killing spree took the lives of around 15 people. A stop-and-search program started in San Francisco to catch these notorious criminals.
This search-and-stop program caused a stir among the Black Civil Rights activists who found this move as a measure to harass black people. However, this led to the arrest of seven people in 1974.
Three people in this gang got out on bail. However, four of them remained behind bars on charges of murder and kidnapping. They got life imprisonment.
10. Mark Goudeau
Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Mark Goudeau, or the “Baseline Killer,” was a construction worker previously. The charges against him are endless. He was found guilty of abusing and raping minors and adults and killing them.
Further, he was charged with committing nine murders and 15 rapes within the span of 2005 and 2006 in the Phoenix area. He got a death sentence, and he is awaiting his execution.
11. Ray Joseph Dandridge
Ray Joseph Dandridge received “three consecutive life sentences” for killing three people in 2006. He was also found guilty as a murder accomplice for killing a family in the same week in Richmond, Virginia.
His partner in crime, Ricky Gray, died with the administration of a lethal injection in 2017.
12. Matthew Emmanuel Macon
Matthew Emmanuel Macon targeted the elderly or middle-aged women as his victims. He used to rape them before taking their lives.
He confessed to committing seven murders in 2004. In 2008, he got life imprisonment without parole on the charges of killing two women and heating another woman.
13. Benjamin Atkins
The criminal activities of Benjamin Atkins were very similar to those of other black serial killers. He targeted women, especially the ones whom he found weaker. So, his act of crime was prompted by sado-sexual pleasure.
After raping and killing women, Atkins dumped all the bodies in Highland Park and Detroit. Being arrested in 1992, Atkins received eleven continuous life sentences. However, HIV took his life in 1997.
14. Eugene Victor Britt
Eugene Victor Britt was the man behind the killing and abuse of many women in Indiana. The victims of his crimes in 1995 also included an eight-year-old girl.
This serial killer admitted to the charge of killing nine women and committing an additional rape. However, his trial only happened on account of the seven murders he committed. He was also found to have a mental illness.
For the murder charge of the youngest victim, Britt got life imprisonment with an additional 100 consecutive years. Further, he got another ruling in 2006, mentioning imprisonment for an extra 245 years.
15. Reginald And Jonathan Carr
Reginald and Jonathan Carr were the men behind “The Wichita Massacre.” In December 2020, they barged into a house in Wichita. They forced two women, and three men present there to have sex with each other and withdraw money from the ATM.
Next, they raped the women, took all of them to a soccer field, and managed to kill four people present there. Fortunately, one of the women escaped, and she gave her testimony against these murderers, known as the Carr Brothers.
There was a lot of back and forth in the appeals of these serial killers, and there were a lot of “reconsiderations” regarding the sentence. However, finally, aligning with the verdict of the US Supreme Court, the Kansas Court affirmed the death sentence for Carr Brothers.
16. Ivan Hill
Ival Hill came from a disturbed family, and he grew up watching his father’s aggression toward his wife and children. His father, in fact, killed his mother in 1968 with a .22 caliber rifle.
With an association with crimes since an early age, Ivan Hill became the notorious “60 Freeway Killer” in the upcoming years. He was charged with the murder of six women between the span of 1993 and 1994.
His conviction took place in 2007, and he went on death row.
17. Carl Eugene Watts
We all know Carl Eugene Watts as the “Sunday Morning Slasher.” Did you know that he was only 15 when he committed his first murder? Since childhood, he has had this habit of killing rabbits and stalking her female classmates.
He continued to commit murders for eight years, killing around 14 to 100 women. Further, his serial killing process did not have a pattern. So, the police were having a hard time catching him.
However, one of his victims pretended to be unconscious and informed the police. This incident caused the arrest of Carl Eugene Watts or Coral in 1981.
He was initially found guilty of burglary with the intention to kill. So, in Texas, he was declared as a non-violent felon. However, he got life imprisonment based on the testimony of a witness from Michigan.
In 2007, this notorious serial killer lost his life due to prostate cancer.
18. Wayne Williams
Wayne Williams is the man behind the killing of 22 children in Atlanta. He wanted to prove his innocence. However, the forensic evidence found in his home and car confirmed his association with these murders.
Finally, he was arrested in 1981, and he was accused of killing two adult men in Atlanta, Georgia.
19. Lonnie Franklin Jr.
People know Lonnie Franklin Jr. as the “Grim Sleeper.” He started killing black women who were victims of drug addiction in 1984. He continued his killing spree till 2007, and in the process, nine women and one teenage girl fell prey to his deeds.
After killing his victims, he used to collect their photographs and jewelry as souvenirs for the crime he committed.
He was finally convicted in 2010, and the prosecutors suspected that he might be behind the killing of more people than the numbers mentioned in the record. Prosecutor Beth Silverman said, addressing the jury, that this former corporal in the USA Army committed the murders because of “power and control.”
His female victims were not submissive enough, and that is probably why they got killed. Beth Silverman also mentioned,
“It is clear the defendant got pleasure from killing these young women because that’s how they all ended up,” Silverman said. “He definitely wanted to degrade these women by dumping their bodies like trash. He got off on that too, and that is why he did it over and over. It gave him gratification.”
He got a death sentence, but he died in 2020 before the date of his execution.
Final Words
The modus operandi of these black serial killers really shocks us. A complex analysis of their macabre stories will help us understand why and how their thoughts prompted these heinous crimes.
Along with the names I have enlisted here, there are notorious serial killers like Calvin Jackson, Eddie Lee Mosley, Kendall Francois, and Lorenzo Fayne.
Do you know of any other black serial killers and how they took many lives? Don’t forget to share those accounts of crime with us.
