Massachusetts Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 5 serial killers whose murders took place in Massachusetts, with first known killings from 1895 to 1995. 4 of them were caught; 2 linked case files document their victims. The earliest series is Jane Toppan (1895) and the most recent is Kristen Gilbert (1995). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 5 profiles
Jane Toppan
Jolly Jane
Died (other). Massachusetts nurse Jane Toppan confessed in 1902 to poisoning 31 people from 1895 to 1901. A Barnstable jury found her not guilty by reason of insanity, and she died in 1938 at the Taunton state hospital, where…
Carl Panzram
Charles Panzram
Executed 1930. Carl Panzram, a career burglar, confessed in 1928 to 21 murders in several states and abroad; he was convicted of only one, the 1929 killing of a Leavenworth prison foreman, and was hanged in Kansas.
Albert DeSalvo
The Boston Strangler
Killed. Albert DeSalvo confessed to the 13 Boston Strangler murders of 1962 to 1964 but was never tried for them. Serving life for unrelated assaults and robberies, he was stabbed to death at Walpole prison in 1973.
New Bedford Highway Killer
New Bedford Highway Killings
Unidentified. Nine women who disappeared from New Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1988 were found beside area highways in 1988 and 1989, and two more remain missing.
Kristen Gilbert
Kristen Heather Strickland
Imprisoned for life. Former VA nurse convicted by a federal jury in March 2001 of murdering four patients and trying to kill two others with epinephrine injections at the Northampton, Massachusetts, VA Medical Center in 1995 and…
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jane Toppan | Jolly Jane | Massachusetts | 1895 to 1901 | — | 31 | 31 to 100 | Not guilty by reason of insanity | Died (other) |
| Carl Panzram | Charles Panzram | Kansas, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York, Connecticut | 1920 to 1929 | 1 | 21 | 5 corroborated by investigators; Panzram also claimed killings in Portuguese Angola | Convicted | Executed |
| Albert DeSalvo | The Boston Strangler | Massachusetts | 1962 to 1964 | — | 13 | 1 to 13 | Confessed, never tried | Killed |
| New Bedford Highway Killer | New Bedford Highway Killings | Massachusetts | 1988 | — | — | 9 to 11 | Unidentified | At large |
| Kristen Gilbert | Kristen Heather Strickland | Massachusetts | 1995 to 1996 | 4 | — | 4 murders and 3 attempted murders charged; prosecutors noted she was on duty for about half of roughly 350 deaths on her ward between 1989 and 1996, but no further murders were attributed to her | Convicted | Imprisoned |
Serial murder case files from Massachusetts
Victim-centred case pages from the cold case index, with their own timelines and sources.
New Bedford Highway Killer Victims
Between March 1988 and April 1989, eleven women with ties to New Bedford, Massachusetts, vanished; the bodies of nine were found dumped along Route 140, Interstate 195, and nearby roads, while two women were never found.
Boston Strangler Victims
Thirteen women were strangled in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. Albert DeSalvo confessed to all 13 murders but was never tried for them. DNA evidence collected in 2013 linked DeSalvo to the last victim, Mary Sullivan.