Michigan Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 4 serial killers whose murders took place in Michigan, with first known killings from 1960 to 1976. 3 of them were caught; 3 linked case files document their victims. The earliest series is Henry Lee Lucas (1960) and the most recent is Oakland County Child Killer (1976). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 4 profiles
Henry Lee Lucas
The Confession Killer
Died in prison in 2001. Texas drifter convicted of 11 murders who confessed to about 600 killings in 1983 to 1985 and then recanted; a 1986 Texas Attorney General report found most confessions false, and his death sentence was…
Randy Kraft
The Scorecard Killer
On death row in California since 1989. Randy Kraft was convicted by an Orange County jury of murdering 16 young men between 1972 and 1983; a coded list found at his 1983 arrest is believed to reference up to 67 victims in…
Coral Eugene Watts
The Sunday Morning Slasher
Died in prison in 2007. Confessed in 1982 to 12 murders under a Texas plea deal that granted immunity and a 60-year burglary sentence, then convicted by Michigan juries in 2004 and 2007 of two earlier stabbings.
Oakland County Child Killer
The Babysitter Killer
Unidentified. Four children aged 10 to 12 were abducted in Oakland County, Michigan, between February 1976 and March 1977 and found dead days or weeks later.
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Lee Lucas | The Confession Killer | Texas, Michigan, West Virginia | 1960 to 1983 | 11 | 600 | Disputed: a Texas task force once attributed 200 or more killings to him; the Texas Attorney General's 1986 report found most of his confessions false, and DNA later excluded him from at least one murder he was convicted of | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Randy Kraft | The Scorecard Killer | California, Oregon, Michigan | 1972 to 1983 | 16 | 0 | up to 67 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Coral Eugene Watts | The Sunday Morning Slasher | Texas, Michigan | 1974 to 1982 | 2 | 12 | roughly 90 unsolved cases (Michigan task force estimate, 2004); some estimates exceed 80 | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Oakland County Child Killer | The Babysitter Killer | Michigan | 1976 to 1977 | — | — | 4 | Unidentified | At large |
Serial murder case files from Michigan
Victim-centred case pages from the cold case index, with their own timelines and sources.
Oakland County Child Killer Victims
A serial killer known as the 'Babysitter' abducted and murdered four children in Oakland County, Michigan. The victims ranged in age from 10 to 12 years old.
Coral Eugene Watts Victims
Carl Eugene "Coral" Watts admitted killing about a dozen women in Texas and Michigan under a 1982 Texas plea deal that gave him immunity for those murders and a 60-year sentence for burglary with intent to murder.