New York Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 12 serial killers whose murders took place in New York, with first known killings from 1920 to 1993. 12 of them were caught; 7 linked case files document their victims. The earliest series is Carl Panzram (1920) and the most recent is Rex Heuermann (1993). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 12 profiles
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 Fish
Hamilton Howard Fish
Executed at Sing Sing in 1936. Albert Fish was convicted in 1935 of the 1928 murder of 10-year-old Grace Budd in New York after a letter he sent her family was traced to him; he also confessed to two earlier child killings.
Waneta Hoyt
Waneta Ethel Nixon Hoyt
Died in prison. Waneta Hoyt of Tioga County, New York, was convicted in 1995 of murdering her five children between 1965 and 1971, deaths long attributed to SIDS.
Richard Cottingham
The Torso Killer
Imprisoned since 1980. Richard Cottingham, the "Torso Killer", was convicted at trials in New Jersey and New York (1981, 1982, 1984) of five murders, later pleaded guilty to four more, and has confessed to 11 others closed…
Rodney Alcala
The Dating Game Killer
Convicted; died on California's death row in 2021. Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer, was convicted in 2010 of five murders in Southern California (1977-1979) after two overturned Samsoe convictions, and pleaded guilty in…
Arthur Shawcross
The Genesee River Killer
Convicted by a Monroe County jury in December 1990 of 10 murders of Rochester-area women and sentenced to 250 years to life; pleaded guilty to an 11th in Wayne County.
Marybeth Tinning
Marybeth Roe Tinning
Convicted in 1987 of the murder of her infant daughter Tami Lynne; nine of her children died between 1972 and 1985 in Schenectady, New York. Sentenced to 20 years to life, paroled in August 2018.
David Berkowitz
Son of Sam
Imprisoned. David Berkowitz, the 'Son of Sam', pleaded guilty in 1978 to six murders in New York City's 1976-77 .44-caliber shootings, which killed six and wounded seven.
Carlton Gary
The Stocking Strangler
Executed. Carlton Gary, the Columbus, Georgia "Stocking Strangler," was convicted in 1986 of the 1977 murders of three elderly women, Florence Scheible, Martha Thurmond and Kathleen Woodruff, and executed by lethal injection in…
Christopher Wilder
The Beauty Queen Killer
Died before trial. Christopher Wilder, an Australian-born Florida businessman, is linked by the FBI to at least eight murders and eleven or more abductions across the United States between February 26 and April 13, 1984, when he…
Joel Rifkin
Joel the Ripper
Imprisoned. Joel Rifkin, a Long Island landscaper, confessed to killing 17 women in New York between 1989 and 1993 and was convicted of nine murders after a 1993 traffic stop revealed a body in his truck.
Rex Heuermann
Rex Andrew Heuermann
Serving life. Massapequa Park architect Rex Heuermann pleaded guilty in April 2026 to seven of the Gilgo Beach / Long Island serial killings and admitted an eighth. He was sentenced in June 2026 to life without parole.
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 Fish | Hamilton Howard Fish | New York | 1924 to 1928 | 1 | 3 | 5 to 15 (contemporary police and psychiatric estimates); he claimed about 100, unverified | Convicted | Executed |
| Waneta Hoyt | Waneta Ethel Nixon Hoyt | New York | 1965 to 1971 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Richard Cottingham | The Torso Killer | New Jersey, New York | 1967 to 1980 | 9 | 15 | 20 attributed by prosecutors (9 convictions plus 11 cleared confessions); Cottingham has claimed 80 to 100 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Rodney Alcala | The Dating Game Killer | California, New York | 1971 to 1979 | 7 | 2 | 8 charged (one Wyoming charge was never tried); investigators have linked him to further deaths in California, Washington, New York, New Hampshire and Arizona, with published estimates ranging into the dozens | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Arthur Shawcross | The Genesee River Killer | New York | 1972 to 1989 | 11 | 11 | 11 murders plus 2 child deaths resolved by a 1972 manslaughter plea; police initially reviewed up to 17 deaths or disappearances | Convicted | Died in prison |
| Marybeth Tinning | Marybeth Roe Tinning | New York | 1972 to 1985 | 1 | 3 | 8 of the 9 deaths | Convicted | Released |
| David Berkowitz | Son of Sam | New York | 1976 to 1977 | 6 | 6 | 6 killed and 7 wounded in the eight charged shootings; in 2024 the NYPD also attributed an April 1976 Bronx shooting that wounded a woman | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Carlton Gary | The Stocking Strangler | Georgia, New York | 1977 to 1978 | 3 | — | 7 to 9 | Convicted | Executed |
| Christopher Wilder | The Beauty Queen Killer | Florida, Texas, Kansas, Utah, California, New York | 1984 | 0 | — | At least 8 killed; 11 or more abducted | Died before trial | Killed |
| Joel Rifkin | Joel the Ripper | New York | 1989 to 1993 | 9 | 17 | 17 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Rex Heuermann | Rex Andrew Heuermann | New York | 1993 to 2010 | 7 | 8 | 8 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
Serial murder case files from New York
Victim-centred case pages from the cold case index, with their own timelines and sources.
Shannan Gilbert
Shannan Gilbert disappeared at Oak Beach, Long Island on May 1, 2010; the search for her led to the discovery of the Gilgo Beach victims. Her remains were found in December 2011 and her cause of death is officially undetermined.
Long Island Serial Killer Victims
The remains of roughly ten people — mostly women who had worked as escorts — were found along Ocean Parkway near Gilgo Beach on Long Island, New York, in 2010 and 2011.
Valerie Mack
Valerie Mack, 24, was last seen in 2000; partial remains were found that year in Manorville, Long Island, and more along Ocean Parkway in 2011. She was identified in May 2020.
Waneta Hoyt Children
Five infants and toddlers born to Waneta and Tim Hoyt of Newark Valley, New York, died suddenly between 1965 and 1971, and their deaths were attributed to SIDS.
Son of Sam Victims
David Berkowitz, known as 'Son of Sam,' murdered six people and wounded seven others in New York City over 13 months. He terrorized the city with taunting letters to police and media.
The Alphabet Murders (Double Initial Murders)
Three young girls whose first and last names shared the same initial were separately abducted, sexually assaulted, and strangled near Rochester, New York, between 1971 and 1973.
Cornelia Crilley
Cornelia Crilley, a 23-year-old TWA flight attendant, was found strangled in her apartment on Manhattan's Upper East Side in June 1971.