Some killers are defined by a single victim. These two are defined by numbers so large the true total may never be known.
Dean Corll: The Candy Man
Dean Corll tortured, raped, and murdered at least 28 teenage boys in Houston, Texas, between 1970 and 1973, working with two much younger accomplices, David Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. Corll had earned a reputation in the neighborhood for handing out free candy to local kids, which later gave rise to his nickname.
Brooks, who saw Corll as something of a father figure despite being sexually abused by him, eventually moved into Corll's home. Henley may have originally been intended as a victim himself before becoming an accomplice. Both boys helped lure other teenagers, often their own friends, back to Corll's house. The killings ended abruptly in August 1973, when Henley shot and killed Corll during an argument and then led police to the locations where the victims had been buried, uncovering one of the largest serial murder cases in American history at the time. Both Henley and Brooks were convicted and remain serving life sentences.
Amelia Dyer: The Ogress of Reading
Amelia Dyer was a Victorian-era English serial killer who murdered infants placed in her care between roughly 1869 and 1896. Trained as a nurse, Dyer worked as a "baby farmer" — a common Victorian practice in which unmarried mothers paid a fee for someone else to raise or place their unwanted children. She initially cared for the children legitimately, but was eventually convicted of neglect after several deaths in her care. After serving a short sentence of hard labor, she began deliberately murdering the infants she took in, typically by strangulation, and disposing of their bodies to avoid detection.
Dyer was caught in 1896 after a bargeman recovered an infant's body from the River Thames, wrapped in packaging that was traced back to one of her many aliases. She was convicted of a single murder and hanged that June. Investigators at the time believed she was responsible for many more deaths, though only a handful of victims were ever positively identified; historians have offered estimates ranging as high as several hundred, though the true number can't be confirmed and remains genuinely disputed. A theory occasionally circulated that Dyer may have been Jack the Ripper has no supporting evidence and isn't taken seriously by researchers of either case. Public outrage over her crimes contributed directly to child welfare reforms in England, including the Infant Life Protection Act of 1897.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many people did Dean Corll actually kill?
At least 28 confirmed victims, making his case one of the deadliest serial murder cases uncovered in the United States at the time.
How many babies did Amelia Dyer really kill?
She was convicted of one murder, with a small number of additional deaths directly attributed to her. Historical estimates of her true total range into the hundreds, but this figure has never been confirmed and remains disputed among historians.
Was Amelia Dyer really Jack the Ripper?
No credible evidence supports this theory. It's occasionally raised because the two were active around the same period, but researchers don't consider it a serious connection.