00:00Clearly not that familiar with computer technology, he handed the police a golden opportunity."
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down the errors and miscalculations that led
00:10to serial killers getting captured.
00:11Once again, it was a traffic violation that brought him down.
00:15Parking Ticket, David Berkowitz
00:17One of the scariest modus operandi of serial killers is when they select victims randomly,
00:21as did David Berkowitz, aka the son of Sam.
00:25Beginning his deadly spree in 1975, Berkowitz took the lives of six people and injured 11.
00:34In 1977, Cecilia Davis was walking near one of Berkowitz's crime scenes when she
00:39spotted a man next to a car.
00:41Something told her to run, so she did, hearing shots as she sprinted away.
00:46Davis eventually told the police about the incident and that the vehicle the man was
00:50using had a parking ticket.
00:51After checking the details, the cops found Berkowitz,
00:54discovered weapons in his car, and arrested him.
00:57And sure enough, there were four summonses given out.
01:00One of them to a David Berkowitz.
01:01In 1978, he was sentenced to 25 years to life for each murder.
01:07Missing License Plate, Joel Rifkin
01:09In 1994, Joel Rifkin was found guilty of nine counts of murder and sentenced to 203 years in
01:15jail.
01:16Yet it's believed he may have slain up to 17 victims during his four-year reign of terror
01:21in New York.
01:22If it wasn't for one error in 1993, Rifkin may never have been caught.
01:26When the police attempted to pull him over for a missing rear license plate,
01:30Rifkin panicked and sped off with the cops in hot pursuit.
01:37However, after over 20 minutes of reckless driving,
01:40the serial killer crashed his truck into a pole, allowing the officers to arrest him.
01:45Yet, as they approached the truck, there was a strong odor.
01:51When the cops looked under a sheet, they discovered one of Rifkin's victims.
01:55False License Plate, Peter Sutcliffe
01:58Between 1975 and 1980, the north of England was in a state of fear.
02:03A criminal known as the Yorkshire Ripper had taken the lives of 13 people,
02:07a figure that was suspected to be much higher later, and badly injured several others.
02:12Yet the police had no leads.
02:14In 1981, Peter Sutcliffe was arrested after the police noticed him in a car with an escort.
02:19And while he indeed had a license plate, it was a false one.
02:30The cops quickly realized Sutcliffe matched the Yorkshire Ripper's description.
02:34One officer discovered weapons dumped where Sutcliffe was arrested,
02:37and a knife hidden in the toilet at the police station.
02:40After intense interviewing, Sutcliffe confessed.
02:50He was sentenced to a minimum of 30 years,
02:53which was later changed to a whole life tariff.
02:56Sutcliffe passed away in jail in 2020.
02:58The serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper,
03:01has died in hospital at the age of 74.
03:04Scratch Marks, Earl Nelson
03:07After sustaining a head injury as a child,
03:09Earl Nelson, aka the Dark Strangler or the Gorilla Man,
03:12began showcasing more and more erratic behavior.
03:15Eventually, it led to him becoming one of the U.S.'s most prolific serial killers.
03:20In just over a year, Nelson took the lives of up to 29 people throughout many states,
03:25including Washington, California, Oregon, and Missouri,
03:28and eventually ended up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
03:32After more slayings, a search was underway for someone matching Nelson's description.
03:36With all this going on, he visited a barber.
03:39However, the worker noticed blood and scratch marks on Nelson, and they told the cops.
03:44Eventually, Nelson was discovered and arrested.
03:47In 1928, Nelson was executed for his crimes.
03:51Public Indecency, Arthur Shawcross
03:54In 1987, Arthur Shawcross, later known as the Genesee River Killer,
03:58was released from jail for taking the lives of two children.
04:02By the following year, he began terrorizing citizens in Rochester, New York.
04:06Shawcross took the lives of around 12 people until 1990.
04:10At that time, the police had discovered one of his victims,
04:13and a helicopter was checking out the area in the belief the killer would return to the scene.
04:17They spotted Shawcross on a nearby bridge,
04:20seemingly relieving himself in one form or another.
04:23As the helicopter flew by, he closed the passenger door.
04:27After running his vehicle license plate and discovering his morbid history,
04:31the cops arrested Shawcross, who admitted his guilt.
04:34He was sentenced to 250 years in jail before passing away in 2008.
04:39I know something inside me is weird.
04:43Forged Will, Harold Shipman
04:45After the Shipman inquiry concluded in 2005,
04:48it was discovered that Harold Shipman might be one of the most prolific killers in history,
04:52with upwards of 250 victims.
04:55Later known as Dr. Death, Shipman was a general practitioner around Manchester, England.
05:00He befriended older patients, getting them to leave money to him in their wills,
05:04then giving them fatal amounts of morphine.
05:07But when solicitor Angela Woodruff was told that her mother's will
05:10had left everything to Shipman, she got suspicious.
05:13She was absolutely astonished because if you look at the actual will, it's so amateur.
05:18An investigation led to the police realizing the doctor's typewriter was used to write the will,
05:22as well as his fingerprint being on the letter.
05:25And that in an interview, he suggested that Mrs. Grundy used to borrow the typewriter.
05:31In 2000, Shipman received life imprisonment before taking his own life in 2004.
05:36It would have been Harold Shipman's 58th birthday tomorrow,
05:40the former GP thought responsible for more than 200 murders.
05:43Plumbing Issues
05:44Dennis Nielsen
05:46Between 1978 and 1983, Dennis Nielsen lured up to 15 victims to his residences in London,
05:52England, taking their lives and then living with the remains for a while.
05:57But by 1983, a plumber was examining a drain pipe that various residents had complained about.
06:03The worker found a strange substance coating them.
06:05He discovered that what was blocking the toilets was actually human flesh.
06:10After an investigation, it was discovered to be human remains, and it led to Nielsen.
06:15On the 9th of February, blocked drains would lead to his discovery and arrest.
06:20When the police got there and searched the property, they found more remains scattered about.
06:24Nielsen had disposed of evidence either by a bonfire or flushing it in the toilet,
06:29leading to his downfall.
06:30He was sentenced to life imprisonment for six murders and one attempt.
06:34In 2018, Nielsen passed away in jail.
06:37Nielsen was totally, matter of fact, quite cold.
06:42There was no remorse.
06:44There was no indication of any remorse.
06:46Erratic Driving
06:47Randy Kraft
06:49In 1983, California Highway Patrol officers noticed a car driving erratically on the freeway.
06:55Understandably suspecting this was a DUI, they pulled the car over.
06:59California Highway Patrol pull over Randy Kraft for driving erratically.
07:04As one cop spoke to the driver outside the vehicle to give him a sobriety test,
07:08the other checked the passenger, who remained sitting.
07:11However, they discovered he was tied up and wasn't alive.
07:15By pure happenstance, these officers uncovered the identity of the notorious scorecard killer,
07:21Randy Kraft.
07:22By 1989, Kraft was found guilty of taking the lives of 16 men, receiving an execution sentence.
07:29However, it's speculated he might have slain up to 67 people.
07:33At the time of writing, Kraft was still on death row.
07:36And that's where he is still, 73 years old,
07:40at the infamous San Quentin Prison in San Francisco.
07:44Stolen Car
07:45Ted Bundy
07:46In early 1978, Florida was experiencing a series of brutal attacks and slayings within a short
07:51amount of time.
07:52And it all ended when Officer David Lee realized a car that had been reported stolen was in front
07:57of him.
07:58A man was spotted in his VW Bug, acting suspiciously.
08:02While the thief attempted to escape by running away, Lee tackled and arrested him.
08:06It was soon discovered Lee had brought Ted Bundy to justice,
08:09who had escaped custody multiple times and committed horrific crimes.
08:13Ted Bundy was in custody again,
08:16but his capture would spell just the beginning of an extraordinary 11-year circus.
08:22After a series of trials for his crimes, Bundy was sentenced to capital punishment.
08:26While he confessed to killing 30 people and was confirmed to have taken 20 lives,
08:30there's speculation the true number could be much, much higher.
08:33In 1989, Bundy's sentence was carried out.
08:37While he confessed to many crimes, investigators say he recanted many
08:41statements and couldn't be trusted to tell the truth.
09:00FLOPPY DISK – DENNIS RADER
09:02Between 1974 and 1991, several people perished around Kansas at the hands of B.T.K.,
09:09a self-given nickname by the monster who taunted the media and police in his messages.
09:14But then, he vanished.
09:16Yet, by 2004, B.T.K. began sending detailed letters to the newspaper The Wichita Eagle.
09:22Looking to receive more of his writings, the police convinced B.T.K. that he couldn't be
09:26traced if he sent a floppy disk containing the documents.
09:29However, he could, and he fell for the bait.
09:32Specialists discovered evidence on the disk linking it to a church and its council president,
09:36Dennis Rader.
09:37In 2005, Rader pled guilty to 10 counts of murder and was sentenced to 175 years in jail.
09:44Which serial killer mistake was the most surprising?
09:47Let us know in the comments.
09:59Thanks for watching!
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