The deadliest Aquarius serial killers of all time
Aquarius is often seen as the visionary of the zodiac – intelligent, independent, and unapologetically unconventional. They’re the thinkers, inventors and humanitarians who challenge the status quo. But when those traits are distorted, that same intellect and emotional detachment can morph into something far more dangerous.
Unlike other star signs, Aquarius serial killers are rare. But what they lack in numbers, they make up for in calculated cruelty. When an Aquarius turns to murder, it’s often with chilling precision, a sense of superiority and a detached fascination with control.
Join us at Crime+Investigation as we look at some of the most infamous Aquarius serial killers in history – where intellect meets insanity.
Joel Rifkin – born 20th January 1959
American serial killer Joel Rifkin strangled and dismembered 17 female sex workers between 1989 and 1993. Operating primarily in New York, he targeted some of society’s most vulnerable, often picking up victims near the streets of Manhattan before driving them back to his mother’s home in Long Island.
Rifkin’s methods were disturbingly efficient. After killing his victims, he meticulously dismembered and disposed of their remains in rivers, landfills and remote locations – actions that made police link the crimes only after his arrest. His eventual capture was almost accidental: he was stopped by police for a missing licence plate, and the decomposing body of his final victim was discovered in the boot of his truck.
Despite his brutal crimes, Rifkin showed little emotion during interrogation. His calm, almost clinical detachment reflected the Aquarius tendency to intellectualise emotion – analysing, compartmentalising, and rationalising horror. A man who saw murder as a matter of process rather than passion.
Luis Alfredo Garavito – born 25th January 1957
Known as La Bestia (The Beast), Colombian serial killer Luis Alfredo Garavito is believed to be one of the most prolific murderers in history. He confessed to the torture, rape, and murder of at least 193 boys and young men – though investigators believe the true number exceeds 400.
Garavito’s crimes were horrifying not just in scale but in planning. He selected victims with chilling care, often using disguises to gain trust. His manipulation and emotional disconnection fit the Aquarius archetype of intellect without empathy – a calculating mind completely devoid of conscience.
Robert Berdella – born 31st January 1949
Operating in Kansas City between 1984 and 1987, Robert Berdella was a sadist who kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least six young men.
Nicknamed 'The Kansas City Butcher', Berdella documented every detail of his crimes in a series of journals and photographs, treating murder as an experiment. His cold, analytical approach to human suffering epitomises the darker side of Aquarius detachment – curiosity unrestrained by morality.
Miyuki Ishikawa – born 5th February 1897
In post-war Japan, midwife Miyuki Ishikawa became one of the country’s most notorious female killers. Convicted of murdering five infants and suspected of killing up to 84, Ishikawa justified her crimes as acts of 'mercy' for impoverished parents unable to care for their children.
Her reasoning was chillingly logical – an Aquarius blend of intellect and detachment that rationalised murder as practicality. Ishikawa’s case shocked Japan, challenging the nation’s assumptions about motherhood, morality, and motive.
Robert Hansen – born 15th February 1939
Known as 'The Butcher Baker', Robert Hansen lived a life of startling contradiction. A respected family man and small-town baker in Anchorage, Alaska, Hansen harboured a sadistic secret. Between 1972 and 1983, he abducted, raped and murdered at least 17 women – though some estimates put the number closer to 30.
Hansen’s victims were often young women or sex workers, whom he would fly deep into the Alaskan wilderness in his private plane. There, he released them into the forest – only to hunt them down with a rifle, like prey. The cold, methodical nature of his crimes shocked investigators, revealing a man who turned control into sport and intellect into predation.
His double life perfectly illustrates the Aquarius duality: a surface of civility masking a detached, calculating darkness. Hansen’s ability to maintain normalcy while carrying out such horrors showed a terrifying mastery of manipulation and compartmentalisation – the mind of a hunter wrapped in the guise of a neighbour.
Gary Ridgway – born 18th February 1949
The Green River Killer, Gary Ridgway, remains one of America’s most prolific serial murderers. Convicted of killing 49 women, he later confessed to as many as 71 – and investigators believe the true toll could be higher still.
Between 1982 and 1999, Ridgway targeted vulnerable women in the Seattle–Tacoma area, many of them sex workers or runaways. He strangled his victims and dumped their bodies near the Green River, returning to the sites repeatedly to engage in necrophiliac acts. His control and patience were unnerving – he managed to maintain a steady job, marriage, and outward normalcy for nearly two decades while committing horrific crimes.
When captured, Ridgway’s calm and emotionless confessions stunned investigators. He described his killings as 'a way of saving money' compared to paying for sex – a chillingly practical explanation that encapsulates the Aquarius shadow: cold intellect devoid of humanity. His obsession with order, method, and self-preservation made him one of the most efficient and terrifying killers in history.
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