The deadliest Leo serial killers of all time
Leos are fire star signs that are governed by the Sun, which can represent warmth, sunny personas and a need to shine bright.
The Leo zodiac sign is the lion, one of the most fearsome creatures in the animal kingdom. However, despite the lion’s status as an apex predator, Leo isn’t a star sign commonly linked to violent crime. That being said, there have been a few notable serial killers from crime history who fall under the Leo zodiac sign.
From the ‘Acid Bath Murderer’ to a murderous countess, join Crime+Investigation as we take a look at some of the most notorious Leo serial killers from history.
Myra Hindley – born 23rd July 1942
Often considered the most evil woman in Britain, Myra Hindley and her partner Ian Brady killed five children in Manchester between 1963 and 1965.
Hindley was used to lure the children away, as they were more trusting of her as a woman. She and Brady then took them to the moors where they were murdered. Some of the children were sexually abused before they were killed.
Hindley was convicted of three of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. She died from bronchial pneumonia in 2002.
John George Haigh – born 24th July 1909
Nicknamed the ‘Acid Bath Murderer’, John George Haigh was an English serial killer. He was convicted for six murders, but he told authorities that he had killed nine people.
Haigh was a well-respected, middle-class man who seemed charming, but he was anything but. Haigh lured victims away, then proceeded to beat or shoot them. He then dissolved their bodies in sulphuric acid. His motivations seemed to be financial, as he would forge his victims' signatures and go on to collect money after selling their possessions. Haigh was executed at Wandsworth Prison in 1949.
Elizabeth Báthory – born 7th August 1560
Elizabeth Báthory was a countess in late 16th and early 17th century Hungary. She is believed to have murdered and tortured hundreds of women and girls between 1590 and 1610 with the help of her servants.
Both the servants and Elizabeth were charged and convicted with 80 counts of murder. While the servants were executed, Elizabeth was held prisoner in the Castle of Csejte, where she stayed until she died.
Jack Unterweger – born 16th August 1950
Austrian-born Johann "Jack" Unterweger was originally only convicted of one murder in 1976. Believing he had been rehabilitated while writing in prison, a group of Austrian intellectuals lobbied for his release. He began killing again within months.
After murdering women in Czechoslovakia, Austria and Los Angeles, Unterwerger was charged with 11 murders in May 1992. He was found guilty of nine murders and sentenced to life in prison. On the night of his conviction, he committed suicide.
Anthony Sowell – born 19th August 1959
Known as The Cleveland Strangler, Anthony Sowell was a rapist and serial killer in East Cleveland, Ohio. Sowell was physically abused by his single-parent mother, Claudia Garrison.
The bodies of 11 women were found in Sowell’s home in 2009. He was charged with 11 murders, as well as evidence tampering, kidnapping, abuse of a corpse and 74 counts of rape. He died in 2021 at Franklin Medical Center from a terminal illness.
Tsutomu Miyazaki – born 21st August 1962
Dubbed The Rat Man and the Otaku Murderer, Tsutomu Miyazaki killed four girls in and around Tokyo in the late 1980s.
Considered one of Japan’s worst serial killers, Miyazaki was a fetishist. He not only murdered his young victims – two four-year-olds, a seven-year-old and a five-year-old – but he also sexually abused their bodies and ate parts of them afterwards. He also drank their blood and dismembered their bodies.
Miyazaki coined the name Rat Man himself, saying it was his alter ego that had forced him to commit his crimes. He was sentenced to death in April 1997 and was hanged in June 2008.
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