5 serial killers who terrorised the 1970s
The 1970s are often described as the “golden age” of the serial killer. Civil unrest, hitchhiking culture and limited forensic technology created the perfect conditions for psychopaths to operate undetected.
While many killers were eventually caught, sometimes decades later, others escaped justice and their identities are still a mystery to this day.
In the following article, the Crime+Investigation team examines the deadliest serial killers in the 1970s who have been immortalised for the brutality of their crimes.
1. The Yorkshire Ripper
Peter Sutcliffe, later dubbed the “Yorkshire Ripper”, became one of Britain’s deadliest serial killers after murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others in a five year campaign of terror across Yorkshire and Manchester.
Sutcliffe was a troubled teen obsessed with voyeurism and prostitutes. Over the years, his fantasies became even more violent, spilling over into the real world. He targeted women at night, approaching them in his car before attacking them with a hammer and knife.
In the early stages of the investigation, police wrongly assumed many of his victims were sex workers. This bias prompted widespread criticism from women’s rights campaigners, who said it affected the urgency and handling of the case.
Sutcliffe was eventually caught when police stopped his car over false number plates. During questioning, he confessed to the crimes and was sentenced to life in prison.
2. The Hillside Stranglers
Between October 1977 and February 1978, Los Angeles was paralysed by fear. Several young girls and women had been found naked on the remote hills surrounding the city, showing signs of sexual assault, torture and strangulation.
Originally, investigators thought the women were prostitutes, but quickly realised several had been abducted from middle-class neighbourhoods.
Police eventually traced the murders back to cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr. The pair had been impersonating police officers to gain their victims’ trust before kidnapping and sexually assaulting them for hours at Buono’s upholstery shop.
In total, the cousins were convicted of murdering 10 young women between 1977 and 1978.
3. The Son of Sam
David Berkowitz murdered six people and wounded 11 others in a series of shootings across New York City between 1976 and 1977. The former soldier was notorious for taunting investigators with a string of riddles and letters threatening more violence until he was caught, signing them “Son of Sam”.
Armed with a .44 calibre revolver, Berkowitz targeted young couples sitting in cars, firing without warning before fleeing the scene. The randomness of the attacks and the lack of connection between victims fuelled mass hysteria. The only defining theme seemed to be that the women had brown hair.
Thankfully, his reign of terror ended in 1977, when police traced a parking ticket issued near one of the crime scenes to Berkowitz’s car. Once his revolver was linked to the shootings, he was arrested and sentenced to six consecutive life terms.
4. John Wayne Gacy
John Wayne Gacy isn’t just one of the deadliest killers in the 1970s, but of all time. Dubbed the “Killer Clown”, he murdered at least 33 teenage boys and young men in Illinois between 1972 and 1978. Many were buried in the crawlspace of his Chicago home.
To outsiders, Gacy appeared to be a successful contractor and a positive member of his community. He was involved in local politics and performed at children's parties as “Pogo the Clown”. Nobody could have anticipated the horrors of private life, where he lured high school students and young men back to his home before sexually assaulting, torturing and murdering them.
Police eventually caught Gacy after investigating the disappearance of 15-year-old Robert Piest. The two had been communicating about a potential job. Once they obtained a search warrant for Gacy’s home, they discovered human remains.
Gacy was arrested on 21st December 1978 and executed by lethal injection in 1994.
5. Ted Bundy
Ted Bundy is one of the most infamous serial killers of the 20th century. He kidnapped, raped and murdered dozens of young women and girls between 1974 and 1978. Before his execution, he confessed to 30 killings, but the true number is thought to be much higher.
Charismatic and manipulative, Bundy approached his victims in public places, feigning injury to gain sympathy. Once he earned the women’s trust, he would abduct and murder them in remote locations. His most notorious crime happened in January 1978 at the Chi Omega sorority house at Florida State University, where he brutally attacked several students, killing two.
Bundy was finally arrested in February 1978, when he was stopped by police in Florida while driving a stolen vehicle. After his arrest, forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts linked him to the Chi Omega murders.
He was convicted and later executed in 1989.
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