Top 20 Unsolved Murder Mysteries

these murders have bamboozled police to this day welcome to watch mojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 unsolved murder mysteries for this list we're looking at the most high profile and mysterious unsolved murders number 20. ken rex mcelroy ken rex mcelroy was by no means the nicest man in fact this town bully from skidmore missouri was indicted 21 times in his life including for arson and assault in 1980 he shot and injured 70 year old grocer ernest bowen camp but was able to appeal the conviction he immediately went back and threatened to kill bowen camp but he never got the chance on july 10 1981 while sitting in his pickup truck with his wife mcelroy was shot twice from two different guns a crowd of up to 46 people looked on no one called an ambulance and everyone except his wife claimed to have not seen the shooters in the end no one was charged number 19 the lake bottom murders our next entry is like something out of a horror movie on june 5th 1960 two teenage couples were camping near finland's lake bottom three of them were stabbed and bludgeoned to death while the fourth niels wilhelm gustafsson was injured there were several suspects including kiosk keeper carl valdemar gilstrom said to have cut down tents in the past and he drowned himself in the lake in 1969 another was a man named hans osman who turned up in a hospital the next day with bloody clothes in 2004 police arrested the survivor gustafson but he was later acquitted the case fascinates finns to this day and finnish heavy metal band children of bodum named themselves after the mystery number 18 the lizzie borden axe murders on the morning of august 4th 1892 lizzie borden discovered that both her parents had been murdered both her father and stepmother had been repeatedly struck in the head with a sharp instrument lizzie became the prime suspect after providing police with contradictory accounts a few days after the murders she was even witnessed burning a dress in the kitchen stove she was arrested and tried in a sensational landmark trial but was acquitted due to circumstantial evidence others suspected of the murder include lizzie's sister emma and her maternal uncle john morse who had slept in the house the night before number 17 the boy in the box in 1957 a boy was found naked lying face up inside a cardboard box in the woods near philadelphia he'd been wrapped in a blanket and his arms were folded across his stomach investigators determined that he was four to five years old and had been killed by several blows to the head his entire body was covered in bruises a woman with a history of mental illness came forward and claimed that her mother had bought the boy from his parents and abused him for years however police couldn't confirm her tale and neither the boy nor the murderer was ever identified number 16 the mad butcher of kingsbury run also known as the cleveland torso murderer this serial killer murdered at least 12 people in the cleveland area in the 1930s there were also other possible victims in the 20s 40s and 50s almost all were beheaded and dismembered with several never identified because their heads were never found and because many were drifters or members of the working poor although the case was reviewed by elliot ness the man who put al capone behind bars no suspects were ever charged some theories have even claimed that there was no single butcher but rather several different individual murderers number 15 bob crane when hogan's hero star bob crane was found bludgeoned to death in his arizona home in 1978 suspicion immediately turned to his friend john henry carpenter a video equipment salesman crane's extensive home video collection showed that the two were rather close filming their sex capades with various women together he was like a mad scientist who dealt in photographs of women carpenter had been with him the night before and according to crane's son crane had planned to end their friendship there were even stains on carpenter's car door that matched crane's blood type however insufficient evidence meant that carpenter was let go the case was reopened in 1990 and carpenter went to trial four years later but was acquitted number 14 the west mesa bone collector as a woman walked her dog in the west mesa of albuquerque new mexico on february 2nd 2009 she stumbled across this awful find the remains of 11 women and a fetus which had been buried in the bank of an arroyo many of these women were hispanic and most were caught up in drugs and prostitution at the time of their disappearances three to six years earlier police linked these serial murders with the area's yearly state fair which drew prostitutes to the area in large numbers but the crimes remain unsolved but the families aren't the only ones frustrated this was one of the most horrific crimes in the history of our city and there's been no resolution to what has happened here they are suspected to have been the work of a serial killer number 13 the chicago tylenol murders chicago was gripped with fear in late 1982 when seven locals died after taking tylenol capsules that had been laced with cyanide oh we've been receiving calls uh about once every 15 seconds a man named james william lewis wrote to johnson johnson saying that he was behind them and would stop for one million dollars but since he was in new york the whole time he was only charged with extortion johnson johnson was applauded for its response and tamper-proof seals became common practice when copycat crimes occurred afterwards a nationwide search is underway today to find a man and a woman wanted for questioning in the tylenol murders however even with the support of the government and a huge corporation the person who really masterminded the poisonings was never found number 12 the highway of tears the highway of tears is a 450 mile long stretch of road between prince george and prince rupert in british columbia canada from 1969 to 2011 at least 18 women were murdered along this highway although it is estimated that the real number may be in the dozens and they're still investigating but if there's no leads then it's pretty much not a priority so it's disheartening to the families many of them were in their teens a disproportionate number of them were indigenous a fact that has led some critics to accuse the investigating police of racism although a few victims have been linked to a convicted serial killer named bobby jack fowler there's still no explanation for the other murders hitting a dead end the case is seemingly erode to nowhere number 11 the alphabet murders also known as the double initial murders the alphabet murders transpired in new york state during the early 1970s there were three victims aged 10 or 11. carmen colon wanda walkowitz and michelle mienza each girl was sexually assaulted before being strangled and was found in a town starting with the same initial as their names cologne in churchville walkowicz and webster and mienza in macedon and strangely each girl came from similar backgrounds they all had learning disabilities were roman catholic and came from single-parent homes this case was later connected to a series of similar murders in california for which joseph naso was convicted and sentenced to death but his dna didn't match the samples found on the victims number 10 amber hagerman while the amber in amber alert does stand for america's missing broadcast emergency response it was actually originally named for amber hagerman the nine-year-old was abducted while riding her bike in arlington texas on january 13 1996 just four days later her body was discovered in a storm drainage ditch and her killer still hasn't been found the outcry in response to this tragedy led to tougher laws for child abductors and sex offenders with bill clinton signing the amber hagerman child protection act into law which created the national sex offender registry and amber desperately needs justice number nine the hinter kaific murders this farmstead in germany was home to one of the country's strangest murder mysteries on march 31 1922 the family living at hinter kifak was murdered along with their maid the crime scene suggested that four of the six had been led to the barn and killed one by one among the victims were seven-year-old cecilia gruber and her two-year-old brother joseph just days before the massacre their grandfather andreas gruber discovered footprints in the snow leading to the farm but none leading back away although police questioned over 100 suspects nobody was ever convicted number eight tupac and the notorious b.i.g a fierce rivalry between east coast and west coast rappers led to two of their biggest stars being gunned down on september 7th 1996 tupac was shot four times at a red light on a las vegas street after leaving a mike tyson boxing match with death row record ceo suge knight the prime suspect was orlando anderson a member of the south side crips months later biggie was also shot four times at a red light while traveling in los angeles it's been theorized that knight had biggie killed in revenge for tupac's murder however thanks to inconclusive leads and uncooperative witnesses no one was ever charged for either number 7. jimmy hoffa a union activist since his teens jimmy hoffa became the president of the international brotherhood of teamsters in 1958 his role with the teamsters led him to organized crime however and he was even sentenced to prison for jury tampering and fraud this connection may have led to his subsequent disappearance hoffa was last seen in the parking lot of the maxis's red fox restaurant on july 30th 1975. hoffa had allegedly been there to meet with two members of the mafia he was officially declared dead in 1982 and his body has yet to be found although there is no shortage of rumors as to the circumstances surrounding his death number six the axeman of new orleans between 1918 and 1919 a serial killer simply known as the axeman terrorized new orleans the axe-man is believed to have murdered eight people although it is speculated there were several more victims almost all the confirmed victims were italian americans and killed with an axe on march 13th 1919 a person claiming to be the axeman had a letter published in the newspaper claiming he or she was not human but rather quote a demon from the hottest hell the murders suddenly stopped shortly thereafter and the axeman's identity was never discovered he or she was apparently a jazz fan and promised to spare anyone whose home had a jazz band in full swing number 5. jonbenet ramsay in the late 90s this murder gripped the nation and gave rise to numerous theories six-year-old beauty queen jonbenet ramsay was found dead in the basement of her colorado home on the day after christmas her skull was broken and she'd been strangled with a garat that morning her mother patsy had discovered a ransom note and contacted police due to the unusual details in the note patsy and her husband john immediately came under suspicion and then for someone to accuse you it's just you can't believe that that would happen the book says that parents always did it however forensic evidence cleared them of involvement criticism has since focused on shoddy police work at the scene in 2006 elementary school teacher john mark carr claimed to have killed her but the dna found on jumbine's body was not a match number four the long island serial killer a present day jack the ripper this unidentified serial killer is said to have murdered at least 10 people and dumped them along long island's ocean parkway the victims include eight women a man and a toddler with the earliest killed in 1997. some were wrapped up inside burlap sacks three remain unidentified their remains were discovered in 2010 and 2011. often choosing people who advertise themselves as sex workers on craigslist the so-called gilgo killer has remained nameless since the first victim surfaced it's been speculated that the killer may have had some knowledge of law enforcement and how to best evade capture number 3. the black dahlia perhaps the most striking detail about 22 year old elizabeth short's gruesome murder in 1947 was that her mouth was slashed at either edge giving the false impression of a wide smile her body was found naked and cut in half at the waist in a vacant lot in lemert park los angeles coverage was sensational and even shamed short for her relationships with men she became known as the black dahlia and her unsolved murder sparked theories books and films in the years after her death although police identified more than 150 suspects the perpetrator was never found number two the zodiac killer the zodiac killer began taunting authorities in the late 1960s when a string of similarly murdered victims surfaced in northern california he sent letters and cryptic puzzles to police and media naming himself zodiac and daring them to catch him while he's known to have killed at least five people he claimed to be responsible for the murder of up to 37 his letters included four cryptograms once solved one stated that he was collecting slaves for the afterlife the others remain unsolved while there were several suspects and even a hollywood movie the zodiac killer's identity still remains a mystery before we continue be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos you have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them if you're on your phone make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications number 1. jack the ripper the murder of five prostitutes in london's white chapel district in 1888 has become one of the most infamous unsolved crime mysteries in history the victims were found with their throats slashed and their abdomens mangled three had internal organs removed this led to the belief that the killer may have been well educated or even a surgeon several later murders in white chapel were also blamed on the same perpetrator at the time the media and authorities received a barrage of letters that claimed to be from the killer the nickname jack the ripper came from one another came with half a human kidney the case received intense media scrutiny but was never solved and it continues to spawn new theories even today do you agree with our picks check out this other recent clip from watchmojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos [Music] you

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Keywords: watchMojo, watch mojo, mojo, top 10, list, unsolved murder mysteries, unsolved mysteries, unsolved murders, mysterious unsolved murders, infamous murders, serial killers, unsolved cases, cold cases, jack the ripper, the zodiac killer, black dahlia, long island serial killer, jonbenét ramsey, axeman of new orleans, jimmy hoffa, tupac, the notorious b.i.g., hinterkaifeck murders, alphabet murders, highway of tears, watchmojo, top 20

Id: rlf3ie_8OAk

Length: 14min 24sec (864 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 03 2020