The top 10 criminals in American history are notorious characters whose heinous crimes rattled America and left a blot on society. These notorious criminals reached oft-bizarre ends that stamped their names in infamy. Here is a list of figures whose criminal acts are so important that their identities still resonate today.
1. Al Capone – King of the Underworld
more commonly known as “Scarface,” rose to the top during the Prohibition Amendment, which banned the sale of alcohol within the United States. He was the leading figure within the underworld in Chicago in illegal trading, particularly bootlegging, gambling, and all such related affairs. He is known to have orchestrated the 1929 Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre, where seven members of an opposing gang were killed. Capone was finally pinned down over something as ordinary as taxes and was thrown into Alcatraz.
2. Charles Manson – The Cult Leader
Charles Manson was the cult leader of the “Manson Family”.He goaded some of them into a night of killings in Los Angeles in 1969. The most famous victim was actress Sharon Tate. The crimes were very much inspired by Manson’s warped vision of “Helter Skelter.” It was initially believed to be about racist supremacy, Manson later said in an interview it refers to “confusion”.The heinousness of the murders drew him into the league of the most infamous criminals in the history of America.
3. Ted Bundy – The Charming Killer
Ted Bundy is seen to be perhaps the most disgusting serial killer ever to slay people in the United States. The real distinguishing point that made Bundy frightening in a bizarre way, though, was his charm and intelligence, thanks to which he managed to get close and in contact with his victims—most of the time, young women. He would later confess to having committed more than thirty murders during the 1970s—actually, probably more. The cases only increased when he escaped from prison twice. The heinous crimes of Bundy, his televised trial, and later, his hanging in 1989 secure his place in the dark pages of American crime history.
4. Bonnie and Clyde – The Wild Lovers
Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, better known as Bonnie and Clyde, were a criminal pair who took the country by storm through intensive bank holdups, automobile thefts, and wanton killings for two years after the Great Depression. What distinguished Bonnie and Clyde from all the others was the near-mythic image derived from the mass media portrayal of them as outlaw lovers. Their life on the run, with a bevvy of daring escapes and shootouts, captured the imagination of the American people. The two were ambushed and killed by law enforcement in Louisiana in 1934, though their legend lived on as movies, songs, and books continued to be inspired by them.
5. John Dillinger – Public Enemy No. 1
John Dillinger was an infamous American bank robber and became the real Public Enemy No. 1 of the FBI in the 1930s. His criminal career included daring heists, bold jailbreaks, and a series of continuous shootouts with law enforcers. He was gunned down by FBI agents outside a Chicago movie house in 1934. Though the “public enemy era” came to a close with his death, his story has still captured the hearts of Americans.
6. The Zodiac Killer: The Unsolved Mystery
The Zodiac Killer has been one of the most famous and enigmatic criminals in the history of the United States, all because his personality has never been revealed. The Zodiac mass murderer had wreaked havoc from approximately 1968 to 1970, having made a minimum of five known murders and claiming 37, although that’s up for debate. What has set the Zodiac Killer away from the rest, though, has been his predilection for having letters and codes sent to the local newspapers, which mocked the police and the people. Although many investigations and a number of suspects were considered, no one was ever arrested for being the Zodiac Killer, making his case probably the most famous unsolved mystery in criminal history.
7. Jeffrey Dahmer – The Milwaukee Cannibal
He is also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal. Between 1978 and 1991, Dahmer murdered seventeen young men, most of whom he succeeded in enticing to his apartment, where he ended up killing and then dismembering them. The reasons for the American public’s shock regarding Dahmer’s crimes included not only his high number of victims but also some particularly gory details surrounding his actions. Dahmer indulged in necrophilia and cannibalism. His apparent comfort in the courtroom was horrifying about what he had done. Dahmer was sentenced to natural life in 1992, and he was later killed in prison by another inmate two years later.
8. Whitey Bulger – The Crime Boss
James “Whitey” Bulger was a notorious crime boss in the late twentieth century in Boston. From boss of the Winter Hill Gang, Bulger turned to all sorts of rackets: drugs, extortion, and even murder. He was most notorious for his stint as an FBI informer, though, which he milked to keep him free for years. Bulger fled in 1994 and was finally arrested in 2011.
9. Aileen Wuornos – The “Monster”
Aileen Wuornos was an exception to the norm of female serial killers, as she was responsible for killing seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. She was a prostitute, and she justified her actions as acts of self-defence. The grotesque nature and the thorough method with which she executed the crimes earned her infamy. She was sentenced to death in 2002. The famous movie based on this subject is called “Monster.”
10. Bernie Madoff – The Fraudster
Bernie Madoff was a financial criminal. Madoff is behind the largest Ponzi scheme in history, with investors losing around $65 billion. Madoff had invested billions under an illusory pretence that his investors would receive consistent returns. He made the promise with the money he would collect from the new investors. It collapsed in 2008, leaving many ruined. Madoff was such an infamous white-collar criminal because of both the scale of his misdeeds and his betrayal of trust. He was sentenced to a 150-year jail term and died in 2021.
