Library: US Criminal Justice by Credo Reference: Criminal Profiles

Notable Criminals (A - D)

Clyde Barrow (1909 - 1934)
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Born in Texas, he was the partner of Bonnie Parker. Despite their popular romantic image, they and their gang were responsible for a number of murders.
David Berkowitz (1953 - )
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, he terrorized the city for a year between 1976 and 1977, preying on courting couples and women. He shot dead six people and wounded another seven. He dubbed himself "Son of Sam" in a note to the New York Police Department.
Kenneth Bianchi (1951 - )
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
Known as the Hillside Strangler. US murderer. He was born in Rochester, New York, and adopted by a couple named Bianchi.
Billy the Kid (1859 - 1881)
From The New Encyclopedia of the American West
Outlaw. The conspicuous place Billy the Kid occupies in American folklore almost defies explanation, Even before his death at the hands of Pat Garrett, his name was legendary in New Mexico and had been introduced to a broader audience via the National Police Gazette.
Joe Bonanno (1905 - 2002)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American crime boss nicknamed "Joe Bananas," b. Castellammare del Golfo, Sicily. He came to the United States illegally in 1924, settled in Brooklyn, and soon became a bootlegger and mob enforcer.
John Wilkes Booth (1838 - 1865): Topic Page
American actor, the assassin of Abraham Lincoln , b. near Bel Air, Md.; son of Junius Brutus Booth and brother of Edwin Booth.
Ted Bundy (1946 - 1989)
From Chambers Biographical Dictionary
He was born in Vermont. An articulate and handsome man, he studied psychology and law. In 1974 he began a series of up to 40 murders in which he habitually raped and beat his victims.
Al Capone (1899 - 1947)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American gangster, b. Naples, Italy. Brought up in New York City, he became connected with organized crime and was involved in murder investigations.
Jeffrey Dahmer (1960 - 1994)
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
U.S. serial killer. In 1992 he confessed to killing, dismembering, and, in some cases, cannibalizing 16 young men, chiefly near his Milwaukee home, in a killing spree that started in 1978, when he murdered a young hitchhiker.
Albert DeSalvo (1931 - 1973)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American serial killer who terrorized the Boston, Mass., area during a killing spree (Jun., 1962–Jan, 1964) that claimed the lives of at least 11 women.
John Dillinger (1903 - 1934)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
American bank robber, probably b. Indianapolis. Paroled after serving a prison term for attempted robbery, Dillinger organized a gang and terrorized the Midwest in 1933.

Notable Criminals (F - Z)

Albert Fish (1870 - 1936)
From Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States
Albert Hamilton Fish was a child molester, serial killer, sadomasochist, and cannibal. Fish was born in Washington, D.C., on May 19, 1870.
John Wayne Gacy, Jr. (1942 - 1994)
From Encyclopedia of Capital Punishment in the United States
From 1972 to 1978, John Wayne Gacy sodomized and killed thirty-three boys and young men in Illinois. For a brief period, Gacy held the distinction of being convicted of more murders than any other person in the history of the United States.
Ted Kaczynski (1942 - )
From Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices
Dubbed the Unabomber after his early choice of targets (un = universities; a = airlines), recluse and former mathematics professor Ted Kaczynski killed three people and injured twenty-three others in a nationwide bombing spree that spanned nearly two decades (1978–1995).
Charles Manson (1934 - 2017): Topic Page
The leader of a bizarre, conspiracy-minded cult that committed several murders, Charles Manson (often known simply as “Charlie”) became a notorious figure in the late 1960s, and the center of a great deal of conspiracy-minded speculation about his true motives.
Lee Harvey Oswald (1939 - 1963)
From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Presumed assassin of John F. Kennedy, b. New Orleans. Oswald spent most of his boyhood in Fort Worth, Tex. Later, he attended a Dallas high school, and enlisted (1956) in the Marines and served until 1959.
Bonnie Parker (1911 - 1934)
From The Penguin Biographical Dictionary of Women
As the female half of the notorious Bonnie and Clyde, Bonnie Parker was one of America's most wanted criminals of the mid 1930s.
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (1906-1947)
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia.
U.S. gangster. He began his career extorting money from Jewish peddlers on New York's Lower East Side. He joined with Meyer Lansky and began operating bootlegging and gambling rackets; they later formed the forerunner of Murder, Inc.

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