List of German serial killers
Name Years active Proven victims Possible victims Status Notes
Becker , Irene 2005-2006 5 8 Sentenced to life imprisonment Known as The Angel of Death from Charité
Bodenfelde Black Widows 1983-2000 4 4 Sentenced to life imprisonment/12 years imprisonment Two women ( known only as Lydia L. and Siggi S. ) who poisoned multiple men in Bodenfelde , killing 4 of them
Böhnhardt , Uwe 2000-2007 10 10 Killed by partner Neo-Nazi who killed immigrants through Germany , with accomplices Beate Zschäpe and Uwe Mundlos
David , Horst 1975-1993 3 7+ Sentenced to life imprisonment One of his murders proved to be a milestone in German criminal history , as it was the first 20-year-old crime to be solved with the help of the computer-assisted tracking system of AFIS
Eckert , Volker 1974-2006 6 14+ Committed suicide in police custody Trucker who abduced , tortured and killed prostitutes in Germany , Spain and France ; confessed to additional murders , including ones in Italy and the Czech Republic
Gust , Frank 1994-1998 4 4 Sentenced to life imprisonment Known as The Rhine-Ruhr -Ripper ; sexual sadist who killed and subsequently mutilated women in the Rhine-Ruhr region
Hoffmann , Marc 2004 2 2+ Sentenced to life imprisonment Sex offender who sexually abused and murdered two children ; suspected of other murders
Högel , Niels 2000-2005 106 106+ Sentenced to life imprisonment Male nurse who killed patients in two hospitals in Oldenburg and Delmenhorst
Lemke , Thomas 1995-1996 3 3 Sentenced to life imprisonment Former mercenary and far-right extremist who killed political opponents
Letter , Stephan 2003-2004 29 29+ Sentenced to life imprisonment Male nurse who poisoned patients in Sonthofen
Metzler , Marco 2003-2006 3 3 Sentenced to life imprisonment Truck driver who attacked and killed women along highways
Mundlos , Uwe 2000-2007 10 10 Committed suicide to avoid apprehension Neo-Nazi who killed immigrants through Germany , with accomplices Beate Zschäpe and Uwe Böhnhardt
Ney , Martin 1992-2004 3 4 Sentenced to life imprisonment Known as The Masked Man ; prolific pedophile who murdered children in school camps ; additionally suspected of killing French boy Jonathan Coulom
Nölle , Marianne 1993 7 17 Sentenced to life imprisonment Nurse who killed patients in Cologne
Plumain , Jacques 1999-2000 3 3 Sentenced to life imprisonment Known as The Ghost of Kehl ; Guadeloupean man who killed two women in Kehl and one in the French forest of La Wantzenau
Rieken , Ronny 1996-1998 2 2 Sentenced to life imprisonment First German criminal to be captured via DNA profiling
Rung , Thomas 1983-1995 7 7 Sentenced to life imprisonment Raped and murdered six women in Berlin , as well as his stepbrother ; another man falsely confessed to his first murder
Schmidt , Beate 1989-1991 6 6 Committed to a psychiatric hospital Known as The Beast of Beelitz ; trans woman who killed five women and an infant in Beelitz
Seel , Manfred 1971-2004 5 9 Died from esophageal cancer Known as The Hesse Ripper ; suspected of killing women in the Frankfurt Rhine-Main and other places ; died before crimes were discovered
Zschäpe , Beate 2000-2007 10 10 Sentenced to life imprisonment Neo-Nazi who killed immigrants through Germany , with accomplices Uwe Böhnhardt and Uwe Mundlos
Post-unification
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone.