Today, the devil loses and justice wins. Welcome to WatchMojo. And today, we're looking at terrifying true crime facts that prove the reality of these cases is even more disturbing than the headlines. Gacy buried 29 bodies underneath and around his home, which was subsequently torn down in 1979. The DC snipers hid their shooting ports in a car. It was a terrifying situation for thousands of people. Gunmen in the neighborhood killing individuals in a methodical way. When the news got on the radio and the television, people were too frightened to go outside. It happened again and again. One of the

most terrifying aspects of the 2002 DC sniper spree was just how meticulously the killers engineered their attacks. John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo used a seemingly innocuous black Chevrolet Caprice as their mobile sniper's nest. Police are obviously waiting for test results to come back on the rifle that was found in the car that the father and stepson were in to see whether if the test on that rifle matches with all the different sniper attacks. A concealed hole was cut into the trunk lid, positioned just behind the license plate. A precise shooting port that allowed them to fire at targets from inside the vehicle while remaining utterly protected and anonymous. This hidden chamber turned the car into a rolling stealth

assassination vehicle that no one could suspect at first glance. Muhammad was ultimately executed in 2009 and Malvo was sentenced to multiple life terms without parole. I mean, I wasn't a monster. If you look up the definition, I mean, that's what a monster is. I was a ghoul. I was a thief. I stole people's lives. The Hillside Stranglers worked as a team. Anybody, any minute, any time could be the strangler and you don't you never know. So, you know, I get scared when I'm by myself. So, I work with other girls, you know, carry weapons or whatever.

Case, you know, what if it is him? And what are you going to do? Have to fight him or something. Try to kill him. Serial killers typically operate solo. But the Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono Jr., shattered that mold with a grim partnership that added a terrifying dynamic to their crimes. For over a year in late 1970s Los Angeles, they preyed on young women by abducting, torturing, and strangling their victims. They even impersonated police officers to lure victims, twisting trust into terror. This is scary, but the scariest, especially, you know, since they think it might be a cop. You know, what if it is a cop? What am I going to do? You know, fight him if I ever get busted.

Should I fight him or should I just say, you know, let him take me to jail, take my chances? Man, I'm just I don't know, you know, if I get caught, if it's a cop, if it's really a cop, he's going to kick my ass. Their crimes weren't just about the murders. The duo escalated psychological torment by dumping their victims' bodies on the same hillside, a macabre calling card that gave them their chilling nickname. Both men were eventually captured and convicted. Bianchi is serving life in prison, while Buono died in 2002 of natural causes behind bars. You look at someone like Kenneth Bianchi. Number one, this guy is a stone-cold psychopath. Clint Van Zandt is a former

FBI agent who was assigned to Rochester in the '70s and '80s. A criminal profiler, he examined many serial murder cases. And he doesn't put much stock in Bianchi's cries of innocence. The West Memphis Three case never identified the killer. This morning in West Tennessee, a new chapter begins in the notorious West Memphis Three murders. A court ruling will now allow clothes, hair, and other evidence to be retested using new DNA technology. In 1993, three 8-year-old boys were brutally murdered in Arkansas, and the local community quickly turned suspicion towards three teenagers, Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley. Despite dubious evidence and a controversial trial, they were

convicted. What terrifyingly remains a mystery is that the real perpetrator of the murders was never identified. The men could tell the judge they were innocent, but prosecutors would only let them go free if they agreed to enter a guilty plea. For a guilty plea today? Guilty. I am pleading guilty. Confusing some in the victims' families who now think the real murderer is at large. But I'm still standing and fighting for justice cuz they're innocent. They did not kill my son. Years of re-examination, public outcry, and eventual release of the West Memphis Three in 2011 on an Alford plea did little to provide answers or justice for the victims. To this day, the identities of the true killers remain unknown, and

the case remains officially unsolved. All right, Catherine, you've been following the update since you came to Arkansas, but what does this now mean for the case that has been ongoing now for the past 32 years? So, I asked the same thing to Patrick Benca, who's Damien Echols' attorney, and he told me that this means that the West Memphis Three will now be could be exonerated, and those responsible could be identified. The Black Dahlia's body was deliberately posed. Los Angeles, California, January 15, 1947. It's an uncharacteristically cool morning in Leimert Park. There's a local resident who's walking in the early morning hours, about 10:00 with a toddler, and she sees something that looks like a mannequin in an open

field. Elizabeth Short, better known as the Black Dahlia, was found murdered in Los Angeles in 1947. And her case remains one of Hollywood's most notorious cold cases. The deeply unsettling parts, beyond the brutal killing, is the killer's twisted message expressed through how her body was displayed. This was a very brutal murder. The body had been severed at the waist, and it had likewise been mutilated. Investigators believe the killer has to be someone with medical training or at least expertise in anatomy. There were people that the LAPD interviewed that were doctors. They actually investigated 300 medical students at USC. Her face was slashed from the corners of her mouth to her ears, creating a haunting Glasgow

smile. Despite numerous suspects and extensive investigations, the Black Dahlia murder continues to baffle relevant authorities nearly a century later. The Elizabeth Short mystery carries on to this day because nobody's been caught. Albert Fish sent a letter to one victim's mother. On Sunday, June the 3rd, 1928, I called on you at 406 West 15th Street. Brought you peaches and strawberries. We had lunch. Grace sat on my lap and kissed me. I made up my mind to eat her. When it comes to depravity, there aren't many true crime stories that match the sinister horrors of Albert Fish, a serial killer and cannibal active in the

early 20th century. Fish's cruelty wasn't just in his crimes, but his disturbing psychological games. After abducting and murdering Grace Budd, Fish sent her mother a chilling letter that graphically detailed the crime. On the pretense of taking her to a party, you said yes, she could go. I took her to an empty house in Winchester I'd already picked out. When we got there, I told her to remain outside. She picked wildflowers. I went upstairs and stripped all of my clothes off. I knew if I did not, I would get her blood on them. The letter was as cold and calculated as the crime itself, describing how he lured her daughter

away to an abandoned house, killed her, and cannibalized the remains. Fish was eventually arrested, convicted in 1935, and executed in the electric chair in for his crimes. I was living at 409 East 100th Street, near right side. He told me so often how good human flesh was. I made up my mind to taste it. Dennis Rader sent a floppy disk to the police that helped catch him. The prosecution's now hoping the BTK killer will receive a jail sentence of 175 years. The former scout leader's good fortune that Kansas did not introduce the death penalty till after his killing spree was over. Rader, better known as the BTK killer, was active for decades, eluding capture while taunting police and media

with letters detailing his murders. Despite his reputation for being meticulous, it was an almost ludicrous combination of arrogance and carelessness that led to his downfall. In 2004, after years of silence, Rader sent investigators a floppy disk, already an outdated piece of technology at the time, to prove that he was the infamous BTK. In 2004, a local paper writes an article about the 30th anniversary of the first BTK killings. And we included in there that nobody remembered him, which invoked his ire. This morning, we have more information on the letter sent to the Wichita Eagle by the BTK killer. Police forensic experts extracted metadata from the disk, which traced back to Rader's church, where he was a president on the

church council. The digital breadcrumb blew the case wide open, revealing how Rader's confidence in his own cunning ultimately led him straight to the authorities. We pull him over, and before he can hardly get him in the park, we're getting ready to get him out of the car. We put him down, and he looked at the detective that had handcuffed him and said, "Would you let my wife know I won't be home for lunch? I assume you know where I live." And I got chills. Zodiac sent pieces of Paul Stein's shirt to prove he was the killer. San Francisco Police Department. Yes, they shot the man in the cab.

What is your location? 2390 at Washington at the corner of Cherry. One person we think he's robbing him. crime still in progress? Yes, please hurry. This enigmatic killer terrorized northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, earning notoriety through letters filled with cryptic clues, taunts, and ciphers sent to newspapers and police. After murdering cab driver Paul Stine, the Zodiac cut off a bloody piece of Stine's shirt and enclosed it in an October 1969 letter to the San Francisco Chronicle to authenticate his claim.

This is the Zodiac speaking. I am the murderer of the taxi driver over by Washington Street and Maple Street last night. To prove this, here is a blood stained piece of his shirt. I am the same man who did in the people in the North Bay area. The SF police could have caught me last night. They had searched the park properly instead of holding road races with their motorcycles. Gentlemen. A month later, the killer sent a much longer seven-page letter to the Chronicle which contained another piece of the shirt. After yet another month, he mailed a third piece of the shirt to the home of famous defense attorney

Melvin Belli along with a plea for help claiming he was losing control. Hello, this is Melvin Belli. Who am I speaking with? This is the Zodiac speaking. Is there something I can call you that's a little less ominous? Ted Bundy escaped custody twice. Bundy jumped out of this second story window at the front of the Pitkin County Courthouse this morning. He was scheduled for a court appearance and apparently had been locked into the law library by sheriff's deputies while attorneys were arguing a motion to

strike the death penalty. Witnesses say he left in a hurry, however, nobody saw him open the window and he escaped clean in an unknown direction. Bundy, arguably the most infamous serial killer in American history, wasn't just scary because of his crimes, but his breathtaking audacity and cunning. His first prison escape in 1977 involved jumping from a second story courthouse window in Colorado and fleeing into the mountains. After [snorts] recapture, he managed a second escape from a jail in Glenwood Springs by sawing a square hole in the ceiling of his cell around a light fixture. The sheriff says Bundy then crawled along the attic through a maze of wires and pipes and dropped down into the empty

jailer's office, grabbed two guns, and walked out the door. The guns were later found, but Bundy was not. He crawled through the building's tight ductwork and dropped into the jailer's apartment, simply walking out the front door while the staff was away. He was recaptured for the final time in 1978, eventually convicted and executed in 1989. Bundy was last seen at 10:00 p.m. last night. He put pillows under blankets and fooled deputies into thinking he was still in his cell sleeping as late as noon today when finally the cook thought something was wrong because Bundy hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch. A police dog followed Bundy's scent downtown, but lost it in traffic. The Golden State Killer allegedly made obscene phone calls long after his crimes.

Hello. Joseph James DeAngelo, identified in 2018 as the Golden State Killer, terrorized California for over a decade with a spree of sexual assaults and murders from the mid-1970s to mid-80s. The terror didn't end when the physical attacks stopped. DeAngelo reportedly continued to haunt his survivors with obscene, whispering phone calls for years. I'm going to kill you. Tell me that you're alone in the house. I'm going to kill you. His reign of anonymity ended in 2018 when crime scene DNA was traced through GED match to distant relatives. In 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of murder and admitted to dozens of sexual

assaults. He was sentenced to 11 consecutive life terms without parole, ensuring he would die behind bars. I'm really sorry to everyone ever. Before we continue, check out this single from SoundMojo's audio, Songs from Iran, reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs. Check out the full track and album below. John Wayne Gacy concealed a mass grave beneath his family home. He had said that he was going to make an addition, but he was going to go upwards. And then he was going to cement the crawl space. And then when this came out, we thought, well, nothing would have been found if he had done that. Between 1972 and 1978, Gacy murdered at least 33 young men and boys in suburban Chicago.

He used his business to lure many of his victims, offering teenage boys high-paying construction jobs only to trap them in his home at 8213 West Summerdale Avenue. Investigators eventually recovered 26 bodies from the 4-ft deep, muddy crawl space beneath his house, which Gacy had layered with quicklime to accelerate decomposition. While he's pumping the water, right? And that terrible smell is coming off, Steve. I said, "Hey, John." I said, "What do you got, a bunch of dead bodies over there?" He said, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I SAID, I said, "What do I mean? It smells like a BUNCH OF DEAD BODIES." He said, "Oh, no, those are raw dead field mice, you know." Gacy was convicted of 33 counts of murder in 1980, at the time the most

ever attributed to one individual in US history. He spent 14 years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection on May 10th, 1994. The final words of the serial killer, quote, "Taking my life will not compensate for the loss of the others. This is the state murdering me." The prosecutor put it this way. He got a much easier death than any of his victims. Which true crime fact sent a chill down your spine? Are there any we missed? Be sure to let us know in the comments below.