The world has seen very terrible individuals who have carried out crimes that are unbelievable to humans. These include people who ended the lives of others, some who fed on humans, were involved in organized crimes, or did other despicable things. Here is a look at some of the worst criminals that have lived and the things they did.
1. Charles Ponzi
- Date of birth: March 3, 1882 to January 18, 1949
- Victims: Hundreds
- Crime: Fraud
- Time frame: 1918 to 1920
Charles Ponzi is unarguably one of the worst criminals to have ever been born. Born Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi on March 3, 1882, he gained notoriety as one of the most dangerous swindlers ever.
Ponzi posed as a businessman who moved to the United States from Italy. At first, he took odd jobs as a dishwasher and waiter but was soon left without a job after being fired for cheating customers.
He had several other works, but they all failed, and it was at this point, that he rented an office space which gave him the idea of starting what later became known as the Ponzi Scheme.
His scheme started with the idea of raising money to buy postal coupons from countries of lower-performing currencies and selling them for profit. Soon Ponzi founded a company known as the Securities Exchange Company, where he would get money from investors and pay them high returns. He used his company and this method to swindle thousands of people of over $20 million in 1920.
2. Al Capone
- Date of birth: January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947
- Crime: Organized crime
- Time frame: Mid-1920s to Early 1930s
Alphonse Gabriel Capone, also known as Al Capone, is arguably the most dangerous and notorious individual linked to organized crime. He was born on January 17, 1899, and went by many other names including Scarface and Public Enemy Number 1.
Al Capone gained notoriety from the mid-1920s to the early 1930s for everything including “gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, bribery, narcotics trafficking, robbery, “protection” rackets, and murder.” Despite his many crimes including the Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre of 1929 which was linked to Al Capone and his Chicago Outfit, he seemed untouchable until 1931 when he was arrested and sent to prison, ending his years of terror. He was only 33 years old when he was locked up.
3. John Dillinger
- Date of birth: June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934
- Crime: Gangster
- Time frame: Late 1990s
John Herbert Dillinger also makes the list as one of the most notorious criminals ever. He was a gangster who became famous as some Robin Hood who would steal and give it to the rich, although this aspect of his story has been disputed.
He was the leader of the Dillinger Gang which operated during the Great Depression. His gang had 15 members and it employed military tactics in their operations.
It was alleged that he robbed as many as 24 banks and four police stations. John Dillinger was arrested several times and somehow managed to escape a couple of times. He was killed in 1934 when he was only 31 years old.
4. Jim Jones
- Date of birth: May 13, 1931 – November 18, 1978
- Victims: 909
- Crime: Cult leader and mass murderer
- Time frame: Late 1990s
Born James Warren Jones, Jim Jones was one of the worst criminals ever. He became known as a cult leader who is considered to be one of the worst mass murderers in history.
Jim founded The Peoples Temple of the Disciples of Christ in 1955 and at its peak, it had more around 5,000 people. The temple soon became what would later be referred to as one of the most destructive cults ever.
Initially, he was ordained a minister in the Independent Assemblies of God before he proceeded to found the People’s Temple. Jim Jones had a fallout with the US government as he was accused of crimes such as controlling and manipulating his followers. His fallout with the government led to the murder of California Congressman Leo Ryan alongside four others.
As a result of the killing and the activities of Jim Jones, he was informed that the US military was going to be sent to seize Jonestown. Because of this, he got his followers to kill themselves by drinking poison, and for those that didnt want to drink, they were injected with cyanide. This led to the death of 909 of his followers, making it one of the highest losses of American civilians,
After the act, Jim Jones shot himself in the head and that ended his chapter.
5. Ted Kaczynski
- Date of birth: May 22, 1942 – June 10, 2023
- Victims: 3 killed and over 20 injured
- Crime: Domestic terrorism
- Time frame: 1970s to the 1990s
Ted was born Theodore John Kaczynski. He was an American mathematician who gained infamy as a domestic terrorist. Considered to be a mathematics prodigy, he abandoned his career as an academician, opting for a primitive lifestyle.
Between 1978 and 1995, he delivered several bombs through mail or hand to different people, which led to the death of 3 people and left 23 others injured. His angst and what led to the bombings was his obsession with the wood and the natural environment which was being depleted by the Industrial Revolution.
By the time he was apprehended in 1995, his search of 17 years was considered to be the longest and costliest investigation in FBI history.
6. Charles Manson
- Date of birth: November 12, 1934 – November 19, 201
- Victims: Over 10 people
- Crime: Cult leader
- Time frame: Late 1990s
Charles Milles Maddox is another cult leader to make the list of some of the most criminal-minded individuals ever. Also a musician, he became infamous for leading the Manson Family cult which ran from the 1960s to the 1970s. Charles built the cult to have close to a hundred followers.
What earned him criminal status were the activities of his cult which included the killing of many people, assault, and theft, all with the motivation of causing a race war. Among the people who lost their lives to Manson and his cult was the film actress Sharon Tate.
Before his activities as a cult leader, he was arrested and locked up for many crimes including raping a boy at knifepoint and pimping a young girl of 16 years old. He was convicted in 1971 and remained in prison until 2017 when he died at 83.
6. John Wayne Gacy
- Date of birth: March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994
- Victims: over 33
- Crime: Serial killer
- Time frame: 1972 to 1978
John Wayne Gacy gained infamy as one of the most dangerous and heartless serial killers in the history of the United States. The man raped, tortured, and took the lives of at least 33 young boys and men. Nicknamed the Killer Clown because of his career as a clown before he was caught, he would lure his victims into his home where he would trick them into getting handcuffed under the guise that he would perform a magic trick.
He was arrested six years after he started his killing spree in December 1978, and was executed on May 10, 1994 by lethal injection.
7. Pablo Escobar
- Date of birth: 1 December 1949 – 2 December 1993
- Victims: 100
- Crime: Strangulation
- Time frame: Late 1990s
Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria was a Colombian drug lord who is considered to be one of the most criminal-minded individuals to date.
He was the head of the Medellín drug cartel who transitioned from selling fake diploma certificates to smuggling stereo equipment and then selling tombstones that he stole. More crimes later, he soon got into the smuggling of drugs and that was how he found the Medellin Cartel.
At the height of his criminal activities, Escobar had a fortune that was estimated at over $40 billion. He believed that he had only two ways of solving whatever problem he had; by giving bribes or using the bullet- “plata o plomo,” which means “silver” (bribes) or “lead” (bullets).
On 2 December 1993, Pablo Escobar was killed in a shootout with law enforcement after he escaped prison and evaded arrest.
See Also: Mickey Cohen- The True Story of A Real Life Gangster- 12 Shocking Facts
9. Jeffrey Dahmer
- Date of birth: May 21, 1960 to November 28, 1994
- Victims: Over 17
- Crime: Serial killer and cannibal
- Time frame: 1978 to 1991
Another serial killer on the list is the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, whose real name is Jeffrey Dahmer. He was a deadly serial killer and sex offender who took the lives of 17 men and boys. Dahmer was involved in everything including necrophilia and cannibalism.
Although his criminal tendencies were believed to be influenced at some point by borderline personality disorder (BPD) and] schizotypal personality disorder (StPD) which he suffered from, he was found to be legally sane at trial after he was arrested in 1991, more than 10 years after he started his crime.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility in 1991 and three years later, he was beaten to death in prison.
10. James Whitey Bulger
- Date of birth: September 3, 1929 – October 30, 2018
- Victims: At least 19 people
- Crime: Organized crime
- Time frame: Late 1990s
James Joseph “Whitey” Bulger Jr. was on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitive list. He was an organized crime boss who was involved in murder, narcotics distribution, extortion, racketeering, and much more. When he was named on the FBI list, he was considered to be the most wanted individual only after Osama Bin Laden.
As a young boy, he first got into crime as a thief and street fighter, but he soon got to start hanging out with more experienced criminals and by the time he was 14, he was arrested for larceny. He joined a gang known as Shamrocks with which he was involved in more crimes.
He later led the Winter Hill Gang, an Irish Mob organization that was involved in many more crimes.
James Whitey Bulger was alleged to have killed at least 17 people through his criminal activities before he was finally apprehended in 2011 when he was already 81 years old and more than 16 years after he was on the FBI wanted list. He was killed in 2018.
