List of serial killers who served in the military. Who are some serial killers who have been in the military? This is a list of serial killers with known military backgrounds. It's difficult to define characteristics that meet every serial killer's profile. Though some may have had excellent careers in the military profession, others performed less than satisfactory and were discharged within a short period of time.
Who are some serial killers who performed well in the military? Robert Lee Yates, for example, had a long military career. Charles Whitman earned many honors during his military career, and Timothy McVeigh loved military service. Other serial killers who did not do well in the military include Dennis Rader whose career was described as "unremarkable" and Dean Corll who outwardly hated military service. Then there's Charles Ng who was sentenced to 14 years in military prison for stealing weaponry and attempted desertation.
There are also other serial killers who were discharged from the military for personality disorders and could not move up in the ranks. Jeffrey Dahmer was discharged from the military when his performance began to suffer due to his alcoholism. Randy Steven Kraft was discharged after disclosing his sexuality.
This is a list of serial killers who where in the military service.
22 Serial Killers Who Served in the Military,
Andrei Chikatilo
Andrei Chikatilo was a Russian Soviet serial killer whose victim count includes a minimum of 52 women and children from 1978 to 1990 before he was arrested and confessed to a total of 56 murders and tried for 53 killings in 1992. He was convicted and sentenced to death and executed in 1994. Chikatilo was drafted into the Soviet Army in 1957 where he worked in the communications unit in Berlin for his compulsory military service until 1960. He also joined the Communist party and had an unblemished military record.
David Berkowitz
David Berkowitz was a New York City serial killer who was arrested in 1977 for a series of shooting attacks with a .44 caliber revolver. In more than a year, Berkowitz murdered six victims and wounded seven others while terrorizing New York City with acts of arson. Prior to his killing spree, an eighteen-year-old Berkowitz enlisted in the US Army in 1971 and was honorably discharged after serving in the US and South Korea.
Dean Corll
What can be creepier than a serial killer known as the Candy Man? From 1970 to 1973 before he was murdered himself, Corll murdered at least 28 boys whom he abducted, raped and tortured. Corll's family owned a candy factory in Texas where he worked as a young boy and eventually became the vice president. Corll was also drafted in the US Army in 1964 where he trained as a radio repairman. Though Corll's military record was pristine, he reportedly hated military service and applied for a hardship discharge on the basis of being needed within his family's candy business. He was granted an honorable discharge after 10 months of service in 1965.
Dennis Nilsen
Often described as the "British Jeffrey Dahmer," Dennis Nilsen was a serial killer in London who committed the murders of 15 young men from 1978 to 1983 before he was arrested and charged with six counts of murder and two of attempted murder. Prior to his killing spree, Nilsen joined the British Army and enlisted in the Army Catering Corps where he became a cook and served for 11 years. He earned a General Service Medal before he was discharged, at his own request, in 1972.
Dennis Rader
From 1970 to 1990, Dennis Rader terrorized the Wichita, Kansas area until he was finally arrested and revealed in 2005. Rader seemed to be an average married father of two who worked for ADT Security Services. In 1966 Rader joined the US Air Force and was stationed in Alabama before being sent to Okinawa and then mainland Japan until the end of his service in 1970. His military record has been described as "unremarkable." Rader is currently serving 10 life sentences in a Kansas prison.
Gary Ridgway
Believed to have murdered at least 71 victims who were mostly women and prostitutes in the late '90s. He was convicted of 49 murders and is serving a life prison sentence in Washington. Prior to his killing spree, Ridgeway joined the Navy and was sent to Vietnam where he served on a supply ship.
Jeffrey Dahmer
Murdered 17 men and boys between 1978 and 1991, before he was convicted of 15 of the murders and sentenced to life in prison in 1992.
Jeffrey Dahmer was an alcoholic who dropped out of college and, at his father's urging, enlisted in the U.S. Army. He trained as a medical specialist and was deployed to Germany in 1979. He was discharged from the military in 1981 after his performance suffered due to his alcoholism.
Leonard Lake
Lake served as a Marine in Vietnam, though as a radio operator on non-combatant duty. He was medically discharged in 1971 after psychiatric treatment. Together with serial killer Charles Ng, Lake committed 11 to 25 murders before he was apprehended. Lake ended his life with a cyanide pill after authorities arrested him for a firearms offense.
Randy Steven Kraft
Known as the "Freeway Killer," Kraft was convicted of murdering 16 victims from 1972 and 1983. He is currently on death row in a California prison. After college, Kraft joined the U.S. Air Force and was based in southern California where he supervised the painting of test planes and eventually rose to the rank of Airman First Class. He was discharged in 1969 after he admitted his homosexuality, though under "medical" grounds.
Timothy McVeigh
Perhaps most notorious for his military career, Timothy McVeigh was convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people and wounded more than 600 others. He was sentenced to death by legal injection in 2001. McVeigh was highly interested in firearms and weaponry and graduated from the U.S. Army Infantry School. He served in the U.S. Army and was a decorated soldier who served in the Gulf War and Operation Desert Storm. He was discharged in 1991 after his failure to join the United States Army Special Forces due to his unsuitable psychological profile.