When a serial killer is caught, there’s a reasonable assumption that the justice system will take care of the problem. The murderous psychopath will be found guilty by the courts and sentenced to life in prison, to be hidden far away from you and the people you love. The streets are once again safe to walk without fear of becoming prey to a serial killer’s whims. However, that perfect fantasy of justice is not always the case. Sometimes, serial killers don’t spend the rest of their days behind bars. In some cases, they have actually been set free to live amongst your family, friends, and the rest of the non-lethal population.
The serial killers on this list are not currently serving time behind bars. Many of them served a short amount of time behind bars before being set free, while a few others escaped from prison to live life on the lam. Some of these serial killers are still a threat to society, while others have been declared safe by psychologists and other officials.
Which serial killers have been set free? Which have escaped? This list featured the serial killers who are at large and no longer behind bars.
8 Serial Killers Who Are on the Loose,
Arnfinn Nesset
Norwegian serial killer Arnfinn Nesset worked as a nurse when he killed 22 people and attempted to kill more. Throughout the 80s, Nesset poisoned his patients with a muscle relaxer. In Norwegian law, the maximum time for a prisoner was 21 years; however, he only served 12 years of his sentence. He was released under parole terms, which have since expired. He is currently living under an assumed name in Norway.
Nikita Fouganthine
Swedish serial killer Nikita Fouganthine (born Jua Veikko Valjakkala) killed three people in 1988. He was caught soon after and convicted of the crimes. Although he received a life sentence in a Finnish prison, he escaped in 1994. During his brief time of freedom, he held a teacher hostage but was soon caught afterwards. He escaped and caught again three more times in 2002, 2004, and 2006. In 2011, Fouganthine escaped from prison, and he has been on the lam ever since.
Karla Homolka
Karla Homolka was one half of the murderous couple that haunted the people of Canada. Homolka, along with her psychotic husband Paul Bernardo, raped and murdered multiple women, including her own sister. When the couple was discovered in 1993, Homolka turned over evidence on her husband in exchange for a reduced sentence. She was released in 2005 after serving only 12 years in prison.
Mary Bell
When Mary Bell was just 11 years old, she had already killed two young boys in separate incidents by strangling them and mutilating one with scissors. She was convicted of manslaughter in 1968. Twelve years later, when she was age 23, Bell was freed and able to change her name to start a new life. She won a court order that permanently protects her identity and that of her daughter – a protection for convicts now known as a "Mary Bell order." According to reports as recently as 2009, Bell had become a grandmother.
Nikolai Dzhumagaliev
Cannibal killer Nikolai Dzhumagaliev murdered and ate the remains of at least seven women (with the number probably closer to 50) in the Soviet Union. He was often known as the Metal Fang since he replaced his own teeth with white, metal teeth. He was caught in 1980, escaped in 1989, was recaptured, and then released after 10 years of psychological evaluation.
Pedro López
As one of the scariest serial killers in human history, Pedro Lopez was responsible for the rape and murder of hundreds of women in Columbia, Eduador, and Peru. He was caught in 1980 but only served 14 years in an Ecuadorian prison. Once he was released, he spent three years in a mental hospital in Colombia. He was declared sane in 1998 and released on $50 bail. Lopez is currently free and suspected of further murders in Colombia.
The Lainz Angels of Death
The Lainz Angels of Death, also known as Maria Gruber, Irene Leidolf, Stephanija Mayer, and Waltraud Wagner, were a group of Austrian nurses who murdered their patients. In most cases, they gave them purposeful overdoses of morphine, or forced water into their lungs. The exact number of people that they killed in Lainz, Vienna, between the years of 1983 and 1989 is unknown, although they confessed to 49 of them. Wagner and Leidolf received life sentences at their 1991 trials, while Mayer and Gruber were given lighter sentences on charges of manslaughter and attempted murder. As of 2008, all have been released from prison and are living under assumed names.
Bartolomeo Gagliano
Italian serial killer Bartolomeo Gagliano was responsible for the death of at least three prostitutes in the late 80s. He was sentenced to eight years in a criminal asylum before the deaths of two of his victims, but he broke out with a fellow inmate in time to kill two prostitutes on Valentine's Day 1989. He said he was targeting people who spread the HIV virus. In December 2013, Gagliano escaped prison again in Genoa, Italy, and is allegedly armed and dangerous.
Aleksandr Rubel
Aleksandr Rubel killed 6 people in Estonia between November 1997 and June 1998. His methods of attack varied, but most of his victims were stabbed, beheaded, or had their throats slashed. Rubel was a minor at the time of his crimes, so he received a mandatory sentence of 8 years. He was released on June 8, 2006, and now reportedly lives in the Ukraine.
Louis Van Schoor
In South Africa, Louis Van Schoor killed at least seven men who he claimed were burglars. After each murder, he'd be cleared by officials without so much as a caution. However, he was finally discovered in 1992. After serving only 12 years for the crimes, he was released in 2004.