Ah, murderers. There’s something so captivating about the worst people in history. We’re often drawn to understanding their motivations, methods, and the peculiar quirks that define them.
From calling cards left at crime scenes to cryptic notes sent to authorities, serial killers often exhibit unsettling behaviors. Perhaps one of the most disturbing of these is their penchant for collecting trophies. Whether it’s to relive their crimes, prove their prowess, or for reasons even more twisted, killers sometimes take items from their victims—and some of these items are unbelievably bizarre.
This list explores ten of the weirdest, wildest, and most gruesome trophies that killers have ever taken from their victims.
The Eyes: Charles Albright
The media often assigns nicknames to killers, especially those who take trophies. Charles Albright, infamously known as “The Eyeball Killer,” is a prime example.
Albright’s life was a series of escalating crimes, from theft and illegal weapons to assault and fraud. His mental state deteriorated, leading to sexual molestation and, ultimately, murder. His gruesome trophy of choice was his victims’ eyeballs, which were never recovered by authorities despite his arrest and conviction.
Camping Gear?: Ivan Milat
Ivan Milat, known as the “Backpacker Murderer” or “Australia’s worst serial killer,” had an unusual collection of trophies from his seven victims.
Milat targeted backpackers, offering them rides before driving them into the forest to be shot or stabbed. He took their camping supplies as trophies. A search of Milat’s home revealed an “Aladdin’s Cave” of camping gear, including sleeping bags, portable stoves, and canteens. It seems Milat’s motive for killing was to steal these items.
Their Baby: John Edward Robinson
John Edward Robinson, a scam artist, embezzler, and forger, earned the title of “the Internet’s first serial killer” for luring victims through chat rooms. But another dark deed secured his place on this list: stealing one of his victim’s four-month-old daughter.
In 1985, Robinson met Lisa Stasi, who was staying at a women’s shelter in Kansas City. Posing as someone successful, he offered her a job, a home, and a better life. Instead, he murdered Staci and kidnapped her daughter. Stasi’s body was never found, but her child was eventually given to Robinson’s brother and sister-in-law, who, unaware of the kidnapping, raised her as their own.
“The Screaming Boy”: Chris Busch
This entry is unique because the trophy in question came from a serial killer suspect, and its significance remains debated.
The Oakland County Child Killer, who murdered at least four children in 1970s Michigan, was never definitively identified. However, Chris Busch, a suspect in the case, stood out due to a possible trophy. Busch allegedly committed suicide, and taped to the wall above his body was a hand-drawn picture of a young boy screaming in pain, resembling one of the victims, Mark Stebbins. The meaning of this drawing remains chillingly ambiguous.
Bathtubs of Blood: Elizabeth Báthory
Countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed, a Hungarian noblewoman, is infamous for her alleged cruel acts. Stories of her torture and cannibalism have grown over the years, leading some to believe she inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Báthory is said to have tortured and killed hundreds of young women, with the question remaining: did she keep containers of their blood for drinking and bathing?
Historians debate these claims, suggesting they might be propaganda. However, Báthory’s doctors once prescribed the rubbing on and drinking of healthy, young blood to treat her seizures. Coupled with her targeting of young, virgin women and her extreme sadism, it’s plausible that blood remained a part of her life into adulthood.
37 X’s Mark the Spot: Robert Hansen
Robert Hansen’s method of killing 37 women sounds like a movie plot. After kidnapping and torturing his victims, Hansen would fly them into the Alaskan wilderness, release them, and hunt them for sport. His trophy? A map, hidden behind his headboard, marked with X’s at each body dump site.
The most chilling aspect of the map is its 37 X’s, while only 17 victims have been confirmed. Some of the bodies were found at the marked locations, suggesting that 20 more of Hansen’s victims may still await discovery.
Their Voice: Eddie Leonski
Eddie Leonski might seem an odd inclusion since he never took a physical trophy. However, Leonski committed his murders solely to obtain a trophy: women’s voices.
In 1942, while serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, Leonski strangled three women. He confessed that he was jealous of women’s singing voices and killed to “get at their voices” himself, mirroring Ursula the Sea Witch’s desires.
Feet, Socks, Shoes: Jerry Brudos
Jerry Brudos’s fascination with feet went to a dark extreme. He murdered women, cut off their feet, and kept the decaying appendages as models for his shoe collection, which was also partially taken from his victims.
Feet were Brudos’s primary fetish. As a disturbing side note, he also kept victims’ breasts to make plastic molds, which he then used as paperweights.
Just Everything: David Parker Ray
Suspected of over 60 murders, David Parker Ray, known as the Toy-Box Killer, is among history’s most prolific serial killers. The trophies he took from his victims are horrifying in both content and quantity.
The FBI maintains a website displaying Ray’s trophies believed to be from murder victims. These include jewelry and personal items, some of which belonged to young children. The collection offers a grim insight into the inhuman torture his victims endured.
The Dog: John George Haigh
John George Haigh, known as “The Acid Bath Murderer,” dissolved his victims in acid to eliminate evidence. But his most heinous act was stealing someone’s dog.
After being released from prison for fraud, Haigh began eliminating witnesses, dissolving them in acid. After murdering Archibald and Rose Henderson to steal their possessions, he sold off most of their estate but decided to keep and raise their dog. This act added a profound insult to an already immense injury.
These trophies offer a chilling glimpse into the minds of serial killers, revealing the disturbing depths of their depravity and the unimaginable horrors they inflicted on their victims.
What do you think about these killer keepsakes? Leave your comment below!
