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Charles Cullen — The Male Nurse Who May Have Committed 400 Murders
His history of mental illness and numerous suspected murders were ignored.
One of the most dubious distinctions in the criminal world is to be the serial killer with the most number of murders under your belt.
There are a lot of strong contenders to the title — Harold Shipman is a strong contender with a possible count of over 250 murders, there’s the case of the White Widow — who is indirectly related to as many as 400 deaths, albeit as a mastermind and not the actual murderer. These are all “suspected numbers” and so you’d have to bring in the ones who are up there in terms of “convicted” cases — 33 convictions for John Wayne Gacy puts him right up there too.
However, there is a strong case to be made that with around 400 “potential victims” to his name — male nurse Charles Cullen could be the most prolific serial killer in recorded history.
What’s more appalling is that there were obvious signs and red flags that could have had him behind bars, or in a mental health center long before he was able to commit so many crimes. However, the system probably failed many of his victims.
