Famous Criminals - List of Famous Criminals

Criminals are the individuals who have committed a crime. Crimes refer to any unlawful activity that is punishable by a state. The term “criminal” is not a strictly defined one as different states have different laws regarding crimes and unlawful activities. A crime generally can be said to be an activity that causes harm to an individual, the community or the state. Criminals may commit crimes as a means of earning their livelihood, out of jealousy, greed or malice, for recreational purposes, out of boredom, or for a plethora of other reasons. Crimes may be classified as personal crimes, property crimes, inchoate crimes and statutory crimes. Offences that cause harm to a person such as assault, murder, sexual offences, etc. come under personal crimes while robbery, burglary, arson and forgery are categorized as property crimes. Often high profile criminals are given wide coverage in mass media which accords to them a sort of celebrity status. So fascinated are people with the tales of murderers that Jack the Ripper till date remains a hot topic of discussion. Serial killer Ted Bundy is so notorious that many books and films were based on his life. Jim Jones of the infamous People’s Temple incident continues to intrigue psychologists till date. Read on to learn lurid details about the notorious criminals from all over the world.

The Most Famous Criminals

NameBirthdayNationalityBio
Edmund KemperDecember 18, 1948AmericanEdmund Kemper is a convicted serial killer from America who murdered ten people
Irma GreseOctober 7, 1923GermanIrma Grese was a notorious German Nazi concentration camp guard during the Second World War
Ayman al-ZawahiriJune 19, 1951EgyptianAyman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is the current leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda
Carlos LehderSeptember 7, 1949ColombianCarlos Lehder is a former Colombian drug lord who is currently imprisoned in United States
Mirtha JungCuban, AmericanMirtha Jung is the ex-wife of former drug smuggler George Jung
Karla HomolkaMay 4, 1970CanadianKarla Homolka is one of Canada’s most infamous female serial killers
Benjamin RuggieroApril 19, 1926AmericanBenjamin Ruggiero was a mobster or ‘soldato’ hailing from the Bonnano crime family
Gary RidgwayFebruary 18, 1949AmericanGary Leon Ridgway is a dreaded American serial killer
Julianna FarraitPuerto RicanJulianna Farrait, also known as Julie Farrait, is the wife of notorious drug dealer Frank Lucas
Danny GreeneNovember 14, 1933AmericanDanny Greene was an infamous Irish American gangster who rose to dominate the criminal underbelly of the city of Cleveland during the 1970s
Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman al-Zawahiri

Ayman Mohammed Rabie al-Zawahiri is the current leader of terrorist group al-Qaeda

EgyptianJune 19, 19511,956 views

Irma Grese

Irma Grese was a notorious German Nazi concentration camp guard during the Second World War

GermanOctober 7, 19232,728 views

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is an Islamist militant, who was named as 'the principal architect of the 9/11 attacks'

PakistaniMarch 1, 1964190 views

Frank Costello

Frank Costello was an Italian-American gangster and crime boss

AmericanJanuary 26, 18911,179 views

Meyer Lansky

Meyer Lansky was one of America’s most powerful gangsters of the 19th century

PolishJuly 4, 1902200 views

Bugsy Siegel

Benjamin Siegel, or Bugsy, was an infamous American gangster

AmericanFebruary 28, 1906230 views

Andrei Chikatilo

Andrei Chikatilo was a soviet serial killer, who killed a total of 56 people in Soviet Russia during the 70s and 80s

RussianOctober 16, 1936325 views

Harold Shipman

Harold Shipman was an English medical doctor and a serial killer

BritishJanuary 14, 1946220 views

Phoolan Devi

Phoolan Devi, also known as "Bandit queen", was an Indian bandit, who later became a Member of Parliament.

IndianAugust 10, 1963233 views

Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an Austrian Nazi Party leader during World War II

AustrianOctober 4, 1903632 views