Over a period of about twenty years Fred and Rose West abducted, tortured, raped and murdered an unknown number of girls, many of whom lay buried in the garden until the police dug them up. What motivated West to commit such terrible crimes? Was he born evil or did his upbringing make him this way? Did he do it for sexual kicks? Or, as some allege, did he supply the sacrificial victims to a black magic coven?

Fred West

The world’s most prolific killer, Shipman is estimated to have killed 275 people, but the actual figure will never be known. The 57-year-old GP was given 15 life sentences to run concurrently for the murders, and four years for forging a will, but hung himself in his cell after he was sentenced. He always denied his crimes. When the police began investigating Dr Harold Shipman in September 1998 they struggled to understand him. How could a GP who was trusted and respected by more than 3,000 patients also be a killer who struck time after time with no obvious motive? The coroner speculated that ‘the only valid possible explanation for it is that he simply enjoyed viewing the process of dying and enjoyed the feeling of control over life and death, literally over life and death …’

Harold Shipman

Made famous for Charlize Theron’s portrayal of her in the film Monster, Aileen Wuornos was executed in 2002 for the murder of seven men. A down-on-her luck lesbian prostitute, she lured her clients to remote wooded areas, and more often than not, shot them at point blank range. Tried and convicted in a Florida court, Aileen received 6 death sentences and spent a total of 12 years on death row…

Aileen Wuornos

Known as the Vampire of Sacramento, Richard Trenton Chase was a deranged monster who slaughtered men, women and children in a bloody rampage that shook the Californian State Capital…

Richard Trenton Chase

In 1958 the real ‘Natural Born Killers’, Charles Starkweather and his teenage girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate, embarked on an 8-day killing spree that left 10 people dead and many more fearing for their lives. The duo was captured in January 1958 and Starkweather was executed on the electric chair little over a year later…

Charles Starkweather

He was one of the infamous serial killers in modern American history. Better known as the Boston Strangler, De Salvo’s reign of terror claimed at least 13 victims. A violent sexual deviant, he confessed to all the murders – yet some doubt his authenticity.

Albert De Salvo

Ted Bundy orchestrated a campaign of terror that stretched across the United States. Between 1974 and 1978 he lured a series of pretty, dark haired women to gruesome deaths. Described as handsome and charming, Ted didn’t fit the bill of a conventional murderer. Until the end, Bundy remained arrogant and defiant, choosing to conduct his own defence in the trial. Bundy was sent to the electric chair in 1989, whilst hundreds of people cheered his death outside the prison…

Ted Bundy

He was known as the ‘Killer Clown’, and buried his young male victims under the crawl space of his suburban home. John Wayne Gacy was a monster in human form – a pillar of the community who viciously snuffed out the lives of more than thirty men. He’d prowl the streets at night, luring hitchhikers and runaways back to his home where he’d torture and kill them. Gacy was found guilty in 1980 and sentenced to death…

John Wayne Gacy

Hearse driving redneck Donald Pee Wee Gaskins may only have stood 5'4" tall, but he would earn himself the nickname of the meanest man in America and become South Carolina's biggest mass murderer when police discovered his boasts of having his own private graveyard were real. Cops would eventually discover the bodies of 13 men women and children, but in prison Gaskins would claim to have killed more than a hundred - raping, torturing and then sinking their bodies in the swamps. And Gaskins would add to his tally in prison, pulling off the extraordinary murder of a death row inmate - blowing him up by remote control. But what created this feared psychopath and sexual sadist? Was it nature or nurture? The men that knew and pursued him, leading experts, and the loving daughter he confessed to examine whether Pee Wee Gaskins was born to kill?

Pee Wee Gaskins

In 1982, when the bodies of 3 women were discovered beneath the surface of Seattle's Green River, no-one realised that it was the beginning of an extraordinary killing spree that would baffle police for 19 years. The 'Green River Killer' would become the most prolific serial killer in US history, claiming the lives of more than four dozen victims, but it would take until 2001 before DNA testing solved the mystery of his identity. To his friends and family, Gary Ridgway was a mild mannered truck painter and a loving husband, but for 19 years he had prowled Seattle's red light areas, picking up young women, strangling them during intercourse, dumping their bodies in the woods, and sometimes returning to have sex with the corpses. Featuring video of his startling confessions - the cops that pursued him, the attorneys who prosecuted and defended him, leading experts, school-friends, and the wife who spent 16 loving years with her dream man, attempt to unravel what had created this monster. Had he been warped by his unusual relationship with mother? Or was the Green River Killer a product of nature - born to kill?

Gary Ridgway: The Green River Killer

When body parts began washing up on the beaches of a peaceful Californian seaside town, police realised someone was hunting, abducting, murdering and dismembering female co-eds. What they didn't realise was; the killer was in their midst - drinking with them at their favourite local bar. Cops considered the 6'9' inch Edmund Kemper a gentle giant, little did they know that as a teenager he'd murdered his grandparents, he'd fooled psychiatrists into releasing him from secure hospital after just 5 years, and while he was socialising with police officers he was living out his bizarre sexual fantasies with the corpses of young co-eds. Edmund Kemper would kill and dismember 6 young college girls before turning on his mother and her best friend. Was his mind was twisted by his upbringing in a broken home and volatile relationship with a domineering mother? Or was the Co-ed Butcher born to kill?

Edmund Kemper: The Co-Ed Killer

By the age of ten, heavy metal fan Richard Ramirez was sleeping in cemeteries. He would go on to spread terror throughout Los Angeles, preying on ordinary citizens as they slept in their homes. The Satan loving, drug fuelled burglar would rape, murder, and mutilate, taking pleasure in making his victims pray to Satan before him. Men, women, children and the elderly all fell victim as the police raced to catch the killer who defied all known theories about serial murder. So, was the Richard Ramirez born to kill? Warped by drugs? Or, was the Night Stalker schooled in murder during his poor childhood in the tough Texan border town of El Paso?

Richard Ramirez: The Nightstalker

When the discovery of human flesh blocking the drains of an address in London led to the arrest of 37 year old civil servant Dennis Nilsen, police were staggered when he calmly told them he had killed at least 15 young men. At the time, Nilsen would go down in history as Britain's most prolific serial killer, and as police interviewed the matter-of-fact Scot, they uncovered the extraordinary story of a man obsessed with death since childhood. The lonely job centre executive would strangle his victims and keep their corpses for company, sitting them in chairs, talking to them and watching television together, before butchering burning or boiling the body-parts. Was Dennis Nilsen obsession with death fused during his childhood? Or, was his instinct to kill hard-wired from birth?

Dennis Nilsen

The Son of Sam would become the most notorious killer in New York's history. Shooting women or couples parked in lover's lanes, the mystery killer spread terror through the streets of the metropolis, leading young women to cut and dye their hair for fear of becoming the killer's next victim. Writing to the police and press, the Son of Sam would claim to relish his 'work' and that he was programmed to kill. A massive manhunt would lead police to David Berkowitz - a lonely young man, adopted at birth, who claimed he was commanded to do the devil's work by a neighbour's barking dog. So was the Son of Sam driven by demons? Wreaking a bitter revenge fuelled by mental illness? Or was he programmed from birth to be a serial murderer?

David Berkowitz: The Son of Sam

A psychological profile of former nurse Beverley Allitt, who is currently serving 13 life sentences for murdering four children and injuring nine others at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire in 1991. Psychologists and criminology experts explore the possible motives for her crimes, examining her behaviour during childhood, when she was known to be an attention seeker. The apparently caring nurse Beverely Allitt had only just joined the staff of Children's Ward 4 of Grantham Hospital when a substantial rise in young patient deaths began occurring. At first, no one could explain why children, some as young as six months, were arriving on the ward with only minor health problems, but leaving only days later dead. A shocked and seemingly uncomprehending public would eventually be informed the culprit was actually the very person who was meant to be caring for the children. During her 59 day stint as a nurse, 23-year-old Beverly Allitt, nicknamed The Angel of Death, attacked thirteen children, killing four. From a very early age, Allitt was known to be an attention seeker. Was her desire to be the centre of attention really the reason why she attacked such innocent children or was something far more psychologically disturbing the cause for this evil?

The Angel of Death - Brverly Allitt

The psychology of Charles Manson, an American cult leader whose followers murdered seven people in their California homes over two nights in August 1969. Detectives, lawyers and psychiatrists analyse what prompted the crimes, and examine how Manson was able to persuade his acolytes to take the lives of innocent people

The Manson Family

The psychology of Herbert William Mullin who murdered 13 people in southern California in the early 1970s but claimed his victims were sacrificed to save the lives of others. The programme explores how investigators brought an end to his crimes and experts discuss what might have driven him to kill. There is also an interview with Mullin himself. Last in the series., Serial Killing Saviour: Born to Kill. To Kill? Series profiling infamous serial killers. Was the heinous serial killer Herbert William Mullin driven by nature or nurture? Featuring a unique interview with the murderer himself.

The Serial Killing Saviour

Wichita, Kansas is in the Midwest, right in the Bible belt of America. This normally peaceful place was rocked to the core in 1974 when the city discovered they had a killer in their midst. A family of four were brutally slain in their home, and this was to prove the start of a vicious killing spree that terrorised the community for 30 years.

Dennis Rader was a church deacon, Scout leader and a local family man. He was also a monster who murdered 10 people in cold blood. Through his own extraordinary testimony we uncover in intimate and chilling detail how this pillar of the community led a double life as a heinous sexual sadist and serial killer.

Rader's childhood seemed completely normal, so what was it that drove him to such depths of depravity? Was Dennis Rader born to kill?

The Bind and Torture Killer

Profile of the 1970s armed robber and kidnapper.

The Black Panther

In California in 1970, a doctor and his young family were executed and dumped in the swimming pool of their hilltop home. The killer believed that he was on a mission from God.

The Killer Prophet

Featuring the killing of walkers in Yosemite National Park

Yosemite Park Slayer

Patrick Mackay is a British serial killer who confessed to murdering eleven people in the mid 1970s and considered by police to be a suspect in at least a dozen other killings over the previous two years.

The Devil's Disciple

Featuring a crime spree in Richmond, Virginia in 1979.

The Butcher Brothers

Profile of American serial killer H Clark.

The Cross-Dressing Cannibal

In the mid-1970s, Donald Nielson aka the Black Panther committed a string of burglaries, armed robberies and murders in north-east England.

Donald Nielson: The Black Panther

Once dubbed 'the most dangerous man in Britain', Patrick Mackay was responsible for a string of bizarre murders during the 1970s. Was Patrick Mackay born to kill?

Patrick Mackay: The Devil's Disciple

In 1970, a California doctor and his young family were executed and dumped in the swimming pool of their hilltop home. The killer believed that he was on a mission from God.

John Linley Frazier: The Killer Prophet

Cary Stayner was arrested following the disappearance of a group of female hikers who went missing in Yosemite National Park in 1999.

Cary Stayner: The Yosemite Park Slayer

In 1979, a violent crime spree rocked the town of Richmond, Virginia. The discovery of a triple murder led police to a local gang of brothers.

The Briley Brothers: Butcher Brothers

When eccentric Hadden Clark was arrested for the murder of a young girl in Maryland, he claimed he was also responsible for other murders. Was Hadden Clark Born to Kill?

Hadden Clark: The Cross-Dressing Cannibal

During 1976 and early 1977, female students at the University of California in Santa Barbara were terrorised by some lookalike murders, so-called because the victims closely resembled one another. Thor Christiansen struck while they were hitchhiking and desecrated their bodies after murdering them.

The Hitchhiker Slayer

Between May 2005 and August 2006, Dale and Jeff Hausner who were later were assisted by Samuel Dieteman, turned drive-by shootings into sport as they kept score as they picked off their victims at random.

The Drive-by Slayers

The show examines the crimes of sadistic couple Paula Bernardo and Karla Homolka who carried out a series of despicable acts against different young women, including Karla's own sister.

The Serial Killing Couple

The show profiles Wesley Shermantine and Loren Herzog. In 1984, tthe friends took part in a drug-fuelled killing spree that terrorised their rural Californian community for around fifteen years.

The Thriller Killers

Following the story of the serial killer, Peter Sutcliffe, who between 1975 and 1981 murdered 13 females and became known as The Yorkshire Ripper. But how did he get away with the crimes for so many years and was it nature or nurture that turned this chilled out hard-working man into a serial killer.

The Yorkshire Ripper

During the summer of 1980, Douglas Clark and Carol Bundy carried out a series of shocking murders in Los Angeles, leaving a trail of blood in their wake

The Sunset Strip Killers

British criminal Robert Napper, who was convicted of two murders, one manslaughter, two rapes and two attempted rapes. Napper is a paranoid schizophrenic who has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and. also believed to be the 'Green Chain Rapist' who carried out at least 70 attacks across south-east London over a four-year period ending in 1994.

Robert Napper

Profiling rapists and serial killers John Duffy and David Mulcahy, who together attacked numerous women at railway stations in the south of England through the mid-1980s, killing three.

John Duffy and David Mulcahy

Chilling documentary series examining brutal serial killers. Despicable duo Gerald and Charlene Gallego joined forces to rape and murder several teenagers.

Gerald and Charlene Gallego

Spine-chilling documentary series examining brutal serial killers. This edition reviews the case of Levi Bellfield who murdered three women, including Milly Dowler.

Levi Bellfield

Grisly documentary series examining brutal serial killers. Tony Costa murdered four women in 1969, before penning a chilling, unpublished novel detailing his crimes.

Tony Costa (Cape Cod Casanova)

Shocking documentary series examining brutal killers. Ruthless Richard Cottingham murdered at least six people and dismembered his victims' bodies.

Richard Cottingham

Chilling documentary series examining serial killers. This edition explores the case of ex-marine Cleophus Prince Jr., who raped and murdered six women in 1990.

Cleophus Prince Jr. (Prince of Darkness)

Grisly documentary series examining serial killers. This edition examines the chilling case of Sean Gillis who stalked, raped and brutally murdered eight women.

Sean Vincent Gillis (Dead End in Baton Rouge)

The horrific case of Timothy Wilson-Spencer, who strangled five people in the 1980s. The case was historic as it was the first case solved with DNA evidence.

Timothy Wilson Spencer (Twisted Tourniquet)

Grisly documentary series examining notorious serial killers. This edition explores the chilling case of killer cousins David Gore and Fred Waterfield.

David Gore and Fred Waterfield

Spine-chilling documentary series examining serial killers. After being convicted of attempted murder and kidnapping, David Carpenter went on to kill five women.

David Carpenter

Grisly documentary series examining serial killers. This edition examines the chilling case of Bobby Joe Long who raped 50 people and murdered nine.

Bobby Joe Long

Peter Moore 'The Man in Black'

Trevor Hardy 'The Beast of Manchester'

Bill Suff 'The Riverside Killer'

Charles Albright 'The Eyeball Killer'

Allan Legere 'The Miramichi Monster'

Robert Reldan 'The Charmer'

Born To Kill is a British true crime television series, made by Twofour Productions. Each episode is an in-depth look at the childhood, and formative years of serial killers., in an attempt to find out whether the individuals were born killers, or created by the environments they found themselves in.

All Episodes of Born to Kill?

Browse all episodes of Born to Kill?

Season 1

Fred West

Season 1 Episode 1 - Aired 10/27/2005

Harold Shipman

Season 1 Episode 2 - Aired 10/20/2005