They walk among us.
Sometimes in plain sight.
History is full of people who seem to be wired all wrong. Those individuals who commit unspeakable acts of violence. It seems they are driven by dark impulses most of us can’t begin to understand.
We know the infamous names: Jack the Ripper, The Boston Strangler, H.H. Holmes, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, John Wayne Gacy. Chilling names. Household names. But here’s one you may not have heard: The Boston Belfry Murderer.
It started in December of 1873 in the quiet suburb of Dorchester, just outside Boston. A young girl, Bridget Landregan, was found beaten and strangled to death. Witnesses described a man in black clothing and a flowing cape who appeared to attempt to sexually assault her lifeless body before fleeing.
Then came Mary Sullivan, murdered in early 1874. She was clubbed to death by a man who matched the same eerie description. A third victim, Mary Tynan, was attacked in her bed in 1875. She held on in a fragile state for nearly a year. But then she died from her injuries, never able to name her attacker.
The city was on edge. Doors were locked, children kept close, rumors flying.
And then came the breaking point.
In the summer of 1876, five-year-old Mabel Young went missing. She was last seen with Thomas Piper, the trusted sexton at the Warren Avenue Baptist Church. He was a man known for his friendliness, his devotion to the church, and, yes, his signature flowing black cape. Hours later, Mabel’s body was discovered in the church’s belfry, her skull crushed with a wooden club.
The community was stunned. The killer had been among them all along. Piper was arrested and eventually confessed to four murders. He became known as “The Boston Belfry Murderer.” He was convicted and hanged later that same year, in 1876.
It’s horrifying to think how often these stories end with the same twist: a trusted face hiding a monstrous reality.
But here’s the question that always lingers—why?
What turns a person into a killer of this kind?
Researchers have spent decades trying to understand the roots of serial murder. There’s no single answer. Often, it’s a collision of early childhood trauma, psychological disorders, brain abnormalities, and a deep-seated need for power, control, or release from inner torment. Some seek twisted pleasure. Others want to feel something—anything at all.
What we know is this: serial killers are not born overnight. They are shaped over time—by what they’ve endured, what they’ve lost, and what they’ve learned to hide.
Understanding them doesn’t excuse their actions. But it might be the only way to prevent the rise of the next name we don’t yet know.
Of course. Not everyone who is abused, rejected, or mentally ill becomes a serial killer. It’s the combination of these risk factors, along with a lack of positive intervention, that can steer someone down that path. Sadly.
But here is a thing. The FBI estimates that there are fewer than 50 actively operating serial killers in the U.S. at any given time.
Independent experts like Thomas Hargrove (founder of the Murder Accountability Project) suggest that because many cases aren’t linked by DNA, the true number could be significantly higher. Like way higher.
They say there are nearly 50 actively at large. But some sources estimate up to 2,000 total serial killers currently uncaptured in U.S. history.
And that is a little bit scary, no matter what the number is.
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“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
— Ayn Rand
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“Every man is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
— Mark Twain
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“Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.”
— Stephen King
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“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”
— Hannah Arendt
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