List of Czech serial killers

A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them.[1][2] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial killing as "a series of two or more murders, committed as separate events, usually, but not always, by one offender acting alone".[3][4]

Identified serial killers

Name Nickname / AKA Years active Proven victims Possible victims Status Notes Ref
Martin Roháč 1568–1571 59 N/A Executed Soldier turned robber and serial killer with the alleged highest number of victims in the Czech lands. [5]
Kateřina of Komárov 1529–1533 14 16 Exiled Noblewoman who was infamous for the rumours of her mistreatment of the serfs on the estates of her spouse, which she tended during his absences. She was brought to trial in 1533 and convicted for the murder of 14 people, though she was allegedly the murderer of 30 people. She was sentenced to imprisonment in a tower in Prague Castle. [6]
Jaroslav and Dana Stodolovi 2001–2002 8 2 Life imprisonment Pair of Czech-Slovak serial killers who robbed and murdered several retirees. Five people survived their attacks. In total, they were convicted of committing 17 serious crimes and both were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Petr Zelenka Heparin killer 2006 7 14 Life imprisonment Male nurse in Havlíčkův Brod who murdered seven patients by lethal injection. [7]
Václav Mrázek Death 1951–1956 7 Several Executed Convicted of killing at least seven people. While primarily sexually-motivated, he also robbed his victims, and at trial, he was convicted of 127 total crimes. [8]
František Novotný 1888–1898 7 0 Executed Bought a farm from the widow of serial killer Josef Englich and moved in with his wife. He gradually poisoned six children who were born to them on the farm. Unexplained deaths eventually led to the divorce and Novotný remarried. He also poisoned the son from this marriage. The motive was his general hatred of children. [9]
Anton Schimak Moravian Babinský 1887 6 0 Executed A robber murderer who, after his release from Mírov Prison murdered and robbed six people and shot a Catholic priest in just a few days. [10]
Karel Kopáč
Ludvík Černý
Vladimír Kuna		 Orlík killers 1991–1993 5 0 Kopáč died in prison
Černý: Life imprisonment
Kuna released in 2013		 Gang of serial killers who, between 1991 and 1993, killed five people (mostly businessmen) for monetary gain. One of the members committed a murder on his own and attempted another, but the victim in the latter attack survived.
Hubert Pilčík 1948–1951 5 10+ Executed Acted as a conduit through the Iron Curtain who killed and robbed several people he was supposed to smuggle across the border. [11]
Ivan Roubal 1991–1994 5 3 Died in prison Killed for selfish reasons. He was not charged in the three murders because no bodies were found.
Ladislav Hojer 1978–1981 5 3 Executed Sexual murderer who committed murders during his trips around the country, making his capture much more difficult. He committed cannibalism on one of the victims. [12]
Oto Biederman 1993–1996 5 0 Life imprisonment Member of the "Kolín Gang", sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering 5 people. [13]
Josef Englich 1885 5 0 Executed Married on a farm in Komárov, where a widowed woman lived with her daughter, parents and grandparents. According to custom, he was supposed to pay them off and then house them in exchange and take care of them until they died. For financial reasons, he gradually poisoned all members of the household except his wife with arsenic. [14]
Ondrej Gažik
František Gaži
František Daniš		 1990 5 0 Imprisonment Pensioner killers. They killed their victims with objects they brought to the crime scene or found there. They also used punches and stomping on lying victims. The two attacked did not die until several days after the attack. Initially, all three perpetrators received a life sentence, Gaži and Daniš's sentence was reduced to 25 years. [15]
Martin Lecián Moravian horror 1927 4 0 Executed Murdered three policemen and a prison officer during escape attempt. He also attempted to kill seven other policemen.
Jaroslava Fabiánová The Czech Aileen Wuornos 1981–2003 4 0 Life imprisonment
Jan Philopon Dambrovský 1572–1585 4 0 Executed Roman Catholic priest and dean of the Olomouc chapter, responsible for the poisoning of four archbishops.
Svatoslav Štěpánek The Roudnice Monster 1926–1936 3 2+ Executed Killed at least one child and two women around Roudnice nad Labem between 1926 and 1936. Convicted of these crimes and two attempted murders, he was sentenced to death and subsequently executed in 1938.
Jan Janeček Serynek 1870 3 1+ Executed Robbed and murdered several people. Executed in 1871; last person to be publicly executed in Austria-Hungary. [16]
Jaroslav Malý 1986 3 1 Life imprisonment After his release from prison, where he spent 30 months for two crimes of a violent nature, he decided to take revenge on society with one murder for every ten months of his "unjust" sentence and killed three random victims with a shot to the head. He was sentenced to death for his act, which was later commuted to life imprisonment. In prison, he likely helped a fellow inmate commit suicide. [17]
Karel Dvořák 1959–1973 3 0 Executed [18]
Miloslav Sláma 2001 3 0 Life imprisonment Brutally attacked and robbed elderly women. Four victims survived his attacks. [19]
Jiří Straka Spartakiad killer 1985 3 0 Released in 2004
David Virgulák Taxi killer 2014 3 0 Life imprisonment Killed three taxi drivers. [20]
Jaroslav Hejna 2003 3 0 Life imprisonment Murdered three people for selfish reasons. His friend Marek Dohnal helped him remove the bodies of the first two victims. [21]
Michal Semanský 2009–2012 3 0 Life imprisonment Killed during robberies in senior citizens' homes. Two of the victims were his relatives. [22]
Roman Horáček 1990–1991 3 0 Murdered in 2006 Murdered a doctor, his ex-wife and her sister in Litoměřice [23]
Karel Šťovíček 1998–2020 3 0 Life imprisonment Caused the death of a pensioner during a robbery; after release, murdered two women in sexual encounters [24]

Unidentified serial killers

Name Years active Proven victims Possible victims Region where active Notes Ref
1990–1991 Prague murders 1990–1991 3 0 Prague Killed 3 women in 1990 and 1991. Investigator of murders believes that the killer either left the country or died after the last murder. [25]

Suspected serial killers

Name Nickname / AKA Years active Proven victims Possible victims Status Notes Ref
Bohumil Vacík 1994–1995 4 1 Life imprisonment In 1994, he killed a guard in Sokolov. Year later he murdered three members of a Vietnamese family, including a six-year-old child and a pregnant woman. Police also believed he committed another murder which was not proven to him at court due to procedural error.[26]
Marie Fikáčková Sušice Monster 1957–1960 2 10+ Executed Nurse convicted for the killing of two newborn babies in Sušice in 1960. She claimed to have killed at least ten newborns between 1957 and 1960, and was executed by hanging in 1961.

See also

References

  1. ^ Ronald M. Holmes; Stephen T. Holmes (1998). Contemporary Perspectives on Serial Murder. SAGE Publications. p. 1. ISBN 0-7619-1421-8. Retrieved June 15, 2016. Serial murder is the killing of three or more people over a period of more than 30 days, with a significant cooling-off period between the murders [...] The baseline number of three victims appears to be most common among those who are the academic authorities in the field. The time frame also appears to be an agreed-upon component of the definition.
  2. ^ Burkhalter Chmelir, Sandra (2003). "Serial Killers". In Robert Kastenbaum (ed.). Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying. Vol. 2. New York: Macmillan Reference USA/Thomson/Gale. p. 1. Archived from the original on May 3, 2009.
  3. ^ Burkhalter Chmelir 2003, p. 1.
  4. ^ Morton, RJ (2005). Serial murder multi-disciplinary perspectives for investigators (PDF) (Report). Federal Bureau of Investigation. pp. 4, 9. Archived from the original on June 15, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2011.
  5. ^ "Martin Roháč - Popravy - Hrdelní právo". hrdelnipravo.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  6. ^ Apfel, Viliam. "Ďábel v brokátu: Bestiální zločiny urozené Kateřiny z Komárova". 100+1 zahraniční zajímavost (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  7. ^ ""Heparin killer" gets life in prison". Radio Prague International. 22 February 2008. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  8. ^ "Václav Mrázek". SerialKillers.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  9. ^ Mareš, Jaroslav (29 October 2022). "Dům dvou sériových vrahů: Děsivý příběh vraha Novotného". badatele.net (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Vrah Schimak: Zabil tolik lidí, že už je nikdo nespočítá. Udala ho hostinská, když se probouzel". securitymagazin.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Oběti strýčka Huberta. Skutečnost vs. případ majora Zemana". Czech Radio (in Czech). 10 August 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Ladislav Hojer". kriminalistika.eu (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Případ Apollo aneb pět vražd Kolínského gangu" (in Czech). Czech Radio. 4 July 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Dva vrazi a 12 mrtvých: Tohle je opravdový dům hrůzy!". Ahaonline.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  15. ^ Mayer, Vladimír (13 September 2007). "Krimiseriál: Vraždy pro pár korun!". Chrudimský deník (in Czech). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  16. ^ "Jan Janeček". SerialKillers.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  17. ^ "Nejkrutější vrah v Česku: Nedá se nic dělat, děvenko, řekl a střelil matku novorozence do hlavy". Blesk.cz (in Czech). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  18. ^ "Karel Dvořák". SerialKillers.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  19. ^ Kačánová, Jitka. "Vrah důchodkyň Miloslav Sláma stráví zbytek života ve vězení". nasregion.cz. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  20. ^ "Nejvyšší soud potvrdil vrahovi tří taxikářů doživotní trest" [The Supreme Court upheld the life sentence for the murderer of three taxi drivers]. Novinky.cz (in Czech). January 4, 2018. Archived from the original on June 29, 2024.
  21. ^ "Soud zpřísnil vrahovi trest na doživotí". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 22 February 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  22. ^ Mikuláš Klang (January 15, 2013). "Je to dobrý člověk, hájil právník vraha tří lidí. Soud potvrdil doživotí" [He is a good person, the lawyer defended the killer of three people. The court confirmed the sentence]. iDnes (in Czech). Archived from the original on June 27, 2024.
  23. ^ Elmira Talířová (April 8, 2022). "Vraha našli mrtvého v římovské přehradě. Několik let starý případ policie stále neuzavřela" [The murderer was found dead in the Římov Reservoir. The police still haven't closed the case, which is several years old]. Budějcká Drbna (in Czech). Archived from the original on June 27, 2024.
  24. ^ Petr Roubíček (April 12, 2021). "Za dvojnásobnou vraždu doživotí, potvrdil Krajský soud v Hradci Králové" [Life imprisonment for double murder, confirmed by the Regional Court in Hradec Králové]. Hradecká drbna (in Czech). Archived from the original on June 27, 2024.
  25. ^ "Pražský kriminalistický pomníček. Brutální vraždy tří mladých žen z let 1990 a 1991 a vyšinutý fetišista". prahain.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Bohumil Vacík". kriminalistika.eu. Retrieved 27 September 2023.