THE OLDEST SERIAL KILLER STORY EVER PUBLISHED

Long before the phrase true crime existed—before podcasts, paperbacks, or even newspapers—people gathered around printed pages to read about terror. The belief that serial killer stories are a modern fascination is comforting, but it’s wrong. Humanity has been documenting violent patterns for centuries. The oldest known published serial killer story may date back more than 430 years, to a thin, cheaply printed pamphlet that spread fear across Renaissance Europe.

Its subject was a German farmer named Peter Stumpp—and his story reads like the first blueprint of modern serial-killer mythology.

In 1589, Europe had no clinical language for repeated murder. There were no behavioral experts, no profilers, no headlines screaming for justice. Violence was instead filtered through religion, superstition, and fear of the supernatural. When inexplicable deaths occurred—especially of women and children—people searched for monsters. And they found one...

Peter Stumpp lived in the rural town of Bedburg, within what is now Germany. When livestock were found mutilated and bodies appeared in fields, rumors spread that a werewolf stalked the countryside. This was not folklore in the abstract—this was fear lived daily by villagers who locked doors at sunset and whispered prayers at night.

In 1590, a small English pamphlet appeared in London with a long, breathless title:

A True Discourse Declaring the Damnable Life and Death of One Peter Stumpp, a Most Wicked Sorcerer, Who in the Likeness of a Wolf Committed Many Murders…

This publication is widely considered the oldest known printed serial killer story, and it contains several elements that would define the genre for centuries. The pamphlet described Stumpp as a man who confessed—under torture—to killing multiple victims over many years. According to the account, his victims included women and children. The text paints him not merely as a murderer, but as something inhuman: a werewolf granted power by the devil himself.

Whether Stumpp was delusional, coerced, mentally ill, or simply the victim of hysteria remains unknowable. What matters is that the pamphlet framed his actions as a pattern, not a single crime. It described escalation, repetition, secrecy, and a hidden double life—core traits we now associate with serial killers.

This was not just punishment propaganda or moral warning. It was an early attempt to understand a kind of offender that society had not yet named.

The obsession with motive—was he possessed, sinful, cursed?—mirrors today’s fascination with psychology. The pamphlet offered readers a lens through which to process fear, using narrative rather than myth alone. In many ways, this was the birth of true crime storytelling...

JOSE JURADO MONTILLA: THE TIK TOK KILLER

José Jurado Montilla is a Spanish serial killer who has been accused of killing at least six people.

Montilla, who also went by "El Titi” or “Dinamita," was first convicted of killing four people in the Málaga region of Spain in the mid-1980s and was sentenced to 123 years in prison. However, he was released after just 28 years because of a new ruling that changed his sentence, per A&E.

By 2023, Montilla had grown a presence on TikTok for his travel adventure videos in which he also maintained his innocence. In the summer of that year, he also befriended 42-year-old Esther Estepa, who was struggling to get back onto her feet after an allegedly abusive relationship.

In August 2023, Estepa's family reported her missing after she hadn't gotten in contact with her mother — whom she previously spoke to every day. The case went cold for months before Estepa's bones were found off the side of a highway in 2024. By that time, Montilla had already been arrested for the killing of another 21-year-old man at his farm in Málaga.

As of February 2026, Montilla is awaiting trial for the 2022 and 2023 murders. His past crimes and the disappearance of Estepa were retold in the Netflix documentary The TikTok Killer, which hit the streamer on March 6.

Montilla was born in 1961 and spent much of his life in the Málaga region of Spain. While there has not been much information released about his early life, Montilla became known for his murder spree in the 1980s.

Montilla's first known murder occurred in November 1985 when he shot and killed 57-year-old Francisco González inside his farmhouse. At the time, Montilla confessed to killing González but maintained that he did so in self defense. He alleged that he was seeking shelter in González's farmhouse when González came out with a shotgun, so he took it from him and shot him. González's family have denied that account.

Before he was arrested, Montilla committed three more murders. In March 1987, Montilla killed Antonio Paniagua, who was the chauffeur to a famous Spanish flamenco singer. Two months later in May 1987, he fatally stabbed a pair of tourists, one from Germany and the other from the United Kingdom.

Montilla was arrested for the four murders and was found guilty in all four cases. He was sentenced to 123 years in prison. However, in 2013, Montilla was released after serving 28 years. He was set free after the Spanish Parot Doctrine was successfully appealed by the European Court of Human Rights. The doctrine had allowed prisoners to be held longer than the then-maximum sentence of 30 years of the European Convention of Human Rights.

In August 2022, prosecutors allege that Montilla committed his fifth known murder. David, a 21-year-old college student was fatally shot on his family farm in Málaga, according to SUR. Prior to David's death, he told his father that he had met up with "an older man who looked very shady" and who wanted to hunt foxes, local newspaper 20minutos reported, per A&E.

One year later, Estepa went missing while she was traveling across the Spanish coast. She met Montilla while hiking, and they allegedly embarked upon a few days of walking together before reaching the town of Gandía in late August 2023.

During their trip, Estepa allegedly injured her leg, so she sought help at a hospital and reportedly asked to stay out of fear of Montilla, as her family claimed in the Netflix doc.

On Aug. 23, 2023, Estepa's mom received her last messages from her daughter, but she insisted that it wasn't actually her daughter messaging her. Estepa's family learned about her travels with Montilla and quickly became suspicious — especially after he continued reaching out to them to ask about the investigation. Police began looking into Montilla's relationship with Estepa shortly afterwards.

Upon getting released from prison in 2013, Montilla reemerged into the public eye by creating a TikTok account, where he went by the username "Dinamita Montilla." He used his social media videos to vehemently proclaim his innocence, while walking across Spain.

After Montilla learned of Estepa's disappearance, he informed his TikTok followers and recorded himself re-walking the same hikes and roads they did together before she went missing. He frequently begged his followers to look for Estepa and even claimed that a woman came forward and said she saw Estepa.

Investigators later used the videos to track his whereabouts in connection with both David's death and Estepa's disappearance.  Montilla was arrested in May 2024 after being connected to David's death. He is currently in prison where he is awaiting trial in connection with the killings of both David and Estepa. He has denied being involved in either of the cases.

He did not participate in the Netflix documentary The TikTok Killer, which aired on March 6. Several of Estepa's family members and friends spoke about the traumatizing experience and wanting Montilla to pay for his alleged crimes...

INSIDE 25 CROMWELL STREET: THE CHILLING LEGACY OF ROSE AND FRED WEST

There are some stories that linger in the collective memory long after the headlines fade—stories so disturbing, so unfathomable, that they become a dark chapter in a nation’s history. The case of Rose and Fred West is one of them. For many in England and beyond, the mere mention of “25 Cromwell Street” evokes a shiver. This is the story of a seemingly ordinary couple whose quiet exterior hid horrors that would shock the world.

To passersby in Gloucester, the Wests’ home appeared unremarkable—a cluttered but otherwise typical townhouse at 25 Cromwell Street. Fred West worked as a builder. Rose cared for the children, sometimes babysitting for neighbors and chatting casually from the doorstep. They seemed ordinary, if a bit unconventional.

But inside that house, behind locked doors and reinforced walls, the couple committed a series of murders stretching from the early 1970s into the 1980s. Their victims were young women—some lodgers, some acquaintances, others tragically closer to the family. Many disappeared without a trace, their names eventually becoming central to one of the most disturbing investigations in British criminal history.

Most stories of serial killers involve a single perpetrator. But Fred and Rose West were a rare and deeply unsettling exception—a couple whose crimes thrived on their shared cruelty and mutual reinforcement.

Rose, who began a relationship with Fred as a teenager, quickly showed signs of being far more than a passive bystander. Neighbors would later recall her temper, her volatility, and her ability to shift from warm to chilling in an instant. Fred, already troubled long before they met, found in Rose not a grounding force, but a partner equally capable of violence.

Together, they created a closed world in which control and fear ruled. Outsiders rarely sensed the danger—Rose often presented herself as approachable, even nurturing. But beneath that façade lay a ruthlessness that investigators later described as on par with Fred’s.

The Wests’ crimes might have remained hidden for decades had it not been for a set of circumstances that finally forced authorities to look deeper. Concerns about the welfare of the children in the household prompted social workers and police to intervene. As investigators dug further, inconsistencies in the couple’s stories emerged.

Then came the pivotal moment: the search of the Cromwell Street property.

What police uncovered in the garden and cellar transformed what began as a welfare inquiry into one of the largest forensic investigations Britain had ever seen. Human remains were gradually unearthed, each discovery confirming what detectives had feared—that the home had been a burial site for victims the Wests targeted, silenced, and concealed.

The true scale of the deaths would take months to fully reveal. Fred West confessed to many of the killings, describing them with a chilling matter-of-factness. He was charged with multiple counts of murder but died by suicide in prison before trial.

Rose West faced her own trial in 1995. The evidence against her was overwhelming—witness testimony, patterns of abuse, and her direct involvement in several murders. She was convicted of ten counts and sentenced to life in prison, where she remains to this day.

After the investigation concluded, 25 Cromwell Street was demolished, an attempt by authorities and the community to erase the physical remnant of the crimes. But the emotional and cultural impact lives on, marked by documentaries, books, and a continuing fascination with how such violence could unfold undetected for so long...

CHARLES MANSON: MYSTERIES AND THEORIES

The exact reasons behind the Tate-LaBianca murders of August 9 and 10, 1969 remain debated. The prosecution, led by Vincent Bugliosi, argued the killings were instigated by Manson's delusional interpretation of the Beatles' song "Helter Skelter" to ignite a race war. This is still a widely accepted theory, but other possibilities have been suggested, such as:

Attempt to frighten music executive Terry Melcher: Some theorize Manson directed his followers to target the Cielo Drive home to send a message to Melcher, who previously lived there and had refused to offer Manson a recording contract.

Retaliation for a botched drug deal: A business partner of victim Jay Sebring suggested the murders might have been connected to a failed drug deal.

Manson's paranoia: A former associate suggested Manson used the killings to maintain control over his followers.

A central aspect of the mystery is how Manson, a charismatic yet dangerous individual with a troubled past, managed to convince his followers to commit heinous crimes in his name. This raises questions about his manipulative skills and the vulnerabilities of the young people he targeted.

Some theories, explored in documentaries like "Chaos: The Manson Murders," suggest Manson may have had connections to government programs related to mind control or brainwashing, such as the CIA's MKUltra project. However, these theories are disputed and lack definitive proof.

While Manson and several followers were convicted for the murders of seven people, including Sharon Tate and the LaBiancas, Manson is believed to be responsible for as many as 35 murders, with many cases remaining untried due to insufficient evidence. Ultimately, the "Manson mystery" stems from the shocking nature of the crimes, the ambiguity surrounding Manson's true motives, and the unsettling questions about how one person could lead others to commit such horrific acts...