This State Ranked #2 in Serial Killer Victims – Now They Lead in Solving Cases

The Dark Side of the Lone Star State

Texas’s serial killer activity is pretty grim, second only to California’s 1777 victims. About 50 confirmed killers have called the state home. Here are some interesting facts about this side of the Lone Star state.

The Peak Years

Texas faced its darkest period from 1970 to 1990, when serial killers claimed 800 lives.

Poor communication between police departments made catching these criminals difficult, while new highways gave them easy escape routes.

In the bustling Houston city, killers could easily hide among the crowds of newcomers. One such murderer was Dean Corll, who killed at least 28 young men (1970 and 1973).

Texas Cities with the Most Serial Killings

Three cities stood out as danger zones: Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio.

The Houston ship channel area was particularly dangerous between 1971 and 1983, when killers like Dean Corll and Tommy Lynn Sells terrorized the community.

These large areas fell under different police departments, which slowed down investigations, as killers slipped through the cracks.

3 Deadly Highways

The FBI found that three Texas highways—I-10, I-35, and I-45—were among America’s deadliest for serial killings.

These roads let killers move quickly between cities and escape easily.

The scariest stretch was the ‘Texas Killing Fields,’ a 50-mile area along I-45 between Houston and Galveston.

Here, over 30 young women and girls were killed between 1971 and 2006. About 72% of Texas serial killers used these highways for their crimes.

The Economy Was a Surprising Factor

The changing Texas economy affected crime rates in unexpected ways.

When Houston’s population jumped from 2 to 3 million between 1970 and 1980, it became easier for criminals to blend in. Then, when the oil industry crashed in the mid-1980s, many people lost their jobs and homes.

This left them vulnerable to predators. Studies showed that areas with big economic changes saw 38% more serial killer activity than stable areas.

The Serial Killer Task Force

Texas’s huge size caused major problems for police work.

With 254 counties working separately until the mid-1990s, it was hard to catch killers who crossed county lines.

Henry Lee Lucas took advantage of this, claiming he killed up to 600 people.

Things improved when the Texas Rangers created the Serial Killer Task Force in 1991. A new computer system called ViCAP helped police spot patterns in crimes across different areas in 1995.

Famous Cases

Texas serial killers often made national news.

Stories about Dean Corll’s 28 victims and Kenneth McDuff, who killed again after being released from prison, captivated the public.

When Texas Monthly wrote about Lucas in 1983, it sold a record 114,000 copies.

This publicity, while selling magazines, led to copycat killings. By 1997, Texas news outlets agreed to limit how much detail they shared about these crimes.

New Tools Against Crime

Since the late 1990s, DNA testing has helped catch more killers in Texas. The state’s DNA database, started in 1995, has solved over 40 old murder cases.

One success was catching Anthony Shore, the ‘Tourniquet Killer,’ in 2000.

Today, DNA results come back in just 24 hours instead of taking months. Texas now has one of the best crime labs in America, with over 940,000 DNA profiles.

Serial Killers Crossed Borders

Seven known killers worked in both countries, making it harder to catch them because of the different legal systems that persisted back then.

The area between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso saw 28 victims from 1987 to 2003.

A special border task force solved 13 tough cases, including catching Juan David Ortiz, a Border Patrol agent who killed four women.

Texas is Better Than Ever at Catching Serial Killers

Texas has made great progress in fighting serial killers. Better cameras, faster DNA tests, and police teamwork have helped reduce the danger.

Today, only 2-3 serial killers are thought to be active in Texas, down from 12-15 in 1985.

Police now solve 83% of suspected serial killings, up from 46% in 1980. Other states are copying Texas’s methods to catch killers faster.