TOP 10 DEADLY CANADIAN SERIAL KILLERS

When you hear, or think about the Great White North—Canada, you think of winter, cold, nice people. Two words you don’t hear often put together: serial killers, Canada. When you think of serial killers, you automatically think of the U.S.

We all have a fascination with serial killers. They are quite the topic of conversation in the media and pop culture. We love to talk about them, but we also love to hear about them and laugh at their monikers.

So, what better way to celebrate our fascination than by counting down the top 10 Canadian serial killers?

10. Gilbert Paul Jordan

Gilbert Paul Jordan a.k.a ‘the boozing barber’ is a prolific Canadian serial killer, responsible for the ‘alcohol murders’ of 10 women, even though he was only prosecuted for one murder.

He was the first Canadian recorded, to use alcohol to murder his victims. Jordan was a huge alcoholic, he would stalk Native prostitutes in downtown Vancouver, pressuring them to drink with him, in exchange for money. After his victim, pass out from the alcohol, he would keep pouring the liquor down their throats till they died. He served 6 years for the manslaughter of one of his victims.

Jordan was in and out of prison for 20 years in connection to the alcohol murders and violation of his parole. He died in July 2006.

9. Elizabeth Wettlaufer

Elizabeth Tracy Mae "Bethe" Wettlaufer a.k.a ‘Canadian angel of death’ is a convicted Canadian serial killer.

Elizabeth Tracy Mae "Bethe" Wettlaufer is a Canadian serial killer who was convicted of eight counts of first-degree murder, four counts of attempted murder, and two counts of aggravated assault. She is currently serving a life sentence with no chance for parole for 25 years.

Wettlaufer's crimes were committed while she was employed as a nurse in long-term care facilities in Ontario. Her victims were between the ages of 75 and 96, and they all died from an insulin overdose or being injected with lethal doses of potassium chloride or both.

Wettlaufer's crimes came to light after another nurse found out that she had been injecting patients with insulin against their wishes. The other nurse reported this to the authorities, which led to a lengthy investigation by Ontario's public broadcaster, the CBC. The former nurse was sentenced to eight concurrent life sentences for murdering eight patients with insulin injections at two long-term care facilities in Woodstock, Ontario.

She had been working as a nurse since 1995 and was fired from her job at Caressant Care in Woodstock in March 2014 after she told her employer that she had given an elderly woman an overdose of insulin. She was not criminally charged in the death but was fired by Caressant Care after her employer brought the incident to the attention of Woodstock police. Now, any nursing job she applies for will be reviewed before she is hired — even if it's at a different company in Canada.* * * * *

8. Bruce McArthur

The oldest Canadian serial killer, recorded at 69 years, is Thomas Donald Bruce McArthur, also known as, Bruce McArthur.

Arrested in January 2018, McArthur pled guilty to the murdering of 8 men between, 2010-2017 from Church and Wellesley- A well-known Toronto Gay district. The majority of his victims were of Middle Eastern or South Asian descent.

In 2019, McArthur was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 25 years. The prosecutor had intended for 50 years with no chance of parole but was cut down in half by the judge, regarding his age.

He will not be eligible for parole until he's 91.

He was also credited for sparing family and friends of the victims a lengthy trial by pleading guilty.

7. Karla Homolka

It is rare to see 2 women on a top 10 list for serial killers, but this list won’t be completed without the famous Karla Homolka, the ‘barbie’ of the ‘Ken and Barbie’ Killers.

She was the wife and accomplice of Paul Bernardo. They met when she was only 17, and he was 23 years old. Their connection was instant, she submitted to him and his sexual needs. Because she wasn’t a virgin when they had met, Homolka helped him rape her younger sister, Tammy Homolka, which resulted in her death. She would frequently film the rapes and help Bernardo in luring young girls for him to capture and raped which she joined in, videotaping and raping them.

A forensic psychiatrist hired by Bernardo's defense team had given an alternative theory to explain Homolka's psychological behavior, "She appears to be a classic example of hybristophilia, an individual who is sexually aroused by a partner's violent sexual behavior.

She was sentenced to 12 years in prison for testifying against Bernardo. She was Unconditionally released on July 4, 2005. She currently lives in Salaberry-de-Valleyfield Qu, Canada.

6. Allen Legere

Canadian serial killer, rapist, and arsonist, also known as ‘the monster of the Miramichi was serving a life sentence for the mother of a shopkeeper when he escaped.

In the 7 months, Legere was free, he terrorized the town of Miramichi in New Brunswick, earning him the moniker, ‘the monster of the Miramichi. In 7 months, he had 4 more mothers, arsons, and rapes. A reward of $50,000 was collected in the aid of his capture. He was one of the first Canadians, to be convicted on DNA evidence.

Legere is currently held in Canada’s maximum-security special holding unit (the SHU). He was recently denied parole and has no foreseeable mandatory release date.

The police finally arrested Johnson in July 1977, and in February 1978, he was found not guilty because of insanity. He was placed in a maximum-security mental hospital where he currently still is.

5. Paul Bernardo

The ‘Ken’ of ‘The Ken and Barbie Killers’ is Paul Bernardo a.k.a Paul Jason Teele. A Canadian serial killer and serial rapist. Born and raised in Scarborough ON.

He’s known for the high-profile murder and rapes committed by his wife, Karla Homolka

He’s known for initially committing a series of rapes in the suburban Toronto area, Scarborough ON between 1987-1990 He was dubbed the ‘Scarborough Rapist’. The eventually commits 3 murders with his then-wife, Karla Homolka. He claims that all murders were done by Homolka. One of their victims, was Tammy Homolka, Karla’s 15-year-old sister who Homolka had gifted to Bernardo as a Christmas gift because she was a virgin. They filmed the rape and accidentally murdered her.

After his capture, Paul was sentenced to life imprisonment. Due to his result of 35/40 on the psychopathy checklist, he was later declared a psychopath and a ‘dangerous offender’ making it very unlikely for him to ever get released from prison.

4. Christian Herbert MAGEE

Christian Magee a.k.a ‘the mad slasher’ for this method of murder which involved him stabbing/slashing their throats.

The 58-year-old was found not guilty in the connection to the rape and murder of 3 women. He got the insanity plea and was being held at a maximum-security mental hospital. He was recently granted his appeal and transferred to a medium-security mental hospital.

3. Russell Johnson

Also known as the bedroom killer or the balcony rapist (not a very creative name...) he was considered a good-looking man, with a great physique. Reports state that he was so strong he once climbed a 15- story building, with his bare hands. He was a body builder and auto worker. His murders also took place in London ON

Johnson has an obsessive-compulsive order that made him wash his hand up to 15 times a day and this was transferred to his victims. He would compulsively clean up the victims following the murders. His first 3 victims were declared dead of natural causes because of how tidy the crime scene was, and he had placed them like they were sleeping afterward.

Johnson would sometimes clean up the victims’ houses, in one instance, he washed the dishes in the sink, and in another, he dressed the bed after.

The killer changed his methods and patterns, each death was violent, and the victims had suffered sexual assaults before and sometimes after the death.

2. Clifford Olsen

Canada’s boogeyman, Clifford Olsen, a.k.a ‘the beast of British Colombia’. Clifford Olson was a Canadian serial killer and sex offender who committed the murders of eleven children and young women between December 1975 and July 1980. Olsen's crimes were a major factor in the introduction of Canada's death penalty in 1976. He terrorized BC between 1995-2001

He was arrested in August 1981and was sentenced to life after he pled guilty to the charges.

Olsen is also believed to be responsible for two more murders that occurred after he was sentenced to life imprisonment, but these have never been proven. He manipulated the Vancouver justice system, to give him $10,000 for the locations of each body he could give them. They finally put a stop to this deal after he tried to ask for $100,000 in exchange for 20 bodies.

Clifford Olsen died in September 2011 at age 71 after terminal cancer.

1. Robert Pickton

This list won’t be complete without Robert Pickton, a.k.a ‘willy’ or ‘the pig farmer killer’ (because he was a pig farmer, and a killer…) Canadian serial killer, serial rapist, and projected cannibal.

He was arrested in February 2002 on 2 charges of murder by December 2007, after an additional charge for the death of 20 more women was added, he was given the longest sentence available in Canada, 25 with no parole.

Evidence against Pickton included body parts, multiple bones found in pigsties, and several DNA samples found throughout the property.

Pickton is assumed to be alive and in 2018, it was revealed Pickton was transferred to the Port Cartier Institution in Quebec, although Corrections Canada has neither agreed nor denied this.