The second season of the hit Netflix drama Mindhunter finally premiered, and let’s be honest, viewers probably binged the entire thing in a day. This season takes on new twists and mainly follows one case, the Atlanta child murders, the entire time. However, we still get our fair share of interviews with some pretty well-known serial killers. And as expected of the popular streaming series focused on serial killers and the detectives who find them, things got nightmarish almost immediately.
We know you’re morbidly curious about these real-life monsters and their eventual captures, so we made a list of all of the serial killers featured in this season. Not just that, but we added their statistics, arrest, and sentences. Prepare yourself, it gets pretty disturbing.
Dennis Rader (BTK)
If you haven’t figured it out by now, the ADT serviceman you see at the beginning of every episode is definitely the BTK Strangler. In case you didn’t know, the horrible acronym stands for “Bind, Torture, Kill.”
From 1974 to 1991, BTK murdered ten people in Kansas but he wasn’t apprehended until 2005. His victims were surprisingly random, including: 2 children and 8 adults aged 21 to 62. He was convicted of 10 first-degree murders and sentenced to consecutive life sentences amounting to 175 years. It’s safe to say he’ll be off the streets for, well, ever. We guess that also means he’ll never be apprehended in Mindhunter.
David Berkowitz (Son of Sam)
This is the serial killer who, in Mindhunter, is intensely interviewed by Holden and Bill until he finally admits that the demons (and the talking dog) were all a lie. Berkowitz confessed to killing 6 people and wounded 7, mainly using a .44 caliber revolver.
His nickname comes from his neighbor, Sam, and his dog that apparently told him to kill people. All of his victims were young women, and their deaths occurred between 1976 and 1977. Berkowitz was arrested and sentenced to 25 years in prison for each murder in 1990, and is still in prison today.
William “Junior” Pierce
Jim and Holden interview this killer, and you’ll probably remember him as the one that Jim bribes with candy. Pierce got his criminal start in burglary, but was released on parole after serving time.
Shortly after, Pierce killed his first victim in 1970 before going on to kill eight more within the next year. Unlike the other serial killers’ motives and preferences, Junior’s victims were pretty random in terms of age, occupation, and even gender. Pierce is still serving time in Georgia after being sentenced to life in prison in 1973.
William Hance
You’ll definitely remember this serial killer that Jim and Holden meet in prison because of the simple fact that he’s the only African-American that they interview on Mindhunter. Hance was convicted in 1978 for the murder of a woman in Georgia, and was later said to have been involved with two other murders. All of his victims were women.
It was thought that he was actually behind a fourth killing, but never tried for it. Hance was given the death penalty in 1994, as it was legal to do so in Georgia.
Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr.
Wendy and Gregg interview this one, and you’ll likely remember Elmer as the guy who Wendy tries to coerce with her story of a lesbian lover. Henley wasn’t even the murderer of interest, but you’ll remember that he helped someone arguably worse - Dean Corll (“The Candy Man”) - lure teenage boys in for him to rape and kill.
These killings happened from 1972 to 1973, and it’s said that Corll murdered 28 boys. Henley, however, was only convicted as an accomplice for six of these confirmed killings. He received a life sentence for each victim in 1974, and has his next parole review is set for 2025.
Charles Manson
We probably don’t need to tell you much about this particular serial killer. Bill and Holden interview this infamous man, and you’ll remember him as being pretty off his rocker, to say the least. Manson, unlike the others in this list, is a unique case because he didn’t actually kill anyone.
There were 9 murders committed by the Manson Family, but Manson didn’t participate in any of them. However, it was confirmed that he was the mastermind behind these high-profile killings. As punishment, Manson received a life sentence for first-degree murder since the death penalty was revoked in 1972. He served time until he died in prison in 2017.
Tex Watson
Watson was one of the many members of Charles Manson’s family. Unlike the family’s demented patriarch, Tex had an active role in carrying out the murders that terrified the country in 1969. Most infamously, he was the one who killed Sharon Tate and her unborn baby. He also participated in the LaBianca murders that took place after Tate’s untimely death.
He was convicted in 1971 for 7 counts of first-degree murder but, like Manson, escaped execution because of the death penalty’s repeal in California. Unsurprisingly, Watson is still in jail in San Diego. He has been denied parole 17 times, most recently in 2016.
Paul Bateson
Wendy and Gregg interview this guy, but he doesn’t exactly give them any useful information. In real life, Bateson was convicted for only one murder, but he’s thought to be the notorious Bag Murderer - a serial killer in New York who’s believed to be responsible for 6 killings that took place between 1975 and 1977.
While Bateson has never been legally convicted as a serial killer, he was still sentenced to serve a minimum of 20 years in prison. In fact, he was released from prison in 2003. To this day, the Bag Murders remain cold cases. Creepy, right?
Wayne Williams
Mindhunter season two primarily focuses on Wayne Williams, as Holden and Bill investigate the Atlanta Child Murders. Between July, 1979 and May, 1981, there were 29 murders in Atlanta. Notably, all of the victims were young black boys.
In 1981, Wayne Williams was arrested and later found guilty for two of these murders. He was given 2 life sentences, which he is still serving today. The police believe he was attached to the other killings, but the remaining 27 deaths have yet to be solved. We’re hoping that Mindhunter sheds some light on this dark chapter of Atlanta’s history, and that these cases are finally solved.
