Ottis Toole: the serial killer who confessed to almost everything. 

Ottis Toole is remembered as one of America’s most disturbing serial killers — a drifter, arsonist, alleged cannibal, and prolific confessor who claimed responsibility for dozens of murders, including some he almost certainly did not commit.

In this episode of The A-Z Of Psychopaths, Simon Ford examines the life and crimes of Ottis Toole, separating what is known from what is claimed. From his chaotic childhood and cognitive impairments to his close association with Henry Lee Lucas, Toole’s case raises an uncomfortable question at the heart of true crime: what happens when investigators want a confession more than the truth?

Using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) as a framework — and with appropriate caveats — this episode explores whether Toole was a psychopath, a deeply damaged man, or a useful monster in a broken criminal justice system. This is not a story about how many people he killed.

It’s a story about why we believed him.

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A trusted family GP.
A reassuring bedside manner.
With a liking for lethal injections.

Harold Shipman is believed to have murdered more than 200 patients, making him the most prolific serial killer in British history. He didn’t stalk strangers or lurk in the shadows — he operated in plain sight, protected by professional status, routine, and trust.

In this episode of The A–Z of Psychopaths, Simon Ford examines how Shipman exploited authority, medical knowledge, and the assumptions of those around him — and why his crimes represent a catastrophic failure not just of one man, but of an entire system.

This is a case that cannot be fully explored in five minutes — and one that deserves a much deeper, longer-form investigation.

🎧 Snack-sized true crime from Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories.

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Richard Ramirez didn’t stalk victims because they were chosen. He stalked them because they were there. 

Armed with no fixed pattern, no consistent victim type, and a worldview steeped in chaos, Ramirez terrorised California in the mid-1980s — breaking into homes at random, switching methods, and leaving behind scenes of extraordinary violence.

In this episode of The A–Z of Psychopaths, Simon Ford examines what made Ramirez so uniquely frightening: his lack of boundaries, his thrill-seeking brutality, and the unsettling truth that chance — not planning — often decided who lived and who died. Because when a killer has no rules, everyone is at risk.

🎧 Snack-sized true crime from Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories.

Acknowledgements
Mike Watkiss, A Conversation with Richard Ramirez – The Night Stalker, 1993 YouTube.
CBS News, Night Stalker Strikes Again, 26 August 1985, YouTube.

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Wherever she went, death followed – but the authorities never had the evidence to convict her.

Marie Besnard was accused of murdering at least a dozen people over three decades, quietly dispatching husbands, relatives, and neighbours with arsenic while maintaining the image of a respectable provincial widow. 

But here’s the twist: after years of trials, scientific disputes, and forensic confusion, Besnard walked free. So was she a calculating serial poisoner — or the victim of flawed science, hysteria, and a justice system struggling to keep up with toxicology?

In this episode of The A–Z Of Psychopaths, Simon Ford explores one of the most unsettling cases in French criminal history: a woman surrounded by corpses, arsenic in the soil, and doubt everywhere else. Because when murder leaves no blood, no struggle, and no witnesses, certainty can be the first casualty.

🎧 Snack-sized true crime from Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories.

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He shot his girlfriend through a bathroom door. Discover why this grey-area case belongs in the A–Z of Psychopaths.

Oscar Pistorius is not a psychopath. He doesn’t fit the classic profile. No predatory patterns. No serial victims. And yet, the combination of fear, jealousy, and fragile self-esteem made him capable of lethal violence. 

In this episode of The A–Z of Psychopaths, we explore why Pistorius represents a crucial grey area — an exception that sharpens the rule — and what his case teaches us about the limits of psychopathy, and the dangers of misjudging human volatility.

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Let's take stock of the catalogue of carnage to date.

We’ve reached the halfway point of The A–Z of Psychopaths — and before plunging headlong into the rest of the alphabet, it’s time to pause, reflect, and ask an uncomfortable question: Who is the worst psycho killer… so far?

In this special mid-series episode, I'll rank the most disturbing figures we’ve covered to date using a deliberately unscientific but brutally honest scoring system — weighing body count, cruelty, manipulation, remorse (or lack of it), cultural impact, and that indefinable “ick” factor.

From high-volume predators to sadists, cult leaders and killers who outsourced the violence, this is a top five nobody wants to top — with one name emerging as the most chilling presence we’ve encountered yet.

And just before we move on… a teaser for the next letter, involving fame, firearms, paranoia, and a conviction that didn’t end where it began. This is snack-sized true crime, with a warning label — and a reminder that some stories deserve a much longer, deeper reckoning.

🎧 Part of The A–Z of Psychopaths, from Psycho Killer: Shocking True Crime Stories.

Acknowledgement
Predator, 20th Century Studios, 1987. Directed by John McTiernan and written by Jim and John Thomas. Production by Joel Silver, Lawrence Gordon, and John Davis. Soundtrack by Alan Silvestri.

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Thanks for your support during a fantastic year!

Hi, it’s Simon here. On behalf of Jacques and me, we want to wish you a very merry Christmas and all the best for 2026!

This year has been huge — three new strands, a growing community of true-crime fans, and more ambitious plans ahead.

Listen in for a festive message and a glimpse of what’s coming in the New Year, including bonus content, Patreon perks, and our back catalogue for binge-worthy listening.

Become a Patreon supporter for more of the authentic, true-crime content you love!

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"The gun went off through the driver's window ... and he shouts, 'Call 999! We've got an armed man!' "

Paul Cullen was a teenager hanging out with a friend when a series of dramatic events catapulted him into the criminal history books. His actions on a cold December night in 1975 helped bring Britain's most wanted fugitive – the elusive and deadly Black Panther – to justice.

Neilson had hijacked a police car and was holding the occupants, PCs Stuart McKenzie and Tony White, at gunpoint. In a last, desperate attempt to escape, they crashed their patrol car outside the fish and chip shop where Paul, who was eighteen at the time, was eating a takeaway supper. 

With thirty years on the force, both in uniform and as a detective, I was keen to find out more about the ordeal of policemen in the car, and the reason why they chose the Junction chippie as their last resort for getting help.

Paul Cullen joined Psycho Killer's Jacques Morrell on location to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Black Panther's capture.



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He built a torture bunker and videotaped acts of depraved cruelty.

Charles Ng is one half of one of America’s most disturbing criminal duos. Alongside Leonard Lake, he participated in a series of kidnappings, tortures, and murders carried out in a remote bunker in the foothills of California.

Their videotapes — cold, clinical, and horrifying — remain among the most chilling pieces of evidence in US criminal history. In this episode, Simon Ford examines Ng’s background, his manipulative personality, and the toxic partnership that allowed Lake’s violent fantasies to become reality.

We also look at Ng’s years-long legal battles, his shifting stories, and the forensic evidence that connected him to the crimes. 

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"There had been families going into the park during the day, dog walkers, you know, it was very well used, and she was there all at the time."

Fifty years ago, two boys were growing up on opposite sides of the English Midlands — unaware that a killer was shaping both their childhoods. 

One lived just yards from the place where Donald Neilson — the Black Panther — held kidnapped heiress Lesley Whittle in terrifying captivity.

The other grew up in the Nottinghamshire coalfield, where Neilson’s violent reign finally came to an end on 11 December 1975.

Those two boys were PC Andy Adams and Jacques Morrell. They later met at police training college in the 1980s, where Andy shared his memories of living in the shadow of Britain’s most wanted armed robber.

In this special episode of Psycho Killer, Andy joins Jacques to discuss the Black Panther, the fear he inspired, and the impact his crimes had on a generation.

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