10 Serial Killers RELEASED from Prison Early
These killers couldn't be contained. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at infamous times when people who took multiple lives were released from prison early or granted parole, even if they’re not currently free to resume public life.
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00:00Je veux pas que le monde pense que je suis quelqu'un de dangereuse,
00:03qu'ils vont faire quelque chose à leurs enfants.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at infamous times
00:09when people who took multiple lives were released from prison early
00:12or granted parole, even if they're not currently free to resume public life.
00:17Do you see yourself as something of a celebrity here?
00:21Of course.
00:23Charles Sobhraj
00:25So our experts will be looking at accusations that you drugged,
00:28murdered, and disposed of five victims in Thailand in 1975.
00:32That's a lot of imagination, yeah.
00:34Born in 1944 in modern-day Vietnam, Sobhraj would go on to travel the world,
00:40committing a host of felonies along the way while escaping the police.
00:43While he admitted to taking the lives of 12 people, it's speculated it could be up to 30.
00:48Sobhraj was dubbed the Bikini Killer and later the Serpent.
00:52Nicknamed the Serpent, Sobhraj was arrested in India in 1976.
00:57He was sentenced to 12 years, which was extended after an attempted escape.
01:01Sobhraj was released in 1997 and returned to France.
01:04In 2003, after returning to Nepal, he was arrested again.
01:08He was found guilty of murder and received a life sentence.
01:11In 2022, due to good behavior and advanced age, Sobhraj was released and deported to France.
01:18The 78-year-old's release was ordered by the Nepalese Supreme Court
01:22on the grounds of his good behavior, his bad health,
01:26and the fact he's served almost all of his sentence.
01:30The vast majority of people who work in nursing homes are good people,
01:34but there are some exceptions.
01:36Born in Trøndelag, Norway in 1936,
01:39Nesett became a trained nurse and eventually got a manager job at a nursing home.
01:43However, a host of suspicious deaths led to a police investigation.
01:47During questioning, Nesett disclosed taking dozens of lives by
01:50injecting a medication that's used to paralyze muscles during general anesthesia.
01:55He later retracted the confession.
01:56In 1983, Nesett was found guilty of taking the lives of 22 people.
02:01It's speculated it could be as many as 138.
02:05After being sentenced to a maximum of 21 years in jail,
02:08Nesett was released after 12 for good behavior, with 10 years of supervision.
02:14On one Friday the 13th in 1973,
02:17Clive and Elsie Ralph returned to their home in Worcester, England.
02:20They discovered their housemate McGreevy and their three children were missing,
02:24and there were signs of violence.
02:25After going straight to the police,
02:27a search found the deceased children near the home.
02:29McGreevy was soon arrested attempting to leave the area.
02:32There was only one person unaccounted for in the Ralph family household,
02:37and that was David McGreevy.
02:39The search was on, and it wasn't long before he was discovered.
02:43Known for his temper and drinking,
02:45when he babysat the kids as Clive collected Elsie from work,
02:48his rage caused him to lash out and take their lives.
02:51After pleading guilty to multiple murders,
02:54McGreevy was sentenced to a minimum of 20 years.
02:56In 2019, after 46 years in jail, he was released.
03:01I don't know if he's expressed remorse.
03:03I don't know if he now realizes the gravity of the offenses that he committed.
03:08Carla Homolka.
03:10She describes her role as both victimizer and victim.
03:14If I didn't turn the water tap off completely, he'd hit me.
03:18As one half of Canada's infamous Barbie and Ken killers,
03:21Homolka met Paul Bernardo in 1987 before getting married in 1991.
03:26Yet before they had their nuptials, the duo had already taken two lives,
03:30including Homolka's younger sister Tammy.
03:32They would then go on to murder once more, videotaping their horrible deeds.
03:36After DNA was taken from Bernardo during a series of assault cases years ago,
03:40it was re-examined during the slayings and found to match,
03:43resulting in both being arrested.
03:45Homolka knew her future perfect husband was a perfect match for the police composite.
03:51She also knew her fiancé was obsessed with attractive teenage girls.
03:55Due to a plea deal to testify against Bernardo,
03:58Homolka was sentenced to 12 years in 1993 and released in 2005.
04:02Once she was released, she moved around,
04:05briefly residing in the Caribbean before returning to Canada.
04:08Carla, can I ask you a question?
04:11Do you volunteer or work at the school?
04:14Who are you?
04:15You know who I am.
04:16Kenneth McDuff
04:17Some would say you're the poster child for what is wrong.
04:20And, uh, you sure talking to me bad.
04:24In 1966, after being in and out of prison for several crimes,
04:28McDuff and Roy Dale Green spotted three teenagers in Texas.
04:32After kidnapping them, McDuff fatally shot Robert Brand and Mark Dunman,
04:35and then assaulted and slew Edna Sullivan.
04:38After Green confessed, the two were arrested.
04:41Green was sentenced to 25 years, while McDuff was set to be executed,
04:44later changed to life imprisonment.
04:46He was granted parole in 1989.
04:49The burden was now on the prosecutors to make sure McDuff
04:52never again walked the streets of Central Texas.
04:55In 1992, a co-worker of McDuff noticed the similarities between him
05:00and a suspected killer on a TV show and called the police.
05:03In 1993, McDuff was found guilty of one murder and sentenced to execution,
05:07which was enacted in 1998.
05:09It's speculated he may have taken over 14 lives.
05:13McDuff maintained his innocence as he was led from court.
05:17I'm sorry about what happened, but I wasn't the one who did it.
05:19Charlene Gallego
05:21Shortly after Charlene Williams met Gerald Gallego in 1977,
05:25the two moved in together and soon began a litany of terrible crimes
05:28throughout Nevada and California.
05:30Charlene was often used to lure victims to Gerald,
05:33where he would assault and murder them.
05:34In 1980, the couple was arrested after being spotted abducting
05:38Mary Elizabeth Sowers and Craig Miller, who they went on to slay.
05:41It's believed they took the lives of 11 people altogether.
05:45After agreeing to come to the police station for further questioning,
05:49Charlene had failed to show.
05:50Due to a plea deal involving Charlene testifying against Gerald,
05:54she was sentenced to 16 years and 8 months,
05:56while Gerald received the death penalty.
05:59In 1997, Charlene was released from jail
06:02and has gone on to claim she was a victim of Gerald and was forced to help.
06:06But the consequences of their deal with the devil
06:08would leave the public and victims' families outraged.
06:13Sibbrandt Louis Vanskoor
06:14After working as a police officer,
06:16Vanskoor became a security guard at various businesses
06:19owned by white people in South Africa in the 1980s,
06:22a time known for the anti-apartheid movement.
06:24Most whites seem to have guns and few inhibitions about using them.
06:28Vanskoor used his job to fatally shoot black people,
06:31pretending they were causing crimes at the businesses when many weren't.
06:34Altogether, it's believed he shot 101 people, killing 39.
06:39In 1992, Vanskoor was convicted on seven counts of murder and two attempts.
06:44He was sentenced to 20 years.
06:46However, after 12 in 2004, he was released on parole.
06:50According to reports, while he found religion,
06:52he had no remorse for what he did.
06:54Vanskoor's daughter Sabrina was convicted
06:56of ordering her mother's assassination in 2002.
07:05The Leinz Angels of Death
07:08Through most of the 80s, investigators examining
07:10one Leinz hospital in Vienna, Austria,
07:12struggled to understand the steep increase in patient demises.
07:15However, a doctor in a pub apparently heard a group of nurses
07:19bragging about their involvement and contacted the authorities.
07:22Maria Gruber, Irena Leidolf, Stefania Meier,
07:25and Waltraud Wachner were arrested
07:27and later confessed to killing 49 patients with medicines and water.
07:30It's suspected their victim count could be over 200.
07:34In 1991, Wachner was sentenced to life, Gruber to 15 years,
07:38Leidolf to life, and Meier to 20.
07:40In 2008, after Meier and Gruber had already been released,
07:44Wachner and Leidolf were also free for good behavior,
07:46bringing outrage from Austrians.
07:49Arthur Shawcross
07:58In 1972, Shawcross was arrested for fatally attacking
08:02two children in Watertown, New York.
08:04Due to a lack of evidence for one murder,
08:06he was convicted of manslaughter for both cases and sentenced to 25 years.
08:10In 1987, experts' warnings were ignored,
08:13and Shawcross was released on parole.
08:15Not long after, he began earning his nickname of the
08:18Genesee River Killer for a series of murders in the Rochester area.
08:28In 1990, as the police investigated the area
08:31where June Cicero's body was found,
08:33Shawcross was spotted nearby, and he was arrested.
08:36He was found guilty of 10 murders and sentenced to 250 years in jail.
08:40Altogether, he took 14 lives.
08:43Shawcross passed away in 2008 from natural causes.
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09:18Before complaints caused the company to remove it,
09:21Lopez was awarded the Guinness World Record
09:23for most prolific serial killer with 300 victims.
09:26Known as the Monster of the Andes,
09:28Lopez killed mostly in Colombia and Ecuador.
09:31While in the latter, he was arrested while attempting to abduct a potential victim.
09:35Lopez showed the police where he hid 53 bodies
09:38and confessed to taking 110 lives in the country.
09:41In 1980, he was sentenced to Ecuador's then-maximum sentence of 16 years.
09:46After his release in 1994, he was deported to Colombia,
09:50where he was arrested and sent to a mental health hospital.
09:52In 1998, Lopez was declared sane and conditionally released.
09:57However, he vanished and hasn't been caught since.
10:01If you let a guy live that keeps killing like this, why would they let him live?
10:05What other infamous serial killers who were released did we miss?
10:08Lauren Herzog, Mary Bell, Nikolay Jumagaliev,
10:11Paul Brumfitt, or someone else? Let us know below.
10:14Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
10:16and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
10:31Thanks for watching!