As a society, we are fascinated by true crime, especially serial killers. We watch documentaries and read books to try and understand what made these criminals carry out these evil deeds. But, have you ever wondered what music these murderers listened to? Read on to find out...

Charles Manson (1934-2017) was the leader of the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. His teachings and influence inspired the cultists to commit a series of nine murders at four locations in July and August 1969. Among the victims was pregnant actress Sharon Tate, who was married to filmmaker Roman Polanski. Manson was a struggling musician between 1967 and 1969, and The Beach Boys even did a cover of one of his songs. He was obsessed with the music of The Beatles, as the words “Helter Skelter” – a very well-known Beatles song, were found written in some of his victims’ bodies. However, in a 1985 interview with High Society he said: “Let me tell you something, I am not a Beatles fan. I have never been a Beatles fan. I am a Bing Crosby fan.” However, Paul Watkins, former Manson Family member, wrote in his book ‘My Life With Charles Manson’: “From the beginning, Charlie believed The Beatles’ music carried an important message – to us.” Sentenced to life imprisonment in 1971, he died behind bars in 2017 at the age of 83.

Richard Ramirez (1960-2013) ,aka “The Night Stalker”, terrorised California between June 1984 and August 1985 with a spree of murders and sexual assaults. He was arrested in 1985 and sentenced to death in 1989 after being convicted of all 43 charges against him: 13 counts of murder, five attempted murders, 11 sexual assaults and 14 burglaries. Back in 1985, the Los Angeles Times newspaper interviewed some of Ramirez’s acquaintances, including a man named Earl Gregg Jr., who said he lived with Ramirez in 1980 in San Francisco. Gregg said Ramirez “seemed like a good person" initially. But, in 1983, when Richard moved back to Los Angeles, according to Gregg his behavior changed. Gregg’s mother-in-law, Donna Louise Myers, also spoke to the outlet revealing that Ramirez “was very far into Satanism" and that he used to “read comic books and detective magazines”, as well as enjoying listening to “rock groups as AC/DC and Judas Priest".

John Wayne Gacy (1942-1994) was sentenced to death for the murder and sexual assaults of at least 33 young men and boys. According to investigations conducted by Far Out, prior to his execution, Gacy confessed to being a big REO Speedwagon fan, a band best known for songs like ‘Can’t Fight This Feeling’ and ‘Keep On Loving You’. Gacy - who sometimes worked as Pogo the Clown - was state executed in May 1994 at the age of 52. For his last meal, Gacy ordered a bucket of KFC, a dozen fried shrimp, french fries, fresh strawberries and a Diet Coke.

Ted Bundy (1946-1989) confessed to 30 murders committed in seven states - California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington - between 1974 and 1978, with his victims being young women whom he kidnapped and assaulted being killing them. Authors Stephen G. Michaud and Hugh Aynesworth spoke with the infamous criminal while he was in prison, awaiting execution, after being awarded the death sentence. In their book ‘Ted Bundy: Conversations with a Killer’, Bundy admitted that he was never a big music enthusiast, and instead preferred talk radio. He said: “I would lie in bed for hours and hours, listening to news broadcasts exclusively. ‘Meet the Press’, or whatever. My favorite thing on Sunday nights was to hunt the radio bands for talk shows, call-in programs, documentary-like things. They’re still my favorites. I’d listen to talk shows all day rather than listen to music.”

The 'Milwaukee Monster' (1960-1994) killed and dismembered 17 men and boys in a sick spree that lasted between 1978 and 1991. Due to the horrific nature of his crimes - which included cannibalism and preservation of body parts - Dahmer has been studied in documentaries, films, TV shows, books and articles. Vanity Fair dug deeper into the criminal’s mind and, according to the magazine, “Dahmer listened to heavy-metal rock bands like Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath,” and he “would use an eight-track player with headphones and retreat into his ‘own little world'."

Street walker Aileen Wuornos (1956-2002) was found guilty of the murder of seven men between 1989 and 1990 in Florida. As one of the most notorious female serial killers, her life was depicted in the movie ‘Monster’, with Charlize Theron winning the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Aileen. A 2015 episode of ‘American Horror Story’, titled ‘Devil’s Night’, showed actress Lily Rabe playing the criminal. In the scene where her character is introduced, Natalie Merchant’s song ‘Carnival’ is played. Aileen herself requested that song to be played at her funeral. The track was also featured in the end credits of the 2003 documentary ‘Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killers'.

David Berkowitz, better known as 'Son of Sam', took the lives of six people and attacked 11 more. His crime spree took place between 1976 and 1977, mostly in New York City’s Brooklyn district. Berkowitz - who is now 69 -once stated that the Hall and Oates song ‘Rich Girl’ inspired him to kill. When Daryl Hall learned about David’s declaration, he said that could not have been possible as their track was released after the murders began. Sentenced to six life terms, David is currently incarcerated at Shawangunk Correctional Facility.

Better known as The Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe (1946-2020) was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others in a UK crime spree that lasted between 1975 and 1980. He was sentenced to 20 concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, which were converted to a whole life order in 2010. According to Huffington Post, Sutcliffe enjoyed the music of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with the killer describing him as a “pure genius". Sutcliffe, who was serving his life sentence at Durham’s HMP Frankland Prison, died at the age of 74 at University Hospital of North Durham, after contracting COVID-19 in the wake of a suspected heart attack. He also was living with diabetes.

During a five-month period in 1979, Lawrence Bittaker (1940-2019) and Roy Norris (1948-2020) assaulted and killed five teenage girls in California. Together, they were nicknamed 'The Toolbox Killers', due to the implements they used. During an interview with Bizarre magazine, while serving time at San Quentin Prison, Bittaker was asked if he had any belongings in his cell. He answered: “I got a mattress. I sleep on the floor. I have pictures I’ve drawn of the cell. I have no artistic ability, but they’re not bad. I got a steel bed, but I use it as a table. I can sit there cross-legged on my mattress. There’s a typewriter on a box on the bed. There’s a box of legal documents and on top of it there’s my Zenith TV. I have a GPX radio I don’t use. I have one tape – ‘In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida’, by Iron Butterfly. But I don’t have the equipment to play it.”

From 1978 to 1983, Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen (1945-2018) killed at least 12 young men in London and disposed of them in the most gruesome way. According to Loudwire magazine, Nilsen used to listen to the English rock band The Who. He also enjoyed listening to the Edgar Winter Group song ‘Frankenstein’.