Offspring of Serial Killers / Children of Murderers

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Legal Notice: This is NOT a serial killers child... probably

If you've read my blogs before, you know that I love to delve deep into the minutiae of the every day lives of serial killers and mass-murderers, to work out what makes them so different from the average person, but also how similar we all are, such as their weight, height, birth order, diets, favourite drinks, height, IQ, star signs, lunar cycles, dates of birth, reasons for killing, music and nicknames, to name but a few. 

This week I shall be delving into lives of 85 infamous serial killers and mass-murderers from the UK and USA and drawing up a list of which had biological children prior to or during their murders, and which were entirely childless, many of whom were married or in relationships. As always, these blogs are updated with new information as and when it comes to light, therefore these lists are not fully comprehensive, but if you have any new details, please tweet me at @mmiletours

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Serial-killer & Murderers with Children:

• Aileen Wuornos; following a violent attack by a family friend when she was 14 years old, Wuornos gave birth to a boy, who was given up for "closed adoption" (no details known)
• Albert DeSalvo; two children, one son (Michael) & one daughter (Judy) to wife Irmgard
• Dennis Rader; two children, one son (Brian), one daughter (Kerri) to Paula Dietz. 
• John Wayne Gacy; two children, one son (Michael), one daughter (Christine) to Marilyn, although he was also step-father to Carole Hoff's two young daughters
• Ted Bundy; one daughter (Rose), conceived in prison to Carole Ann Boone
• H H Holmes; one son (Robert Lovering Mudgett) to Clara Lovering, one daughter (Lucy Theodate Holmes) with Myrta Belknap whilst bigamously married
• Albert Fish; six children: four sons (Albert, John, Eugene & Henry), two daughters (Anna and Gertrude), all to his wife Anna Mary Hoffman, but his son Albert wasn't named Albert Fish Junior, as Fish's real name was Hamilton Howard Fish, as he had re-named himself "Albert" after his dead brother. 
• Ray & Faye Copeland; different sources list them as having either four, five or six children, so far I can only determine that they have one son called Al, 
• Janie Lou Gibbs; three children, three sons (Lester, Roger and Marvin), all of whom she killed with rat poison to claim on the insurance money. 
• Judy Buenoano; one son (Michael), who she murdered
• Kristen Gilbert; two children, two sons (Raymond and Brian)
• Dorothea Puente; two daughters, both put up for adoption
• Velma Barfield; two children, one son (Ronnie), one daughter (Kim) to Thomas Burke 
• Gary Ridgway; one son (Matthew) 
• John Allen Muhammad, three children, one son (Lindbergh Williams), and two daughters (Taalibah and Salena). Watch an interview with the daughters here
  
• Karla Homolka; after her release, she changed her name to Leanne Bordelais, moved to Guadeloupe, remarried and now has three children. Read more here. 
• Carol M. Bundy; two young sons by a previous marriage (names unknown)
• David Parker Ray; one daughter (Glenda Jean Ray)
  
• Cynthia Coffman; one child, a son (Joshua Luke)
• Glen Edward Rogers; two children, two sons (Clinton Dwayne and Jonathan Claude), both to Deborah Ann Nix, later briefly become his wife, but Clinton was not fathered by Rogers. 
• John George Haigh; one daughter to Beatrice 'Betty' Hamer, who was born whilst Haigh was in prison and was later given up for adoption (name unknown)
• Donald Neilson; one daughter (Kathryn), originally born Kathryn Nappey, which was Donald's original surname, before he changed it, not wanting her to be bullied like he was
• Fred & Rose West; Fred had one step-daughter (Charmaine Carol West) to his first wife - Catherine "Rena" Costello - who was fathered by a "Pakistani bus driver", andlater another daughter (Anna Marie), and with his second wife Rose West, they had two further daughters (Heather Ann & Mae West) and one son (Stephen), although when he was a teenager Fred West also impregnated his 13 year old sister Kitty. 
• Harold Shipman; four children, three sons (Christopher, Sam & David) and one daughter (Sarah), all to wife Primrose Shipman. Read Shipman's profile
• Peter Sutcliffe; he tried to have children with his partner, Sonia Szurma, but they suffered several miscarriages and were informed that she would not be able to have children
• Anthony Hardy; four children with Judith Dwight, three sons and one daughter, following his arrest for trying to kill her, he got full custody of the children
• Levi Bellfield; five daughters (Jessica, Hannah, Jaynie, Bobbie and Maisie) with three different women, the youngest three with his most recent girlfriend, Emma Mills 
• Raymond Morris, two children, two sons (names unknown)
• Peter Tobin; three children, two sons (Ian & Daniel) and one daughter (Daisy, deceased

• John Childs; two children, although very few details are known
• Derrick Bird; two sons (Graeme & Jamie), read more​​

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Entirely Childless Serial Killers & Murderers: David Berkowitz, Edmund Kemper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Joel Rifkin, Richard Ramirez, Ed Gein, John Reginald Christie, Ian Brady, Myra Hindley, Dennis Nilsen, Joanna Dennehy, Robert Black, Graham Young, Michael Lupo, Stephen Port, Rodney Alcala, Ted Kaczynski, Robert “Willie” Pickton, Ronald Dominique, Larry Eyler, Randall Woodfield, Donald Henry Gaskins, Dean Arnold Corll, Lee Boyd Malvo, Orville Lynn Majors, Herbert Mullin, Arthur Shawcross, Paul Bernardo, Ray Fernandez & Martha Beck, Doug Clark, Kenneth Bianchi, Richard Chase, Henry Lee Lucas, Patrick MacKay, Robert Maudsley, Colin Ireland, Kenneth Erskine, Steven Grieveson, Stephen Griffiths, Trevor Hardy, Robert Napper, George Joseph Smith, Peter Manuel, Beverley Allitt, Steve Wright, John Straffen, Peter Bryan, David Copeland, Michael Ryan, Stephen Akinmurele and John Bodkin Adams. Please note: some of these serial-killers / murderers may have had step-children or their partners may have had children, but I am only counting biological children. 

That's a pretty substantial list of adults, who were of biological age to have children, but never did, whether this is because they found it hard to remain in a "loving" relationship (owing to their mental, physical or emotional peculiarities), it is hard to tell. 

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Michael J Buchanan-Dunne is a writer, crime historian, podcaster and tour-guide who runs Murder Mile Walks, a guided tour of Soho’s most notorious murder cases, hailed as “one of the top ten curious, quirky, unusual and different things to do in London” and featuring 12 murderers, including 3 serial killers, across 15 locations, totalling 75 deaths, over just a one mile walk.