Born to Kill? Episode Rating Graph

In 1982, when the bodies of 3 women were discovered beneath the surface of Seattle's Green River, no-one realised that it was the beginning of an extraordinary killing spree that would baffle police for 19 years. The 'Green River Killer' would become the most prolific serial killer in US history, claiming the lives of more than four dozen victims, but it would take until 2001 before DNA testing solved the mystery of his identity. To his friends and family, Gary Ridgway was a mild mannered truck painter and a loving husband, but for 19 years he had prowled Seattle's red light areas, picking up young women, strangling them during intercourse, dumping their bodies in the woods, and sometimes returning to have sex with the corpses. Featuring video of his startling confessions - the cops that pursued him, the attorneys who prosecuted and defended him, leading experts, school-friends, and the wife who spent 16 loving years with her dream man, attempt to unravel what had created this monster. Had he been warped by his unusual relationship with mother? Or was the Green River Killer a product of nature - born to kill?

When body parts began washing up on the beaches of a peaceful Californian seaside town, police realised someone was hunting, abducting, murdering and dismembering female co-eds. What they didn't realise was; the killer was in their midst - drinking with them at their favourite local bar. Cops considered the 6'9' inch Edmund Kemper a gentle giant, little did they know that as a teenager he'd murdered his grandparents, he'd fooled psychiatrists into releasing him from secure hospital after just 5 years, and while he was socialising with police officers he was living out his bizarre sexual fantasies with the corpses of young co-eds. Edmund Kemper would kill and dismember 6 young college girls before turning on his mother and her best friend. Was his mind was twisted by his upbringing in a broken home and volatile relationship with a domineering mother? Or was the Co-ed Butcher born to kill?

The world’s most prolific killer, Shipman is estimated to have killed 275 people, but the actual figure will never be known. The 57-year-old GP was given 15 life sentences to run concurrently for the murders, and four years for forging a will, but hung himself in his cell after he was sentenced. He always denied his crimes. When the police began investigating Dr Harold Shipman in September 1998 they struggled to understand him. How could a GP who was trusted and respected by more than 3,000 patients also be a killer who struck time after time with no obvious motive? The coroner speculated that ‘the only valid possible explanation for it is that he simply enjoyed viewing the process of dying and enjoyed the feeling of control over life and death, literally over life and death …’

The Back Pack Killer. Australia's worst solo serial killer, Ivan Milat, is now serving life for the murders of seven hitchhiking backpackers between 1989 and 1992. Many questions remain unanswered and there is uncertainty about the full extent of Ivan Milat’s crimes. Did he murder for entertainment? Some say his motivation lay in his family background and upbringing. Ivan Milat grew up as one of 14 siblings, a close-knit family who didn’t mix with others. They were surrounded by guns amidst an ethos of lawlessness and unbreakable family loyalty. Did he kill alone? One of his siblings, Boris, broke the bonds of rigid family loyalty to speak out against the convicted killer. He said it was likely there were more of his victims that haven’t yet been found…

A psychological profile of former nurse Beverley Allitt, who is currently serving 13 life sentences for murdering four children and injuring nine others at Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire in 1991. Psychologists and criminology experts explore the possible motives for her crimes, examining her behaviour during childhood, when she was known to be an attention seeker. The apparently caring nurse Beverely Allitt had only just joined the staff of Children's Ward 4 of Grantham Hospital when a substantial rise in young patient deaths began occurring. At first, no one could explain why children, some as young as six months, were arriving on the ward with only minor health problems, but leaving only days later dead. A shocked and seemingly uncomprehending public would eventually be informed the culprit was actually the very person who was meant to be caring for the children. During her 59 day stint as a nurse, 23-year-old Beverly Allitt, nicknamed The Angel of Death, attacked thirteen children, killing four. From a very early age, Allitt was known to be an attention seeker. Was her desire to be the centre of attention really the reason why she attacked such innocent children or was something far more psychologically disturbing the cause for this evil?