Montana is an amazing — and safe — place to call home. But there are definitely moments in our state’s past that are less than perfect; in fact, some of America’s highest-profile serial killers have or had ties to our little corner of the world. Here are five Montana serial killers sure to send chills down your spine:
- Edward Edwards
Wikipedia Edward Wayne Edwards was a known conman living in Ohio before he escaped from jail there and traveled around the country, robbing gas stations along the way. He eventually made his way to Billings, where he served time at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge for robbing a service station at gunpoint. He wasn’t revealed to be a serial killer until late in his life, but he died of natural causes before he could be executed for his crimes.
- Wayne Nance, aka the Missoula Mauler
Micah Sheldon / Flickr Wayne Nance, a Montana native, is believed to have killed at least six people in Missoula and Ravalli counties between 1974 and 1986.
- Edmund Kemper
Wikipedia Edmund Kemper was raised by his mother in Helena. He eventually moved to California to live with his father, only to get turned away by his mother when he tried to return to Helena. Instead, he moved in with his grandparents in California, whom he brutally murdered. He spent five years in a state hospital before going on a horrifying killing spree that earned him the nickname The Coed Butcher. He’s currently 70 years old and serving a life sentence in prison, thankfully not in Montana.
- David Meirhofer
Matt Lavin / Flickr Gallatin County is a beautiful and peaceful place. Unfortunately, it’s also the place where David Meirhofer committed all of his known murders. He was convicted of killing four people between 1967 and 1974, three of them children. Hours after confessing to the killings, he hung himself in his jail cell.
- Ted Kaczynski
Wikipedia Most people don’t think of the Unabomber as a serial killer, but he did kill three people, and he would have killed many more had his homemade bombs been more effective. He’s currently serving eight life sentences at a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Just in case these true tales didn’t creep you out enough, here are some of Montana’s spookiest unsolved mysteries.
Wikipedia
Edward Wayne Edwards was a known conman living in Ohio before he escaped from jail there and traveled around the country, robbing gas stations along the way. He eventually made his way to Billings, where he served time at the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge for robbing a service station at gunpoint. He wasn’t revealed to be a serial killer until late in his life, but he died of natural causes before he could be executed for his crimes.
Micah Sheldon / Flickr
Wayne Nance, a Montana native, is believed to have killed at least six people in Missoula and Ravalli counties between 1974 and 1986.
Edmund Kemper was raised by his mother in Helena. He eventually moved to California to live with his father, only to get turned away by his mother when he tried to return to Helena. Instead, he moved in with his grandparents in California, whom he brutally murdered. He spent five years in a state hospital before going on a horrifying killing spree that earned him the nickname The Coed Butcher. He’s currently 70 years old and serving a life sentence in prison, thankfully not in Montana.
Matt Lavin / Flickr
Gallatin County is a beautiful and peaceful place. Unfortunately, it’s also the place where David Meirhofer committed all of his known murders. He was convicted of killing four people between 1967 and 1974, three of them children. Hours after confessing to the killings, he hung himself in his jail cell.
Most people don’t think of the Unabomber as a serial killer, but he did kill three people, and he would have killed many more had his homemade bombs been more effective. He’s currently serving eight life sentences at a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
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Address: Montana, USA
The OIYS Visitor Center
Montana Serial Killers June 03, 2022 Tori Jane Have there ever been cases of serial killers in Montana? Absolutely. Montana is relatively remote, which kind of makes it perfect for serial killers to operate there. Interestingly, though, it seems as if this state is a magnetic place for killers, as there are many infamous serial killers from all over the country that have (or had) ties in some way to the state of Montana. That being said, let’s get into it: Are there any serial killers from Montana? Yup. In fact, some of the scariest serial killers EVER have lived in or operated in Montana, like the nothing-short-of-evil Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a likely cannibal and child killer, who received 130 years without the possibility of parole for the sexual assault and likely murders of multiple children. It doesn’t get a lot scarier than that. Then, there was the case of Wayne Nance, a lesser-known serial killer in Montana whose victim count was at least six. He’d been known as the town “weirdo” since he was a teenager, and it came as no surprise that he ended up doing the things he did – murdering six women in cold blood between 1974 and 1986. Who are some notorious serial killers in Montana? Unfortunately, there are more. There was David Mierhofer, who likely committed all his murders in Montana, and the infamous Carl Panzram spent multiple stints in Montana prisons during his reign of terror. There are the above-mentioned killers Wayne Nance and Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, and it’s also worth mentioning that Ted Kaczynski, also known as The Unabomber, made his home in Montana for quite a while as well. YIKES. Montana might be a kind of low-key, quiet place to live, but it’s not without its demons. Of course, no place is – Montana is still one of the safest places to call home in the United States!
The OIYS Visitor Center
Montana Serial Killers
June 03, 2022
Tori Jane
Have there ever been cases of serial killers in Montana? Absolutely. Montana is relatively remote, which kind of makes it perfect for serial killers to operate there. Interestingly, though, it seems as if this state is a magnetic place for killers, as there are many infamous serial killers from all over the country that have (or had) ties in some way to the state of Montana. That being said, let’s get into it: Are there any serial killers from Montana? Yup. In fact, some of the scariest serial killers EVER have lived in or operated in Montana, like the nothing-short-of-evil Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a likely cannibal and child killer, who received 130 years without the possibility of parole for the sexual assault and likely murders of multiple children. It doesn’t get a lot scarier than that. Then, there was the case of Wayne Nance, a lesser-known serial killer in Montana whose victim count was at least six. He’d been known as the town “weirdo” since he was a teenager, and it came as no surprise that he ended up doing the things he did – murdering six women in cold blood between 1974 and 1986. Who are some notorious serial killers in Montana? Unfortunately, there are more. There was David Mierhofer, who likely committed all his murders in Montana, and the infamous Carl Panzram spent multiple stints in Montana prisons during his reign of terror. There are the above-mentioned killers Wayne Nance and Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, and it’s also worth mentioning that Ted Kaczynski, also known as The Unabomber, made his home in Montana for quite a while as well. YIKES. Montana might be a kind of low-key, quiet place to live, but it’s not without its demons. Of course, no place is – Montana is still one of the safest places to call home in the United States!
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
Absolutely. Montana is relatively remote, which kind of makes it perfect for serial killers to operate there. Interestingly, though, it seems as if this state is a magnetic place for killers, as there are many infamous serial killers from all over the country that have (or had) ties in some way to the state of Montana. That being said, let’s get into it:
Are there any serial killers from Montana?
Yup. In fact, some of the scariest serial killers EVER have lived in or operated in Montana, like the nothing-short-of-evil Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, a likely cannibal and child killer, who received 130 years without the possibility of parole for the sexual assault and likely murders of multiple children. It doesn’t get a lot scarier than that. Then, there was the case of Wayne Nance, a lesser-known serial killer in Montana whose victim count was at least six. He’d been known as the town “weirdo” since he was a teenager, and it came as no surprise that he ended up doing the things he did – murdering six women in cold blood between 1974 and 1986.
Who are some notorious serial killers in Montana?
Unfortunately, there are more. There was David Mierhofer, who likely committed all his murders in Montana, and the infamous Carl Panzram spent multiple stints in Montana prisons during his reign of terror. There are the above-mentioned killers Wayne Nance and Nathaniel Bar-Jonah, and it’s also worth mentioning that Ted Kaczynski, also known as The Unabomber, made his home in Montana for quite a while as well. YIKES. Montana might be a kind of low-key, quiet place to live, but it’s not without its demons. Of course, no place is – Montana is still one of the safest places to call home in the United States!
