Chicago Strangler

The Chicago Strangler is a theorized serial killer, or serial killers, believed to be responsible for the deaths of a number of women in Chicago.

Connection of crimes
Since 2001, at least 50 women between the ages of 18 and 58 have been murdered in a similar fashion within the city of Chicago. The victims were predominantly black, typically employed as prostitutes, and often had previous experiences with the justice system. Nearly all were strangled, partially or fully stripped, and then left in abandoned buildings, alleys, garbage bins, parks or snowdrifts. 25 of the cases were closed by police, resulting in the arrest of 13 men.

Several of the strangulations were committed in just three police districts located on the South and West sides of Chicago: areas with histories of violent crime and drug use such as Washington Park and Garfield Park have been common locations for these murders to occur. This pattern was recognized in 2018 through the Murder Accountability Project (MAP), which reviewed over 50 unsolved strangulation and asphyxiation cases dating as far back as 2001. The algorithm used by MAP sorts unsolved homicides by location, victim and killing method in order to identify clusters associated with low homicide clearance rates. According to MAP, these factors could be indicative of an active serial killer.

Police response
Following pressure from activists, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) announced the review of 51 unsolved murders of women. The CPD claimed there was no evidence that a serial killer was responsible for any of the 51 killings.