9 Of The Most Deranged California Serial Killers In History

Published October 13, 2022
Updated May 21, 2024

Harvey Glatman: The California Serial Killer Who Photographed His Victims

Harvey Glatman

Bettmann/Getty ImagesCalifornia serial killer Harvey Glatman killed at least three women between 1957 and 1958.

In the 1950s, Harvey Glatman abducted, bound, raped, and murdered at least women in Los Angeles while pretending to be a photographer.

Glatman’s reign of terror began in August 1957, when he offered 19-year-old model Judy Ann Dull $50 to pose for the cover of a pulp magazine. Once he had Dull back at his apartment, however, Glatman attacked. He repeatedly raped the young mother, then took photos of her bound and gagged. Finally, Glatman took Dull to the desert, where he strangled her to death.

With a taste for blood, Glatman soon killed again. He abducted Shirley Ann Bridgeford, then Ruth Mercado, binding, raping, and killing them both. But when this California serial killer tried to kill for a fourth time, his murder spree came to a sudden halt.

Judy Dull

Bettmann/Getty ImagesJudy Dull, photographed by California serial killer Henry Glatman, shortly before he killed her.

In October 1958, Glatman met up with Lorraine Vigil. Like most of his other victims, Vigil was an aspiring model who’d agreed to have Glatman photograph her. But as they drove together toward the fake “gig,” Vigil suddenly realized that Glatman was taking her out of the city.

“I did not become alarmed, however, until we entered the Santa Ana Freeway and he began driving at a tremendous speed. He wouldn’t answer my questions or even look at me,” Vigil later said.

When Glatman pulled a gun on Vigil and attempted to bind her hands, the aspiring model fought back. She was able to wrest the gun from his grip and hold him at gunpoint until the police arrived.

But Glatman never expressed any remorse for his crimes once caught. According to History, he refused to acknowledge appeals to spare his life, and even told the appeals board “I only want to die.”

He was executed in September 1959.

author
Kaleena Fraga
author
A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
editor
John Kuroski
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, John Kuroski is the editorial director of All That's Interesting. He graduated from New York University with a degree in history, earning a place in the Phi Alpha Theta honor society for history students. An editor at All That's Interesting since 2015, his areas of expertise include modern American history and the ancient Near East. In an editing career spanning 17 years, he previously served as managing editor of Elmore Magazine in New York City for seven years.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "9 Of The Most Deranged California Serial Killers In History." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 13, 2022, https://allthatsinteresting.com/california-serial-killers. Accessed July 27, 2025.