‘Catching Killers’ Season 3: Your Guide to the Killers

Netflix’s true crime series Catching Killers takes a deep dive into some of the most horrific serial killers from around the world — and its back with an ambitious third season, which premiered on June 23 on Netflix. In the past, the series has tackled three stories in four episodes with the final two episodes being a two-part exploration into one killer’s gruesome murders; however, this season gives viewers four new cases that are each broken down in a tight 45-minute episodes. 

Per the title, the series focuses on serial killers who have been caught and adopts the perspective of the investigators, giving insight into their hardships and investigative processes. The show has previously explored the murders committed by the BTK Strangler, Aileen Wuornos and the Toronto Village Killer. But what about the new season?

This time around, the series dives into the stories behind the Railroad Killer, the New York Zodiac Killer, the Olympic Park Bomber and the D.C. Sniper. Do some of these sound familiar? Here’s a guide to the four cases covered in the latest season of Catching Killers.

• The Railroad Killer

  Angel Maturino Reséndiz, also known as the Railroad Killer, is suspected of committing roughly 23 murders across the United States and Mexico in the 1990s. His nickname is derived from his habit of committing the murders near railroads, which was his predominant mode of transportation. 

  Reséndiz was known for hanging around his victims’ houses after committing the murders and would eat their food (leaving scraps behind) and steal personal items, like jewelry, which he would sell for money. Many of his murders were horrifically violent and he would bludgeon victims with various weapons, such as a fire iron, a pick ax and a tire iron. He also raped several of his female victims. 

  Authorities were able to identify him after a fingerprint match, but struggled to locate him. On July 12, 1999, Reséndiz surrendered to a Texas ranger, nearly a month after his last confirmed murdered. Prior to the catch, Reséndiz was considered a top FBI fugitive and had over 100 bounty hunters searching for him. During this time, he reached out to his sister and expressed that he was “tired,” which she promptly relayed to authorities. Their phone call is considered a breaking point in the case and is what convinced the Texas ranger to approach Reséndiz.

  Reséndiz was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to execution by lethal injection. He died on June 26, 2006. At the end of the episode, it is noted that Reséndiz was linked to nine murders at the time of his arrest and later confessed to several more.

• The New York Zodiac Killer

  Heriberto Seda, also known as the New York Zodiac Killer, is a harrowing lesson about the dangers of true crime obsessions. The murderer is said to have been inspired by the San Francisco Zodiac Killer, who operated out of California throughout the 1960s and has yet to be found. In addition to inspiring a new killer on the opposite side of the country, his story has also made its way into Hollywood with the 2007 movie Zodiac, starring Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., and Jake Gyllenhaal.

  Back to Seda, a Brooklyn resident who committed killings in NYC from 1990 to 1993. He is linked to nine victims, three of which are dead. Following his crimes, the copycat killer would send taunting messages to authorities and claimed that he was using astrology to target his victims, leading the police to consult an astronomer. 

  Seda was caught after a violent confrontation with his teenage half-sister, Gladys “Chachi” Reyes, and her boyfriend. The killer threatened the couple with a weapon. Reyes managed to escape after being shot in the buttocks and she called the police. Seda surrendered after a stand-off that lasted several hours, during which he held Reyes’s partner hostage. Seda was convicted of multiple counts of attempted murder and murder, and was sentenced to 232 years in prison.

• The Olympic Park Bomber

  Widely known as the Olympic Park Bomber, Eric Robert Rudolph is a domestic terrorist who committed several bombings across the United States between 1996 and 1998, including the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. 

  Rudolph was considered to have extremist beliefs, which he claimed was the motivation behind his bombings. He was firmly against abortion and socialism, and also had strong feelings against the military after spending time as an explosive specialist in the 101st airborne division and being discharged due to marijuana use. 

  Rudolph’s Olympic Park bombing killed two people and injured over 100 people. He wasn’t identified until after the bombing of an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama which occureed two years later. After two witnesses reported his appearance and license plate, authorities located Rudolph’s truck which had a receipt from a fast food restaurant and a local grocery store. He was thought to have purchased enough perishable foods to last him for months. That same year, he was listed on the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.

  Rudolph spent roughly five years in the Appalachian wilderness as a fugitive — during which many suspected he was dead – before being caught in 2003. He was found rummaging through a dumpster behind a discount store after a local officer suspected a burglary. The killer pled guilty to several state and federal charges, and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences after taking a plea bargain to avoid execution.

• The D.C. Sniper

  John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo committed a series of coordinated shootings in D.C., Maryland and Virginia throughout October 2002, after a series of preliminary shootings. The two murdered a total of 17 people and injured 10 people.

  The killing spree came to an end on October 24, 2002, two days after their last murder when Muhammed and Malvo were found sleeping in their blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan at a rest stop. Muhammad was sentenced to death by lethal injection and Malvo, a juvenile at the time of his arrest, was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences. 

  Their killing spree has gone on to be fictionalized in an episode of Forensic Files and the movies D.C. Sniper, Blue Caprice and Monster in My Family.