Top Ten Worst Assassins in History

Of course, we despise and hate murderers. But which do you think among the following assassins deserves the most hatred?

John Wilkes Booth

Victim: Abraham Lincoln, April 14, 1865

He was a well-known actor and a person from a prominent family, resources that he would ultimately use to commit one of the most notable crimes in world history. Lincoln was an excellent president, but being on that great status would bring you, enemies, along the way, and Booth was perhaps the most determined of them all. He was shot during his arrest. His co-conspirators were hanged thereafter.

Gavrilo Princip

Victim: Franz Ferdinand, June 28, 1914

Like most deranged assassins, he performed just one assassination. But what made this guy so special is that his actions triggered a chain of events that brought us World War I. This can make us conclude that this guy’s kill brought about millions of more kills. Of course, it’s not really his fault. But some people just can’t stop blaming him for that gruesome war… and its more grotesque sequel. After all, how can World War II happen if there’s no World War I?

James Earl Ray

Victim: Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1968

Before the 1950s, African Americans were often treated as animals by some white people. Such an ugly scenario is now just a thing of the past due to the great efforts of Martin Luther King Jr. But his noble deeds came at a great price – a price claimed by James Ear Ray. He was captured and was able to do a jailbreak. But after an intensive manhunt, he was recaptured and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.

El Sayyid Nosair

Victim: Meir David Kahane, November 5, 1990

If you call this guy a Hitler aficionado, you could be easily forgiven. He has this hatred for Jews that pushed him into killing Rabbi Kahane as he was giving a public speech. On his trial, Nosair ignored the proceedings by making sketches of Princess Diana.

After a totally absurd series of events in the courtroom, he was acquitted of Kahane’s murder, though he was charged with assault and illegal possession of a firearm. The battle didn’t end there though. Currently, he is serving his sentence in a federal prison in Illinois, USA.

Yolanda Saldivar

Victim: Selena Quintanilla, March 31, 1995

Pop stars are so well-loved by their fans. And if such a star is known to be very kind-hearted and sweet, who unfortunately got murdered, the perpetrator is forever doomed with a never-ending shower of hate.

Yolanda is believed to be a human parasite who fed on Selena’s wealth and fame. Eventually, her wickedness squirted out from suppression and led to her downfall, which unfortunately dragged along a young singer into her death as well before that.

Mark David Chapman

Victim: John Lennon, December 8, 1980

If you’re a hard-core Christian, you would surely despise a famous guy who claimed to be more popular than Jesus. But what if that guy is greatly idolized by millions of people all over the world, and is killed by some delusional thug? Certainly, rage from many sources will manifest around the killer and would make another avid fan want to be a killer as well. Chapman is currently living in a correctional facility in New York and will most probably stay there for the rest of his life.

Lee Harvey Oswald

victim: John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

It was just a US thingy, but its impact to the world in terms of politics and global security is truly shocking and monumental. It did make people realize that even in the modern times, the threat to the life of a man who’s as powerful as a US president is very real indeed.

Oswald was young and most probably very impulsive about his ideals and beliefs, which drove him to kill a US president. Evidence shows that he acted alone. But even after many decades, people still speculate that Oswald was a tool for a very big conspiracy, and that bigger forces were at play.

Nathuram Godse

Victim: Mohandas Ghandi, January 30, 1948

With the aid of his accomplices, they were residents of the Deccan region, as they planned their wicked act against the beloved religious leader. Mr. Godse had previously led a civil disobedience movement against a Muslim ruler of the region where he lived.

When he executed the murdering act, the description was quoted as a bullet that emerged from the assassin's seven-bore automatic hit Ghandi’s belly 3.5 inches to the right of the middle and 2.5 inches above the navel; the second hit the belly 1 inch away from middle, and the third 4 inches away to the right. This was known as the most remembered gunshot wounds in history, all in the name of opposing the righteous acts of very prominent spiritual leader.

Charles J. Guiteau

Victim: James Garfield,  July 2, 1881

This guy was humble enough to admit that with President Garfield’s imposing stature, the politician would be too strong to kill with a knife. With that knowledge, he borrowed money to buy a revolver gun from a friend. He then stalked the President for a number of weeks. Guiteau later made his move, shooting Garfield twice in the back while the president was walking through the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station.

The President died on September 19, 1881. Reports had it that the unsanitary surgical conditions in the hospital that treated caused an infection. Guiteau remains by far the longest-lived presidential assassin in U.S. history, and the only one put to death under federal law.

The Bhutto Assassin

Victim: Benazir Bhutto, December 27, 2007

She is one of the most controversial leaders within the Muslim world, as female leaders were rare within the area. The lady was shot after standing up through the sunroof of her bulletproof car after seeing Afghan President Hamid Karzai. A simultaneous explosion was taking place a few meters away from the vehicle killing 20 people. She was immediately rushed to a hospital.

Due to the extreme blunt force trauma she got, she died an hour later. What makes the story so tragic is that her assassin was never identified nor found, which made the killer one of the most mysterious ever in the history of political assassinations.

Who among them should be hated the most as an assassin?