Here's Every Serial Killer in Mindhunter Season 2 and What You Need to Know About Them

First appearance: Episode 1

Dennis Rader, or the BTK ("bind, torture, kill") murderer, frames the series but never comes in contact with the Behavioural Science Unit. Why? Because Rader, who killed 10 people throughout Wichita, KS, from 1974 to 1991, wasn't caught until 2005. We just see shots of him sprinkled throughout the series acting suspiciously. In episode two, Bill does talk with one of his surviving victims, Kevin Bright.

First appearance: Episode 2

David Berkowitz, aka the Son of Sam, notoriously killed six and injured seven throughout separate shootings in New York between 1976 and 1977, claiming to take orders from a demon-possessed dog. In the series, as in real life, he eventually retracted this story.

First appearance: Episode 3

Along with a history of burglaries, thefts, and arsons, William Pierce was known for killing nine people, including a senator's daughter. When Holden and Jim Barney interview him in Georgia, Pierce claims to speak seven languages but appears to trip over common English phrases. He doesn't quite fit the lucid and manipulative profile of the murderers Holden is interested in.

First appearance: Episode 3

William Henry Hance is another subject in Georgia, where Holden would learn about the Atlanta murders. A former soldier, he was convicted for murdering three women (suspected to have killed four) around military bases. Again, as with Pierce, Hance isn't entirely cogent — it's confusing to Holden as to why he called the police after a murder warning them about "the forces of evil." He was likely mentally disabled, and his case has been fraught with issues around racial bias. Hance was executed in 1994 at the age of 42.

First appearance: Episode 4

Because Holden and Bill are busy in Atlanta, Wendy and Gregg meet with Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., the mentee of "The Candyman" Dean Corll who acted as an accomplice to Corll's child rapes and murders and eventually killed Corll. While Gregg tries to take the lead in this interview, it's Wendy who gets Henley to open up about his relationship with Corll. Wendy talks about her lesbian relationship with a professor, which Gregg and the team think is an elaborate lie.

Even if you tried to sanitise your brain from the creepy encounters with Ed Kemper last season, he's back in Mindhunter's second installation. When Bill and Holden head to California, Holden asks if they can visit Kemper before seeing Charles Manson, which is a fraught situation given that Kemper induced Holden's panic attack not too long ago. Just in case you forgot, Kemper is the co-ed killer and necrophile who murdered 10 people, including members of his family.

First appearance: Episode 5

Charles Manson is one of the biggest draws this season, no doubt. In the rare case that you haven't heard of him, he's the musician turned cult leader who convinced his followers to kill for him, most famously in the Tate murders. Played by Damon Herriman (who portrayed the same character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood), the cult leader goes off on a freewheeling diatribe about love and how his followers only did what they wanted to when being briefed by Bill and Holden. Holden keeps it cool around Manson, but Bill can't stand his arrogance. They later learn from a guard that Manson bragged about filching the sunglasses that Holden gave him.

First appearance: Episode 5

Holden visits Tex Watson, a Manson family member, in a prison nearby. Watson, a main participant in the Tate and LaBianca murders, is a surprising convict in many ways, as he was an honour student and athlete before meeting Manson. Watson tells Holden about how heavily drugged he was during the murders and about Manson's manipulative nature. He takes responsibility for the killings, but says that the violent ideas were Manson's before they were his followers'.

Other than his murder conviction, Paul Bateson is a radiographer best known for appearing in the 1973 film The Exorcist. Wendy and Gregg again conduct interviews, this time with Bateson, who makes passes at a blanched Gregg. He's quite talkative at first but becomes more opaque as the talk progresses.

While Bateson was only convicted of killing journalist Addison Verrill, police linked him to the murders of several gay men in Manhattan. Still, there wasn't enough evidence to convict him for these crimes. Bateson was eventually released on parole in 2003 and released from that five years later.

Everything seems to come down to Wayne Williams this season. While on a stakeout in Atlanta, the police catch his car just as they hear a splash in a nearby river. Days later they find the body of an adult male. The then 23-year-old music promoter and photographer comes off as arrogant to Holden, who strongly believes that he is the perp in the child murder case.

When fibres from Williams's house match with the ones found on two adult victims, the police arrest him and quickly shut down the child murder cases, indirectly linking Williams to them. Today, Williams maintains his innocence. Twenty-seven of the child deaths and abductions remain unsolved and unprosecuted.