9 Serial Killers Who Are Now Free

From Africa we make our way to Central America in the beautiful nation of Panama, famous for its passageway for ships. Less famous is Silvano Ward Brown, known as the Panama Strangler, who is regarded as the nation's first recorded serial killer. He blames his actions on the lack of a male authority figure after his father left the home when he was nine.

What were those actions? Murders, of course. Brown's first murder occurred in 1959 when he was only 18 and had already served two years in a juvenile prison. Brown had broken into the home of an 18-year-old woman and, after watching her undress, he stabbed her twice. For this he was sentenced to 12 years.

In 1969 Brown was released from prison and fell off the grid by going to sea. But in 1973 he found himself in the seaside Panama town of Colón. While there he strangled a prostitute after being unable to perform sexually.

A second identical murder led police to Brown, who was found with one of the women's clothes in his car, and he confessed to all the murders. Brown was found to be a psychopath with a dangerous perversion. Sentenced to 20 years in prison, he was released in 1993 and currently lives in Panama City, working as a security guard.