Adoption is one of the most noble decisions a family can make. From newborns to teenagers, hundreds of thousands of children are adopted every year. Most adoptive parents will admit that the process is challenging and sometimes overwhelming – especially when the child has been abused, neglected or mistreated. But sometimes mistreated children become psychologically ill; they can develop sociopathic or psychopathic tendencies and single-handedly destroy their adoptive families. Real-life stories that mirror Dexter Morgan, only without the altruistic approach to murder and torture.

Most of the time, adopted children have wonderful lives and turn out to be upstanding adults; thankful for their families and even more likely to adopt children themselves. But sometimes, things go horribly wrong. And some twisted children practice their evil on their very own families. Here is a list of 15 adopted children, whose twisted and dark childhoods led them to a path of evil, murder, and crime.

15. The Russian Reject

At 7 years old, Artyom Savelyev was sent on a one-way flight from the United States back to Moscow, returned by his adoptive grandmother. Artyom’s adoptive American family claimed he had severe mental instability; possibly psychopathic. The family claimed they were lied to by the Russian orphanage workers. Artyom apparently drew pictures of the family house burning down and would gloat that he was planning to do the deed. He also talked about killing his adoptive family, and showed streaks of extreme violence against the family. The family lived in fear of the 7 year old child until they finally broke, and sent the young boy all the way back to Russia, unaccompanied. Artyom, now back in Russia, has been moving around the foster system, looking for a family to accept him, though even social workers in Russia confirm that he is “not in his right mind”.

14. The Baby Beater

At six years old, sweet Beth slaughtered a nest of baby birds, and beat her little brother while he was sleeping. She was scolded and promised never to do either things again. Shortly after, she smashed her brother’s face into the concrete floor, sending him to the hospital. Her adoptive family sought answers from her past and familial history, but the adoption agency denied the requests, citing reasons of confidentiality. Beth was then sent to a therapist, where she confessed her desire to stab her mom, dad and little brother with kitchen knives she stole from the dishwasher. Beth also tortured family pets and tried to fondle her grandfather. This story, however, has a happy ending, because Beth was able to receive helpful therapy, and is now a happy and healthy adult and registered nurse, caring for children with similar conditions.

13. The Psychopathic Toddler

At 20 months old, sweet and strong-willed Samantha was adopted by a loving family because her mother could no longer afford to care for her. Clinically, everything seemed perfect. She had no identifiable physical or mental ailments. The first sign of her unusual behavior started when she pulled down her pants and deliberately peed on her little brother. At six years old, she tried to choke her little sister to death while she was strapped in her car seat and suffocate her two month old brother. Frantically trying to find a diagnosis and treatment for Samantha, her parents put her in therapy. Samantha showed her therapist pictures she’d drawn of murder weapons, including a plastic bag for suffocating and chemicals for poisoning. She also practiced murder on her stuffed animals, because it made her happy. Samantha now lives in a home, where she is being treated for “callous and unemotional traits”; a pre-diagnosis for psychopathy.

12. The Teenager Who Shot And Killed His Entire Family

In 1983, 14 year old Peter Zimmer murdered his adoptive mother, father and little brother. Peter shot his father in the head five times and stabbed his mother to death, penetrating her skull and brain, then dragging her into a shed and placing a rosary on her body. Peter then stabbed his ten year old brother 25 times. After the bloody murder spree, he stole his parents’ car and fled the scene. When he was finally caught, he was charged with the three murders as a minor. Just four years later, he was released from juvenile detention with a clean record and a new name and a large sum of money he ironically inherited as the sole survivor of his family trust. After his release, he got involved in several romantic relationships and fathered two children. But when women discovered his dark past, he returned to his twisted ways by sending dead animals in the mail and obsessively stalking them. Peter, now known as Jovan Collier, is free today and has owned several failing construction companies.

11. Rylan And His Best Friend, Bleeder

Rylan’s bizarre behavior started when he was only 18 months old, when he would intentionally hold his breath until he passed out. By three years old he was violently stabbing watermelons and by four, he was hurting his siblings and animals. When he was six, Rylan locked himself in the bathroom and cut the tips of his fingers off, just to watch them bleed. At seven years old, Rylan had an imaginary friend named Bleeder. Bleeder constantly told Rylan that he needed to kill his entire family. Rylan’s mother was a meth addict and his father had bipolar disorder. His adoptive family was terrified by his shocking behavior, and even went to Dr. Phil for help.

10. Amelia Dyer Murdered Over 100 Babies

Amelia Dyer was born in 1829 in Bristol, England. She led a somewhat privileged life until her mother went mad from typhus, and she was adopted by her aunt. Amelia became a nurse and ran shelters for women and girls who became unexpectedly pregnant. She offered nursing and refuge to the women, and for a fee, she would care for the babies until they were adopted. But instead of caring for the babies, Amelia started starving them, overdosing them on opiates and strangling them. She made a career out of scamming desperate mothers out of an upfront payment and promising them that their children would be loved and cared for until they found a happy home. Instead, she murdered upwards of 100 babies for small lump-sum payments. She was eventually executed by hanging.

9. The Casino Child Murderer

Jeremy Strohmeyer was adopted as an infant and had a relatively benign and spoiled childhood in California. He was an honor roll student and appeared to be the perfect kid. When he was 18, he went to a casino in Primm, Nevada with a friend. In the early morning, he found a young girl roaming the casino on her own while her father gambled. He sexually assaulted the girl in the women’s restroom and proceeded to strangle her, leaving her body in the bathroom. His adoptive parents later sued Los Angeles County and its adoption workers for withholding the fact the Jeremy’s biological mother suffered from chronic schizophrenia and had spent the majority of her life in a mental institution.

8. The Texas Terror

In 1973, Daniel Hittle murdered his adoptive mother and father because their dog scratched his truck. He was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison in the State of Minnesota. After 11 years of his sentence, he was released. Upon his release, he married and had a daughter. He abused his wife and beat his toddler daughter, abused their family pets and even tortured his daughter’s stuffed animals by leaving them hanging on her swing-set with a noose. The pattern continued with his second wife and second daughter. In 1989, Hittle shot a police officer during a routine traffic stop with a 20-gauge shotgun he stored in his truck. He then went to his drug dealer’s house and murdered her and her 4 year old daughter and two other people residing in the house. Hittle was executed in the State of Texas in 2000 and his last meal was an olive tray, a grilled cheese sandwich and a cinnamon roll.

7. The Beast of Bastille

Guy Georges was born in France; his mother was French and his father was an American soldier. He was abandoned by his parents and ended up in foster care until he was 6, and was adopted by a family with 12 other adopted children. At 14, he tried to strangle one of his sisters and at 16 he attacked another sister and was kicked out of the family. At 17 he was drinking heavily, had become a career criminal and attacked two more women by stabbing them in the face. Both women survived and he went to prison. When he was released, he went on a murdering spree. He preyed on young, attractive women. He was charged with the rape and murder of seven women in the Bastille area of Paris, though he is suspected of more.

6. The German Monster

Jergen Bartsch was born in post-World war II Germany and lost his mother at 5 months old. His childhood was filled by strange encounters with adults; including a priest that tried to seduce him, and his adoptive mother, who insisted on bathing him – even into adulthood. By 15 he had become a full-fledged serial killer, luring young boys into an air-raid shelter. He murdered 4 young boys and dismembered their bodies and attempted a fifth, but the boy escaped, which eventually led to his arrest.

5. The English Psychopath

Jeremy Bamber was dubbed “warped and evil beyond belief” by the judge during his trial for murdering five members of his adopted family at the age of 24. Adopted at just six weeks old, he was the illegitimate child from an affair between a preacher’s daughter and a married Army Sergeant. He was adopted into a wealthy family of farmers living in the English countryside. Jeremy was spoiled materialistically but his adoptive parents were strict evangelical Christians, and imposed serious discipline. Jeremy and his adoptive sister took separate paths as adults, but his sister fell ill to schizophrenia and moved back to the farmhouse with her children. Jeremy begrudgingly took a job on the farm, but resented the blue collar lifestyle and yearned for something flashy and grand. Jeremy decided one fateful night to bludgeon his father to death, and shoot his mother, sister and his two baby nephews. His sister was found clutching a Bible and a .22 rifle. Jeremy almost got away with it, as law enforcement bought the story that his sister had gone crazy and killed everyone in the family. Several days later, he attended his family’s funerals. Jeremy showed no remorse at the funeral, tipping off law enforcement and other witnesses. The investigation was reviewed, and a series of missteps on Jeremy’s behalf were uncovered, including a silencer hidden away, with his DNA and blood spatters from his sister. He went to trial and received a life sentence.

4. The Hillside Strangler

Kenneth Bianchi was born in New York to a prostitute and adopted at three months old. His parents noticed from an early age, that he went into trance-like daydreams, and was diagnosed with seizures at five years old. He was noted for having a very high intelligence, but was also an academic underachiever, and a compulsive liar. At 26 years old, Bianchi and his cousin started working as pimps in Los Angeles, but their lust for women eventually turned to murder. Bianchi and his cousin cruised the streets of LA pretending to be undercover cops. They abducted, tortured and murdered 10 women and girls between 12 and 21 years old. The two boys tried lethal injection, electric shock, carbon monoxide poisoning and strangulation. Bianchi then went rogue and murdered two women on his own, but left enough clues for the LAPD to close in on him. He was caught and sentenced to life in prison in the state of Washington and California.

3. The Polite Mass Murderer

Richard Benjamin Speck was born in Illinois to a family of 8. He was very close to his father, who died when he was only six. Three years later, his mother married a drunk con-artist, and he was adopted by his new step-father. Richard bounced around the family throughout his childhood and started drinking heavily by the age of 13. Richard spent over a decade committing petty crimes, escalating in violence. At 30 years old, he robbed and raped a 65 year old woman at knife point. The woman recalled Richard being very polite, speaking with a southern drawl. Six years later, Richard broke into a townhouse and took eight female nurses hostage. He beat them, raped them and stabbed them all to death. He claimed during trial that he did not remember any of the murders, because he was high on a cocktail of prescription drugs. Richard was sentenced to death, but was re-sentenced to 300 years in prison. He died in 1991 in his cell.

2. The Coast to Coast Killer

Tommy Lynn Sells was born into a family of seven, including his twin sister who died of meningitis when she was 18 months old. He was sent to live with his aunt who unofficially adopted him. When he was eight, he was repeatedly sexually abused by a friend of the family. Tommy spent 20 years as a transient laborer, holding many jobs across the country and committing several murders and crimes, though authorities suspected that he was also an embellisher – the exact amount of murders committed is unknown. Tommy practiced no restraint during his murdering spree; he spared no family members, including children and infants. Tommy is suspected of at least 22 murders, though the official number is unknown. He was executed in the State of Texas in 2014 after his last-minute appeal fell through.

1. The Deadliest Woman

Aileen Wuornos was born to a 15 year old mother and a schizophrenic child molester father in Michigan. Aileen was abandoned by her mother and adopted by her grandparents. She got into drugs, sex and criminal activity by age 11, and became a sex worker at age 15. From the ages of 33-34, Aileen murdered seven men. All of the men were shot to death, and during her trial, she claimed they were all acts of self-defense. The men’s bodies were always found tossed off the side of the road on rural highways. Aileen’s life has been the subject of several films, including Monster, starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. Aileen finally admitted in death row that she was a cold blooded murderer, stating, “I robbed them, and I killed them as cold as ice, and I would do it again, and I know I would kill another person because I’ve hated humans for a long time.” She was executed by lethal injection in Florida in 2002.