For an extended period, serial killer Michael Hughes operated covertly until he was observed maneuvering a shopping cart along the street, with the remains of one of his victims concealed within.

Hughes was among several serial killers active in the streets of South Los Angeles during the late 1980s and early 1990s, a time marked by a surge in crime within drug-infested neighborhoods. His chilling murder spree, along with the crimes associated with other serial killers in the region, is the central theme of Oxygen’s documentary, Serial Killer Capital: Los Angeles.

It was one of the most violent decades in the city’s history, remarked Bernard Parks, former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, reflecting on the era. I think we had two or three years that over 1,000 murders were committed.

A former Navy machinist, Hughes frequently targeted vulnerable women on the streets and was ultimately convicted of the murders of seven women over a span of seven years.

Who were the victims of Michael Hughes?

Hughes distinguished himself from other serial killers in South Los Angeles by often arranging his victims in provocative positions.

He is trying to shock whoever finds the body, stated former Los Angeles Police Department cold case detective Cliff Shepard in an interview with The Daily Beast. We suspect there was some incident in his life that set his actions in motion, and he later decided to take it out on a number of women.