Oxygen’s World’s Most Notorious Killers usually confines its grim explorations to a single locale, but “The Vienna Strangler” presents a particularly vexing challenge: murders in two cities an ocean apart. This isn’t your garden-variety serial killer case; this is a transatlantic terror spree, a shocking first in criminal history (if the show’s breathless pronouncements are to be believed). And the suspect? Someone who has been living a deadly double life, hiding in plain sight.
The premise is certainly attention-grabbing. The notion of a killer flitting between Vienna and Los Angeles, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake, suggests a level of audacity and cunning that’s catnip for true crime aficionados. Who could this person be? How did they manage to evade detection for so long? These are the questions World’s Most Notorious Killers aims to address.
Of course, the true crime genre thrives on suspense, and “The Vienna Strangler” appears designed to deliver it in spades. While the prospect of a transatlantic killer is undoubtedly tantalizing, one hopes the episode doesn’t lean too heavily on sensationalism. Will the investigation offer genuine insights into the killer’s motives and methods, or will it devolve into a tawdry spectacle?
World’s Most Notorious Killers “The Vienna Strangler” airs Monday, December 9, 2024, at 8:00 PM on Oxygen.
