American serial killer and rapist (1947–1996)

William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also known as the Freeway Killer, was an American serial killer, pederast and twice-paroled sex offender who committed the rape, torture, and murder of a minimum of twenty-one young men and boys in a series of killings in southern California from May 1979 to June 1980. On at least twelve occasions, Bonin was *isted by one of his four known accomplices; he is also suspected of committing a further fifteen murders.

Described by the prosecutor at his first trial as "the most arch-evil person who ever existed", Bonin was convicted of fourteen of the murders linked to the "Freeway Killer" in two separate trials in 1982 and 1983. He spent fourteen years on death row before he was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in 1996. Bonin was the first inmate in California to die by this method.

Bonin became known as the "Freeway Killer", as well as the Freeway Strangler, due to the fact that the majority of his victims' bodies were discovered alongside numerous freeways in southern California. He shares this epithet with two separate and unrelated serial killers active in and around southern California in the 1970s: Patrick Kearney and Randy Kraft.

Contents

• 1 Early life
  • 1.1 Childhood
  • 1.2 Adolescence
  • 1.3 Engagement and U.S. Air Force
• 2 First convictions
  • 2.1 Further offenses and imprisonment
• 3 Release
  • 3.1 Acquaintance with Vernon Butts
• 4 Murders
  • 4.1 First murder
    • 4.1.1 Initial arrest
  • 4.2 Subsequent killings
  • 4.3 Participation of Gregory Miley
    • 4.3.1 Murders of Miranda and Macabe
  • 4.4 March 1980
    • 4.4.1 Encounter with William Pugh
    • 4.4.2 Murder of Harry Turner
  • 4.5 Further murders
  • 4.6 Surveillance
    • 4.6.1 Acquaintance with James Munro
  • 4.7 Murder of Steven Wells
• 5 Arrest
  • 5.1 Confession
  • 5.2 Accomplices' arrest
• 6 Preliminary hearings
• 7 Murder trials
  • 7.1 Los Angeles County
    • 7.1.1 Conviction
    • 7.1.2 Sentencing
  • 7.2 Orange County
    • 7.2.1 Second conviction
• 8 Death row
  • 8.1 Appeals
• 9 Execution
• 10 Victims
• 11 Other "Freeway Killers"
• 12 Aftermath
• 13 Media
  • 13.1 Film
  • 13.2 Bibliography
  • 13.3 Television
• 14 See also
• 15 Notes
• 16 References
• 17 Cited works and further reading
• 18 External links

Early life

Childhood

William George "Bill" Bonin was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, on January 8, 1947, the second of three sons—each of whom were three years apart—born to Robert Leonard Bonin Sr. (1919–1980) and Alice Dorothy Bonin (née Cote, 1920–2004). Bonin's parents were both alcoholics; his father was an ill-tempered war veteran and gambling addict who was frequently physically abusive toward his wife in the presence of his children, and who is known to have occasionally beaten his sons during his wife's absence. In contrast, his mother was an overbearing, co-dependent and p*ive woman who suffered from wild mood swings and who spent much of her free time at a bingo parlor—often as her sons remained unattended at the family home. Consequently, the siblings were severely neglected as children, with their parents seldom present in the household. In spite of this dysfunctional environment, Bonin and his brothers were actively raised Catholic by their parents and baptized according to church doctrine.

St. Joseph's Convent, Willimantic, Connecticut. Bonin was housed in this convent between 1953 and 1956.

In 1953, Bonin's mother placed Bonin and his younger brother in a Catholic convent in an apparent effort to protect her children from the ongoing domestic violence within the family home. This convent was known to severely discipline the children it housed for major and minor breaches of conduct, with punishments administered including harsh beatings, enduring various stress positions, repeatedly pacing staircases until exhausted, and partial drowning in sinks filled with ice water. In more extreme cases, orphans are alleged to have faced *aults which included having their heads dunked in toilets, being beaten until bloodied, and being threatened with knives. Despite these forms of mistreatment, contemporary records indicate Bonin—a typically troublesome child—was observed by officials to function well under the controlled environment of this convent.

Although Bonin later freely discussed many aspects of his childhood, he largely refused to discuss his memories of the three years he spent at this convent beyond divulging on one occasion that by 1955, he had become fearful of an older boy and had consented to his sexual advances only by allowing him to first tie his (Bonin's) hands behind his back. He also denied any other memories of the alleged abuse he and other orphans may have been subjected to. As neither parent visited Bonin or his brother at the convent, he gradually began to believe his parents were dead. Bonin was to remain at the convent until 1956, when he returned to live with his parents in the town of Mansfield, Connecticut.

Neighbors in Mansfield later failed to recollect either parent spending any significant time with their sons and—observing their unkempt, dirty and hungry condition—occasionally provided meals and clean clothes to Bonin and his younger brother out of sympathy. These signs of neglect were also noted by Bonin's fifth and sixth grade cl*mates, whom he related poorly to as a friendless and problematic student. Furthermore, from their early childhood to 1957, Bonin and his brothers were frequently placed in the care of their maternal grandfather, a convicted child molester who had sexually abused Bonin's mother until her adulthood, and whom Bonin's mother began suspecting of sexually *aulting his grandsons during the prolonged instances they were under his care. In addition, Bonin's parents would occasionally leave Bonin and his younger brother Paul under the care of the eldest brother, Robert Jr., who often beat and belittled his siblings.

In 1957, Bonin was arrested for stealing tags from vehicle license plates; he was placed in a juvenile detention center for these offenses and various other minor crimes. While housed at this juvenile detention center, he was molested by an adult counselor who had been *igned to control and monitor the juvenile offenders. Following Bonin's release from the detention home, he began sexually fondling his younger brother.

Adolescence

Bonin, pictured in the North High School yearbook, c. 1963

Due to the gambling addiction of Bonin's father which resulted in the prospect of the foreclosure of the family home, Bonin's parents opted to relocate from Connecticut to California in 1960, when Bonin was in the eighth grade. The family rented a modest white stucco tract home located at 10802 Angell Street in Downey, California. Although both parents were generally neglectful of their children, Bonin and his brothers were primarily raised by their mother, who often displayed inordinately domineering and emasculating behavior toward Bonin.

Bonin attended North High School in Torrance, where he was regarded as a social outcast who scarcely interacted with his peers, although his younger brother later recollected Bonin as an outwardly well-behaved teenager with an apparently caring personality, whom he nicknamed "Goody-Two Shoes" for his temperament. "He'd give the clothes off his back," Paul later remarked of his brother's generosity. "If he had a bag of candy, he gave it away," Bonin's mother also later recalled of her middle son. His primary hobby as a teen was bowling, something at which he performed adequately; this hobby would last throughout the course of his teenage years. According to Bonin, he was something of an awkward, shy loner who generally felt uncomfortable in the presence of his peers. Consequently, Bonin is not known to have formed any long-standing or close friendships throughout his adolescence. He was also self-conscious of his facial features, and refused to smile in public due to his misaligned teeth.

By his teenage years, Bonin had developed an unrelenting and obsessive interest in pedophilia, also discovering he was *sexual upon reaching puberty. His sexuality later became the basis of a long-standing conflict with his mother, who believed his sexual inclinations toward young boys to be a curable social disorder. As such, the two frequently argued about his *sexual attraction. Very seldom, Bonin attempted to publicly court and/or interact with females as an adolescent. On one occasion, he was humiliated and rejected by a girl whom he had worked up his courage to approach and ask for a date. This incident wounded his self-esteem and increased Bonin's belief that he "just couldn't make it with girls" as romantic partners; he resolved to never allow a female to hurt him this deeply again.

Following these events, Bonin was reported to have molested several neighborhood children while the family lived on Angell Street. Bonin's mother—allegedly extremely emotionally controlling and protective of her son—is known to have refused to acknowledge these acts of molestation, as well as the general escalating antisocial behavior exhibited by Bonin throughout his adolescence. Nonetheless, Bonin's mother, noted to have displayed extreme disappointment and contempt for her middle son's sexuality and actions, is known to have evicted her son from the household on at least one occasion for undisclosed reasons.

Engagement and U.S. Air Force

Shortly after graduating from North High School in 1965, Bonin became engaged to marry. This engagement had largely been at the behest of his mother, with whom Bonin held a recurrent source of conflict pertaining to his evident *sexuality and who—insisting he lead a heterosexual lifestyle—believed the prospect of marriage would quell her son's sexual preferences. Later the same year, his mother persuaded him to join the United States Air Force; he served five months of active duty in the 205th *ault Support Helicopter Unit during the Vietnam War as an aerial gunner, logging over 700 hours of combat and patrol time.

Bonin was to later claim that his experiences in Vietnam instilled a belief within him that human life is overvalued and that humans generally overestimate their value in society, stating, "You learn that life is cheap over there." Despite this, he is known to have risked his own life on one occasion while under enemy fire to save the life of a wounded fellow airman. For this act, Bonin received a medal in recognition of his gallantry, among other medals. According to Bonin, he engaged in sexual relations with both males and females in Vietnam, although he also confessed to sexually *aulting two soldiers under his command at gunpoint during the period of the Tet Offensive.

Bonin served three years in the Air Force before receiving an honorable discharge in October 1968 at age 21. Upon returning home, Bonin discovered that his fiancée—who by this stage had given birth to their son—had left him to marry another man. During Bonin's engagement, he repeatedly informed his fiancée he suffered from recurring nightmares in which he would sexually *ault a young woman before discarding her body. According to Bonin's fiancée, he frequently woke up in tears and physically trembling from this nightmare. As a result of these concerning behaviors, the relationship was short-lived. He would later summarize his relationship with this young woman as a "big mistake" and a personal failure of his, primarily fueled by his mother's pressuring of him.

Following the separation, Bonin returned to Downey to live with his mother. Several family members noted a marked difference in his behavior following his military service, although Bonin refused to elaborate as to the changes in his demeanor.

First convictions

On November 17, 1968, Bonin confronted a 14-year-old youth before handcuffing, stripping and beating the teenager into semiconsciousness while threatening to sodomize and murder him; the youth was then sodomized before being released. On November 24, Bonin abducted and handcuffed a 17-year-old youth whom he then sodomized. During this *ault, Bonin also bludgeoned the boy with a tire iron, in addition to traumatizing his *s by squeezing.

Five weeks later, on January 1, 1969, Bonin forced a 12-year-old boy whom he had abducted to orally copulate him before further molesting the child; he then threatened to kill this victim if he ever reported the incident. On January 12, Bonin abducted and handcuffed an 18-year-old youth, who was extensively beaten before being forced to orally copulate Bonin. This victim was also sodomized.

In January 1969, Bonin was arrested as he attempted to restrain an intended fifth victim, a 16-year-old whom he had lured into his vehicle before handcuffing. He was indicted on five counts of kidnapping, four counts of sodomy, one count of oral copulation, and one count of child molestation against the five individuals he had abducted and *aulted or—in the case of the final youth he had abducted—attempted to *ault since the previous November. In each instance, Bonin had handcuffed or otherwise restrained his victim before forcibly engaging in sodomy, oral copulation, and methods of torture which included bludgeoning about the head with a tire iron, choking one victim until he had neared unconsciousness, and the squeezing of two of his victims' *s.

Bonin pleaded guilty to molestation and forced oral copulation and was sentenced to the Atascadero State Hospital as a mentally disordered sex offender considered amenable to treatment in January 1971.

While detained at Atascadero hospital, Bonin was subjected to various psychiatric examinations which revealed that he possessed a higher than average IQ of 121 and displayed traits of manic depression, sexual sadism disorder, and antisocial personality disorder, though no other significant brain anomalies were present. Bonin's physical examinations also revealed extensive scars on his head and buttocks. Bonin claimed to have no memory of how he obtained these scars, likely sustained in the various ins*utions he previously resided in, leading many experts to conclude Bonin repressed memories of the more extreme aspects of his childhood abuse. These professionals also noted the psychological and emotional implications of Bonin's unhealthy relationship with his domineering mother, upon whom he remained emotionally dependent in spite of her low opinion of him, and who maintained her son was essentially "worthless as a human being".

Bonin regularly attended therapy groups and volunteered to partake in experimental programs conducted at the Atascadero hospital; he was considered a non-violent, helpful and conscientious patient. One psychiatrist wrote of Bonin that he "wanted to straighten himself out, but doesn't know how to go about it." Despite this, Bonin soon began reciting what he believed psychiatrists desired to hear from him, believing he could manipulate psychiatrists into granting him an early release. In the presence of several patients, Bonin is also known to have stated his intentions to eliminate future victims of his sexual *aults if necessary. Two years after his arrival at Atascadero State Hospital, Bonin was sent to prison, having been declared unsuitable for further treatment largely due to his repeated sexual engagement with two mentally challenged inmates. While in prison, Bonin sought to raise money for the family of another prisoner, and reportedly applied willingly for at least one treatment program. Bonin was released from prison on June 11, 1974, after doctors concluded he was "no longer a danger to the health and safety of others".

Further offenses and imprisonment

Three months after Bonin's release from prison, on September 8, 1974, he encountered a 14-year-old named David Allen McVicker hitchhiking in the city of Garden Grove. McVicker accepted Bonin's offer to drive him to his parents' home in Huntington Beach. Shortly after McVicker entered Bonin's Opel Kadett, he asked the teenager whether he had engaged in *sexuality or was *sexual. McVicker replied that he had not, asking to leave the vehicle, prompting Bonin to accelerate the vehicle.

When McVicker attempted to leave the car, Bonin produced a gun and drove McVicker to a deserted field, ordering the teenager to undress before proceeding to beat him. Bonin then forced oral copulation on McVicker before raping him as he simultaneously strangled him with his T-shirt and a tire iron in the front seat of his car. With little breath left, McVicker pleaded for his life stating, "God, help!" Bonin immediately ceased his *ault and apologized before reverting to casual conversation. He then drove McVicker to his home, stating on the way, "You know what? You're an alright guy. I was going to kill you but I want to come back for you and use you again." As McVicker was leaving Bonin's vehicle, Bonin further remarked, "We'll meet again."

McVicker cried for several hours before calling a child abuse hotline. He then phoned his mother, who immediately drove home from work and informed Garden Grove police of the incident. Months later, Bonin was arrested for the two *aults on October 11, 1975. When arrested, he informed law enforcement that "next time there won't be any more witnesses." He was subsequently charged with the rape and forcible oral copulation of a minor, and the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old boy which had occurred two days after Bonin's *ault on McVicker. In this second instance, Bonin had sexually propositioned the teenager, who had rejected Bonin's offer of $35 for sex before abruptly exiting his van. The boy had told Bonin to "get out of here". In response, Bonin drove the van onto the sidewalk in an attempt to strike the youth with his vehicle.

Bonin pleaded guilty to both charges and on December 31, 1975, he was sentenced to serve between one and fifteen years' imprisonment at the California Men's Facility in San Luis Obispo. In 1977, Bonin was subject to further psychiatric examination; the results of this evaluation indicated his sexual involvement with young boys related to his mother's micromanagement of his life. Although Bonin denied any culpability of this conviction to fellow inmates, as a convicted child molester, he was beaten on several occasions while incarcerated for this offense. Bonin was released from detention on October 11, 1978, albeit with eighteen months' supervised probation.

Release

Upon his release, Bonin moved to an apartment complex at the Kingswood Village complex in Downey, located approximately one mile from his parents' house. He soon established a reputation among teenage boys in his neighborhood as a gregarious individual who bought alcohol for minors and allowed them to socialize in his apartment. In late 1978, Bonin became acquainted with a 43-year-old neighbor and ex-bank officer named Everett Scott Fraser. Bonin became a regular attendee at Fraser's parties—held almost every night of the week for the next several months—where young men, drugs, and alcohol were rife. Fraser considered Bonin a respectful, polite and placid individual to whom he frequently introduced his young male acquaintances, with the two also exchanging stories of their *sexual exploits and penchant for sex with teenage boys.

During this period, Bonin and his younger brother Paul—who had been working as a plumber—ran a neighborhood bar called the Alpine Inn in the rural community of Silverado, California. Unable to obtain a permanent liquor license as a result of Bonin's criminal record, however, the business venture was short-lived. Throughout his adult life, Bonin worked in a series of menial professions such as the aforementioned bartendering profession and taxi driving. None of these jobs had lasted a significant length of time, and he was frequently unemployed. In 1979, he obtained more secure employment as a truck driver at a Montebello delivery firm named Dependable Drive-Away, earning $5 an hour. The same year, he also began dating a young woman whom, he informed acquaintances, he regularly accompanied to Anaheim on Sundays to participate in her hobby of roller skating. In April 1979, Bonin's parole supervision concluded.

Bonin later returned to his parents' house, where he gradually developed a reputation as a child molester among local residents due to his habit of inviting young boys into the household—occasionally as his mother, younger brother, and others were present—under the guise of providing free alcohol and viewing adult movieography with them. Some neighbors later recollected frequently observing young boys accompany Bonin into the residence, some of whom they would later hear screaming and crying once inside the residence. In spite of this, his mother and younger brother claimed to have never witnessed Bonin abuse any youths. By this period, Bonin's father was admitted to a veterans hospital where he would spend much of his time for various issues pertaining to his health, presumably induced by his long-standing alcohol addiction.

Acquaintance with Vernon Butts

Through his frequent attendance at Fraser's parties, Bonin became acquainted with a 21-year-old porcelain-factory worker, occultist, and part-time magician named Vernon Robert Butts and an 18-year-old named Gregory Matthews Miley.

At the time of his initial acquaintance with Bonin, Butts—an avid reader of horror fiction who frequently cosplayed as fictional characters such as Darth Vader—had developed a local reputation as an incredibly eccentric figure who adorned his apartment with novelty spiders and who kept two coffins in his apartment, one which was used as a phone booth, and another as a coffee table in which Butts made love to his girlfriend, Cati Razook: a self-proclaimed witch. He had recently been fired from his employment as a magic store clerk at Knott's Berry Farm due to his unkempt appearance and increasingly strange and unpredictable behavior. Butts supplemented his income by charging $30 to appear as a magician at children's parties, a personal hobby he enjoyed.

A drifter who had been in and out of penal ins*utions, Butts was later speculated by court prosecutors to have developed a fascination with *ic *sexual activity while in jail. Although Butts held an extensive criminal record for offenses such as burglary and arson, he claimed to have been both fascinated with and terrified of Bonin, whom he claimed held a "kind of hypnotic" control over him. In contrast, Bonin held Butts in high regard for his social popularity, claiming their friendship raised his own poor self-esteem and helped overcome his difficulty socializing with others. Although both lived externally heterosexual lifestyles, the two soon became lovers, with Butts also introducing Bonin to the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons And Dragons, in which Butts organized and advertised weekly gaming events at his residence.

Shortly after their acquaintance, Bonin suggested the two should rape and murder a teenage hitchhiker. Butts was amenable to this suggestion, and later freely admitted to taking great delight in watching Bonin abuse and torture his victims in the rear of his van as he (Butts) drove the vehicle. Nonetheless, Butts insisted he had primarily participated in the murders out of fear of Bonin, who on one occasion had arrived at his residence unannounced after he had discreetly changed his address without informing him.

Miley—an illiterate Texas native with an IQ of 56 who supported himself with casual work—also actively participated in two murders he accompanied Bonin upon. Bonin himself later confessed to a psychologist his feeling a sense of social belonging with his accomplices in murder that he had never previously experienced with any other individuals.

Murders

The Ford Econoline van used by Bonin to abduct his victims.

Bonin usually selected young male hitchhikers, schoolboys or, occasionally, male pros*utes as his victims. The victims, aged 12 to 19, were predominantly slender, pale, long-haired youths whom he either enticed or forced into his Ford Econoline van, where they were overpowered and bound hand and foot with a combination of handcuffs and wire or cords. They were then sexually *aulted, extensively beaten about the face, torso, head and genitals, and tortured before typically being killed by strangulation with their own T-shirts and a tire iron while letting them fade in and out of consciousness, although some victims were stabbed or battered to death. One victim, Darin Kendrick, was forced to drink hydrochloric acid; three victims had ice-picks driven into their ears and another victim, Mark Shelton, died of shock from impaling.

According to one attorney present throughout Bonin's subsequent confessions, the escalating levels of brutality he had exhibited toward his victims had been similar to that of a drug addict requiring an ever-greater increase of dosage to attain a satisfactory level of euphoria. Bonin himself later likened his homicidal urges to that of an addiction, emphasizing to neurologists his scarcely being able to wait for the onset of dusk to begin his cruising and referencing his feelings of extreme restlessness and sexual frustration in the hours prior to his murders, emphasizing that he had felt an intense sense of excitement as he drove in search of his victims. Reserving Sundays for his girlfriend, he typically cruised the freeways on Fridays and Saturdays. Bonin also later described his feeling pleasure at hearing his victims scream, as well as sodomizing his victims—particularly in an upright position—without lubricant, causing them to rectally bleed and tear.

In order to minimize the chances of a potential victim escaping from his vehicle, Bonin removed all inner handles from the p*enger-side and rear doors of his van. He also stowed ligatures, knives, pliers, wire coat hangers, and other such instruments in his vehicle to facilitate the restraining and torture of his victims. The victims were usually killed inside his van before their bodies were discarded alongside or close to various freeways in southern California. In an apparent effort to avoid investigators connecting his crimes, Bonin often drove to various counties to discard his victims' bodies far from the site of their abduction. Dr. Albert Rosenstein, a forensic psychologist, predicted their killer was an intelligent sex offender in his late twenties or early thirties, had spent time in a psychiatric facility, was abused as a child, and that while bisexual, the killer "has become comfortable with the *sexual side of his personality" and is repulsed by his actions, as is evidenced by the gruesome mutilation of his victims.

In a minimum of twelve of the murders, Bonin—who considered murder a "group sport"—was *isted by one or more of his four known accomplices. Scrapbooking newspaper clippings of his murders, Bonin would later hold up newspapers to accomplice Vernon Butts and acquaintance Everett Fraser and boast of which murders he had committed. In discussion of the killings with acquaintances, Bonin remarked "this guy is giving good gays like us a bad name." Following media coverage of his murders, Bonin also enthusiastically mentioned his killings to fellow co-workers at Dependable Drive-Away, stating, "He did it again. ... They found another one, a strangler victim." To those unaware of his crimes, Bonin—who made daily trips to Orange County to buy newspapers—reportedly "seemed obsessed" with the case.

First murder

Thomas Lundgren, the first known Freeway Killer victim.

The first murder for which Bonin was charged was that of a 13-year-old named Thomas Glen Lundgren. Lundgren was last seen leaving his parents' house in Reseda at 10:50:a.m. on May 28, 1979. Shortly before his abduction, Lundgren had reportedly told friends a man had offered to meet him at a skatepark to take photos of him for a skateboarding magazine.

His body, clad only in a T-shirt, shoes and socks, was found the same afternoon in Agoura. An autopsy revealed that Lundgren had suffered emasculation and extensive bludgeoning to his face and head, with his skull sustaining multiple fractures. In addition, the youth had been slashed across the throat, extensively stabbed about the chest and stomach, and strangled to death. His underwear, jeans, and severed genitals—bearing several bite marks—were discovered strewn in a field close to his body.

An expert later postulated that Bonin's brutality was likely an attempt to "kill" his *sexual attraction to Lundgren, further "silencing" his desire with each subsequent stabbing. In the abduction and murder of Lundgren, Bonin was *isted by Butts, who is suspected of accompanying or *isting Bonin on at least eight further murders attributed to the "Freeway Killer".

Initial arrest

In August 1979, Bonin was again detained for molesting a 17-year-old boy in the coastal community of Dana Point. This violation of the conditions of his parole should have resulted in Bonin being returned to prison; however, an administrative error committed prior to Bonin's scheduled court date resulted in his release. Fraser drove to collect Bonin from the Orange County Jail where he had been incarcerated. He later recollected that as he drove Bonin home, Bonin made a statement which Fraser had interpreted at the time as an expression of remorse: "No one's going to testify again. This is never going to happen to me again." Resuming his murder spree, Bonin did not bother to appear for his court appointment.

Subsequent killings

Two months after the murder of Lundgren, on August 4, 1979, Bonin and Butts abducted a 17-year-old named Mark Shelton shortly after the youth left his Westminster home to walk to a movie theater near Beach Boulevard. Screams were heard from the vicinity of the Shelton household by neighbors, leaving a strong possibility Shelton was abducted by force. The youth was violated with foreign objects including a stick, causing his body to enter a state of shock which proved fatal. His body was then discarded in San Bernardino County.

The Pacific Coast Highway. Victim Markus Grabs was abducted while hitchhiking alongside this highway on August 5, 1979.

The following day, Bonin and Butts encountered a 17-year-old West German student named Markus Grabs between 6:p.m. and 10:p.m. attempting to hitchhike from the Pacific Coast Highway. Grabs was bound with lengths of cord and ignition wire, then beaten and sodomized as Butts drove toward Bonin's home, where the youth was again sodomized and beaten. Grabs was subsequently partially strangled, then stabbed a total of 77 times—again postulated by various experts to be an attempt to "kill" his *sexuality—before his nude body was discarded in Malibu Creek, close to Las Virgenes Canyon Road. His body was found at approximately 6:30:a.m. the following morning, with one investigator likening the network of injuries inflicted upon the victim to that of a rabid dog unable to determine when to cease biting. On August 20, 1979, Bonin left the corpse of a John Doe to be found in Los Angeles.

On August 27, Bonin and Butts abducted a 15-year-old Hollywood youth named Donald Ray Hyden. Hyden was last seen alive walking along Santa Monica Boulevard at 1:a.m.; his body was found by construction workers later that same morning in a dumpster located near the offramp of the Ventura Freeway. Prior to his death by ligature strangulation, Hyden had been bound, beaten about the face, sodomized, then stabbed in the neck and genitalia and bludgeoned about the skull. Evident attempts had also been made to remove his *s and slash his throat, and his * was found bleeding and extensively distended, leading a coroner to opine he had been impaled by a large object.

Two weeks after the murder of Hyden, on September 9, Bonin and Butts encountered a 17-year-old La Mirada youth named David Louis Murillo cycling to a movie theater. Luring the youth into Bonin's van, they parked the vehicle at a secluded spot where he was bound, repeatedly raped by Bonin and Butts, extensively bludgeoned about the skull with a tire iron, then strangled with a ligature before his nude body was thrown out of the van and over an embankment into a bed of ivy alongside Highway 101. Eight days after the murder of Murillo, an 18-year-old Newport Beach youth named Robert Christopher Wirostek was abducted as he cycled to his job at a grocery store; his body was found on September 27 alongside Interstate 10.

Bonin is not known to have killed again until on or about November 1, 1979, when he and Butts abducted and murdered an unidentified young man with brown hair, between 5 ft 1 in and 5 ft 6 in in height, and estimated to be between 15 and 27 years old. This victim was savagely beaten, then strangled to death before his fully clothed body was discarded in an irrigation ditch alongside State Route 99, south of Bakersfield. During the ordeal, Bonin allegedly asked the victim whether he knew why he "had to die." He then further explained why, stating, "Your folks paid us to find you and kill you." Bonin proceeded to strangle the youth before inserting an ice pick into his nostrils and right ear.

Approximately four weeks later, on November 30, Bonin—operating alone—abducted a 17-year-old Bellflower youth named Frank Dennis Fox; during the process of ligature strangulation, Bonin had killed the youth while still sodomizing him. His body was found two days later alongside the Ortega Highway, five miles east of San Juan Capistrano. The body itself bore signs of extensive blunt force trauma to the face and head, with ligature marks on the wrists and ankles indicating Fox had been bound throughout his ordeal. No clothing or other identifying evidence was discovered at the scene.

Ten days after the murder of Fox, a 15-year-old Long Beach youth named John Fredrick Kilpatrick disappeared after leaving his parents' home to socialize with friends. Kilpatrick was strangled to death before his body was discarded in a remote area of Rialto. His body was found on December 13; Kilpatrick remained known as a John Doe until August 5, 1980. Because Kilpatrick—a troubled youth whose parents had recently divorced—was known to disappear for days at a time, his mother hesitated to report the disappearance. His friends also mistakenly reported seeing him at the mall. As a result, he was not reported missing until February.

On January 1, 1980, Bonin brutalized and strangled a 16-year-old Ontario youth named Michael Francis McDonald; his fully clothed body was found alongside Highway 71 in western San Bernardino County two days after his murder, although his body was not identified until March 24.

Participation of Gregory Miley

Murders of Miranda and Macabe

Charles Miranda (left) and James Macabe. Bonin was *isted by accomplice Gregory Miley in both murders on February 3, 1980.

On the morning of February 3, 1980, Bonin invited a 16-year-old boy into his parents' house to drink and engage in intercourse with. When Bonin briefly departed to urinate, he allegedly caught the youth stealing $100 from his billfold. Furious at the teenager's denial, Bonin resolved to commit a murder. Later that evening, Bonin drove from Downey to Hollywood in the company of Gregory Miley with the specific intention of committing a murder with Miley's *istance. The pair encountered a 15-year-old named Charles Miranda standing close to the Starwood nightclub, hitchhiking along Santa Monica Boulevard.

According to Miley, Bonin and Miranda engaged in consensual intercourse in the rear of the van as he drove, before Bonin privily stammered to him, "Kid's going to die. Kid's going to—this kid's going to die." Miley replied, stating, "Why don't you just let the kid go?" Bonin rejected this proposition, stating, "No, because he'll know us and know the van." Miranda was then overpowered by Bonin, who asked the teenager how much money he had in his possession. When Miranda responded he had "about six dollars", Bonin ordered Miley to take his wallet before proceeding to beat, then bind and gag Miranda. He then informed Miranda of his being robbed earlier that day, and that though it "wasn't fair," the youth was to be killed. Initially doubting Bonin, Miranda began crying before proceeding to beg for his life. Bonin then began sexually *aulting Miranda; Miley also attempted to rape Miranda, but was unable to sustain an erection. In frustration, Miley *aulted the youth with various sharp objects before *isting Bonin in beating him. Bonin then strangled Miranda to death with a T-shirt and a tire iron as Miley repeatedly jumped on Miranda's chest. His nude corpse was dumped shortly thereafter, in an alleyway alongside East Second Street in Los Angeles.

Five minutes after the pair had discarded Miranda's body, Bonin suggested to Miley: "I'm * again, let's go and do another one." Miley initially protested and stated he wanted to go home, but eventually complied with Bonin's insistence A few hours later, in Huntington Beach, the pair encountered 12-year-old James Macabe standing at a bus stop on the corner of Beach Boulevard and Slater Avenue. Temporarily left alone, Macabe had been dropped off there by his older brother, whom had given Macabe money and who he stayed with for the weekend. Macabe was lured into Bonin's van on the promise he would be driven to his intended destination of Disneyland with the additional incentive of *. According to Miley, the boy entered the rear of the van voluntarily as Bonin drove to a grocery store parking lot, parking the van and entering the rear of the vehicle where he began hugging and kissing the child. He then proceeded to bind the resisting Macabe, informing the boy he was being kidnapped for ransom.

To subdue the child, Bonin began repeatedly punching him in the stomach, mouth, and leg. Miley then drove in an aimless manner for what he later described as being a "very, very long distance" as he repeatedly heard Macabe crying as Bonin raped the boy and bludgeoned him about the head with a tire iron. Bonin then forced Macabe to sleep in his arms. Upon Macabe's waking, Miley joined Bonin in beating the child into unconsciousness simply because he "felt like" doing so before Bonin proceeded to crush Macabe's neck with a tire iron. Bonin then strangled Macabe to death with his own T-shirt before the pair discarded his corpse alongside a dumpster at a construction site in Walnut City. Macabe's body was discovered three days later, fully clothed, bearing several skull fractures and a bruised *. Following the murder of Macabe, Bonin and Miley spent the $6 retrieved from his wallet for lunch.

One day after Miranda and Macabe's murder, Bonin was arrested for violating the conditions of his parole; he was remanded in custody at the Orange County Jail until March 4.

March 1980

Ten days after Bonin's release from custody, on March 14, he abducted an 18-year-old Van Nuys youth named Ronald Gatlin; after *aulting the youth, Bonin began hacking at Gatlin's face with an ice pick. Gatlin was beaten and sodomized, suffering several deep, perforating ice pick wounds to the ear and neck before being strangled with a ligature. He also bore signs of extensive beating. The following day, his bound body was found behind an industrial building in the city of Duarte.

One week later, on March 21, Bonin lured a 14-year-old named Glenn Norman Barker into his van as the teenager hitchhiked from school to visit a friend. Barker was warned by family to not hitchhike, but accepted Bonin's ride as he had spent the bus money his mother gave him. Barker was also raped, beaten, violated with foreign objects, then strangled to death with a ligature, with his body also bearing evidence of numerous burns around the neck in a looping pattern which had been inflicted with a lit cigarette and an extensively distended *.

At approximately 4:07:p.m. the same day, a 15-year-old named Russell Duane Rugh was abducted from a bus stop in Garden Grove. Rugh intended on hitching a ride to his job at a fast food restaurant before encountering Bonin. He was bound, beaten and strangled to death after an estimated eight hours of captivity before his body was discarded alongside that of Barker in Cleveland National Forest, close to the Ortega Highway. The teenagers' nude bodies were found on March 23, both bearing evidence of extensive beating and ligature marks on their wrists, ankles, and neck.

Encounter with William Pugh

One Friday evening in March 1980, Bonin offered a 17-year-old named William Ray Pugh a ride home as the pair left Fraser's residence. Within minutes of accepting the ride, Bonin asked Pugh whether he would like to engage in sex with him. Pugh later stated he panicked and stuttered upon hearing this question and, after sitting in silence for several minutes, attempted to leave the vehicle once Bonin had slowed the van at a stoplight. In response, Bonin seized Pugh by the collar, dragging him back into the p*enger seat.

According to Pugh, Bonin entered an irritable state before confiding in him that he enjoyed abducting young male hitchhikers on Friday and Saturday nights so he had time to take his girlfriend roller-skating on Sundays, adding that he restrained and abused youths before strangling them to death with their own T-shirts. In a matter-of-fact tone, Bonin then informed Pugh: "If you want to kill somebody, you should make a plan and find a place to dump the body before you even pick a victim." Bonin further explained that he had not chosen to refrain from sexually *aulting and murdering Pugh out of sentiment; he had been spared because the pair had been seen leaving Fraser's party together. Pugh was driven to a home he claimed was his, before fearfully sprinting to his residence upon the van's departing.

Murder of Harry Turner

Harry Turner. Bonin was *isted by William Pugh in Turner's murder.

On March 25, 1980, Bonin and Pugh abducted a 15-year-old runaway named Harry Todd Turner from a Los Angeles street. Turner had absconded from a boys' home in the desert community of Lancaster four days prior to his meeting Bonin and Pugh. Pugh was to later testify that he and Bonin lured Turner into Bonin's van with an offer of $20 for sex. After binding and sodomizing the youth, Bonin bit into Turner's * until it tore and bled.

Bonin then ordered Pugh to "beat him (Turner) up." After Pugh had bludgeoned and beat Turner about the head and body for several minutes, Bonin strangled the teenager to death with his own T-shirt and a tire iron before discarding his body at the rear delivery door to a Los Angeles business. Turner's autopsy subsequently revealed his genitals had been mutilated, and he had received a total of eight fractures to the skull inflicted by a blunt instrument before he had been strangled.

Further murders

On April 10, Bonin was discharged from parole following his March 4, 1980 release; he encountered a 16-year-old Bellflower youth named Steven John Wood walking to school. Wood had previously been introduced to Bonin by his older brother; as such, the teenager willingly entered Bonin's van. His nude, hogtied and extensively beaten body was discarded in a Long Beach alleyway beside a dumpster, with his head resting against a nearby bench close to the Pacific Coast Highway. Wood's autopsy revealed the youth had been killed by ligature strangulation. Prior to disposing of Wood's body, Bonin allegedly drove to a scheduled job interview before eating pizza as he awaited the onset of dusk to safely discard the corpse.

Four weeks later, on April 29, Bonin encountered a 19-year-old supermarket employee named Darin Kendrick while parked in the grounds of the Stanton supermarket where Kendrick worked. Bonin lured Kendrick into his van on the pretext of selling the youth drugs. Bonin then drove to Butts' apartment in Lakewood, where the trio began listening to music as they sat on the couch. Bonin soon asked Kendrick whether he was gay, prompting the teenager to attempt to flee from the apartment. Kendrick was then overpowered and bound by both men before being sodomized by Butts as Bonin raised the volume of Butts' sound system to silence Kendrick's screams. Butts then held Kendrick's mouth open while Bonin poured chloral hydrate down his throat, causing Kendrick to sustain caustic chemical burns to his mouth, chin, stomach and chest.

Kendrick—who had fiercely fought his attackers, including biting the two men—then halted his resistance as he vomited onto the apartment floor before complaining of dizziness. Noting that Kendrick was losing consciousness and whimpering, Bonin achieved *; he then strangled Kendrick as Butts drove an ice pick into Kendrick's ear, causing a fatal wound to the youth's cervical spinal cord. His body was discarded behind a warehouse close to the Artesia Freeway, with the ice pick still protruding from his ear.

On May 12, 1980 Bonin abducted and murdered a 17-year-old acquaintance whom he later stated he had decided to kill when he had awoken that morning because he was "tired of having him around". The body of this acquaintance, 17-year-old Lawrence Sharp, was discarded behind a Westminster gas station. His body was found on May 18, and his autopsy revealed that in addition to being bound and sodomized, Sharp had been extensively beaten about the face and body, then strangled with a ligature.

One week after the murder of Sharp, on the afternoon of May 19, Bonin asked Butts to accompany him on a killing; on this occasion, however, Butts reportedly refused to accompany him. Operating alone, Bonin abducted a 14-year-old South Gate youth named Sean King from a bus stop in Downey. King was strangled to death before his body was discarded in Live Oak Canyon, Yucaipa. Bonin then visited Butts' residence and bragged of the killing to his accomplice.

Surveillance

By early 1980, the murders committed by Bonin and his accomplices were receiving considerable media attention, and a reward totaling $50,000 for information leading to the conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators had been offered by leading gay rights activists. Bonin avidly followed news media reports pertaining to his crimes, and collected newspaper clippings do*enting his own manhunt, often tuning in on radio and television coverage of the murders along with his accomplices.

Having by this stage determined a definitive link between many of the murders committed within the previous year, investigators from the various jurisdictions where victims had been abducted or discovered had themselves begun sharing information in their collective hunt for the perpetrator. Six officers from three of the jurisdictions in which the "Freeway Killer" had most regularly either abducted or deposited the bodies of his victims formed a task force dedicated to the apprehension of the suspect or suspects who, as one of the officers upon this *embled task force later recalled, was striking at an average rate of once every two weeks in the spring of 1980.

By May 1980, Pugh had been arrested for auto theft and was housed at the Los Padrinos Juvenile Courthouse. On May 28, he overheard the details of the ongoing murders on a local radio broadcast and confided to a counselor his recognition of the perpetrator's modus operandi as being that described to him by Bonin two months previous. This counselor reported Pugh's suspicions to the police, who in turn relayed the information to a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) homicide sergeant named John St. John. Upon hearing the confidential tip from the counselor, St. John conducted an extensive interview with Pugh the following day. Although Pugh withheld the fact that he had actually accompanied Bonin on one of his murders, the information he provided led St. John to deduce that Bonin may indeed be the Freeway Killer.

Acquaintance with James Munro

The same day Pugh had informed police of Bonin's involvement, Bonin invited an 18-year-old homeless drifter named James Michael Munro—whom he had encountered while cruising for young male pros*utes—to move into the Angell Street home he shared with his mother and older brother, but only in exchange for sex. Munro was a runaway from St. Clair, Michigan who had been evicted from his family's home in early 1980. Munro had planned on meeting a friend in California, but "ended up living on the streets" following an incident in which he had been robbed of money he had saved from working as a male pros*ute in Hollywood.

While at the Angell Street residence, Munro—a bisexual who preferred sexual relations with females—began a consensual sexual relationship with Bonin. He also accepted a subsequent offer of employment at the Montebello delivery firm where Bonin worked, and was allowed by Bonin to drive his van on occasion. Munro later described his initial impression of Bonin as being "a good guy; really normal". On June 1, Bonin took Munro roller-skating with his girlfriend before abruptly informing Munro that night that he wanted them both to abduct, sexually *ault, and murder a teenage hitchhiker.

A police investigation into Bonin's background revealed his extensive history of convictions for sexually *aulting teenage boys. St. John *igned a surveillance team to monitor Bonin's movements. The surveillance of Bonin began on the evening of June 2—one hour prior to Bonin and Munro discarding the body of the final "Freeway Killer" victim.

Murder of Steven Wells

Steven Wells. Bonin was *isted by James Munro in Wells' murder on June 2, 1980—hours prior to the implementation of police surveillance.

Hours prior to the implementation of police surveillance of Bonin on the evening of June 2, he, accompanied by Munro, encountered an 18-year-old print shop worker named Steven Jay Wells standing at a bus stop on El Segundo Boulevard. Bonin and Munro enticed the youth into the van. According to Bonin and Munro, upon learning Wells was bisexual, Bonin engaged in consensual relations with Wells in the rear of his van before persuading the youth to accompany him to his parents' house, where the two engaged in further sexual relations on Bonin's parents' bed. Bonin then sent Munro to purchase burgers. Upon Munro's return, Bonin convinced Wells to allow himself to be bound with clothesline upon the incentive of being given $200. He then called Munro to enter the room. Suspicious of their intentions, Wells became frantic.

Bonin then retreated to the kitchen for water, informing Munro they were to both kill Wells before proceeding to gag and beat his captive in the hallway, stating, "You're going to do what I tell you to do" as Wells began pleading for his life. Bonin smiled as he stole $10 from Wells' wallet, stating his intention to leave his body "on a park bench somewhere". He then strangled Wells to death with a T-shirt and tire iron; Munro asked whether Wells was dead, prompting Bonin to laugh as he replied, "Yeah, stupid" before adding: "Haven't you ever seen a dead body before?" Bonin then threw Wells's T-shirt across the hallway before ordering Munro—who had retreated to the driveway to breathe—to retrieve a cardboard box from his older brother's room; the two placed Wells' body inside this cardboard box, which they then carried to Bonin's van.

At approximately 9:p.m., the two drove to Butts' Lakewood apartment as Bonin informed Munro that he, Butts, and others had committed many of the "Freeway Killer" murders. At Butts' apartment, the trio engaged in brief conversation before Bonin invited Butts to view Wells' body with the enticement: "We got it in the van; it's a good one. Come on out and see it." According to Munro, Butts—who had been dressed in a Darth Vader costume—prodded the body before replying, "Oh, you got another one!" He then complimented Bonin, stating: "Good job, Billy, you really did a good one."

Bonin subsequently asked for advice as to where to dispose of the corpse. At Bonin's subsequent trial, Munro recalled Butts recommending they discard Wells near a gas station. Munro also later testified that Butts had actively dissuaded Bonin from discarding Wells' body in the nearby canyons due to the late hour, and general police presence caused by recent media coverage. As they drove to find a spot to dump the body, they encountered a police car, causing Bonin to privately mock the officers. The two drove to a disused Mobil gas station in Huntington Beach, where they wedged Wells' nude corpse between a chain-link fence and a truck. The body was discovered five hours later by two brothers who had parked nearby to fix a flat tire.

Upon returning to his parents' home, Bonin and Munro proceeded to watch television in search of news coverage of Wells' discovery. As he bit into his Big Mac burger, Bonin reportedly looked up to the ceiling and stated, "Thanks, Steve," before repeating the statement as he looked down to the floor, adding, "Wherever you are." The pair then proceeded to laugh. Later that night, Bonin hinted to Munro—already fearful for his life—that he stay quiet regarding Wells' murder or else face potential death.

Arrest

After nine days of uneventful surveillance in which Bonin worked at Dependable Drive-Away, visited friends, and returned to his residence, on June 11, 1980, police observed Bonin driving in a seemingly random manner throughout Hollywood, unsuccessfully attempting to lure five separate teenage boys into his van before succeeding in luring a youth into his vehicle. The police followed Bonin until his van parked in a service station parking lot close to the Hollywood Freeway, then discreetly approached the vehicle. Upon hearing muffled screams and banging sounds emanating from inside the van, these plainclothes officers forced their way into the vehicle; discovering Bonin in the act of raping a 17-year-old Orange County runaway named Harold Eugene Tate, whom he had handcuffed and bound.

Initially charged with the rape of a minor and held on suspicion of the murder of Miranda, Bonin was detained in lieu of $250,000 bond. Shortly thereafter, Bonin's girlfriend notified his boss of his arrest, adding that the arrest was in connection to the Freeway Killer case and causing Munro—already apprehensive at Bonin's absence from work that day—to become frantic. The following day, Munro stole Bonin's car and fled to his native Michigan, where he resided temporarily with a friend before his arrest.

Inside Bonin's van, investigators discovered numerous artifacts attesting to his culpability in the Freeway Killer murders. These items included various restraining devices including lengths of nylon cord, an *ortment of knives, a tire iron, and household implements such as pliers and wire coat hangers. Furthermore, a forensic examination of the interior of Bonin's van and, later, sections of his home revealed extensive traces of bloodstains. Moreover, the inner handles from the p*enger-side and rear doors of his vehicle had been removed in an obvious effort to prevent victims from escaping the vehicle. Inside the glove box, investigators also discovered a scrapbook of newspaper clippings related to the murders.

Confession

I tied him up with nylon - this electrician type of wire. I pulled a knife on him and he got scared. I stabbed him in the left arm, it surprised me that I did it. I stabbed him again and then again, and again and again until he was helpless. ... They would try to stop me from stabbing them and I would stab just to stab. I stuck them with the knife in different places because I didn't know where to stab, you know, I didn't know where the vital organs or anything like that.

Excerpts of Bonin's taped confession in 1980 concerning Markus Grabs and other victims

Although initially alleging his innocence in the murders, Bonin confessed his guilt to St. John after reading an imp*ioned letter from the mother of victim Sean King, imploring him to reveal the location of her son's body. Bonin made sure to clarify, however, that it was not to ease the mother's pain, but the knowledge that because King was buried in San Benardino County, police would likely buy him a hamburger for lunch on the extensive trip, stating, "I was dying for a hamburger and I knew if I went out with the cops, they would get me a hamburger."

Over the course of several evenings, Bonin confessed to abducting, raping, and killing twenty-one young men and boys in increasingly graphic detail. He expressed no remorse for his actions, but he did demonstrate extreme embarr*ment and regret over having been caught. An Orange County investigator later recalled that there "was not a policeman in that room that did not want to kill Bonin" for his confession. Bonin stated to authorities that his primary accomplice in the murders had been Butts, with Miley and Munro being active accomplices in other murders.

Bonin was physically linked to many of the murders by blood and * stains, and numerous, distinctive green triskelion-shaped carpet fibers found upon seven of the victims' bodies which were forensically proven to be a precise match with the carpeting in the rear of Bonin's van. Furthermore, upon three victims' bodies, investigators had discovered hair samples which were proven to be a precise match with Bonin. Medical evidence also revealed that six of the murders for which Bonin was charged were committed by a unique windl* strangulation method, which was later referred to by the prosecutor at Bonin's Los Angeles County trial as "a signature, a trademark".

Initially formally arraigned for the murder of Grabs on July 25, by July 29, Bonin had been charged with an additional fifteen murders to which he had confessed and upon which the prosecution believed they had sufficient evidence to obtain a conviction. In addition to the sixteen murder indictments, Bonin was also charged with eleven counts of robbery, one count of sodomy, and one count of mayhem. He was held without bond.

On August 8, all charges were formally submitted against Bonin. Three days later, in accordance with Penal Code section 987, Bonin–at this stage without legal representation–was appointed an attorney named Earl Hanson to act as his legal representative. Hanson remained Bonin's attorney until October 1981 when, at Bonin's request, he was replaced by William Charvet and Tracy Stewart.

Accomplices' arrest

Bonin and Butts' mug shots, taken 1980

Based on Bonin's confession, police obtained a warrant authorizing a search of Butts' Lakewood property on the same date as Bonin's initial arraignment; this July 25 search uncovered evidence linking Butts to several of the murders to which Bonin had already confessed, and Butts was brought before a Municipal Court on July 29, charged with accompanying Bonin on six murders committed between August 1979 and April 1980. He was also charged with three counts of robbery. In a press statement relating to the police investigation into the murders issued on this date, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department stated: "Bonin and Butts are believed to be responsible for the kidnapping, torture and murder of at least 21 young males between May 1979 and June 1980", fourteen of which had been committed in their jurisdiction. This spokesperson added that five further murder charges would likely be filed against the men in Orange County in due course.

Despite initially proclaiming his innocence, Butts soon confessed to having accompanied Bonin upon each of the murder forays listed in each of the charges against him, and to have actively participated in the sexual abuse of several victims. In his confession, Butts claimed to have participated in the murders primarily out of fear, claiming, "It was either go, or become the next victim", adding he only found the courage to confess upon learning Bonin was in custody. Butts was adamant he had had only a limited role in the actual torture of the victims, but confessed to actively participating in the torture of one victim.

Discussing the actual murder forays, Butts claimed that, upon their successfully luring a victim into the van, he would typically drive a short distance before stopping the vehicle in order to *ist Bonin in restraining their victim before driving in an aimless manner as Bonin abused and tortured their captive in the rear of the van. Butts claimed his participation in the murders was typically limited to restraining the victims, although he admitted to mutilating one victim with a wire coat hanger. When asked why some victims had been subjected to more extensive blunt force trauma than others, Butts stated that, in many instances, Bonin would escalate the level of beatings to which he subjected his victim if the youth resisted his sexual advances.

Butts was brought before Orange County Municipal Court Judge Richard Orozco on November 14, 1980. On this date, he was formally charged with participating in three further murders committed in this county. His trial was scheduled for July 27, 1981.

Mug shot of Gregory Miley, taken following his extradition to L.A. County, August 1980

On July 31, Munro was arrested in his hometown of Port Huron, Michigan; he was extradited to California and charged with the murder of Wells. Munro pleaded innocent to all charges against him on August 14. On August 22, Miley—by this stage 19 years old—was arrested in Texas and subsequently charged by California authorities with the murders of Miranda and Macabe. Miley was arrested after having confessed to his culpability in the Miranda and Macabe murders in a recorded phone conversation with a friend (thus substantiating Bonin's earlier confession). He initially pleaded innocent to two charges of first-degree murder on December 18, but pleaded guilty at two separate pretrial hearings in May 1981.

Preliminary hearings

At a preliminary hearing held in Los Angeles County before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Julius Leetham on January 2, 1981, Bonin formally pleaded innocent to fourteen first-degree murder charges and numerous counts of sodomy, robbery and mayhem. In eleven of these indictments, a felony-murder-robbery special cir*stance was also alleged. Bonin was ordered to return to court on January 7 for pretrial motions and the formal setting of a trial date. On the same date (January 2), Butts was arraigned on five counts of murder, in addition to three counts of robbery. The date of Butts' formal plea was delayed by Judge Leetham until January 7.

Four days after his formal plea before Judge Leetham, Butts committed suicide by hanging himself with a towel in his cell. A subsequent coroner's investigation revealed Butts had unsuccessfully attempted to take his own life on at least four occasions prior to his arr