"[319], Upon cross-examination, Bonin's defense attorney ensured that Lpez conceded that his testimony was based upon what he had recalled from the interviews as opposed to any handwritten notes, although he strenuously denied he had received any form of payment to testify. [78], 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. He also held hopes of publishing a science fiction novel. In eleven of these indictments, a felony-murder-robbery special circumstance was also alleged. Douglas also testified to being the cousin of victim Lawrence Sharp. [353], In a final interview given to a local radio station less than 24 hours before he was executed, Bonin claimed he had "made peace" with the fact he was about to die, adding that his only major regret in life was that he had not pursued his teenage passion of bowling long enough to have turned professional. [114], Shortly thereafter, Bonin and his younger brother Paul who worked as a plumber relocated to the rural community of Silverado, California, and ran a neighborhood bar called the Alpine Inn. John Fredrick Kilpatrick (15): Disappeared on December 5, 1979, and found on December 13, 1979, in Los Angeles County; strangled to death with ligature after being flagellated with string. Due . Bonin's jailhouse writings offer new perspective on his brutality, methods, thoughts and personality. [112][109] While delivering trucks, Bonin frequently argued with his boss who was unaware of his status as a sex offender for picking up a hitchhiker in his presence on one occasion and taking longer, unnecessary routes which detectives later took interest in.[113]. His condition sourced from his excessive alcohol addiction. ", Angel of Darkness: The True Story of Randy Kraft and the Most Heinous Murder Spree of the Century, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Bonin&oldid=1141336031, 20th-century executions of American people, American people convicted of child sexual abuse, People executed by California by lethal injection, People with antisocial personality disorder, Prisoners sentenced to death by California, United States Air Force personnel of the Vietnam War, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Pathology of Gary Leon Ridgway. Kern County John Doe was a young man who was found in Kern County, California in 1979. [10][12] Bonin's family refused to claim his remains in the weeks following his 1996 execution. [71] Offering to take him home, the youth attempted to flee the vehicle in response to Bonin's repeated questions regarding homosexuality. William Bonin: The True Story of The Freeway Killer by Jack Rosewood 115 ratings, 3.70 average rating, 11 reviews Open Preview William Bonin Quotes Showing 1-4 of 4 "there is some evidence that some serial killers have brain damage that impact their ability to exact rational control." [247][248] Bonin then drove to Butts' apartment in Lakewood, where the trio began listening to music as they sat on the couch. Victim Sees New Start in Bonin's End", "California District Attorneys Association: Prosecutors' Perspective on California's Death Penalty", "Aliso Viejo Man Worries About Possible Parole of 'Freeway Killer' Accomplice", "3rd 'Freeway' suspect will waive extradition", "Freeway Killer Defendant Links Bonin to Slayings", "Vernon Butts, who Confessed to Taking Part in the Grisly Freeway Killer Murders of Young Men and Boys, was Found Strangled with a Towel in His Jail Cell Sunday", "As Home to Infamous Vehicles, Junkyard is Field of Nightmares", "Freeway Killer Allegedly Tortured Victims", "Freeway Killer Finished Where Other Stopped", "Profile of Serial Killer William Bonin, The Freeway Killer", "Testimony Graphic In 'Freeway Killings' Case", "Out of Horrific Tragedy the Iron Eagle was Created", "Flower Children: Officials Crack Down on Vendors", "A 'New' Killer Travels Southern California Freeways", "California Detectives Stalk Freeway Killer", "The Mother of All Outrages: Bonin on Social Security", "Two Men Charged in 'Freeway Killer' Case", "FamilySearch: Robert Christopher Wirostek", "L.A. Thousands of screaming fans pack into baseball games, football (not soccer!) Operating alone, Bonin abducted 14-year-old South Gate youth Sean King from a bus stop in Downey. With it, California's San Quentin State Prison has been the country's most well-known death row for many years. [300] He initially pleaded innocent to two charges of first-degree murder on December 18,[215] but pleaded guilty at two separate pretrial hearings in May 1981. [23] After returning home, Bonin was reportedly more recalcitrant toward his parents than before the punishment. Bonin's parents were alcoholics, and his father was a compulsive gambler who was physically abusive towards his wife and children. David McVicker had also contacted authorities by this time to report his suspicions Bonin may be the Freeway Killer. [389] (In the days immediately following the murder of Wells and prior to Bonin's arrest, Munro boasted to several colleagues of his belief the Freeway Killer would never be caught. [109] Fraser considered Bonin a respectful, polite and placid individual to whom he frequently introduced his young male acquaintances,[13] with the two also exchanging stories of their homosexual exploits and penchant for sex with teenage boys. I don't agree"[354] before further elaborating: "I have no anger towards anybody, but that doesn't mean I don't think the death penalty is wrong. [314][n 18], Against overruled objections from Bonin's defense attorney, Fresno-based reporter David Lpez waived his previously sought immunity under California's shield law and agreed to testify on behalf of the prosecution as to the details of seven interviews Bonin had granted him between December 1980 and April 1981. Judge Lae postponed formal sentencing until August 26. [331][n 19], Prior to his scheduled second trial in Orange County, Bonin was temporarily removed from death row and held in solitary confinement, where he remained until the conclusion of this trial. It's no fun if they don't let me know how it feels. Munro was an accomplice of William George Bonin, who admitted to killing 21 boys and was convicted in the rape, torture and murder of 14 of them in Orange and Los Angeles counties. "[184] Resuming his murder spree, Bonin did not bother to appear for his court appointment. [337] As such, Brown stated, the four Orange County victims had been killed by the same individual who had killed Miranda and Wells, and his accomplices in these two murders, Miley and Munro, would testify as to their accompanying Bonin on each of these murders. [17][13] This Catholic convent was known to severely discipline the children it housed for major and minor breaches of conduct, with punishments administered including harsh beatings, stress positions, repeatedly pacing staircases until exhausted, and partial drowning in sinks filled with ice water. [311] The various experts who had examined Bonin would also find conflict with one another's assertions, with Dr. Park Dietz opining that fellow Dr. David Foster largely mischaracterized and exaggerated the evidence relied in proving Bonin was extensively abused as a child, and was mistaken in assuming Bonin's Babinski reflex and other symptoms which were initially speculated to indicate attention deficit disorder or another minor disorder were indicative of extensive brain damage that influenced Bonin's crimes. As far as I know, I'm the only surviving victim. [306] In the case of Miley, Norris agreed to accept two separate pleas of guilty to first-degree murder in exchange for two concurrent sentences of life imprisonment, with a possibility of parole after 25 years, if Miley agreed to testify against Bonin at both upcoming trials. The victim was discovered along an empty irrigation ditch or a reservoir along US Highway 99 near Taft, California and south of Bakersfield. "[102] As McVicker was leaving Bonin's vehicle, Bonin further remarked, "We'll meet again. Shortly after his enrollment at Westminster High School, he into close friends founded a Westminster world's affair club at Westminster High Kraft was again regarded as a pleasant bright student who regularly achieved he was also known to occasionally date girls. [65][66] According to Bonin, he engaged in allegedly consensual relations with four young girls and had a "number of homosexual encounters" in Vietnam, as well as a 25-year-old female prostitute in Hong Kong,[67][63] although he also confessed to sexually assaulting two soldiers under his command at gunpoint during the period of the Tet Offensive. [322], Charvet repeatedly reminded the jury he had exposed myriad inconsistencies in the testimony of Munro's account of the murder of Wells in the various statements he had given, and had compelled him to admit that he lied on numerous occasions. [59], Deciding to marry upon his return home, Bonin and Linda became engaged. [346][343], Bonin also contended to both his defense attorneys and to several people with whom he corresponded while upon death row that Butts had been the actual ringleader behind the murders, and that he had simply been Butts' accomplice. The first execution of a prisoner took place in the prison way back in 1893. He was released again in 1978. 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. Bonin was convicted of 14 murders and put to death in 1996. . [119][120] Born and raised in Norwalk, Butts was nine years old when his father died,[121] and reportedly hailed from a broken home. He is known to have confessed to the murder of King, and led police to his body; he emphatically denied Lundgren's murder in the series of interviews granted to David Lpez between December 1980 and January 1981, although Bonin stated in these interviews he had killed 21 victims. [321], Bonin's first trial lasted until January 6, 1982. Profile of Serial Killer Richard Angelo. When arrested, he informed law enforcement that "next time there won't be any more witnesses. Bonin also shares his nickname with two other killers, who were believed to be a single serial killer. [82][78], In March 1969, Bonin underwent two psychiatric examinations; he was determined to be a sexual psychopath who had little control over his impulses and showed signs of depression and inappropriate emotional responses. [52][34] He was also self-conscious of his facial features, and refused to smile in public due to his misaligned teeth. [53], Bonin was executed by lethal injection inside the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison on February 23, 1996. Bonin, reflecting on his impending execution and life regrets. [165][n 12] In discussion of the killings with acquaintances, Bonin remarked "this guy is giving good gays like us a bad name. 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. [242] 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[243] close to the Pacific Coast Highway. [276][277], Returning to Bonin's parents' home, Bonin and Munro watched television in search of news coverage of Wells' discovery. Suspicious of their intentions, Wells became frantic. According to Bonin, he engaged in consensual relations with the youth, who agreed to be bound with lengths of cord and ignition wire. [141] A subsequent coroner's investigation revealed Butts had unsuccessfully attempted to take his own life on at least four occasions prior to his arrest. His reporting on the Bonin story earned him the first of several Emmy Awards. [25] Later claiming in life that no abuse had taken place by staff,[21] Bonin confessed to being forced to punch a fence by nuns when he misbehaved. Although Pugh withheld the fact that he had accompanied Bonin on one of his murders, the information he provided led St. John to deduce that Bonin might be the Freeway Killer. On this date, Charvet argued for a modification of the sentence recommended by the jury. He was known in his life as the Freeway Killer. He then called Munro to enter the room. Furthermore, these appellate judges ruled that Bonin's attorneys should not have waited until the last minute to submit arguments to overturn or postpone the impending death sentence of their client. [231] The following day, his bound body was found behind an industrial building[73] in the city of Duarte. stadiums, and rock concerts. Known as "Thread City" for the American Thread Company's mills along the Willimantic River, it was a center of the textile industry in the 19th century. 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. The state of California, specifically the counties of Los Angeles and Orange, were terrorized by William George Bonin between the years 1979 and 1980. Read it now. [156] 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. Los Angeles, CAA major historical biography about serial killer Bill Bonin, aka The Freeway Killer, is now on sale in Kindle and Nook formats for 99 Cents thru March 31. [129][130][n 8] Butts also held suspicion that his apartment was haunted by ghosts,[132] and 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. [5] Furthermore, upon three victims' bodies, investigators had discovered hair samples which were proven to be a precise match with Bonin. [153] 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[31] and referencing his feelings of extreme restlessness and sexual frustration in the hours prior to his murders,[154] emphasizing that he had felt an intense sense of excitement as he drove in search of his victims. The day after Bonin's arrest, Munro fled to his native Michigan, where he was arrested on July 31. [33][34] Bonin was to remain at the convent until May 31, 1955, when he returned to live with his parents in a home owned by Bonin's maternal grandfather located at 465 Stafford Road in Mansfield, Connecticut. Upon completion of the jury selection process, Bonin's attorney renewed an earlier filed motion that the trial should be moved to a jurisdiction outside of Orange County due to pretrial publicity tainting the jury pool; this renewed motion was again rejected by Lae, who ruled that the trial would begin on June 14. [360] According to several of these witnesses, Bonin's execution passed without complications, and he was heavily sedated throughout the latter stages of the procedure. [256] Bonin then visited Butts' residence and bragged of the killing to his accomplice. [266] Munro later described his initial impression of Bonin as being "a good guy; really normal". He had most recently been eligible for parole in October 2014, after previously agreeing to a three-year continuance of his most recent request for parole. William George Bonin was a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. [264], While at the Angell Street residence, Munro who was bisexual and preferred sexual relations with females began a consensual sexual relationship with Bonin. The abuse seems to have been bad, but not nearly as gruesome as the abuse he dealt out. Beating the youth into submission, McDonald orally copulated Bonin before being subject to genital squeezing and rape in the van. [333] He was tried before Superior Court Judge Kenneth Lae. He then attempted to fondle Murillo before binding him and driving to Butts' residence. Bonin was pronounced dead at 12:13a.m.[359] He was 49 at the time of his execution. Bonin was the first California inmate to be executed by lethal injection. As Butts drove, Bonin forced the boy to orally copulate him before squeezing his genitals and sodomizing him. He is also known as " The Freeway Killer " and he shares that name with two other serial killers, Patrick Kearney and Randy Steven Kraft, who was not affiliated with him. William Bonin (con Diego Zanassi) Scroll. Downey truck driver William Bonin, dubbed the Freeway Strangler or the Freeway Killer, murdered at least 21 boys and men between 1979 and 1980. Despite this ruling, this finding was also deemed not to have affected the overall verdict. [46] Although both parents were generally neglectful of their children, Bonin and his brothers were primarily raised by their mother,[47] who often displayed inordinately domineering and emasculating behavior toward Bonin. "[385], McVicker, the youth who had survived the 1974 assault and partial strangulation at Bonin's hands[99] and who personally witnessed Bonin's execution, was traumatized by his ordeal for several years. The interior of the van had also been extensively stained with human blood. [307], Bonin was brought to trial in Los Angeles County, charged with the murder of twelve of his victims whose bodies had been found within this constituency, on October 19, 1981. [141], Five minutes after the pair had discarded Miranda's body, Bonin suggested to Miley: "I'm horny again, let's go and do another one. - Bonin, describing the murder of Darin Lee Kendrick. [141] Correspondence found within his cell indicated Butts had been greatly distressed at the impending release of a transcript of evidence he had given behind closed doors at his preliminary hearing days prior, and the effect it would have on his friends and relatives. After Pugh had bludgeoned and beat Turner about the head and body for several minutes,[240] Bonin strangled Turner 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. Bonin then threw Wells' 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. Number 15. 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. [57] Despite this, Bonin desiring to please his mother and appear normal soon began dating a young girl at his high school named Linda shortly after turning seventeen, with whom he was never "completely comfortable". According to Lpez, Bonin had confided that although he resented the prospect of being executed, he had opted to kill repeatedly simply because he had enjoyed the "sound of kids dying". "[217] Miley replied, stating, "Why don't you just let the kid go?" Noting that Kendrick was losing consciousness and whimpering, Bonin achieved orgasm; he then strangled Kendrick[250] as Butts drove an ice pick into Kendrick's ear, causing a fatal wound to the youth's cervical spinal cord. Bonin pleaded guilty to molestation and forced oral copulation and was sentenced to the Atascadero State Hospital in June 1969 as a mentally disordered sex offender considered amenable to treatment. [268], A police investigation into Bonin's background revealed his extensive history of convictions for sexually assaulting teenage boys. David McVicker told his story in an episode of, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, This page was last edited on 24 February 2023, at 15:09. Type Image Format 1 photograph :b&w Photographic prints Identifier 00043353 Herald Examiner Collection [198] He encountered 16-year-old Bellflower youth Steven John Wood walking to school. (9th Cir. [232], One Friday evening in March 1980, Bonin offered 17-year-old William Ray Pugh a ride home as the pair left Fraser's residence. James Munro / Accomplice of The Freeway Killer / His 8 Chapter Booked Penned From His Cell. [50] "He'd give the clothes off his back," Paul later remarked of his brother's generosity. In one interview granted in 2011, McVicker stated the primary reason he had been inspired to campaign against their release were the words one of the victims' mothers had spoken to him after he had testified at Bonin's first trial: "You've got to speak for my kid. Bonin, who. He supposedly wanted to talk to KITS. Bonin immediately ceased his assault and apologized before reverting to casual conversation. [132] Although both lived externally heterosexual lifestyles,[136] the two soon became lovers,[34] with Butts also introducing Bonin to the tabletop role-playing game Dungeons & Dragons, in which Butts organized and advertised weekly gaming events at his residence. He was haunted by nightmares on a nightly basis concerning the incident,[332] dropped out of high school and became dependent on drugs and alcohol. 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. [231] Gatlin was beaten and sodomized, suffering several deep, perforating ice pick wounds to the ear and neck before being strangled with a ligature. [395] Throughout the years of his incarceration, Miley was repeatedly reprimanded for violating prison rules. Murder Defendant Enters Plea of Guilty", "Without Remorse: The Story of the Woman who Kept Los Angeles' Serial Killers Alive", "William George Bonin, Petitioner-appellant, v. Arthur Calderon (1995)", "Strangulations Described: Deaths Linked", "Gas Chamber Mulled for Homosexual Killer", "One of Freeway Killer Victims Was His Nephew, Witness Against Bonin Reveals", "Interview Confession Testified by Reporter", "Suspected Freeway Killer Described as Insatiable", "Bonin Convicted of Ten 'Freeway' Sex-torture Slayings", "Families Hope Freeway Killer's Execution Ends Their Years of Pain", "Freeway Killer William Bonin, Already Facing the Gas Chamber, is Convicted of Four Further Slayings", "Freeway Killer William Bonin, Already Facing the Gas Chamber", "Bonin's History: Fourteen Murders, Two Acquittals", "Freeway Killer William Bonin, What He Did & Why? [115], Through his frequent attendance at Fraser's parties,[112] Bonin became acquainted with 21-year-old porcelain factory worker, occultist, and part-time magician Vernon Robert Butts[118] and 18-year-old Gregory Matthews Miley. [393] He was later sentenced to a concurrent term of 25 years to life by an Orange County court judge for the abduction and murder of James Macabe. In 1974 he was released on probation, and in 1975 his probation was revoked for kidnapping and raping two teenaged boys. [69][12] Upon returning home, Bonin discovered that his fiance who by this stage had given birth to their son[2] had left him to marry another man. They encountered 15-year-old Charles Miranda standing close to the Starwood nightclub,[215] hitchhiking along Santa Monica Boulevard. [25], On September 6, 1953, Bonin's mother placed Bonin and his older brother in the Franco-American School located at 357 Pawtucket Street in Lowell, Massachusetts,[26] in an apparent effort to protect her children from the ongoing domestic violence within the family home. "[291], Over the course of several evenings, Bonin confessed to abducting, raping, and killing twenty-one young men and boys in increasingly graphic detail. The date of Butts' formal plea was delayed by Judge Leetham until January 7. [135], 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. [13] Bonin joined the United States Air Force with his mother's persuasion, who hoped it would cure his inclination toward chaos. The death penalty has been a controversial aspect of American history for centuries. [186], 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.