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The Hillside Stranglers
Serial Killers
In the summer of 1977 Bianchi moved from New York to California. Buono was a car upholsterer there supplementing his income by working as a pimp. Buono was the more dominant of the pair, known for his insatiable sexual appetitive and violence nature. Bianchi was bitter and impressionable after repeatedly facing rejection in his attempts to join the police force. On October 16th 1977 their campaign of slaughter began.
Yolanda Washington, a prostitute who worked around Hollywood Boulevard was the first to die. She was discovered naked and strangled near a cemetery just outside LA. Although an autopsy revealed that she had had sex with two men shortly before she died, in her line of work this was not particularly incriminating. Her death attracted little press attention. In the next eight weeks Bianchi and Buono claimed the lives of another nine women. Most of them were prostitutes, but it was those who were not who drew attention to the string of atrocities.
On the morning of Saturday 20th November three bodies were discovered in a Los Angeles rubbish dump. Two of the victims, Dolores Cepeda, 12 and Sonja Johnson, 14 were schoolgirls. A media panic ensued and the Hillside Strangler was front page news.
After November, the pace of the killings slowed down. There was a murder in December and then one in February, but the close intensity of the investigation was not lost on Bianchi and Buono.
The double murder of Karen Mandic and Diane Wilder marked the end of the killing spree. The incident took place in Bellington Washington in January 1979. Significant evidence led straight to Bianchi. Collaboration with the L.A. authorities led to his indictment in five of the Hillside murders in June 1979.
The Spectacle of Bianchi’s Trial
It is not the shocking nature of the killings alone which have made the Hillside Strangler case so notorious. The subsequent trial of Kenneth Bianchi and his attempts to escape the death penalty have gone down in litigation history.
Upon his conviction Bianchi denied involvement in the double murder of Karen Mandic and Diane Wilder. Bianchi had recently seen a film in which Sally Field starred as a schizophrenic suffering from multiple personality disorder. He concocted a plan in which he would pretend to suffer from the condition, hoping that it would free him of all charges.
In early talks with his Lawyer, Bianchi left gaps in his memory, causing fears that he may be suffering from amnesia. Specialist Dr Watkins was called in to analyse his mental state. Kenneth Bianchi was prepared for this and under hypnosis an evil persona was created.
This persona, Steve Walker not only admitted responsibility for the death of Mandric and Wilder but also confessed to the other Hillside murders. Remarkably, Bianchi also implicated his cousin Angelo Buono in his confessions.
LA detectives scrutinizing Bianchi’s performance remained unconvinced of his illness. Flaws were detected in Bianchi’s responses in that he referred to his persona as “he” rather than “I”. After another examination Dr Ralph Allison was as convinced as Dr Watkins had been that Bianchi was suffering from multiple personality disorder.
Fortunately the third psychologist, Dr Martin Orne successfully exposed Bianchi’s fraud. He suggested to Bianchi that sufferers of the syndrome often had several personas. As predicted, under hypnosis a number of new characters joined Steve Walker.
This exposure led to a plea bargain which would save Bianchi from the death penalty. He was told to drop the act and give a full statement revealing the truth behind the murders. He was also to testify against Angelo Buono. After the second trial in 1982 Buono was convicted of nine murders, but spared the death penalty by the jury.
Judge Ronald George reflected the thoughts of many when he stated “Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi subjected their murder victims to the administration of lethal gas, electrocution, strangulation by rope, and lethal hypodermic injection. Yet the two defendants are destined to spend their lives in prison, housed, fed and clothed at taxpayer expense, better cared for than some of the destitute law-abiding members of our community.”
Buono suffered a suspected heart attack and died in Calipatria State Prison in September 2002 aged 67. Bianchi, 51, remains in prison.