This week (January 4-10) in crime history – The Boston
Strangler claimed his final victim (January 4, 1964), United Mine Workers Union
leader Jock Yablonski and his family were found murdered (January 5, 1970),
Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan was attacked (January 6, 1994), Six-year-old Suzanne
Degnan was kidnapped from her home in Chicago (January 7, 1946), Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords and 13 others were shot at a rally in Tucson (January 8,
2011), Hillside Strangler – Angelo Buono was sentenced to life in prison
(January 9, 1984), Old West outlaw Frank James was born
Highlighted Crime
Story of the Week -
On January 9, 1984, Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside
Stranglers, was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the rape, torture,
and murder of 10 young women in Los Angeles. Buono’s cousin and partner in
crime, Kenneth Bianchi, testified against Buono to escape the death penalty.
Buono, a successful auto upholsterer, and Bianchi began
their serial crime spree in 1977 when Bianchi moved from New York to live with
his cousin. They started talking about how the prostitutes that Buono often
brought home would hardly be missed by anyone if they disappeared. Idle
speculation quickly led to action and the pair raped and strangled their first
victim, Yolanda Washington, on October 17.
Within a month Buono and Bianchi had attacked three other
women and developed a trademark method of operation. They picked up the women
in their van, drove them back to Buono’s house where they were sexually
assaulted in all manners, tortured, and strangled to death. The duo then dumped
the bodies along freeways and hillsides in the Los Angeles area. Thus, they
earned the nickname the “Hillside Strangler.” The press erroneously assumed
that the murders were the work of one man.
Following the death of the 10th victim in February 1978,
the murders suddenly stopped. Buono and Bianchi were no longer getting along,
even with their common hobby. Bianchi moved to Washington and applied for a job
at the Bellingham Police Department. He didn’t get the job, but became a
security guard instead. However, he couldn’t keep his murderous impulses in
check and killed two college students. A witness who had seen the two girls
with Bianchi came forward and the case was solved.
Bianchi, who had seen the movies Sybil and The Three Faces of
Eve many times, suddenly claimed to have multiple personalities. He blamed
the murders on “Steve,” one of his alternate personalities. Psychiatrists
examining Bianchi quickly dismissed his ruse and Bianchi then confessed to the
Hillside Strangler murders, testifying against Buono to avoid the death penalty
in Washington.
During his trial, Buono fiercely insisted on his
innocence, pointing to the fact that there was no physical evidence tying him
to the crimes. Buono’s house was so clean that investigators couldn’t even find
Buono’s own fingerprints in the home. But after more than 400 witnesses
testified, Buono was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the
possibility of parole. Angelo Buono died from a heart attack on Sept. 21, 2002
at the age of 67. Kenneth Bianchi was denied parole in September 2005 and
remains in prison in Washington state.
Check back every
Monday for a new installment of “This Week in Crime History.”
Michael Thomas Barry is a columnist for www.crimemagazine.com and is the author
of seven nonfiction books that includes In
the Company of Evil Thirty Years of California Crime, 1950-1980 and the
award winning Murder and Mayhem 52 Crimes
that Shocked Early California. 1849-1949. Visit Michael’s website www.michaelthomasbarry.com for
more information. His books can be purchased from Amazon through the following
links:
No comments:
Post a Comment