During the spring of 1979, a series of murders emerged in Southern California, which struck fear in many communities, primarily in the Los Angeles and Orange County areas. Many teenage male bodies were discovered on the side of various freeways throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. In August 1979, the first victim that was discovered near a freeway in Los Angeles was a 17-year-old teenager who was brutally beaten, stabbed multiple times, and sodomized (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2024). Over the next 14 months, victims were discovered in areas that were located near freeways, which earned the perpetrator the famous nickname “The Freeway Killer,” also known as William Bonin. Bonin would pick up teenage boys and young men between the ages of 14 and 19 years old who were either hitch-hiking or prostituting and once …show more content…
Officers then arrested Bonin, and he was tried for all 14 known murders in both L.A. County and Orange County. The criminal statutes that William Bonin violated were first-degree murder (Penal Code (PC) 189), special circumstances: murder with torture (PC 190.2 (a)(18)), aggravated kidnapping (PC 209 (b)), and lewd or lascivious acts (PC 266j) (Bender, 2023). Bonin violated all of these criminal statutes because he had the intent to murder his victims because he did not want to get caught again, which proves that not only did he have the intent, but he also performed these acts maliciously. William Bonin committed such acts willfully and acknowledged the crimes that he was committing, but he did not stop because he did not want to go back to jail and swore to never leave a victim alive
On July 18, 1984 one of America’s most horrific and shocking killings took place in San Ysidro, California. A man originally from Ohio committed the fourth-deadliest shooting massacre by a single perpetrator in United States history, killing twenty-one and wounding nineteen others. The “McDonald’s Massacre”, as it came to be called, was a tragic event in a San Ysidro McDonalds.
Though his killings occurred over thirty years ago Clifford Olson is still knows as one of Canada’s most notorious serial killers. Active through the years 1980-1980 he was responsible for eleven gruesome murders in that short span of time. The shocking nature of his crimes ensured nobody would forget his notorious deeds. To build on that, Olson is loathed because he extorted authorities into paying $100,000 for the locations of his victims’ remains, an agreement that haunted the survivors of Olson’s crimes, and ruined the careers of the officials who buckled under Olson’s outrageous demands. Furthermore, his crime spree led Neighbourhoods that once claimed to be “so safe you could leave your door open” to secure their doors; hitchhikers were seldom found on highways, and telephone poles were covered with posters warning that nearly a dozen adolescents were missing and a killer was on the loose. Had he not been apprehended by the authorities on August 12th, 1981 his spree of brutal slayings may have continued for much longer, as he showed no remorse for his ruthless crimes.
The story in discussion is that of Meagan Grunwald since it was one for which various articles from different online sources were available due to the large controversy it had sparked a while ago. Meagan Grunwald, a teenager of seventeen was convicted in May 2015 on 11 counts, including aggravated murder, attempted murder, aggravated robbery and use of a controlled substance and was sentenced to 30 years to life with the possibility open for parole.(Associated Press, 2015) The girl had engaged in a 51 mile crime spree that left one sheriff 's deputy dead and another wounded with her 27 year old boyfriend Jose Angel Garcia-Jauregui who was killed in a shootout with police in the spree which included a driveway of a speeding car in a three county
The serial killer that I have chosen to research is Mark goudeau, also known as the “Baseline Killer”. Mark was born on September 6th 1964, he was an american serial killer and rapist. He was involved in one of the two simultaneously occurring serial killer cases going on in South Phoenix, Arizona at that time. Mark’s was born in Phoenix, and was the second youngest of 13 siblings in which six were felons, and four have done prison time. Mark’s mother was a maid working at all different hours of the day, while his father Willie was a lot attendant for different car dealers. They were lower working class which didn’t help with thirteen children to take care of. His father had a drug and alcohol problem, which ran in the family. He later cheated
Charles Manson and the Manson family committed gruesome crimes that shocked Los Angeles in 1969. The actress Sharon Tate and four others were ritualistically slaughtered in her Hollywoods Hills home. The murderers had left cryptic messages on the walls in the victims blood, and law enforcement were stumped by the multiple stab wounds found on the victims. The next day a married couple, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca, who were successful shop owners, were found in their Las Feliz home murdered in the same way as Sharon Tate and her friends.
According to federal law, the term ‘serial killings’ means a series of three or more killings, not less than one of which was committed within the United States, having common characteristics such as to suggest the reasonable possibility that the crimes were committed by the same actor or actors. Throughout history, serial killers have always been a fascination among many individuals. On numerous occasions, law enforcement has tried to dive into the psyche of these killers to determine why they kill. There have also been numerous stereotypes placed on serial killers. Typical stereotypes are serial killers are all white males, loners, and that their crimes are driven by sex.
American serial killer, Richard Ramirez was born on February 29, 1960 in El Paso, Texas. Ramirez was known for being a satanic worshiper and for going on a two-year raped and torture rampage, harming more than 25 victims and murdering more than a dozen. Ramirez, also known as the "Night Stalker," turned to satanic worship at an early age by his cousin, a soldier who had recently returned from the war in Vietnam. Following a four-year trial, in 1989, Ramirez was convicted of 13 killings. Ramirez received the death penalty and was sent to San Quentin Prison in California. He later died on June 7, 2013, at the age 53.
As if molded directly from the depths of nightmares, both fascinating and terrifying. Serial killers hide behind bland and normal existences. They are often able to escape being caught for years, decades and sometimes an eternity. These are America’s Serial Killers (America’s Serial Killers). “Even when some of them do get caught, we may not recognize what they are because they don’t [sic] match the distorted image we have of serial killers” (Brown). What is that distorted image? That killers live among everyday life, they are the ones who creep into someone’s life unknowingly to torture and kill them. The serial killers that are in the movies, Norman Bates, Michael Myers, and the evil master mind of SAW, these characters are just that characters. They have been made up as exaggerated fictional characters from the Hollywood imagination.
The Zodiac Killer is an unidentified man who is presumed to be a serial killer that operated in Northern California in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Murdering at least five people, but the Zodiac claims to have killed upwards of 37 people in total. In 1969 the Zodiac Killer began sending letters to the Bay Area newspapers, taking credit for the five killings and threatening further violence. The Zodiac Killer would call and send cryptic letters to the law enforcement agencies in Northern California, taunting them since they were unable to bring him to justice. The police had suspects but none that they could ever charge for the murders, due to lack of evidence, so this mystery still remains unsolved. The cultural impact that the Zodiac Killer has had on tv, movies and the media is still around today and has had many shows and movies remade after what this killer did. The cultural impact as well as for the families of the victims still remains today with still no closure, for those families who live in Northern California still there is the fear that crosses the minds on how such an awful criminal was once a part of their society, someone they may
Now this man killed allot of people so this paragraph isn’t for the faint of heart. The first victim will be Paul Lee Stein. He worked as a cab driver in the late 1960s 1968 to be exact. The zodiac hopped in the car of steins cab… A normal customer is all steins must have thought but boy was he wrong…. He asked to get taken across town. About a block before arrival he shot stein in the head with a 9mm. pistol. After he took his wallet keys and a piece of his shirt for proof. Now onto Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin the next victim on the list. She sat in her car with her boyfriend who survived the attack… he must have been devastated by the fact that he couldn’t help what is possibly the love of his life…. When the zodiacs car parked behind them. He got out and shot both multiple times with a 9mm. luger pistol. Later, Ferrin, had a medical professional pronounce her dead. The final victim will be Cecelia Ann Shepard. The zodiac pulled up his car by a couple having a picnic he then said he had just escaped from prison he held tied them up while holding a 45. He stabbed both of them but only Shepard died. As it can see he could be known as a very evil man and killed at weird times as the saying goes expect it when it’s least expect
Zodiac’s career, which would become the most cerebral murder case of all time, began in Riverside California on the night of October 30, 1966. The first victim, Cheri Jo Bates, a young student at the university was brutally murdered outside the college library. She was stabbed 42 times with a knife with a small blade. Following the stabbings, her throat was slit so brutally that it secered her larynx, jugular, and carotid artery. Authorities classified the extreme brutality of the murder “overkill”, which typically happened in cases where the victim and perpetrator are acquainted.
The mysterious person did not have a real name because no one was able to identify him. The murder gave his a name which was the Zodiac Killer. The Zodiac Killer was responsible for five murders in California during the late 1960s. The Zodiac Killers first two murders was on December of 1968 in Benicia, California. David Farraday, who was 17, and Betty Lou Jensen, who was 16, were the first two of a series of murders by the Zodiac Killer. The two of them were inside a parked, when the Zodiac Killer came up behind them and shot them. A similar case happened to the next victim of the mysterious killer. The following year, on July 4, 1969, another couple were shot dead in their car, in Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, California. 22 year old Darlene Ferrin was shot dead, but Michael Mageau, who was 19 years old survived the shots. The strange thing after these murders is that the police received a phone call from an unidentified person that confessed to murdering those people. The next killings occurred two months later, on September 27, 1969. Two couples were also in a parked car in Lake Berryessa in Napa County. Cecelia Shepard and Brian Hartnell were shot at by the killer, but Brian Hartnell, who was 20 years old survived the mu...
The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer from the late 60’s and early 70’s. The zodiac killer identification was never known. The Zodiac Killer was most famous for killing couples in their car at night. He started his killing spree on October 30, 1966 in San Francisco with his first victim, eighteen-year-old Cheri Jo Bates. Cheri’s throat was cut so deep it almost decapitated her. On November 29, 1966, the Riverside police received a copy of an anonymous letter in the mail. This letter taunted the police about the murder of Cheri Jo Bates and how she will not be the last. (Wilbur R. Miller, 2012) This was his way of being in control and getting his voice heard. Just a few months later he kept to his promise that there will be more death. The Zodiac killer murdered a young couple, David Faraday and Betty Jensen, in Vallejo, California. David was killed by one shot to the head and Betty was shot five times ten feet away from the car. The police suspected Arthur Leigh Allen, a child molester, who fit the description of the Zodiac Killer almost to a T, but there was no incriminating evidence, so he was never charged. The Zodiac Killer was suspected of killing 2,500 people throughout his killing spree, and was never caught. The Zodiac Killer’s reason for killing was that once he killed his victims they would be his slaves in the afterlife. He thought of himself as a “God”, all powerful and all knowing. (Wilbur R.
In the San Francisco Bay area, as well as in the rest of California, the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s was a time of terror and fear. What started out as a seemingly random, but brutal murder on the night of October 30th, 1966, turned out to be the start of a series of horrific murders that would span 2,500 suspects, 56 possible victims, and over 400 miles. On the calm, cool night of December 20th, 1968, a young seventeen year-old named David Arthur Faraday was getting ready to take a young sixteen year-old named Betty Lou Jensen on her first date.
Scott Falater wasn’t one of them though. In January 1997, Scott Fillater stabbed his wife 44 times and drowned her in the family pool at their home in Arizona. He was as well known for his sleep walking but much of his actions seemed odd for a sleepwalker. Before he committed the crime, he put on his work jeans and a pair of gloves. At the time, he was sleepwalking as he worked on the pool his wife overheard sounds coming from outside as she watched TV. It is believed that she possibly walked out there and accidentally startled him and it caused him to attack. Or he purposely lured his wife out there. After he stabbed her he changed and put his bloody clothes in his trunk compartment where his spare tire was. It is believed he retired back to his wife’s body to find her still alive. He then proceeded to drown her. This is when a neighbor over seen the murder and called 911. To this day Scott Fallater is serving his life