William Bonin (The Freeway Killer)

By: Carra Stevens Pd. 6

William Bonin’s Childhood

• Bonin was born January 8, 1947 in Connecticut.• He was neglected and abused by his parents, his

grandfather, and older boys in the juvenile facility.• At the age of 8, he served time in a juvenile hall

for stealing license plates. Bonin became the sexual play things of others, sexual sadism, punishments such as submersion in ice water, and threats at the point of a knife.

Bonin’s Adulthood.

• William finished high school with a diploma.• Went into the Air Force at the age of 18.• He was discharged was honorable and logged over

700 hours combat/patrol including killing the enemy during his service.

• After his service was over he became a truck driver.

• He is a homosexual, but was married with no children.

• He later divorced from that marriage.

• He had his first sexual experience when he was 8.• He was abused by his parents and grandfather that

could’ve caused him to kill other young boys.• He was also touched by older kids in

the juvenile facility which made him

choose the age of the young adults• His motives were not totally determined,

but he spent 5 year in the Atascadero

State Hospital and was diagnosed

with sociopath, and manic

depressive disorder.

What were the motives for killing?

What did the “Freeway Killer” do to perform the killings?

• Bonin would strangle, stab, or beat the victims with sharp weapons.

• He would use a piece of clothing, tire iron, binding material, or a knife as a weapon.

• Bonin had three partners:– Vernon Butts– Gregory Miley– James Munro

Vernon Butts Gregory Miley James Munro

Freeway Killer’s way of Killing cont.• He would use a van to abduct the victims.• He would rape and torture the victims.• He would tie the victim’s hands behind their

backs and keep them bound.• After killing the victims, the freeway killer

would mutilate the bodies.• Also he would steal the wallets

of all the victims.• He would leave the bodies on

the sides of dumpsters or

highways.

Freeway Killer’s Victims

• The Victims would be of these characteristics:– Young Adults–Males– The Race would be Varied– Hitchhikers

What factors led to Bonin to be caught?

• The defendant was apprehended after co-defendant Pugh, 17, was arrested on auto theft charges on May 29, 1980. He told detectives that he had accepted a ride home from a party with the defendant, who had talked about killing young boys. The defendant was placed under surveillance beginning June 2, 1980.

How the killer was caught?

• On June 11, 1980, his van was followed to Hollywood. He was observed talking to five different young men standing on street corners before 15-year-old Harold T. entered his van. The defendant parked, with Harold still inside, in a vacant lot on Santa Monica Boulevard. Despite Harold's resistance, the defendant orally copulated him. Shortly thereafter, the defendant was apprehended in the act of raping and sodomizing Harold. The police found a length of white nylon cord and three knives in the van.

What Bonin was Charged and Sentenced with?

• Bonin was arrested on June 11, 1980.• He was charged with 14 counts of murder.• The first trial Bonin was convicted of 10 murders

throughout the Los Angeles County, and was sentenced to death.

• The second trial Bonin had been convicted of the four other murders, and was sentenced to a second death in Orange County.

• Bonin was executed on February 23, 1996.• He was the first person in California with a lethal

injection.

Why are Serial Killers so difficult to spot?

• Getting away with murder– The murderers make themselves look like

everyone else, and they blend in with everyone surrounding them.

– If you want to avoid a serial killer then you should avoid the charming ones.

Why are Serial Killers so difficult to spot? cont.

• Mask of Sanity– Serial Killers don’t know how to feel sympathy for

others or keep relationships.– To act normal they observe others.– Serial Killers are like actors they can be anybody

they want to.– The killers would blame other illnesses like

schizophrenia or multiple personality to take responsibility.

Why are the Serial Killers so difficult to spot? Cont.

• What make Serial Killers Tick?– Traditional explanations include childhood abuse,

genetics, chemical imbalances, brain injuries, exposure to traumatic events, and perceived societal injustices.

– Some serial killers just don’t have any thrill or happiness.

Organized Crime Scene

• An organized crime scene has:– Planned offense

Transports body Body hidden Controlled conversation Demands submissive victim Missing weapon or evidence Victim is a targeted stranger Personalizes victim Crime scene reflects control Restraints used Aggressive acts done before death

Disorganized Crime Scene

• A Disorganized Crime Scene has:– Body left at death scene

Spontaneous offenseEvidence or weapon present at sceneVictim or location knownBody left in viewDepersonalizes victimSexual acts after deathMinimal conversationMinimal use of restraintsCrime scene sloppy

Sudden violence towards the victim

Mixed Crime Scene

• A mixed crime scene have characteristics of organized and disorganized crime scenes.

• Could indicate the presence of two offenders, or that the offender planned the crime and was interrupted during the act.

• The offender may have staged the scene.

Atypical Crime Scene

• Atypical Crime Scene is a crime scene that cannot be classified with the data available.

• Decomposed remains fall under this type. • The police or profilers may have to take other

things into consideration when faced with this crime scene.

• They may look into crime databases to see if anything at the scene matches other previous crime scenes or the profiles.

What I have learned from doing this webquest.

• I have learned that the world has some abnormal people.

• It makes me wonder what happened to the world to have so many serial killers.

• I couldn’t believe that my serial killer raped, and beaten up to 30 young male adults.

References

• http:// www. trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/• http://www.crimelibrary.com• http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killer

s/Bonin,%20William%20-%20fall,%202007.pdf

• http:// www.trutb.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/tick/1b.html

• http://members.tripod.com/~SerialKillr/SerialKillersExposed/crimescenes.html

• http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/bonin322.htm