Global InformationLawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris information
Lawrence Bittaker | |
|---|---|
 Bittaker on trial in 1981. | |
| Born | Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker September 27, 1940 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | December 13, 2019 (aged 79) San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Died in prison while awaiting execution |
| Conviction(s) | First-degree murder (5 counts), kidnapping, rape[1] |
| Criminal penalty | Death (de jure, 1981) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 5+ |
Span of crimes | June 24 – October 31, 1979 |
| State(s) | California |
| Location(s) | San Gabriel Mountains, Sunland-Tujunga |
Date apprehended | November 20, 1979 |
Roy Norris | |
|---|---|
 Norris shortly before his arrest in 1979. | |
| Born | Roy Lewis Norris February 5, 1948 Greeley, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | February 24, 2020 (aged 72) California Medical Facility, Vacaville, California, U.S. |
| Criminal status | Died in prison |
| Conviction(s) | First-degree murder (4 counts), second-degree murder (1 count), kidnapping, rape, robbery[2][3] |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after 30 years (never granted) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 5+ |
Span of crimes | June 24 – October 31, 1979 |
| State(s) | California |
| Location(s) | San Gabriel Mountains, Sunland-Tujunga |
Date apprehended | November 20, 1979 |
| Imprisoned at | Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility |
Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker (September 27, 1940 – December 13, 2019) and Roy Lewis Norris (February 5, 1948 – February 24, 2020), also known as the Tool Box Killers, were two American serial killers and rapists who committed the kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of five teenage girls in southern California over a five-month period in 1979.[4]: 19
Described by FBI Special Agent John Edward Douglas as the most disturbing individual for whom he has ever created a criminal profile,[5]: 135 Bittaker was sentenced to death for five murders on March 24, 1981, but died of natural causes while incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State Prison in December 2019.[6][7]
Norris accepted a plea bargain whereby he agreed to testify against Bittaker and was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 7, 1980, with possibility of parole after serving thirty years. He died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility in February 2020.[8]
Bittaker and Norris became known as the "Tool Box Killers" because the majority of instruments used to torture and murder their victims, such as pliers, ice picks and sledgehammers, were items normally stored inside a household toolbox.[4]: 19
- ^ "Bittaker Sentenced to Death". Boca Raton News. Associated Press. February 25, 1981. p. 3A. Retrieved October 16, 2017.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Gadsden Times Mar. 19, 1980was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Farr1980was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Whittington-Egan, Richard; Whittington-Egan, Molly (1992). The Murder Almanac. Glasgow: Neil Wilson Publishing. ISBN 978-1-897-78404-4.
- ^ Furio, Jennifer (2001). Team Killers: A Comparative Study of Collaborative Criminals. New York City: Algora Publishing. ISBN 1892941635.
- ^ Division of Adult Operations. "Death Row Tracking System Condemned Inmate List (Secure)" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 2019. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
- ^ Morain, Dan (August 20, 2016). "Lawrence Bittaker, a Most Depraved Killer, Twists Justice System". Sacramento Bee. Sacramento, California: McClatchy. Archived from the original on September 3, 2018. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
- ^ Steade, Susan (February 25, 2020). "Second of the Tool Box Killers Dies in California Prison". The Mercury News. San Jose, California: Bay Area News Group. Retrieved February 25, 2020.