Not to be confused with the other California serial killers named the "Freeway Killer", Patrick Kearney and Randy Kraft.
William Bonin
Bonin's 1980 mugshot
Born
William George Bonin
(1947-01-08)January 8, 1947
Willimantic, Connecticut, U.S.
Died
February 23, 1996(1996-02-23) (aged 49)
San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, California, U.S.
Cause of death
Execution by lethal injection
Resting place
Ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean
Other names
The Freeway Killer The Freeway Strangler
Children
1
Conviction(s)
First degree murder with special circumstances (x14) Robbery (x3) Sodomy[1]
Criminal penalty
Los Angeles County Death (March 12, 1982) Orange County Death (August 26, 1983)
Details
Victims
14 convicted, 21 confirmed, 22-36+ suspected
Span of crimes
May 28, 1979 – June 2, 1980
Country
United States
State(s)
California
Date apprehended
June 11, 1980
Imprisoned at
San Quentin State Prison
William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also called the Freeway Killer[2] and the Freeway Strangler,[3] was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered young men and boys between November 1968 and June 1980 in southern California. He was convicted of 14 murders, but he confessed to 21 and is suspected of even more.[4]
Bonin generally operated by luring his victims into his van under the pretense of having consensual sex. He became known as the "Freeway Killer" because most of his victims' bodies were discovered beside freeways. On many occasions, he was helped by one of his four known accomplices. One of them, Vernon Butts, was listed in court as an accomplice for 12 murders; he committed suicide before his trial in 1982.
Bonin's two trials took place in Los Angeles County and Orange County, where he operated. Described by the prosecutor at his first trial as "the most arch-evil person who ever existed",[5] he spent 14 years on death row before his execution by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in 1996. He was the first prisoner in California to die by this method.
^"Freeway Killer: Bonin Convicted for 10 Killings; Awaits Sentencing". The Daily Record. Ellensburg, Washington. United Press International. January 7, 1982. p. 8. Retrieved March 15, 2014.
^Gregory, Kim (January 17, 2010). "The Beat Goes On: Decades Have Passed, but Housewife and Mom Jane Howatt Remains Determined to Piece". Ventura County Star. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
^McDougal 1991, p. 145
^"People v. Bonin (1988)". law.justia.com. August 29, 1988. Retrieved January 23, 2022.
^"Freeway Killer's Story: Ghastly Tale of Horror". The Gadsden Times. February 3, 1981. Retrieved November 27, 2018.
William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also called the Freeway Killer and the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and...
The Bonin Islands, also known as the Ogasawara Islands (小笠原諸島), is a Japanese archipelago of over 30 subtropical and tropical islands located around 1...
killers were: Patrick Kearney (born 1939), age 37 when captured in 1977 WilliamBonin (1947–1996) and several accomplices, age 33 when captured in 1980 Randy...
been killed by one of two other serial killers, Patrick Kearney and WilliamBonin, and argued there was "no concrete evidence" that Kraft had killed any...
original on 8 November 2020. Retrieved 21 September 2020. Gribben, Mark. "WilliamBonin: The Freeway Killer". Crime Library. Archived from the original on 5...
Facility in San Diego Gregory Matthews Miley – Accomplice of serial killer WilliamBonin; murdered in 2016 Herbert Mullin – Serial killer and mass murderer,...
killers in the United States List of serial killers by number of victims WilliamBonin, another serial killer in 1970s California known as the "Freeway Killer"...
2014 at the Wayback Machine, Elizabeth Engstrom, The Crime Library "WilliamBonin: The Freeway Killer". crimelibrary.com. Archived from the original on...
the Bonin noble family of Pomerania and East Prussia, was born in Stolp in Farther Pomerania. In 1806, he entered the regiment of Frederick William, Duke...
the law." The SIS was involved in the arrests of Muharem Kurbegovic, WilliamBonin, and Mikhail Markhasev, among others. Between 1965 and 1992, the SIS...
Dahmer, Ted Kaczynski, Richard Kuklinski, the D.C. sniper attacks, and WilliamBonin. He came to national prominence in 1982 during his five days of testimony...
Killer" – Paula Denyer "Freeway Killer" Vernon Butts WilliamBonin Patrick Kearney Randy Kraft William Pugh[broken anchor] "Freeway Phantom" – Unsolved "French...
Buono Jr.) S04E10 Daniel Lee Siebert S05E01 Lonnie Franklin S05E02 WilliamBonin S05E03 Jerry Brudos S05E04 Keith Jesperson S05E05 Arthur Shawcross S05E06...
United States List of people executed in California "'Freeway Killer' WilliamBonin is executed: Sadistic slayer confessed to 21 murders". Chicago Tribune...
suspended, with lethal injection becoming the only method. Serial killer WilliamBonin was the first person to be executed under these new laws, on February...
businessman William Bradford Bishop (born 1936), American former U.S. foreign service officer accused of killing his family WilliamBonin (1947–1996)...
Killers dies in California prison". The Mercury News. "'Freeway Killer' WilliamBonin is executed: Sadistic slayer confessed to 21 murders". Los Angeles Times...
reporter and a council staffer. Bonin graduated from Clinton High School in Clinton, Massachusetts, in 1985. His grandfather William P. Constantino was a state...
Allaway - Mass murderer Arthur Leigh Allen - Zodiac Killer suspect WilliamBonin - Serial killer Bunny Breckinridge - Actor convicted of "sex perversion"...
and was convicted in 1971 of 13 counts of rape, assault and sodomy. WilliamBonin United States 1957–1980 9+ Known as the "Freeway Killer". Serial killer...
Chichijima (父島) is the largest and most populous island in the Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about 240 km (150 mi) north of Iwo Jima. 23.5 km2...
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