World's Most Evil Killers - Season 5, Episode 4 - William Bonin - Full Episode | Forensic Files

NARRATOR: On the 22nd of March, 1980, the bodies of two teenage boys were discovered dumped together
beside a freeway in California. Sadly, they were the first, and they wouldn't be the last.
You've got this killer, and he is almost ghostlike. He is dumping bodies, and then he's
disappearing into the night. NARRATOR: Bodies of young boys, most of them hitchhikers,
had been discarded like trash. The victims had all been tied up and sexually assaulted
before being strangled. He was incredibly violent. He was evil, and he would hurt you just to hear you scream.
NARRATOR: The killer was a local truck driver called William Bonin. This sadistic predator, together with a small band
of accomplices, spread fear amongst the community. It seemed that no young man was safe.
He enjoyed having the boy at his mercy and hearing the boy cry and plead for his life.
And Bill felt powerful when he was in the act of murdering a kid. NARRATOR: In just 13 months, the monster
dubbed the Freeway Killer was responsible for the murders of up to 21 young boys and teenagers.
William Bonin had been revealed as one of the world's most evil killers. [MUSIC PLAYING]
During the summer of 1979, the naked bodies of young boys were being discovered beside freeways and other major roads
across Southern California. DAVE LOPEZ: It started very slowly. There would be a dead body found on the side of a road.
It started out there was maybe one, maybe two, and then when it got to like the fourth body
that had been found, then we started saying, wait a minute. Is there a pattern here?
NARRATOR: Victims were being targeted at an alarming rate. And a wave of fear spread within communities across Los Angeles.
These murders were very close together. It's almost like a killing spree at times.
And he does it because he can. These people are there for the taking. They are vulnerable.
And when he figures out that nobody is coming after him, well, he just carries on.
This was a man who premeditated everything. It was all carefully thought out, carefully planned,
and then executed meticulously. NARRATOR: After his arrest in 1980, William Bonin confessed to 21 murders.
His youngest victim was just 12 years old. Prison psychologist, Vonda Pelto, spent many hours talking to the killer.
VONDA PELTO: I asked him one time about a killing, how did it feel when you killed him?
When he was crying and pleading for his life and saying, please, please don't kill me, did you feel anything?
And Bill said, I didn't feel anything. I couldn't understand that. And I said, well, was it like killing an animal?
And Bill said, oh, no, I have a lot of feeling for an animal. NARRATOR: This killer's story begins
on the 8th of January, 1947. William George Bonin was born in Willimantic, Connecticut,
to parents Robert and Alice. He was the middle of three brothers. Their father was an alcoholic, and it was
an unhappy abusive upbringing. Neighbors recall the Bonin boys were always hungry, dirty, and ill clothed.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: Bonin was then put in the hands of Alice's father who had abused her as a child.
And he went on to abuse her sons. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Bonin experienced a lot of sexual abuse during his childhood.
And, sadly, it was something that he just came to expect. But he also learned that sexual abuse
was a way of gaining power and control over other people. NARRATOR: When Bonin was six he was sent to an orphanage.
His mother, Alice, claimed this was to protect her sons from an abusive home life.
VONDA PELTO: Bill and his younger brother were put in the Catholic-run orphanage.
And the parents never did come to see him, he told me. And said that, for sure, he thought
they had died because they didn't come to see him. NARRATOR: From the orphanage, young William Bonin was sent
to a youth detention center. The reason why is unknown. But what is certain is that during his time
there, at the age of just eight, he was subjected to yet another sexual assault.
This time by an older boy. Allegedly he asked for his hands to be tied during this.
And that signifies to me that this is somebody who has been sexually abused. There is a familiarity with that kind of behavior.
And that is something that's incredibly disturbing for me, especially at such a young age.
NARRATOR: By 1969, 22-year-old Bonin had reconnected with his mother and was living
with her in Downey, California. After a brief career in the army, he turned to a life of crime.
He was arrested for sexually assaulting five boys. And he's also later emerged that Bonin
and raped two soldiers at gunpoint during his military service. He hasn't just turned into a sexual predator overnight.
This is behavior that will have developed over time. But it's probably gone undetected up until this point.
And, to me, this is somebody who is on a very clear trajectory to becoming a very dangerous and a potentially
homicidal offender. GEOFFREY WANSELL: It's the oldest question in the book, isn't it?
What came first? Was it nature or nurture? In this case, I think it was both. Together, they created a formidable combination.
NARRATOR: Bonin's deviant behavior would inevitably land him in hot water. Instead of serving time in prison,
the young man wound up in a state hospital where he actually honed his predatory instincts.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Now, during this time, he gets to learn about the institutional environment.
He gets to know the kind of things he needs to say to staff at that facility, the type of things
that they need to hear to secure his release. He's becoming more dangerous now because he's developing
that manipulativeness. NARRATOR: After five years of incarceration, William Bonin was a free man.
Far from rehabilitated, he was ready to strike again. In early September, 1975, David McVicker
was a 14-year-old schoolboy enjoying the last long warm days of summer break. Life seemed free and easy and there
was no problem getting around to catch up with his friends. DAVID MCVICKER: Everybody hitchhiked.
There was no buses or anything like that. Say, at the beach, at the end of the day,
it wasn't unusual to see 150 kids down there with their beach towel and their thumb out.
NARRATOR: Whilst the youth of Los Angeles focused on making the most out of their time off, they
were blissfully unaware of the potential danger they were putting themselves in.
At 5:30 PM, on September 8, a sadistic sexual predator was looking for a boy to pick up.
DAVID MCVICKER: I'd just said goodbye to my friends. I left their house and gone to hitchhike home.
And, as soon as I crossed this major street, a car pulled up next to me. And this guy says, hey, can you tell me where Euclid street is?
I said, it's about a mile ahead. He goes, well, where are you going? I said, I'm going to go to Brookhurst
and go towards the beach. And he said, well, why don't you jump in, and I'll give you a ride.
And I thought, cool, that's perfect. NARRATOR: But this kind motorist wasn't at all what he seemed.
DAVID MCVICKER: I got in the car and everything was cool at first. He was really nice.
You would have never thought anything was wrong. And then, about, maybe, five minutes into the ride,
he said something to ask if I had ever tried anything like a gay act or something like that.
And I was kind of in shock. I was like, no. No, I would never do that. And then I immediately tried to get out of the car.
I said, do me a favor. I said, pull over. Let me out of the car. And he didn't. He started going faster.
So I got really scared and I opened up the door. And I went like that. And I turn around.
There's a gun right here. He goes, get back in the car or I'll shoot you. NARRATOR: The driver was 28-year-old,
convicted rapist and pedophile, William Bonin. He drove around for some time, all the while,
holding a gun pointed straight at David. As the light faded, Bonin parked up in a field.
I was scared to death. I was petrified. I knew that something really bad was going to happen.
I didn't know if I was going to live or die. I was fighting for my life to try to get out of the car.
He grabbed me and started to beat me up. I knew that if I didn't do what he said, I was going to die.
NARRATOR: David's ordeal that summer evening was the stuff of nightmares He had my t-shirt around my neck with the tire iron.
You know, to change the tire. He had that going through the sleeves of my shirt,
and he was twisting it, strangling me. While he was raping me. And then, with what I thought was my last breath,
because I couldn't breathe in anymore, I just kind of went, "God, help" like that, and he stopped.
NARRATOR: Amazingly, Bonin let him go. Later that day, 14-year-old David and his mother
reported the assault to the police. Several months later, David's school day was interrupted by a visit from the Sheriff's officers.
He was taken to the Orange County jail, where they'd arranged a lineup. We went into this little dark room,
and these six guys come streaming out. And before they even stopped, I saw the guy.
I knew it was him. So I said out loud that's him, number three. NARRATOR: In December, 1975, 28-year-old
William Bonin was found guilty of lewd and lascivious conduct and sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.
For unknown reasons, he was released on parole after serving less than three. The 31-year-old settled back into the community.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He appears to be creating some semblance of a normal life, but what he's doing
is putting in place the structures that will make him into a more successful offender.
So he has this veneer of normality, this veneer of respectability. And when you look like a normal member of society,
you're more likely to go unnoticed. NARRATOR: Bonin secured a job as a truck driver
and rented an apartment. However, the following year, he was arrested yet again for molesting a teenage boy.
He'd violated his parole, and should have been returned to prison. There's an administrative error.
Bonin is not sent straight back to jail. He's set free. When he's released, Bonin is picked up by a friend.
And he tells the friend, this is never going to happen to me again. The friend thought that that meant he was never
going to commit a crime again. Tragically, grotesquely, it meant that he was never going
to leave a victim alive again. NARRATOR: The string of sexual convictions to his name
didn't seem to affect Bonin's social life. In fact, he was starting to explore his sexuality.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He's gay. And, at this time-- the late 1970s-- this is still quite a stigmatized social
identity in the United States. So the fact that he's trying to make connections with people like him is something that could
appear to be quite positive. NARRATOR: He became a regular at one of his neighbors parties.
Bonin's meeting up with people who were after exactly the same as his-- sex, drugs, a great deal of alcohol, and adventures.
And it's at the friend's house that he first encounters a 21-year-old young man called Vernon
Butts, who is a part time magician and works in a porcelain factory. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: He's been described as being fascinated
by and terrified by Bonin. And that rings an alarm bell for me in terms of coercive control.
When you have a perpetrator who basically tries to take away the identity and the personhood of the individual
they're in a relationship with. And this sounds incredibly familiar when we look at this description.
So that's very concerning for me. NARRATOR: Bonin was never going to resist the urge to assault
a young boy for long. On the 5th of August, 1979, Bonin and his new friend, Vernon Butts, were out cruising in Bonin's van.
Bonin spotted Markus Grabs, a 17-year-old German tourist who was hitchhiking beside Newport Beach.
They pulled over and offered him a ride. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: At this point in time a lot of people
traveled around, hitching lifts with other people. It was a cultural norm. So, I think, to realize that this everyday mode of transport
has put you in a situation where you're going to lose your life, that must have been
absolutely horrendous for him. NARRATOR: 17-year-old Markus was subjected to an horrific assault in which he
was tied up and raped by Bonin. Years later, Bonin described the attack in detail to prison
psychologist, Vonda Pelto. VONDA PELTO: Markus Grabs was laying there in the back of his van.
And Bonin had a knife. And he said, you know, I just got to thinking I could kill him.
And then Bonin said, I just started stabbing him wildly. He said, I just stabbed and stabbed and stabbed.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: He was stabbed 77 times in an outburst of violence that's almost unimaginable.
NARRATOR: The lifeless body of Markus Grabs was found the following day in nearby Malibu.
The 17-year-old was naked and had orange cord still wrapped around his head. Markus had been raped and murdered by William Bonin.
Watched on by his macabre cheerleader, Vernon Butts. GEOFFREY WANSELL: Butts admitted later that he positively
enjoyed watching Bonin in action, that he was both terrified of him and yet hypnotized by him.
The perfect accomplice, the Sorcerer's apprentice. NARRATOR: The deadly duo had made their first kill.
There's almost a sense in which they're waiting to see what's going to happen. Are the police going to catch up with them?
Is anybody going to come looking for them? And when they realize that that's not going to happen,
they get that sense of power and that sense of invincibility, and think, well, why not do it again?
NARRATOR: Over the next five weeks, two more young men would die at the hands of Bonin
and his sidekick, Butts-- 15-year-old Donald Hyden and 17-year-old David Murillo.
Were both sodomized, strangled, and discarded along the Ventura freeway. VONDA PELTO: He was very clever.
So that the police were confused, he would just scatter these kids all over the place.
They were trash. Once they were dead, they were trash to him. They were nothing.
NARRATOR: The bodies of young male victims were being discovered in various different counties
in and around Los Angeles. Noticing a similarity between the murders, investigators at the LAPD began to contact other agencies.
Larry Malmberg was investigating the murder of 17-year-old, Mark Shelton, who had been found beside a freeway
in the Devore area of San Bernardino County. LAPD brought it to my attention that the one case in Devore fit the cases from LA
County and Orange County. And, then, that's what made me realize that, you know,
we were dealing with a serial killer. And we all met together, all the agencies, exchanging
information on murder cases, especially any type of murder cases that involved the body being
dumped anywhere near a freeway. NARRATOR: The multi-agency investigation identified at least five possible victims, all of them
boys under the age of 17. News of the man the press were calling the Freeway Killer
soon spread. Over the next three months, four more young victims were found that matched the killer's MO.
Reporter, Dave Lopez, remembers that the community was on a knife edge. DAVE LOPEZ: There are a lot of bodies being found.
All of Southern California was terrified. I mean, here was a guy running around.
And they knew it was a van picking up kids, and these kids were found dead. I mean, it was a very, very terrifying time.
NARRATOR: And, tragically, there would be many more victims. At the turn of the decade, the Freeway Killer
had no intention of stopping. But William Bonin wasn't working alone. Over the course of his murderous career,
the 32-year-old had a number of accomplices. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: When you've got a team-killing situation,
there's a participation and spectator element to this. And there's a sense of power in watching somebody else kill,
and there's also a sense of power in performing a murder before an audience. VONDA PELTO: Growing up, Bonin didn't have any friends
and so these young killers were his friends. And also his sexual partners. NARRATOR: Another individual who was to become one of Bonin's
chosen few, was an 18-year-old from Texas called Gregory Miley. He was illiterate and made money as a casual laborer.
GEOFFREY WANSELL: In February, 1980, Bonin, this time with Miley, who he'd met at one of those parties,
was out searching for a victim. NARRATOR: Later, Miley described that night's events to prison
psychologist, Vonda Pelto. VONDA PELTO: Gregory Miley had this pretty long blonde hair.
I remember. And he had an IQ of about 57 I think. And he was definitely led by Bill.
NARRATOR: As Miley recounted to Vonda after his arrest, Bonin brought up the subject of murder.
NARRATOR: Their victim was 15-year-old Charles Miranda. NARRATOR: Bonin goaded Miley asking, can you do it?
Let me show you how to do this. Charles was raped and strangled in the back of the van.
NARRATOR: But the night was just getting started. VONDA PELTO: Miley told me that, I was ready to go home.
I was tired after we killed the first one. But Bonin said, no, I need another one.
And that's when they picked up the 12-year-old, the youngest of all. NARRATOR: They found James Macabe waiting at a bus stop.
He wanted to get to Disneyland. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: They lured him into their vehicle
under the premise that they were going to take him to Disneyland. But they didn't.
Bonin raped him whilst Miley drove the vehicle. And he was beaten, and he was strangled.
So you now have two murders in one day. And I think Bonin feels a real sense of accomplishment
as a serial killer now. NARRATOR: The police soon discovered the lifeless bodies
of both boys taking the number of the Freeway Killer's suspected victims to at least 12.
As the media reported the latest slayings, David McVicker found it all very familiar.
DAVID MCVICKER: It was like, every time that I read about these kids in the newspaper,
it was like I just felt this pit in my stomach. And it's like, that happened to me.
That happened to me. You know, I just had this feeling it was him. But I knew in my heart it couldn't be him because he's
still in prison, right? NARRATOR: But he wasn't. William Bonin had been free for over a year in which time
he claimed the lives of many boys. And the sadistic serial killer was only just getting started.
On the 15th of March, the naked body of another young man was found beside a freeway in LA County.
33-year-old Bonin had so far involved several accomplices, and he was about to recruit another.
He'd been introduced to a 17-year-old called Billy Pugh at one of his neighbors parties.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: So this individual could just as well have been one of Bonin's victims
as well as an accomplice. So he got a ride home with him from a party, and Bonin proposition Pugh.
An Pugh turned him down. He was quite shocked at this. And during this encounter, Bonin tells Pugh that he likes
to abduct and kill young boys. And what Bonin is essentially saying here is, I could kill you if I wanted to.
And Pugh was quite fascinated, but also quite terrified by this. NARRATOR: On the 20th of March, less than a week
after his last killing, Bonin, together with young Billy Pugh, went to Hollywood on the hunt for a victim.
They lured 15-year-old runaway, Harry Todd Turner, into the van. Harry Todd Turner, was prey for the pair of them.
Once again, the boy is forced to strip. He is beaten, sodomized, and strangled with a ligature.
NARRATOR: It wasn't enough to satisfy Bonin's growing desires. The following afternoon, he was yet again cruising the streets.
This time, he was alone. He's been killing with accomplices for quite a long time now.
And I think he wants to mix it up and make things interesting. And he also has that confidence because he hasn't been caught.
So he decides, I'm going to try killing on my own. And I think he feels quite confident he's
going to get away with it. NARRATOR: He came across 14-year-old, Glenn Barker, hitchhiking in Westminster.
ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Glenn Barker's mother had been hearing about other boys who had been turning up dead, and she was rightly
incredibly worried about this. So in order to encourage Glenn not to hitchhike, she gave him money so we could take the bus instead.
But, like any young lad, he's not going to spend his money on the bus. He was going to save it up for other things.
NARRATOR: It was a mistake, which cost Glenn his life. But claiming one young victim wasn't enough
for Bonin that afternoon. GEOFFREY WANSELL: Bonin comes across a young man of 15, Russell Rugh, who was on his way to an after-school job.
But he'd called his employer to tell him that he was running late. Tragically, he was hitchhiking, and was offered a lift by none
other than William Bonin. NARRATOR: Glenn and Russell's bodies were found dumped together in a remote location 70 miles out
of the city in Orange County. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: I think the fact that Glenn Barker
and Russell Rugh's bodies were dumped together is incredibly significant. Because what the killer is doing, in terms
of whoever finds those bodies, is saying, look, I've killed two people. I've done this on my own.
I am displaying these bodies for you to see. So there's a real sense of a performance here.
NARRATOR: Forensic investigators discover distinctive green carpet fibers on both victims' naked bodies.
This firmly linked these murders with four of the Freeway Killer's earlier victims.
By late April, 1980, the body count attributed to the mysterious Freeway Killer had reached a staggering 19.
And there was no sign of him slowing down. It was all proving too much for David McVicker who'd survived
an assault by Bonin in 1975. DAVID MCVICKER: I knew, just something in my stomach
just told me, this is him. And these stories just kept going on and on. And, finally, one day on TV, one of the news reporters
said that if you have any idea, even if it's a guess who could be doing this, call.
And I thought, yeah, I have a guess. I have a good guess. I finally called the Sheriff's department
and said what happened to me. NARRATOR: The net was closing in on William Bonin.
His name had been firmly put on the police's radar, and someone else was about to name him as a suspect too.
One of his accomplices, Billy Pugh, had been arrested for vehicle theft. GEOFFREY WANSELL: While on remand in prison,
he tells the authorities that if he can make some kind of deal with them, he knows who the Freeway Killer is.
And he points them towards William Bonin. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Looking at this from the outside,
it would appear to be completely bizarre. But he is out of Bonin's clutches now.
That coercively controlling dynamic has been broken down. He's getting a sense of himself back,
and he wants to protect himself. NARRATOR: Unaware that he was about to be under the spotlight, Bonin was recruiting
yet another accomplice-- an 18-year-old named James Munro whom he'd taken under his wing.
VONDA PELTO: Bill picked him up, got him a job, took him to live with him at his mother's house.
And Bonin just said to Jim Munro, what do you think about us going out and picking up somebody, having sex with him,
and then killing him? What do you think? And Jim Munro told me, he thought he was kidding.
And Jim said, he didn't want to sound like he was afraid to do that. NARRATOR: On the 2nd of June, whilst the LAPD began
to organize a 24-hour surveillance operation on William Bonin, their new prime suspect
for the Freeway Killer, Bonin and James Munro had picked up another young man. What stands out about this is that it
didn't just happen in the back of a van, down a road somewhere. Steven Wells was taken to the house
where Bonin's mother lived. Now, taking a victim to a house where you live is incredibly risky.
So Bonin really does feel completely invincible at this point in time. VONDA PELTO: They killed Steven Wells in Bonin's house,
and then took him over to Vernon Butts' house. And they said to Vernon, hey, Vern, come on out in the van
and look what we've got. And Vern went out there, and kind of poked the kid, and said, oh, yeah, that's a good one.
And Bill said to Vern, what do you think we ought to do with him? Vern said, well, you could keep him as a souvenir
or just dump him off. And, hey, no big deal, you could always get another one. NARRATOR: The surveillance team set up outside Bonin's house
just in time to witness and Munro return in the van after disposing of Steven's body.
As investigators watched the callous duo jovially enter the house, they had no idea what horrors had happened
there just hours earlier. All the police could do was watch and wait. Nine days later, on the 11th of June,
they got their opportunity. The police had witnessed him talking to a number of young men on street corners
as they were following him. And one 17-year-old actually got into his van. The detectives who had been standing, watching the van,
could see it moving. They could also hear sounds, groans. A physical attack could be about to take place.
And, at that point, they decide to get into the van. They caught him, literally, right in the act--
right smack in the act. They saved the kid, and they caught Bonin red-handed. NARRATOR: Finally, William Bonin was in police custody.
The man who was believed to be responsible for the murder of 21 young men and boys was safely behind bars.
As the news broke, the whole of LA, and one keen viewer in particular, breathed a huge sigh of relief.
We were watching the news and all of a sudden this flash comes on-- Freeway Killer arrested.
And it was him. NARRATOR: William Bonin was charged with the sodomy and oral copulation of the teenage boy
who was rescued from his van. He was due in court for a preliminary hearing. And unless investigators could prove he was also a murderer,
it was likely he would be released on bail. At the very last minute, officers searching
Vernon Butts' home discovered large amounts of blood in his shower. ELIZABETH YARDLEY: Butts had probably been told by Bonin,
don't worry. There's no evidence, deny everything. It's fine. But then the luminol shows up this blood,
which is completely unexpected. Now, up until this point everything had been planned.
Everything had been predictable. It was going fine. But this is a real curveball.
And this is when things start to unravel. NARRATOR: Butts immediately started talking.
He confirmed that he and Bonin had been responsible for several of the murders. Bonin was kept in jail.
In the meantime, forensic investigators have been examining every inch of Bonin's van.
They'd had a breakthrough. The rear had been lined with green carpet, which was a match for the distinctive fibers that had been
found on eight of the victims. They lift up the green carpet in the back of the van
and discover blood. Now there are convincing links between the killings. NARRATOR: As the case against William Bonin mounted,
the news that so many boys and teenagers had been savagely abused and killed was difficult for David McVicker
to hear. I can only imagine what those other kids went through. Because I know that, at first, they would have seen
the same person that I saw. They were seen somebody who wants to have fun, and inviting, and be your friend,
and maybe smoke a joint or something. And then, right after, they would have found out that they
had messed up really bad. And he was incredibly violent. He was evil. And he would hurt you just to hear you scream.
NARRATOR: The police finally had their man. Investigators worked tirelessly to put
the case against the Freeway Killer together. Six months later, on the 16th of December, 1980,
William Bonin tried to make a deal. He would give them information about his numerous victims
on the understanding that his confessions could not be used as evidence against him.
He was hoping that if he helped, the prosecutors wouldn't seek the death penalty.
Detective Larry Malmberg received a call from the LAPD. LARRY MALMBERG: They said, hey, Bonin is going to talk to us,
and you're invited to come down. And I went down to the courthouse, and there were officers from a tremendous amount of agencies
that all had victims. NARRATOR: The LAPD had prepared charts with profiles of dozens
of victims they had reason to believe may be connected to the case. Bonin went through them by date and name and photographs
and identified the ones that he had murdered. NARRATOR: He even went on to describe
where he dumped the body of a young boy that had never been found. He told us that he it out here in San Bernardino County,
off the 10 freeway. So arrangements were made to bring Bonin out the next day by LA County sheriffs.
He pointed out an area where the body had been dumped. They set up a grid and started doing a search
and, ultimately, found bones. NARRATOR: Bonin identified the victim from a photograph
as being missing teenager Sean King, who was 14 years old. His mother had been waiting anxiously for news
of her son for seven months. Larry remembers that Bonin was a wolf in sheep's clothing.
If you walked into a bar and sat down and he was sitting in a chair next to you,
you would think he's a nice guy. It hurt, emotionally, talking to him and seeing that he is actually the kind of person you could
carry on a conversation with and not even realize what an evil, no-good, rotten, piece
of garbage he is. NARRATOR: Without being able to use Bonin confessions as evidence in court, the confirmation that he had indeed
been responsible for so many killings was of limited help to the prosecution. However, as the year came to an end, several of his accomplices
agreed to plead guilty and testify against Bonin in return for leniency in their sentencing.
Meanwhile, journalist, Dave Lopez, had been visiting Bonin in jail. On the 9th of January, 1981, he had another opportunity
to meet with the killer. There had been a lot of speculation about what was going to happen with the trial
and what have you. And I said, you know, there's a rumor that you're going to cop out to all this.
And he goes, I don't know if I'm going to do that or not, but you got a little bit of time?
I go, yeah. And he says, yeah, I did it. I said, you did what? He says, I killed them.
And I go, how many? And he said, 21. NARRATOR: It was a confession that Dave had not been expecting.
DAVE LOPEZ: It was just a weird feeling knowing that he was telling me all this.
And, here, I'm just sitting right across from him. And saying to myself, you know, he didn't have
the look of a wild murderer. But, boy, he sure talked like one. NARRATOR: Two days later, on the 11th of January, Vernon Butts--
Bonin's accomplice who'd admitted his part in the killings and been charged with six of the murders--
committed suicide in jail. It was a massive blow for the prosecution. Now, Butts has agreed to testify
against Bonin providing the death penalty is taken off the table. But the moment that Butts hangs himself,
all those confessions become inadmissible in court. Bonin was in jail at the time, but, in order to keep him
there, the prosecution needed to prove his guilt. Now, they couldn't use his confessions against him
because that was the agreement. They couldn't use Butts' testimony either. So both of these murderers have admitted to their crimes,
but the evidence can't be used to prove them guilty. NARRATOR: Six months later, in June, there was a revelation.
Dave Lopez went public with the news that Bonin had confessed to him. DAVE LOPEZ: We put together the story
and broadcast the fact that he confessed to me, 21 killings. Went into a little bit of detail, not a whole bunch.
And, then, the proverbial you know what hit the fan. NARRATOR: It made the reporter a vital witness,
and he was put under pressure to give evidence in court. DAVE LOPEZ: Area and their brother was coming after me,
and they were trying to subpoena me. Now, at the time, California had what they call a shield law,
which, basically, protected reporters from having to testify in a court of law. If you wanted, you can subpoena them,
but they can only testify to what they had reported on the air or what they had written.
And the state of California tried like the devil to try to get me to testify. And I wasn't going to testify.
NARRATOR: As prosecutors tried every trick in the book to get Dave on the witness stand,
Bonin seemed happy to spill the beans on his life of crime to prison psychologist, Vonda Pelto.
Over the coming weeks, he went into detail about the depraved killings. VONDA PELTO: He said that he went
out and picked up these kids because he wanted sex. He wanted to rape them. And then he said that he had this epiphany, I guess,
where he realized and admitted to himself it wasn't the sex at all. He enjoyed the killing.
He enjoyed having the boy at his mercy and hearing the boy cry and plead for his life.
NARRATOR: On the 4th of November, 1981, at the Los Angeles Superior Court, Bonin's trial
began. He was indicted for 12 murders in Los Angeles County. GEOFFREY WANSELL: The trial was a sensation.
People queued for hours to get into the public gallery. It was the most extraordinary spectacle.
NARRATOR: Without any of Bonin's confessions on the record, there was a real chance that he could get away with murder.
After six weeks of trial and testimony, the fate of the Freeway Killer hung in the balance.
DAVE LOPEZ: Once they started closing arguments, that's it, the case is over. There's no more testimony, no more nothing.
And I hadn't testified yet. Then, I got a phone call saying that the closing arguments were delayed.
I go, why? Well, because Bonin was in the holding cell with another inmate. The inmate realized who he was, and he beat the crap out
of him, to the point where Bonin was physically unable to go to court. NARRATOR: This unexpected news had a profound effect on Dave.
I do believe that, sometimes, when you get signs-- may they be subtle or however you want to believe it.
But the way I looked at it, I said, it was so unusual for a guy to be beaten up the day
of the closing arguments. And the closing arguments were delayed. I said to myself, you know, I better not ignore this.
So I called the prosecutor, and I said, hey, look, you still need me? Because I'll testify.
NARRATOR: Dave Lopez was on the stand for two days. He detailed the 21 murders Bonin had confessed to him.
In many ways, it was a controversial decision because-- as a reporter myself, and I've covered many trials--
you're supposed to be there as an observer and to remain impartial. It is extremely rare for someone to leave the press
box for the witness box. NARRATOR: On the 6th of January, 1982, 33-year-old William Bonin was found guilty of 10
murders in Los Angeles County and given the death penalty. The following year, Bonin was tried and found
guilty of a further four murders in neighboring Orange County. He received a second death sentence.
A lot of people said, I was the main reason that he got convicted. I don't think that at all.
I think, if anything, I was just icing on the cake for the jury. All of Bonin's surviving accomplices
were also found guilty and sentenced to time in jail. Despite taking the police directly
to the location of 14-year-old Sean King's body, Bonin was acquitted of that crime.
Without being able to use his confession in court, there was insufficient evidence for conviction.
VONDA PELTO: The sad thing is that he admitted doing 21 murders, but they only busted him or convicted him
for killing 14. So there were seven families that didn't get their cases solved or justice
even though he admitted it. NARRATOR: In 1996, after 14 years on death row, William Bonin became the first prisoner
executed by lethal injection in California. David McVicker was present during those final moments.
DAVID MCVICKER: It was probably like six feet away from him-- something like that.
And he just eventually turned purple. And he went, pthhpth, like that, and that was the end of it.
But it was, for me, total release. It was like these demon nightmares were just coming out.
NARRATOR: William George Bonin was pronounced dead at 12:13 AM on the 23rd of February, 1996.
He never showed any remorse for his crimes. He said, there are some guys that were born on this world
to do certain things. I was born to be a killer. LARRY MALMBERG: There are all kinds out there,
and Bonin was one of the most evil ones in my opinion. Certainly the most evil I ever dealt with.
VONDA PELTO: I asked Bill, one time, do you have any regrets? And he said, well, I did kill two in one day.
But he said, I always wanted to kill three. And he said, I really regret not having that opportunity.
NARRATOR: Bonin was a sexual predator who killed for sheer pleasure. He was convicted of murdering 14 boys,
but he's believed to have been responsible for many more lost lives. He targeted those who were vulnerable.
And, by his own admission, would have continued to kill if he hadn't been caught,
making William Bonin one of the world's most evil killers. [MUSIC PLAYING]

William Bonin is known to some as the 'Freeway Killer,' thought to have raped, tortured and murdered a minimum of twenty-one boys and young men before he was executed in 1996.

An in-depth look at the lives and crimes of some of the world's most evil killers, including Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez, Cary Stayner, Leonard Lake, Dorothea Puente and more.

Brief Summary

William Bonin, the Freeway Killer, murdered young boys in California, evading capture until his arrest in 1980 and execution in 1996.

Key points

The Discovery of Bodies. On March 22, 1980, the bodies of two teenage boys were found, marking the start of a terrifying series of murders.
The Freeway Killer's Identity. Local truck driver William Bonin was revealed as the sadistic killer behind the murders of young boys.
David McVicker's Ordeal. 14-year-old David McVicker was abducted by Bonin, who held him at gunpoint and assaulted him.
The First Kill. Bonin and his accomplice Vernon Butts committed their first murder, marking the beginning of a horrific spree.
The Growing Body Count. The Freeway Killer's reign of terror continued, with multiple young victims found across Southern California.
William Bonin Arrested. The Freeway Killer is finally caught after a long investigation.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

He was evil, and he would hurt you just to hear you scream.

0:42WatchAug 19, 2021

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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