William Bonin
William George Bonin, also called the Freeway Killer and the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured, and murdered numerous young men and boys between May 1979 and June 1980 in southern California. He was convicted of 14 murders, but confessed to 21, and is a suspect in other cases.
Bonin's first known murder victim was killed in May 1979. He generally operated by luring his victims into his van under the pretense of having consensual sex. He became known as the "Freeway Killer", as 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 died by suicide before his trial in 1982.
Described by the prosecutor at his first trial as "the most arch-evil person who ever existed", Bonin 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 that method.
Early life
William George Bonin was born in Willimantic, Connecticut, on January 8, 1947, the second of three sons to Robert Leonard Bonin Sr., a World War II veteran, and Alice Dorothy Cote. Both parents were alcoholics. His father physically abused his wife and children, while his mother had severe mood swings, and frequented a bingo parlor while her sons remained unattended. His older brother, Robert Jr., received the brunt of their father's abuse. Bonin's mother often left the children with their maternal grandfather, a known child molester who had sexually abused her. She later speculated her father molested his grandsons. Bonin and his younger brother Paul were also left with Robert Jr., who belitted and beat them.In January 1950, Bonin's father gambled away the family home in Andover, Connecticut, forcing them to move in with Bonin's maternal grandmother in Willimantic. Bonin and his brothers were actively raised Catholic. They attended St. Mary's Catholic School, where staff complained that Bonin was misbehaving, being truant, and aggressive toward other students. Once, after riding his bike into a group of young girls, he was briefly placed in juvenile hall; after returning home, he was reportedly more uncooperative toward his parents than before.
In September 1953, Bonin began attending the Franco-American School, a Catholic convent in Lowell, Massachusetts. The convent enforced harsh discipline by staff, with extreme assault being commonplace. Bonin recalled nuns forcing him to punch a fence when he misbehaved. Records indicate he was observed to function well in this structured environment. According to witnesses, Bonin was bullied, and once, sexually assaulted by an older boy in 1955. According to Bonin, in the latter incident the older boy approached Bonin for sex, and Bonin asked the boy to tie his hands behind his back, so he could feel "secure and less frightened." The boy used Bonin's binding to sexually assault him. During this time at the convent, neither parent visited Bonin or his brother, and Bonin became worried they had died.
Bonin was to remain at the convent until May 1955, when he returned to live with his parents in a home owned by Bonin's maternal grandfather in Mansfield. There, Bonin attended Annie Vinton Elementary School, where he was bullied. He became a juvenile delinquent who quarreled with students. He recalled being sexually attracted to younger children and male teachers at that time, and feeling shame from it. Neighbors later failed to recollect his parents spending time Bonin and Paul, and one worried neighbor provided them meals and clean clothes out of concern.
Largely devoid of consequences and parental supervision, Bonin stole hubcaps and license plates off vehicles around town. In 1957 he was placed in a juvenile detention center for these and other petty crimes. While incarcerated, Bonin was molested by an adult counselor. Following his release, he began groping his younger brother Paul; after six months, Paul informed their mother of this and Bonin was forced to sleep in a separate bedroom. Bonin later confessed to molesting young boys and exposing himself to a 10-year-old girl during his life.
In 1959, Bonin attended a middle school in Coventry, Connecticut. He showed skills in math and science, but otherwise mediocre grades. In late 1960, his family faced foreclosure, and Bonin's mother kicked his father out of the home, then won custody of the siblings. The parents reconciled, however, after their father was offered lucrative employment as a machinist in Downey, California. In early 1962, they purchased a tract home in nearby Torrance.Paul later recalled Bonin as a well-behaved teenager. Bonin attended North High School in Torrance, where he was an outcast. He was uncomfortable around his peers, and is not known to have any friends in this time. By his teenage years, Bonin had increasing pedophilic urges, but kept this a secret. His mother was aware, and this led to frequent arguments between them. Bonin rarely interacted with girls, but once reluctantly dated a girl named Linda to please his mother. After dropping out of high school in 1966, Bonin molested several neighborhood children. His mother reportedly refused to acknowledge these acts, or his escalating antisocial behavior, but frequently worried he would be arrested, to his frustration. Eventually, she evicted him from their house, for undisclosed reasons. Bonin lacked motivation in his daily life, and frequently borrowed money from his parents. With his mother's encouragement, he joined the U.S. Air Force in December 1966. He also became engaged to Linda, a decision largely made by Bonin's mother, who felt it would quell his attraction to pubescent boys. During the engagement, he repeatedly told Linda that he had recurring nightmares depicting the sexual assault and murder of a woman.
1967–68: Service in Vietnam
During his military service, Bonin completed a General Equivalency Diploma, and served as a cook for four months in Alaska. He was arrested for theft on October 25, 1967, but the charges were dropped due to his imminent deployment Vietnam, amidst the Vietnam War. Stationed in Phu Loi Base Camp, he served five months of active duty in the 205th Assault Support Helicopter Unit as an aerial gunner, logging over 700 hours of combat and patrol time. He is known to have risked his own life on one occasion while under enemy fire to save a wounded fellow airman. For this act, Bonin received a medal in recognition of his gallantry, among other medals. Bonin later claimed that he had consensual sex with women and men in Vietnam, and once, a man in Hong Kong. He also later confessed to sexually assaulting two soldiers under his command at gunpoint, around the 1968 Tet Offensive. Bonin later claimed that his wartime experiences instilled misanthropic beliefs. Bonin served nearly three years, before receiving an honorable discharge on October 25, 1968, at age 21.1968–69: Life after the military
Upon returning home, he discovered that Linda, who had given birth to their son, had left him to marry another man. This reportedly left him extremely frustrated. Bonin returned to Downey to live with his parents, whom he resented for frequently requesting his help. He found work as a gas station attendant Several family members noted differences in his behavior after his military service, although Bonin refused to explain these changes.On November 17, 1968, Bonin picked up 14-year-old Billy Jones in Arcadia, California, while driving his mother's car. In response to Bonin repeatedly asking him questions about homosexuality, Jones attempted to flee the vehicle, but failed. Bonin drove him to a shopping center, then handcuffed, beat, and raped him. He then left Jones at a park. Returning home, Jones told his mother what had happened, and she promptly reported Bonin to police.
On November 26, Bonin picked up 17-year-old hitchhiker John Treadwell of Torrance. Bonin began asking him about "fags" and homosexuality before accelerating the vehicle and producing a handgun. Bonin parked in a secluded area. He then raped Treadwell, and bludgeoned him with a tire iron. Bonin threatened to harm Treadwell if he notified authorities.
On December 4, it was reported to the Torrance Police Department by 17-year-old Allen Pruitt that a man with medium-length dark hair and olive complexion had offered him a ride before deviating from the highway and handcuffing the boy, who was extensively sexually assaulted in the vehicle.
On January 1, 1969, Bonin offered a ride to 12-year-old Lawrence Brettman in Hermosa Beach. Ignoring the boy's pleas to let him go, Bonin began threatening him. Bonin parked and forced Brettman to have sex with him, then robbed him at gun point. As he did with Treadwell, Bonin threatened to kill him if he notified authorities.
On January 12, Bonin reportedly picked up 18-year-old hitchhiker Jesus Monge, then offered him sex. When Monge attempted to exit the vehicle, Bonin assaulted, handcuffed, and raped him. By this point, extensive efforts were being made by local police to locate a potential serial rapist that fit Bonin's description. On the 28th, a policewoman in El Segundo spotted him driving around in his mother's vehicle with a visibly frightened boy, 16-year-old runaway Timothy Wilson. Noting Bonin's frantic state, and matching description to the rapist, she arrested him. Regarding the aforementioned incidents since November, he was indicted on five counts of kidnapping, four counts of sodomy, one count of oral copulation, and one count of child molestation.
In March 1969, Bonin underwent two psychiatric examinations, after which he was determined as being a sexual psychopath, who had little control over his impulses and showed signs of depression and inappropriate emotional responses. Initially denying childhood abuse, Bonin confessed to being molested at age eight and suspected he was molested on various occasions between 9 and 12 years old. In May, Bonin recounted to a probation officer his recent stressful separation and admitted his guilt in molesting male youths, although he also expressed desire to start a family and become a pilot upon his release. He said that his Vietnam service contributed to his criminal behavior, emphasizing his difficulties in seducing female partners since his return. He was evaluated to be "seriously lacking insight and responsibility" for crimes committed since his childhood. He pleaded guilty to molestation and forced oral copulation, and was sentenced to the Atascadero State Hospital in June 1969 as a mentally disordered sex offender considered amenable to treatment.