Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder and sexual assault. Reader discretion is advised.
Between 1977 and 1978, authorities discovered lifeless bodies of 10 women in and around Los Angeles. Reports indicated that the serial killer committed all of his slayings by strangulation. Moreover, all his victims showed signs of sexual assault and torture. However, the killer’s crime spree ended when the police arrested a man named Kenneth Bianchi in January 1979 for the murder of two university students. Eventually, Bianchi, aka Hillside Strangler, pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to multiple life terms.
Upon his arrest in 1979, authorities revealed that Bianchi, and one of his accomplices, Angelo Buono Jr., lured their victims by posing as police officers. According to St. Louis Post-Dispatch, most of their victims were prostitutes. The outlet mentioned that Bianchi pleaded not guilty to the murder charges initially and told investigators that he suffered from multiple personality disorder. However, he later confessed that he lied about his condition. Subsequently, he pleaded guilty to the killings in Washington and also admitted to five of the Hillside Strangler murders in Los Angeles.
On the day of his confession, authorities also arrested his accomplice for the Hillside Strangler murders. Furthermore, the court sentenced Kenneth Bianchi to five consecutive life terms for the murder. He received an additional life term for conspiracy. Meanwhile, the court convicted Angelo Buono Jr. of nine slayings and sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Bianchi is currently serving his sentence at the Washington State Penitentiary. On the other hand, Buono Jr. died in prison in September 2002. He was 67.
Did Bianchi testify against Buono in the Hillside Strangler case?
After committing multiple murders in and around Los Angeles, Kenneth Bianchi fled to Bellingham, California. According to Biography.com, police apprehended Bianchi from Bellingham and named Angelo Buono Jr. his accomplice. He then took a plea deal with the prosecutors to escape the death penalty and agreed to testify against Buono. During the trial, Bianchi told the court that Buono was involved in slayings.
Kenneth Bianchi also opened up about how he and Buono killed one of his victims. UPI reported that Bianchi put a plastic bag over their victim’s head and inserted a gas pipe inside it. The serial killer also noted that Buono Jr. instructed him to switch on the gas and restrain the victim. Although Buono’s lawyers questioned the authenticity of Bianchi’s testimony, the court found him guilty and convicted him of nine murders.
