William George Bonin American serial killer Date of Birth: 08.01.1947 Country: USA

1. American Serial Killer
2. Early Life
3. The Killings

American Serial Killer

William Bonin, also known as the "Freeway Killer," was an American serial killer. He earned this nickname which he shared with two other killers due to his crimes committed along the highways. Together with his accomplices, Bonin raped and murdered 36 young men and boys. He was convicted of 14 of these murders and was subsequently executed.

Early Life

William was born on January 8, 1947, in Connecticut. His father was a compulsive gambler and an alcoholic. William's mother often left him and his brother in the care of their grandfather. At the age of eight, William was arrested for stealing license plates and was sent to a juvenile detention center. There, he experienced sexual abuse from older children. Returning home as a teenager, William began to torment younger children.

After high school, Bonin served in the U.S. Air Force and fought as a marksman in the Vietnam War, hoping to earn the "Service Medal." Following a short-lived marriage and divorce, Bonin moved to California. In 1969, at the age of 23, he was first arrested for assaulting teenage boys. He was imprisoned and released in 1975 but soon returned to prison for the rape of a 14-year-old boy named David McVicker. In 1979, William returned to the streets and told his friend that he had no intention of going back to prison, not because he decided to stop hunting young people, but because he didn't want to leave witnesses.

The Killings

On May 28, 1979, William kidnapped and killed 14-year-old Thomas Lundgren, who was hitchhiking. The autopsy revealed that he had been castrated and strangled. Bonin committed this crime with his first accomplice, Vernon Butts, a 22-year-old factory worker who constantly boasted about being a wizard and slept in a coffin. Traveling around Los Angeles in a van, Bonin (sometimes accompanied by Butts) hunted young men engaged in prostitution or hitchhiking. Before the end of 1979, seven more teenagers were found raped and murdered. In the early days of 1980, Bonin brutally killed 16-year-old Michael McDonald. A month later, on February 3, in Hollywood, Bonin abducted and killed 15-year-old Charles Miranda. This time, he was assisted by a young man named Gregory Miley. Miley was strangled, and his naked body was dumped in a ditch. The same day, they abducted, raped, and killed 12-year-old James McCabe. He was Bonin's youngest victim.

In December 1979, Bonin raped and murdered another 15-year-old boy named John Kilpatrick. In March, William killed three more boys, followed by three more in April and two in May. Steven Wells became Bonin's final victim, and he was killed on June 2, 1980. 18-year-old James Michael Munro assisted in this murder. By that time, Bonin was already under suspicion due to the recent string of killings. The police kept him under surveillance, and on June 11, he was arrested in the process of attacking a 15-year-old boy identified as "Harold T."

It was revealed that Bonin's first two victims were killed in April 1979. Danny Jordan and Mark Proctor were driving to the beach and were never seen again. Mark Proctor's body was found approximately a week after they were reported missing. Jordan was found several years later. The amount of chloral hydrate found in the bodies could not be used as a sedative due to the significant increase in the normal dosage.

In conclusion, Bonin confessed to abducting, raping, and murdering 21 young men. The police also suspected him in about 15 other killings. Ultimately, he was charged with and confessed to 14 of the murders. He showed no remorse and told one reporter, "I couldn't stop killing. It was getting easier each time." Found guilty on all charges, Bonin was sentenced to death. It was not until February 23, 1996, sixteen years after his arrest, that he was executed by lethal injection in the old gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison. He became the first person in California history to be executed by lethal injection.

His main accomplice, Vernon Butts, was also charged with involvement in six of the murders, but he hanged himself while awaiting trial. Gregory Miley and James Munro, after pleading guilty, received sentences of 25 and 15 years, respectively. Both are still in prison. Despite Bonin's arrest, the bodies of young men continued to be found along the highways of Southern California. The police began to suspect that he had other accomplices who were still active. However, these later killings turned out to be the work of Randy Steven Kraft, who operated independently from William Bonin but had a similar modus operandi. There was also a third "Freeway Killer," Patrick Kearney, who also targeted victims along the highways of Southern California in the 1970s. In total, the three independent killers claimed the lives of approximately 130 individuals.