Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker was born on September 27, 1940, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His parents did not want children and, as a result, Lawrence was placed in an orphanage shortly after birth. He was adopted as an infant. His adoptive father worked in the aviation industry, which meant the family moved frequently around the United States during his childhood.

At the age of 12, Lawrence faced his first arrest for shoplifting. Over the next four years, he continued to get into trouble with the law for similar offenses, leading to a minor criminal record that caught the attention of juvenile authorities. He later suggested that his thefts were attempts to gain the love he felt he lacked from his parents.

Bittaker was reported to have a high IQ of 138 but found school boring and decided to drop out in 1957. At this time, he was living in California with his adoptive parents. Soon after leaving school, he got into more trouble, including arrests for car theft, hit and run, and evading arrest. This led to his incarceration at the California Youth Authority, where he stayed until he turned 18.

When he was released, Bittaker discovered that his adoptive parents had disowned him and moved to a different state. He never saw them again. After his release, he continued to commit crimes, resulting in more arrests and time in prison.

Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris committed a series of heinous crimes in California in 1979. Their first victim was Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, a 16-year-old girl, who was abducted on June 24, 1979, after leaving a church meeting. Bittaker and Norris had been staking out young girls, and they lured Schaefer into their van using ruses involving marijuana. They took her to a remote area in the San Gabriel Mountains, where they raped and then killed her. They strangled her with a coat hanger and disposed of her body over a canyon.

About two weeks later, on July 8, 1979, they encountered 18-year-old Andrea Joy Hall, who was hitchhiking along the Pacific Coast Highway. After following her, they managed to get her into their van. Norris hid in the back of the van, making it seem as if Bittaker was alone. Once inside, Hall was bound and gagged, and raped multiple times. Eventually, Bittaker killed her by driving an ice pick into her ears and strangling her before discarding her body.

On September 3, 1979, Bittaker and Norris picked up two more victims: 15-year-old Jackie Doris Gilliam and 13-year-old Jacqueline Leah Lamp. After offering them a ride, they overpowered the girls, bound them, and drove them to a secluded area in the San Gabriel Mountains where they held them captive for two days. Both girls suffered extensive physical and sexual abuse. Ultimately, Gilliam was killed by an ice pick to the ears, and Lamp was bludgeoned with a sledgehammer and strangled shortly after.

The last victim was 16-year-old Shirley Lynette Ledford, who was abducted on October 31, 1979. Bittaker and Norris picked her up while she was hitchhiking home from a Halloween party. In a secluded area, they bound and gagged her and inflicted brutal violence upon her, including beatings and torture. After torturing Ledford for over two hours, Norris killed her by strangling her with a coat hanger. They disposed of Ledford's body on a random lawn, leading to her discovery the following day.

The pair had savagely kidnapped, raped, and murdered five teenage girls within a few months. They used common tools for their torturous acts, which led to their nickname, the "Tool Box Killers." Their actions shocked the community and authorities, sparking a widespread investigation to bring them to justice.