William George Bonin had a troubled and traumatic childhood. Born in 1947 in Connecticut to an abusive, alcoholic father and a neglectful mother, he endured physical and emotional mistreatment from an early age. He spent much of his youth in foster care and later at a state-run juvenile detention center, where he reportedly suffered sexual abuse from older boys and staff members.

As a teenager, Bonin developed antisocial behaviors and a fixation on dominating others. At 18, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and served as an aerial gunner during the Vietnam War. During combat missions, he reportedly committed acts of sexual assault against fellow servicemen, for which he was later dishonorably discharged.

After returning from Vietnam, Bonin’s criminal behavior escalated. He was arrested multiple times in the late 1960s and early 1970s for sexually assaulting young boys, often using threats and physical violence. In 1969, he was sentenced to prison for child molestation but was paroled in 1974. Over the next several years, Bonin cycled in and out of prison for sexual assaults, each time being released despite psychiatric warnings that he posed a serious danger to society. By 1979, his pattern of violence evolved into serial murder.

Between May 1979 and June 1980, William Bonin, later dubbed the “Freeway Killer,” carried out a series of brutal murders across Southern California. Bonin targeted vulnerable young males, mostly hitchhikers, runaways, and schoolboys aged 12 to 19. He often used the pretense of offering rides, money, or drugs to lure them into his modified Ford van. Once inside, victims were handcuffed or tied, sexually assaulted, tortured with various objects, and finally killed, usually by strangulation with a ligature or his trademark “windlass” method. Many victims were also beaten or mutilated before their bodies were dumped near freeways, leading to his notorious nickname.

Bonin rarely acted alone. He had four known accomplices, Vernon Butts, Gregory Miley, James Munro, and William Pugh, who joined him at different times in these crimes. Butts, a factory worker and amateur magician, took part in at least a dozen murders and later died by suicide in jail before trial. Miley and Munro testified against Bonin to avoid the death penalty, while Pugh accepted a manslaughter plea.

The first confirmed victim was 13-year-old Thomas Lundgren, abducted from Reseda in May 1979. Lundgren was sexually assaulted, mutilated, and strangled before his body was discarded in Agoura Hills. Over the next few months, Bonin and Butts abducted and killed several more victims: Mark Shelton (17), Markus Grabs (17), Donald Hyden (15), David Murillo (17), Robert Wirostek (18), and an unidentified John Doe found in Kern County. Each victim endured severe physical and sexual abuse before death.

By late 1979, Bonin’s killings escalated. Frank Fox (17), John Kilpatrick (15), and Michael McDonald (16) were all found strangled and discarded near highways. In February 1980, Bonin and Gregory Miley abducted Charles Miranda (15) and James Macabe (12) on the same night. Miranda was beaten and strangled in the van, while Macabe, lured with promises of marijuana and a ride to Disneyland, suffered prolonged torture before being killed with a tire iron.

Bonin’s methods grew increasingly sadistic in March 1980. He abducted Ronald Gatlin (18), Glenn Barker (14), and Russell Rugh (15) in quick succession, each suffering hours of captivity, beatings, sexual assault, and finally strangulation. Days later, with Pugh as an accomplice, Bonin killed Harry Turner (15), biting and torturing him before strangling him.

In April 1980, Steven Wood (16) and Darin Kendrick (19) were lured and murdered. Kendrick’s killing was particularly brutal; he was force-fed sedatives and had an ice pick driven into his head before being strangled. In May, Bonin murdered Lawrence Sharp (17) and Sean King (14), the latter strangled and discarded in Yucaipa.

The final known murder occurred on June 2, 1980. Bonin and James Munro picked up Steven Jay Wells (18), offered him money for sex, and lured him to Bonin’s residence. Wells was bound, beaten, and strangled before his body was placed in a cardboard box and left behind an abandoned Huntington Beach gas station.

Bonin’s downfall came just nine days later. Police had begun surveillance based on tips from William Pugh, who revealed Bonin’s confessions about his killing methods. On June 11, 1980, officers followed Bonin as he unsuccessfully attempted to pick up several boys in Hollywood. He finally lured a 17-year-old runaway into his van and parked at a gas station. Detectives heard screams and rushed in, catching Bonin in the act of sexually assaulting the restrained teen.

Investigators discovered physical evidence linking Bonin to multiple murders: blood, hair fibers, ligatures, and a scrapbook filled with newspaper clippings about the killings. Bonin confessed to 21 murders, though he was ultimately convicted of 14 and suspected of even more. His accomplices were arrested and charged shortly after his capture.

In two separate trials, Bonin was sentenced to death. He spent 14 years on death row at San Quentin State Prison, maintaining contact with other notorious killers like Randy Kraft and Lawrence Bittaker. Bonin showed no remorse, once writing to a victim’s mother that her son had been his “favorite” because “he was such a screamer.”

On February 23, 1996, William Bonin was executed by lethal injection, becoming the first California inmate put to death using this method. His execution brought an end to one of the most notorious serial murder sprees in California history.