Between 1979 and 1980, 14 teenage boys were kidnapped (not at the same time), robbed, raped and killed throughout several California counties.

The first one to go missing, on August 5, 1979, was 17 year old Marcus Grabs, a white, German student on a backpacking tour around the United States. Marcus was sodomized, beaten and stabbed 77 times. His nude body was found the next day beside a road in Malibu, with an orange nylon cord loosely wrapped behind his head and a piece of ignition wire around one of his ankles.

22 days later. at 1 am., Donald Hyden, 15, was picked up near the Gay Community Services Center in Los Angeles. His body was found at 11 a.m. near Liberty Canyon and the off ramp of the Ventura Freeway. Donald had been strangled by ligature and stabbed. He had been sodomized and it appeared that attempts had been made to cut off his testicles and slash his throat.

Obviously, these killings were extremely brutal, and unfortunately were committed against all of these boys even reaching the young age of 12, one of which was on his way to Disneyland. For this reason, I will assume you, the reader, understand the extremity of these circumstances and if you wish, you can research the rest of these victims, but I will not include these gruesome, awful details, for which most of it I have no words.

At this point, after finding several people of the same victimology and wounds, California police were trying to build a profile of the person taking these young boys. Specialized departments determined that the killer must be male, as a female would not typically have a victimology matching young boys and also be able to overpower them, as well as commit such disgusting acts against them. In an earlier post, I illustrated the fact that typically woman serial killers will kill their victims in a discrete, cleanly manner rather than butchering the bodies. These profilers also determined that the killer may be a frustrated, internally-homophobic gay man, as he targeted boys outside of LGBT+ community centers, and sodomized their bodies.

Unfortunately, four other men agreed to help this disgusting human being hurt these young boys. One of which was the sole reason that this despicable man was caught. William Pugh, considered a co-defendant in the case, was arrested for Auto-Theft charges on May 29, 1980. At this point, thought it is unclear, it can be assumed that Pugh was asked questions about these murders and if he knew anything. He told detectives that he had accepted a ride home from a party with the murderer, who had talked about killing young boys. The defendant was placed under surveillance beginning June 2, 1980.

At this point, William George Bonin’s name was brought up, and he had finally reached the end of his heinous killings. On June 11, 1980, his van was followed to Hollywood. He was observed talking to five different young men standing on street corners before 15-year-old Harold T. entered his van. Bonin parked the van, with Harold still inside, in a vacant lot on Santa Monica Boulevard. Despite Harold’s resistance, the Bonin orally copulated him. Shortly thereafter, Bonin was apprehended in the act of raping and sodomizing Harold. The police found a length of white nylon cord and three knives in the van.

Under California law, a murder committed under “special circumstances” — accompanied by robbery, torture, or rape — may be punished by death. In December, Bonin’s playmates began cracking, pleading guilty on various felony charges and drawing life sentences in return for their promise of testimony against Bonin. They spelled out details of the torture suffered by assorted “freeway” victims, and the glee with which Bonin inflicted pain. As one remarked, “Bill said he loved those sounds of screams.”

I will not go into detail of William George Bonin’s life, as I do not believe that he deserves that kind of recognition or fame, even if it is for a bad reason. Again, feel free to research about this case as much as you wish, especially here.

Inmate Bonin was executed February 23, 1996 in the execution chamber at San Quentin State Prison. Bonin was the first California inmate to be executed by lethal injection.

The victims of Bonin’s crimes include:

This chart included the method of murder, but out of respect for the families, I omitted that information.