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Kenneth Bianchi from Los Angeles, California, was a dangerous criminal. As a murderer who only chose women as his victims, he loved going on a horrific spree of s*xually abusing women before he strangled them to death.
His story has been adapted by Peacock to be made into a four-part docuseries premiering on the streaming platform on August 2, 2022. The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise will take a deep dive into the mind of Bianchi and bring us details of his criminal history.
5 things you should know about Kenneth Bianchi before the show airs
Here are five interesting facts about the famous California strangler who was caught and incarcerated only after he went on a rampage.
1) Kenneth Bianchi was an adoptive child
Kenneth Bianchi was born to an alcoholic s*x worker in Rochester, New York. He was given up for adoption two weeks after he was born. Bianchi was adopted by Nicholas Bianchi and his wife Frances Scioliono-Bianchi in August 1951 and he was their only child.
Bianchi had a deeply troubled childhood. He was described as a compulsive liar who would often fall into trance-like states. He was diagnosed with petit mal seizures when he was only five.
He often had severe fits of anger and was diagnosed with a passive-aggressive personality disorder at the young age of 10. Although Bianchi had an above-average IQ, he was an underachiever who failed school and was described by his teachers as lazy.
2) Bianchi wanted to be a police officer when he grew up
Kenneth Bianchi dreamed of becoming a police officer when he grew up. Sadly, his dream never materialized. He tried to get work in the Sheriff’s Department in Monroe County, New York, but was turned down as he wasn't qualified.
Kenneth Bianchi dropped out of college after one semester and took up a series of menial jobs to sustain himself before he finally ended up as a security guard at a jewelry store. He used to steal valuables from there, which he often gave to his girlfriends or prostitutes. Bianchi constantly changed jobs and was on the move because of this habit.
3) He was in awe of his adoptive cousin
In 1976 Bianchi moved to Los Angeles, California, to live with his adoptive cousin Angelo. Angelo had an upholstering shop in the city, and Bianchi was impressed by his fancy clothes, jewelry, and flirting skills, which got him any woman he wanted.
The duo infamously came to be known as the Hillside Strangler when they were convicted of raping and murdering ten young women and girls when they were arrested in 1979.
4) Bianchi's previous crimes were discovered later
Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono were never caught in the Los Angeles strangulation cases. Lack of evidence led them to roam around scott-free. However, it was only when Kenneth moved to Washington and murdered two young women from a local university that all the previous crimes came out.
In January 1979, Kenneth befriended a woman named Karen and asked her to come along with him to a home in a secluded neighborhood and even offered to pay for her. Karen took her friend, Diane, along with her. The girls never returned and were reported missing. Later, authorities discovered their bodies inside their car in a wooded area.
The evidence from the crime scene directly connected Kenneth to the murders and he was arrested. Only then did he admit to his previous murders in Los Angeles and testified against Angelo.
5) Kenneth Bianchi got married in prison
In September 1989, when Kenneth Banchi was behind bars and serving a life sentence, he married his pen-pal Shirley Book from Louisiana. Shirley had come to visit him in prison one afternoon in 1989, and the duo decided to get married on the very same day. It was clear that Book was smitten by Bianchi and she was nothing short of his fan.
The couple's marriage only lasted four years. Book filed for divorce in 1993 when she discovered that her husband was maintaining written correspondence with his female fans from behind bars.
Catch Peacock's The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise on August 2, 2022.
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