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William Bonin, dubbed the “Freeway Killer,” r*ped, tortured, and murdered at least fourteen boys and young men across Southern California between 1979 and 1980 before his arrest in a green Ford Econoline van. As per the Los Angeles Times report dated February 11, 1996.
William Bonin was convicted of s*xually assaulting and murdering at least 21 teenage boys and young men across Southern California between 1979 and 1980. He was sentenced to death and became the first person in California to be executed by lethal injection in 1996.
Butchers of L.A. revisits his crimes in a three-part docuseries that premieres Thursday, June 26, 2025, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SundanceTV (simulcast on AMC+ and Sundance Now), with follow-up episodes airing July 3 and July 10 in the same slot.
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All three instalments stream on the same night they are broadcast. The project places William Bonin alongside Patrick Kearney and Randy Kraft, giving viewers a chronological look at how three separate “Freeway Killers” terrorised Los Angeles.
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Inside William Bonin’s reign as the “Freeway Killer”
William Bonin was born on January 8, 1947, in Connecticut, endured severe childhood abuse, served as a helicopter gunner in Vietnam, and returned home with a record of s*xual assaults.
As per the Los Angeles Times report dated February 18, 1996, Deputy District Attorney Sterling E. Norris noted that Bonin “delighted in talking about” the killings, a sadistic streak that encouraged him to boast to accomplices.
Bonin prowled freeways from Downey to San Bernardino, abducting victims aged twelve to nineteen, binding them with rope or electrical wire, and dumping their bodies near on-ramps. Forensic teams later matched avocado-green carpet fibres from several corpses to the customised floor of his van, an evidentiary link that would prove decisive.
Four young accomplices, Vernon Butts, Gregory Miley, William Pugh and James Munro, joined the assaults at various stages, often in exchange for immunity or reduced sentences when they testified. Butts hanged himself in jail in 1981, while the others accepted plea deals that strengthened the state’s case.
How detectives closed in on William Bonin
The earliest break came from survivor David McVicker, r*ped at gunpoint in 1975 yet spared. As per the Los Angeles Times report dated February 18, 1996, McVicker remembered that Bonin was cool, there was nothing in the least bit strange about him, a calm facade that fooled hitchhikers.
In early 1980, a multi-agency task force was formed after bodies surfaced every two weeks. As per the Los Angeles Times report dated February 11, 1996, Long Beach detective Roger Sidebotham recalled.
“At the start of 1980, the bodies were coming every two weeks,”
Stakeouts began on June 2, 1980, outside Bonin’s Downey home, but missed him by hours. Eight days later, officers caught him assaulting a seventeen-year-old runaway inside the van.
Inside, police found rope, wire, and the tell-tale tire iron. Prosecutors later highlighted Bonin’s ability to manipulate helpers. McVicker’s testimony, a juvenile hall tip from William Pugh, and fibre evidence combined to secure the convictions.
As per a CBS News report dated December 24, 2011, David McVicker talked about the whole experience. He stated,
"It wasn't just the ordeal that night which I still have nightmares about sometimes but it was all the things that happened after that,"
Charges and sentence: William Bonin’s legal outcome explained
Bonin was formally charged with 14 counts of first-degree murder in Los Angeles County and additional murders in Orange County. He faced overwhelming evidence, including physical traces, witness testimony from his accomplices, and his confessions.
During his trial in 1981, prosecutors described the killings as calculated, sadistic, and s*xually motivated, with victims often bound, tortured, r*ped, and strangled. The jury unanimously convicted him on all charges and advised that he be sentenced to death. In 1982, Bonin was sentenced to death and placed on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
He spent nearly 14 years appealing the verdict, but all efforts failed. On February 23, 1996, Bonin was executed by lethal injection, marking the first such execution in California’s history. His final statement criticized the death penalty, arguing that it sent the wrong message to American youth.
What Butchers of L.A. will revisit
Episode 1, Trash Bags, details Patrick Kearney’s 1977 arrest, setting context for the panic that greeted William Bonin two years later. Episode 2, On the Freeway, focuses on William Bonin’s modus operandi, survivor accounts, and the dual-county prosecution that ended with his 1996 execution.
Episode 3, Keeping Score, turns to Randy Kraft’s 1983 capture and compares investigative breakthroughs across all three cases. Producers use archived LAPD audio, survivor interviews, and new commentary from investigators to explain how overlapping patterns once misled police into believing only one freeway predator was active.
Stay tuned for more updates.
