Offender Record · OFF-2026-020
William Bonin (photo from the Radford University biography)
William George Bonin
Also known as The Freeway Killer, The Freeway Strangler
Sex
Male
Race
White
Born
1947
Custody
Deceased
Distinguishing featuresBrain damage with unexpected scars; diagnosed with manic depression and identified as a sociopath by psychiatric evaluation
Custody
Bonin was executed by lethal injection on February 23, 1996, at San Quentin State Prison.
This record documents arrests, charges and convictions reported by courts, law enforcement agencies and news organizations. Every statement is tied to a cited source with an archived copy. A charge is an accusation, not proof of guilt; a person charged is presumed innocent unless convicted. Solve the Case does not allege that this person committed any offense beyond what the cited records state, and this record is not a suggestion that the person is connected to any unsolved case. How records are built, corrected and removed.
Summary of the record
William George Bonin, known as the 'Freeway Killer,' kidnapped, robbed, raped and murdered a total of 14 teenaged boys between 1979 and 1980. In custody, Bonin confessed to abducting, raping, and killing 21 boys and young men, naming Butts as his primary accomplice. Bonin was sentenced to death in 1982 for 10 murders throughout Los Angeles County. About one year later he was convicted in Orange County of the other four murders, for which he received a second death sentence. In 1996, at San Quentin State Prison, Bonin became the first person to be executed via lethal injection in California.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Kidnapping of five teenage boys, sodomy with child, oral copulation with child, child molestation
Los Angeles Police Department / Los Angeles Superior Court · Los Angeles Superior Court (Torrance jurisdiction) · Arrested Jan 28, 1969 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Two concurrent indeterminate terms of two to twenty years in state prison, committed to Atascadero State Hospital as mentally disordered sex offender
On November 17, 1968, at age 21, Bonin committed a sexual assault on a youth. Between late 1968 and early 1969, he was indicted on five counts of kidnapping, four counts of sodomy, one count of oral copulation, and one count of child molestation against five youths he had abducted and assaulted.
SourcesWilliam Bonin; Radford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William; Executed Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Sep 08, 1975, Garden Grove, California
Rape and attempted strangulation of a 14-year-old boy
Orange County Sheriff Department · Orange County Superior Court · Arrested Sep 08, 1975 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: One to fifteen years in state prison (served approximately three years)
On the last day of summer vacation in 1975, David McVicker, 14, was hitchhiking. Bonin offered McVicker a ride, asked for sex, then pulled out a gun and drove to a remote area and raped the boy. Bonin began to choke McVicker with his own T-shirt. The victim survived and reported the attack to police.
SourcesWilliam Bonin: The Freeway Killer; Radford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William; William Bonin, The California 'Freeway Killer' Who Raped And Murdered At Least 14 Boys In A Single Year
Offense date May 28, 1979, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by rape, strangulation, and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
Bonin's first murder victim was 13-year-old Thomas Glen Lundgren, abducted on May 28, 1979, while hitchhiking in Hollywood. Lundgren was driven to a remote area, sexually assaulted, bludgeoned, emasculated, stabbed multiple times, and had his throat slashed.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin; Radford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Aug 05, 1979, Newport Beach, Orange County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On August 5, 1979, the defendant and co-defendant Butts accosted Marcus Grabs, 17, in Newport Beach sometime between 6 and 10 p.m.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin; Radford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Aug 27, 1979, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On August 27th, Donald Hyden, 15, was strangled and raped.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Sep 09, 1979, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On September 9th, David Murillo, 17, was strangled and raped, and his head was bashed in with a tire iron.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Nov 30, 1979, Orange County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Orange County Sheriff Department · Orange County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (second conviction, second death sentence, August 26, 1983)
On December 2, 1979, the body of Dennis Frank Fox, 17, was found along Ortego Highway about five miles east of the San Diego Freeway.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Feb 03, 1980, West Hollywood, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On February 3, 1980, in the early morning, the defendant, driving a van with co-defendant Miley, picked up Charles Miranda, 15, in West Hollywood.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Feb 06, 1980, Huntington Beach, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 12-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
Bonin and Miley abducted, raped, and killed James McCabe who, at age 12, was Bonin's youngest victim. He was picked up while hitch-hiking to Disneyland. His strangled, beaten body was found three days later alongside a dumpster in the City of Walnut.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William; Executed Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Mar 14, 1980, Van Nuys, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
Ten days after Bonin had been released from custody, on March 14, he abducted and killed an 18-year-old Van Nuys youth named Ronald Gatlin. He was beaten, sodomized and suffered several deep, perforating ice pick wounds to the ear and neck before being strangled with a ligature. Note: Different sources report varying ages (18-19).
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Mar 20, 1980, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
Harry Todd Turner, 14 or 15, killed March 20, 1980.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Mar 20, 1980, Orange County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male
Orange County Sheriff Department · Orange County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (second conviction, second death sentence, August 26, 1983)
On March 22, 1980, the bodies of Russell Rugh, 15, and Glenn Barker, 14, were found a few miles farther east along the same road.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Apr 10, 1980, Bellflower, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 16-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
Steven Wood, 16, Bellflower. Last seen April 10, 1980, on his way to school.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William
Offense date Apr 29, 1980, Stanton, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by stabbing and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On April 29, 1980, at 9:15 p.m., the defendant and co-defendant Butts accosted Darin Lee Kendrick, 19, in the parking lot of a supermarket in Stanton. Darin had been collecting shopping carts and was lured into the van on a pretext of being sold some drugs.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date May 10, 1980, Orange County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Orange County Sheriff Department · Orange County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (second conviction, second death sentence, August 26, 1983)
On May 18, 1980, the body of Lawrence Sharp, 17, was found in a trash bin behind a service station in Westminster.
SourcesExecuted Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Offense date Jun 02, 1980, Los Angeles County, California
Murder by strangulation and robbery of an 18-year-old male
Los Angeles Police Department · Los Angeles County Superior Court · Arrested Jun 11, 1980 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (first conviction, first death sentence, 1982)
On June 2, Bonin killed his final victim, eighteen-year-old Steven Wells, who Bonin abducted from a bus stop on El Segundo Boulevard. Wells was killed in Bonin's own apartment, where he was raped, beaten, then strangled with his own t-shirt. Bonin was assisted in this final murder by his lodger, James Munro, and in the disposal of the body by both Munro and Vernon Butts.
SourcesRadford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William; Executed Inmate Summary – William George Bonin
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
14
Victims convicted
21
Victims confessed
0
Victims suspected
Active years
1979–1980
Victim profile
Teenagers, Men, Hitchhikers, Strangers
Stated motive
Sexual, Power or control
Range from home
regional
Accomplice
Yes
Confessed
Yes
Education
high school
Marital history
Divorced
Children
1
Military discharge
honorable
Died
1996-02-23 · executed
Timeline
Jan 28, 1969
Arrested: Kidnapping of five teenage boys, sodomy with child, oral copulation with child, child molestation
Oct 29, 1969
Convicted: Kidnapping of five teenage boys, sodomy with child, oral copulation with child, child molestation
Sep 08, 1975
Rape and attempted strangulation of a 14-year-old boy (Orange County Sheriff Department)
Sep 08, 1975
Arrested: Rape and attempted strangulation of a 14-year-old boy
Dec 1975
Convicted: Rape and attempted strangulation of a 14-year-old boy
May 28, 1979
Murder by rape, strangulation, and robbery of a 17-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Aug 05, 1979
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Aug 27, 1979
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Sep 09, 1979
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Nov 30, 1979
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male (Orange County Sheriff Department)
Feb 03, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Feb 06, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 12-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Mar 14, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 19-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Mar 20, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male (Orange County Sheriff Department)
Mar 20, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Mar 21, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male (Orange County Sheriff Department)
Apr 10, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 16-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Apr 29, 1980
Murder by stabbing and robbery of a 19-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
May 10, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male (Orange County Sheriff Department)
Jun 02, 1980
Murder by strangulation and robbery of an 18-year-old male (Los Angeles Police Department)
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by stabbing and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 12-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 16-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of an 18-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by rape, strangulation, and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jun 11, 1980
Arrested: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of an 18-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by stabbing and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 16-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by rape, strangulation, and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 19-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 15-year-old male
Jan 05, 1982
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 12-year-old male
Aug 26, 1983
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male
Aug 26, 1983
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Aug 26, 1983
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 14-year-old male
Aug 26, 1983
Convicted: Murder by strangulation and robbery of a 17-year-old male
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
Other government record · California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation ·
Executed Inmate Summary – William George Bonin“Defendant William George Bonin, the 'Freeway Killer,' kidnapped, robbed, raped and murdered a total of 14 teenaged boys between 1979 and 1980.”
News report · Crime Library ·
William Bonin: The Freeway Killer“Despite having been convicted of kidnapping and two counts of sodomy with a child in 1968, being diagnosed as a sexual predator and demonstrating criminal sexual conduct seven years later, Bonin was released by the California prison system in 1978.”
Other · Wikipedia ·
William Bonin“He was convicted of 14 murders, but confessed to 21, and is a suspect in additional cases.”
News report · Clark Prosecutor's Office ·
William George Bonin #322“Between 1979 and 1980, Bonin tortured, raped and killed a minimum of 21 boys and young men, and is suspected of committing a further fifteen.”
Other · Military History Wiki ·
William Bonin“He later served five months of active duty in the Vietnam War as an aerial gunner, logging over 700 hours of combat and patrol time.”
Other · Grokipedia ·
William Bonin“On October 29, 1969, he was convicted in Los Angeles Superior Court and sentenced by Judge Charles Older to two concurrent indeterminate terms of two to twenty years in state prison.”
News report · Oxygen ·
Who is William Bonin, Southern California's Freeway Killer?“He was convicted of killing, sexually assaulting and brutally torturing 14 boys and young men between May of 1979 and June of 1980.”
News report · All That's Interesting ·
William Bonin, The California 'Freeway Killer' Who Raped And Murdered At Least 14 Boys In A Single Year“Bonin went to trial and was ultimately convicted of 14 murders, though he confessed to killing 21 boys and young men.”
Other · Radford University Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Bonin, William“Convicted during first trial he was sentenced to death in 1982 for 10 murders throughout Los Angeles County.”
Court record · Justia / FindLaw ·
BONIN v. CALIFORNIA, 494 U.S. 1039 (1990)“Bonin subsequently was convicted of 10 counts of murder and robbery.”
News report · UPI Archives ·
Convicted 'Freeway Killer' William Bonin was scheduled to appear“Bonin was convicted in Los Angeles County March 12 for the sex and torture murders of 10 youths in 1979 and 1980 and was sentenced to death.”
Discussion
Casual discussion about this record on the community forum. The facts live on this page: to add a place, a vehicle or a source, use the Edit record button under the photo so a moderator can review it. Please name no one else, never name a victim, and do not connect the person to any case not listed here.Open the topic on the forum
Corrections and removal. If a charge on this page has been dismissed, acquitted, overturned, pardoned or expunged, or any fact is wrong, tell us through the correction form. Corrections are free, reviewed within five business days, and a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed. Information here may not be used for decisions about employment, housing, credit, insurance or any purpose covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and never to harass, threaten or harm anyone. Where a source is an offender registry, that information is reproduced as of the date shown and is subject to the conditions of use of that registry.