Women Aganst Violence Against Women, UCLA Library Special Collections

Assault in LA

Taylor LaCour Granados, Jacqueline Garcia, Alexandra Li, Allie Bobbitt, Luke Henriksson (Winter 2018)

The newspaper clippings from The Los Angeles Times below document the Hillside Strangler case, one of the most serious serial rape and murder accounts in history, as well as comments on the consequences of rape (Liddick). From October 1977 to February 1978, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono raped and strangled ten women, two of whom they followed and abducted from the Eagle Rock Plaza shopping mall (Rogers). The accused men left the various women’s bodies in the Los Angeles hills: Hollywood Hills, Eagle Rock, Glendale, Echo Park, Highland Park, Burbank, and La Crescenta (Rogers). The mental and emotional disturbances of Bianchi and Buono, along with the media coverage of this case, incited fear within the hillside communities and spurred greater discussion on sexual assault.

The location of the Hillside Strangler case played a role in its occurrence and aftermath. During the time of the murders, Eagle Rock was a booming community located between Glendale and Pasadena in northeast Los Angeles. The name derives from a large towering rock that resembles an eagle stretching out its wings. Within the town lay the newly constructed Eagle Rock Plaza, a great shopping destination in the 1970s. The community loved this eccentric mall so much that they insisted on adding the name “Eagle Rock” to the plaza’s title. Many people gathered here to watch movies, grab meals, and occasionally see a celebrity. The Hillside Strangler case quickly affected the popularity of the Eagle Rock Plaza after Bianchi and Buono captured Catholic school students from the mall (Lindsey). From there, the press tied the Plaza to the horrific kidnapping, raping, and murdering of these two young girls. Councilman Arthur Snyder stated the press “[treated] Eagle Rock as if it were the city of the dead” (Holleran). Sales within the Eagle Rock Plaza decreased 25-50 percent in comparison to the prior year (Lindsey), perhaps due to fears of the people of the Eagle Rock community.

What kind of person could commit such crimes? Throughout the psychological history of serial killers, many influences shaped the minds of humans into sadistic criminals. Some prime factors include a troubled childhood and an unstable early adult life (Miller).

Kenneth Alessio Bianchi’s traumatized childhood determined his personality, including his murderous tendencies. At an early age, Bianchi had anger management issues, trouble sleeping, and petit mal syndrome. None of these symptoms were treated, even when examined by a doctor (Cable). Throughout adolescence Bianchi refused to get along with his teachers, engaged in constant bad behavior, and lied compulsively. His adoptive mother attempted to curb his behavior by sending him to a Catholic school, but was unsuccessful (Cable). Bianchi developed a hatred for women during his years in Catholic school. Bianchi’s misogyny ultimately turned him into a sexual sadist who targeted young, vulnerable prostitutes. Killing and torturing women gave him a sense of power, sexual gratification, and emotional balance (Miller).

Buono, like Bianchi, was a sexual sadist. Buono, however, did not experience a troubled childhood besides his parents’ divorce. During early adulthood, Buono was arrested several times for larceny and other petty crimes (Cable). By age 14, Buono developed a strong interest in sodomizing and raping young girls. His perverse sexual desires and violent behaviors led to multiple failed relationships and marriages. Buono raped his two year old daughter and several other step-daughters. When Bianchi and Buono teamed up, they tortured, raped, and performed sodomy on their victims (Cable).

For 20 months, the “Hillside Task Force” collected and analyzed an overwhelming “10,000 ‘clues’ telephoned in from the public” (Liddick) in order to pin the criminals. On January 10, 1979, Bianchi was finally apprehended. He claimed insanity and denied the murders. Because of his childhood medical records, the judge hired top psychiatrists to analyze Bianchi through hypnosis. Bianchi confessed his adoptive mother would abuse him by “holding his hand over the stove, physically beating him, and forcing him, at age 14, to pray over his dead adoptive father’s body for a week as it lay in its coffin” (Time, 1980). Bunono, on the other hand, did not deny the murders. Regardless, the true motivations for their dreadful actions were their neurotic backgrounds. The trial lasted from November 16, 1981 to November 18, 1983, now the longest criminal trial in US history (Hooper). Perhaps if the psyche of serial killers were better understood at the time, the two men would have been incarcerated sooner.

Following the Hillside Strangler case, exponential terror made women more adamant about their own protection (Cannon). They took action, “…buying guns for protection; others [had] acquired guard dogs or joined self‐defense classes. Some women [refused] to drive alone at night” (Lindsey). Paranoia spread among classmates, neighbors, and the city at large, affecting all classes and ages of women. When the strangler “penetrated the mask of impersonality worn by many people in Los Angeles, all were reminded that ‘we’re all victims’” (Cannon). The increase of incident of rape in the United States not only raised the sentiment of apprehension but also prevention awareness. The presence of resources such as The Los Angeles Times article by Liddick played a role in mitigating those widespread fears.

In fact, rape became a prominent issue in the feminist agenda in the 1970s, evident in the newspaper clippings, which included a report on the increase of rapes and possible causes of rape in Los Angeles. Between 1970 and 1973, the women’s movement emphasized self-defense (Bevacqua). The Los Angeles Times advertised a free self-defense class for women, as well as tips to stop harassment. Self-defense provided one way for feminists to replace passivity and complacency with assertiveness. Organizations such as the Los Angeles Commission on Assaults Against Women, the East Los Angeles Rape Hotline, and the D.C. Rape Crisis Center addressed self-defense and rape-avoidance as a part of their programs (Bevacqua). It was one the first times mainstream media explicitly addressed and emphasized sexual assault and its prevention.

The Hillside Strangler case is widely known as one of the most severe serial murder cases in history, itsbut causes and effects are much more nuanced. Its location within Los Angeles served as a means for the events, with the name stemming from the “Hillsides” in which the victims’ bodies were scattered. Unstable mental health fostered the formation of serial killers Bianchi and Buono, culminating in an extended trial. And the significance of the case did not end with the indictment. The community was affected following the Hillside Strangler case; from the Eagle Rock Plaza itself to Los Angeles and the United States at large, the horrific murders incited fear from all, especially women. One silver lining was the emergence of feminism in popular media in the 1970s as a result of an increase in reported rapes. Women of all backgrounds were encouraged by organizations to empower and defend themselves. While the case occurred in the 1970s, its origins and political results still have relevance in society today: evaluation of murderers’ psyches and modern feminism.

Photograph of Los Angeles Times Article, includes black and white image (page 1).

The outcomes of the Hillside Strangler case and rape, and the reaction of Los Angeles, leading to growing empowerment of women. Betty Liddick, 1942-1977. Image courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections.

Photograph of Los Angeles Times Article (page 2).

The outcomes of the Hillside Strangler case and rape, and the reaction of Los Angeles, leading to growing empowerment of women. Betty Liddick, 1942-1977. Image courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections.

Photograph of Los Angeles Times Article (page 3).

The outcomes of the Hillside Strangler case and rape, and the reaction of Los Angeles, leading to growing empowerment of women. Betty Liddick, 1942-1977. Image courtesy of UCLA Library Special Collections.

Works Cited

  1. Bevacqua, Maria. Rape on the Public Agenda: Feminism and the Politics of Sexual Assault. Northeastern University Press, 2000.
  2. Cable, J. et al. Department of Psychology. Radford University, n.d.
  3. Cannon, Lou. “Los Angeles Lives in Fear of Strangler.” The Washington Post, 8 Jan. 1978.
  4. Holleran, Scott. “Eagle Rock Plaza Was the Place to Shop.” Los Angeles Times, 3 Feb. 2017.
  5. Hooper, Sarah. “Killers Close to Home.” The Occidental, 1 Jan. 2016.
  6. Liddick, Betty. “Focusing on the Reasons for Rape.” Los Angeles Times, 11 Dec. 1977.
  7. Lindsey, Robert. “Fear of the ‘Hillside Strangler’ Pervades Los Angeles Area.” The New York Times, 21 Dec. 1977.
  8. Miller, Laurence. “Serial killers: I. Subtypes, Patterns and Motives.” Aggression and Violent Behavior, vol. 19, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-11.
  9. Rogers, Michael. “The Hillside Stranglers (Book).” Library Journal, vol. 128, no. 11, 15 June 2003, p. 107.
  10. “Was It Hypnosis or Hype?” Time, 14 Jan. 1980, pp. 50-51.

Cite this article

Taylor LaCour Granados, Jacqueline Garcia, Alexandra Li, Allie Bobbitt, Luke Henriksson. "Assault in LA." Los Angeles: The City and the Library. Colleen Jauretche, Editor. Winter 2018. /article/2018-02-28-w18-01