William Bonin

William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also called the Freeway Killer and the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and sex offender. Bonin attacked numerous boys and men between 1968 and 1980, in southern California, and briefly, Vietnam. He was convicted of 14 murders, but confessed to 21, and is a suspect in additional cases.

Born in Connecticut, Bonin moved to California as a child. He fought in the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. Returning to California, he was held at prison psychiatric facilities from 1969 to 1974. His first known murder was in May 1979.

Bonin's typical modus operandi in murdering was luring victims into his van by offering them sex, before binding, torturing, raping, then strangling or stabbing them. He would drive their bodies to other counties in California to obscure his movements, leaving them beside freeways. The crime scenes pointed to a gay male perpetrator, which led gay rights activists to put up a $50,000 reward for information leading to his conviction. Bonin was often aided in his murders by one of four known accomplices. Prosecutors accused Vernon Butts of partaking in twelve murders; he died before his trial.

Bonin was caught by police raping a boy in June 1980, which led to him being tied to the murders. His defense in his first trial argued that child abuse had made Bonin insane, and thus not responsible for his actions; the prosecution labeled him "the most arch-evil person who ever existed", but not legally insane. Bonin was convicted in both of his trials. He spent 14 years on death row, during which he spoke against capital punishment, and maintained his trial lawyer's insanity defense. In 1996, at San Quentin State Prison, Bonin became the first person to be executed via lethal injection in California.