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00:26Jarred by conflicting testimony of their key witness,
00:29Ms. Prosecutors in California's Hillside Strangler case
00:31today asked a judge to dismiss 10 murder charges
00:34against suspect Angelo Buono.
00:37There was no trial for the murders in Bellingham.
00:41Kent Bianchi pled guilty to those two crimes.
00:44The deal was if he would testify against his cousin Angelo,
00:48the death penalty would be off the table.
00:51In the lead-up to Angelo Buono's trial,
00:54Roger Kelly wrote a memo saying that he didn't believe
00:58that he could convict Buono on Bianchi's testimony alone
01:02because Ken Bianchi changed his story up constantly
01:05and because that's all they had.
01:07Roger Kelly was expressing doubt
01:09about whether or not to move forward
01:11with the prosecution of Angelo Buono.
01:13I would feel it would be ethically improper
01:15and I would not do it to put somebody on the stand
01:17that I felt was not credible, not a believable witness.
01:20Yeah, we were pissed off.
01:22When we were given the motion to dismiss,
01:25it was very disappointing.
01:26The case against Buono is falling apart.
01:40Judge Ron George had the case at that point for trial
01:44and he didn't like the idea of dismissing the case.
01:50The judge reviewed the memo from the DA
01:54and read the preliminary hearing transcript,
01:57which is some 10,000 pages in length.
02:00We knew we had a strong case.
02:02We had no idea what Ron George was going to do.
02:05And he's giving this big talk and he's going through it.
02:08And pretty soon we look at each other and we say,
02:11he ain't going to kick this case.
02:14In Los Angeles, a key suspect in the Hillside Strangler murders
02:20is back in his cell.
02:22The judge in the case stunned the courtroom today
02:24when he refused to dismiss 10 murder counts
02:26against Angelo Buono.
02:27I've been practicing for 15 years.
02:31I've never heard of a case where the district attorney
02:32moved to dismiss a portion of a case or an entire case
02:35that wasn't part of a plea bargain and the judge said no.
02:38I was shocked when the judge didn't accept.
02:42I'm just guessing.
02:44But if Angelo's been in the courtroom a few times,
02:47Judge George doesn't like him.
02:49He doesn't like his attitude.
02:50And he thought he could be good for it.
02:53And this case needed to be tried one way or the other.
03:00I knew Roger Kelly and Jim didn't know that
03:03if they were trying to drop the case,
03:06they had very good reason.
03:10And the judge looked at those reasons and said,
03:16oh, well, I'm going to go ahead anyways.
03:19What does it say about the judge that he went ahead anyways?
03:22This case should have been dismissed
03:24on the basis of what Roger Kelly said.
03:28There is no campaign of supporters
03:31that cheer for Ken Bianchi to be freed.
03:34I've been alone in this, more or less.
03:37But I didn't do this to join a team.
03:40I came here to examine the evidence
03:42and come to my own honest conclusions
03:45about what the facts said.
03:46I feel driven to dig into Ken Bianchi's claims of innocence
03:52because of what happened to me
03:54as a young journalist in Australia.
03:57The parents of a baby girl
03:59who vanished in the deserts of Australia
04:01over two years ago
04:02have appeared in court
04:03on charges related to her murder.
04:06Early in my career,
04:07I was a reporter on the Sydney Morning Herald.
04:10I covered crime extensively
04:12and I vividly remember
04:15pursuing in the press pack
04:17Lindy Chamberlain.
04:20Police and legal authorities
04:21took the Chamberlains back to Ayers Rock
04:23and the campsite
04:24where they said the dingo had taken their baby.
04:26A mother, her baby went missing.
04:30She was accused and put on trial
04:32for cutting the throat of her own baby.
04:35The Australian mother
04:36in the so-called dingo baby case
04:38has been pardoned.
04:40Lindy Chamberlain subsequently
04:42was completely exonerated
04:43of the murder of her daughter.
04:45And I felt a taint and a guilt
04:47as a reporter
04:49who had in pack-like mentality
04:52pursued a suspect
04:54who the police simply told us was guilty
04:57and we reported it as so
04:59without the critical factors.
05:03When I started to look into Ken Bianchi,
05:06the case of Lindy Chamberlain
05:08kept coming to mind.
05:10It was great to be pardoned
05:11for something you haven't done.
05:14I sort of made a vow
05:15that I wasn't going to make the same mistake.
05:18I was going to question the police version of events
05:21and I was going to get to the bottom.
05:24of who really committed
05:26the hillside stranglings.
05:31Judge George was friends
05:33with the Attorney General's office
05:35because that's where he came from.
05:37He called them up
05:38and convinced them
05:40to take over the case
05:41and it happened very quickly.
05:44The Attorney General's office
05:46told the judge
05:46it would assume the responsibility
05:48of prosecuting accused strangler
05:50Angelo Bono.
05:51If we did not believe
05:52we could try the case
05:54and be successful in it,
05:55we wouldn't prosecute.
05:57We still feel that
05:58Mr. Bianchi
06:00can offer credible testimony at trial.
06:03When Roger and I
06:04were assigned to the case,
06:05I didn't have a lot of trial experience.
06:09Of the trials that I did,
06:11there was one murder case in there.
06:12I was very nervous
06:14when we accepted the case
06:16because I realized
06:19I did not have the background
06:21many of the deputy DAs
06:23in Los Angeles had.
06:25We just jumped right in.
06:27You know,
06:27we're in a position
06:28of examining it from start.
06:30We haven't been involved
06:31and sometimes there's a situation
06:32where somebody might be
06:33too close to something.
06:34I just didn't like
06:38Angelo Bono.
06:40His whole cocky attitude
06:41was getting to me
06:42more and more and more.
06:44Angelo Bono
06:45was really a nasty person
06:48in a lot of ways.
06:49He liked to brag
06:50about things he knew
06:52and about his street smarts.
06:56Our relationship
06:57was nails on a chalkboard
06:59and I wouldn't have
07:01dropped off the case
07:02because I thought he did it.
07:04I handled a lot of cases
07:06and all of my clients
07:08were guilty.
07:09It's the only time
07:11that I just decided
07:13I can't take this guy.
07:16Life's too short
07:17and I just decided
07:18we were going to withdraw
07:19from the case.
07:22They don't have
07:23a smoking gun in this case.
07:24They're trying to prove
07:25their case by little teeny
07:26bits and pieces of evidence
07:27and it takes a long time.
07:30After I got appointed
07:31chief defense lawyer
07:33for Angelo Bono,
07:34I knew this was going
07:35to be tough
07:35because once you arrest
07:37somebody for something
07:37like this,
07:38everybody just assumes
07:39that he did it.
07:41But when everything started,
07:43somebody referred
07:44Kathy Mader to me
07:45and when you're trying
07:46a case like this
07:47where you have
07:48women victims,
07:51you don't need
07:51a courtroom of all men.
07:53When Kathy came along,
07:54she was perfect.
07:56We're not saying
07:56Mr. Bono is a saint.
07:58What we're saying
07:58is that there's nothing
07:59in Mr. Bono's past
08:00that connects him
08:01to murder.
08:05I met with his attorney
08:06one day at a coffee shop
08:08in Glendale
08:09and I looked at her
08:11and I said to her,
08:12I said,
08:13I don't believe this.
08:14And she said,
08:15what?
08:15I said,
08:16I don't believe
08:17that you are representing
08:19this man.
08:21He hates women.
08:23And I sat there
08:24and I looked at her
08:25and I said,
08:26I can't understand
08:26why he would have you
08:28as an attorney.
08:30And she says,
08:30because he hates women.
08:32It was like a trick
08:33to make, you know,
08:35make it look like
08:35he had nothing against women.
08:37And I said,
08:38I'll tell you what,
08:38I don't think
08:39there's enough money
08:39in the world
08:40that somebody could pay me
08:41for to be his attorney.
08:42The trial began
08:51in November of 1981.
08:55The news coverage
08:56was extensive.
08:58Accused of being
08:59the so-called
09:00Hillside Strangler
09:01in a series of murders.
09:02People versus Angela Bono
09:03finally got underway today.
09:05Prosecution and defense
09:06together are expected
09:07to call some 450 witnesses.
09:09He may face the death penalty
09:11in the gas chamber.
09:12The media of attention
09:13around the trial
09:14was enormous.
09:16The coverage just goes
09:18into full media frenzy.
09:22All the major news outlets
09:24were there.
09:24NBC, CBS, ABC,
09:27The Times,
09:28and AP Wire Services.
09:30What's Bono's mood right now?
09:31He's been anxious
09:32to go to trial.
09:33So, you know,
09:34he's, I think,
09:35happy that the trial
09:36has finally started
09:37and he'll have a chance
09:37to show that he really
09:38didn't do this
09:39and finally get out of jail
09:40after all this time.
09:41My expectation going in
09:43when I was offered the case
09:45was, eh, how long
09:45could it take?
09:46Six months?
09:47Nine months?
09:49It took us three months
09:50just to pick a jury.
09:53You know, once people
09:54heard about the case,
09:55they don't want to be involved.
09:56I had just gone through
09:59a divorce
10:00and I think because I was
10:02then a single parent,
10:04you know,
10:04I didn't want my daughter
10:05to be scared
10:06about what was going on
10:08outside,
10:09so we never watched the news.
10:11I think that's why
10:12I was chosen for the trial
10:13because I really didn't
10:15know anything about it.
10:16I just was really excited
10:21to be on the jury.
10:22The whole thing
10:22was new to me.
10:23It was my first trial.
10:25I thought it was
10:25going to be fun.
10:27I wouldn't say
10:28it was fun,
10:29but it was an experience
10:30of a lifetime.
10:32I just remember
10:33going in the first day
10:34and as soon as
10:35we sat down
10:36and, you know,
10:36they do all the opening,
10:38whatever they're going to say,
10:39and then they brought out
10:40all the pictures
10:41of all the victims.
10:44Reality hit.
10:45This is real
10:46and I wasn't ready for that.
10:48I don't know
10:49what I was ready for,
10:50but I was not ready
10:50to see that.
11:00I think we have
11:01a reasonable jury
11:02and I think when they hear
11:03all of the facts
11:04in the case
11:04and all of the circumstances
11:06surrounding the crimes
11:07in this case
11:08and the relationship
11:09between Kenneth Bianchi
11:10and Angelo Bono,
11:11they're going to be able
11:12to know
11:13that both Kenneth Bianchi
11:14and Angelo Bono
11:15committed these murders.
11:17So here we are
11:18somewhere around March
11:20where we begin the evidence.
11:22Our job is to convince
11:25the jury that
11:26despite the issues
11:28with Bianchi's testimony,
11:30there's enough
11:31to achieve a conviction.
11:33both sides in a courtroom,
11:41they're taking the bits
11:42and pieces of evidence
11:44they have to try
11:45to create a story
11:46that supports
11:47what they want
11:47and that's what
11:48we were trying to do.
11:50The strategy was
11:51to try to create
11:52reasonable doubt
11:53and prove that
11:53Bianchi was just lying.
11:56The evidence suggested
11:57in a lot of different ways
11:59that there were
12:00two individuals
12:01involved in the murders.
12:03If there were two persons,
12:05Bianchi was one of them,
12:07who could the second one be?
12:08And based upon
12:10all the evidence
12:12that we had,
12:13there's no one else
12:14that could be
12:14other than Angelo Bono.
12:17When the investigators
12:19focused on Bono,
12:20there was lots
12:21of physical evidence.
12:22So, for example,
12:27the second victim
12:28was named Judy Miller.
12:31An important piece
12:33of evidence
12:33was a speck
12:34of upholstery foam
12:35found on Judy Miller's eyelid.
12:38Similar foam
12:39was found
12:40in Angelo Bono's
12:41upholstery shop.
12:45She was blindfolded
12:46and gagged
12:47and handcuffed
12:47behind the back.
12:49The tape refused
12:50to wrap her eyes
12:51and her mouth.
12:53Wipe her eyes
12:54after the foam was banana.
13:02Where'd he get
13:03the tape from?
13:05From the shop.
13:07He used
13:07kind of a loose
13:08fiber or something.
13:10It's kind of
13:10a loose material.
13:11There's the foam
13:12that's like a sponge.
13:13The white kind.
13:14It's like candy.
13:16That's the stuff.
13:17That's what he used.
13:21And that material
13:22on her eyelid
13:23was something
13:24that was found
13:24in Angelo's
13:25fabric supply
13:28and was kind of
13:29like that
13:30aha moment.
13:33That was,
13:34I think,
13:34really important evidence
13:35in this particular case.
13:38Yeah,
13:39every piece of evidence
13:40is damning.
13:41But it's not as
13:43anywhere near
13:44sophisticated
13:45as it is today.
13:46It wasn't like
13:47DNA shows
13:48it was,
13:48you know,
13:49the defendant.
13:49No.
13:50We didn't have that.
13:53They found fibers,
13:54but there are a lot
13:55of cars,
13:56same type,
13:57so you could have
13:58a lot of the same fibers.
14:02None of the physical
14:03evidence
14:03was as good
14:04as the prosecution
14:06would like to think.
14:07This 14-month trial
14:10that has hurt,
14:11I think,
14:11some 200 witnesses
14:12with about 300 more
14:14to go continues.
14:15In fact,
14:15it's continuing
14:16inside this building
14:16right now.
14:17It is quickly
14:18on its way
14:19to becoming
14:19the longest
14:20and the most expensive
14:21trial in U.S. history.
14:22It's not expected
14:23to be over
14:24for another six months.
14:26During the remainder
14:27of the trial,
14:29Bianchi was on
14:29the witness stand
14:30for six months.
14:31My initial
14:34direct examination
14:35of Bianchi
14:36took about six weeks,
14:38and then Jerry
14:39cross-examined him
14:40for four months.
14:41I had a choice.
14:43Either not ask him anything
14:44or just go through
14:46and point out
14:47every inconsistency.
14:49And I thought
14:49the best approach
14:50was to point out
14:51the inconsistencies.
14:53And if you could
14:54poke holes
14:55in Ken Bianchi's testimony,
14:57then it could help
14:58poke holes
14:59in everything else.
15:01Jerry Cheda
15:03made chart
15:04after chart
15:05of different ways
15:07that Bianchi lied.
15:09But we conceded that
15:11in the way
15:12that we'd conducted
15:12in the trial.
15:14Mr. Bianchi
15:14is not the only witness
15:16in the case.
15:17There have been
15:18199 witnesses
15:19before Mr. Bianchi.
15:21There will be
15:21some 50 to 60 witnesses
15:24after Mr. Bianchi.
15:26Every day
15:27that Kenneth came in,
15:29his story changed.
15:30And the jurors
15:31all sat there
15:32and looked at each other
15:34and said,
15:35that's not what he said
15:36yesterday.
15:36He just was
15:37cutting his own throat.
15:40At his trial,
15:41I didn't know
15:41what the hell
15:42I was talking about.
15:44There were days
15:44when I wanted
15:45to just go out there
15:46and I wanted to say,
15:47listen,
15:47I really don't know.
15:49I didn't know
15:49he did anything.
15:50I didn't do anything.
15:52As a material witness,
15:53I literally lied
15:55for the provocation.
15:57And if it seemed
15:58like I was wavering,
16:00they would take me
16:01into an empty jury room
16:02and they would give me
16:03a talking dude,
16:04reminding me
16:05about the death penalty,
16:06reminding me
16:07that I had an agreement,
16:08reminding me
16:08that I needed to do
16:09what I promised to do.
16:13He was put on the stand
16:15and he performed appallingly.
16:20During the trial,
16:21which wasn't recorded,
16:23Ken's testimony
16:23didn't always match up
16:25to what he'd said previously.
16:26For example,
16:27while Ken testified
16:28that he and Bueno
16:30had pulled over
16:31Lauren Wagner
16:31in a Mustang,
16:33Ken had previously said
16:34all the girls
16:35had been picked up
16:36while they'd been walking.
16:39So she was actually
16:39driving you mean?
16:40No, she was walking.
16:41She was walking.
16:42Okay.
16:42You stopped.
16:43All the girls were walking.
16:46That's something
16:47I never thought of.
16:48That I just,
16:49that all the girls
16:50were walking,
16:51none of the girls
16:51were ever driving.
16:55Wow, that's really strange.
16:59Another inconsistency
17:00in Ken's testimony
17:02was about
17:02Yolanda Washington's murder.
17:05As Steve,
17:06Ken claimed
17:06he'd walked in
17:07on Angelo,
17:08killing her.
17:10I was with him one night.
17:11Ken walked in
17:12in the middle of Angelo
17:13killing this girl.
17:14Rocked in
17:15in the middle of the fight.
17:17Angelo killing this girl.
17:18Angelo killing the girl.
17:20Oh, yeah.
17:22Later,
17:23Ken said
17:24that he'd killed
17:25Washington by ligature
17:26in the back
17:27of his Chevy Monte Carlo.
17:28He was struggling
17:36to imagine
17:37these crimes
17:38and,
17:39and create scenarios.
17:42It was making up
17:42because he didn't do it.
17:43It is the only conclusion
17:45that you can make.
17:47I think deep inside
17:48he didn't want
17:49to convict
17:50his cousin.
17:51He really
17:52struggled with that.
17:54early on
17:55he had told stories
17:57about how he
17:58really respected him
18:00and how he,
18:01he,
18:01he was a father figure
18:03to him here in L.A.
18:04and,
18:04and so I think
18:06that there was a lot
18:06of emotional turmoil.
18:09And who the heck knows,
18:11you know,
18:11it just,
18:12he was all over the place.
18:14I think that
18:17this was Ken's way
18:19of muddying
18:19the waters of evidence
18:20so that it would be
18:21difficult to ascertain
18:22the truth.
18:24Ken was willing
18:25to try to find a way
18:27to enter information
18:29to the jury
18:29that would be confusing.
18:32However,
18:32all of these answers
18:33and some testimony
18:34that seemed inconsistent,
18:36it doesn't make
18:37Angelo Bono
18:38any less guilty
18:40of these murders.
18:41The prosecution
18:42in this trial
18:43has been trying
18:44to show a close
18:45and conspiratorial
18:46relationship
18:46between Angelo Bono
18:48and confessed
18:49hillside strangler
18:50Kenneth Bianchi.
18:51And the most
18:52effective testimony
18:53so far
18:54has come from
18:54a young woman
18:55who says she was
18:56forced to commit
18:57acts of prostitution
18:58on their behalf.
19:06I remember
19:07the nervousness.
19:08This is the real deal.
19:10I was escorted in
19:12by Frank.
19:13And I remember
19:15going into a courtroom
19:16waiting on Angelo Bono.
19:18I wanted to make sure
19:20I had eye contact
19:21and didn't waver.
19:26Seeing Angelo Bono
19:28entering the courtroom,
19:29I thought,
19:30I don't fear you anymore.
19:32They needed to be
19:33prosecuted to the full extent.
19:35And if there was any way
19:36that I could assist
19:37in helping bring them
19:40to justice,
19:41then I was ready.
19:45My recollection
19:46of going to testify
19:49was I remember
19:50talking about how
19:51horrific these two men were.
19:55They both initiated violence,
19:56but Ken got more satisfaction
19:59from the violence.
20:00His temper flared up very easily,
20:02and if he didn't get his way
20:04on things that he wanted,
20:06then it was like,
20:08I'm going to slap you around
20:10a couple times
20:10until you realize
20:11that I mean business.
20:13And he did slap you around.
20:15Mm-hmm.
20:16Yes, he did.
20:18But when someone takes
20:20a wet towel
20:20and wraps it around their fist
20:21and starts hitting you with it,
20:22that's pretty severe,
20:24I guess.
20:25I had been beaten,
20:27raped, and tortured.
20:30Similar things
20:32that happened
20:33to the young girls
20:35and young ladies
20:36and women
20:37that were murdered,
20:38I had the same thing
20:39happen to me.
20:46There was a stove
20:47in Angela's kitchen.
20:53And I remember
20:54the stove being removed
20:55and the gas line
20:58being there.
21:02And I remember
21:03a bag put over my head.
21:14And the gas put into
21:15the bag
21:17just to see
21:20how long it would take
21:21for me to feel asphyxiated.
21:25and then come back,
21:38too.
21:43And if I hadn't escaped,
21:45I truly believe
21:47in my heart of hearts,
21:48I would have been
21:48their first victim.
21:49Okay, next I have here
21:59is Weckler.
22:02Christina Weckler.
22:03Okay.
22:04She died
22:05of gas asphyxiation.
22:07She was brought out
22:18to the kitchen
22:18and put on the floor
22:19and her head
22:20was covered
22:21with a bag
22:21and the pipe
22:23from the newly
22:23installed stove,
22:25which wasn't fully
22:25installed yet,
22:26was disconnected,
22:27put into the bag
22:29and then turned on.
22:30I don't know how long
22:31about two of them.
22:32I know.
22:34Hours?
22:34Quite a while.
22:35Probably about an hour
22:36or a half.
22:38Clearly,
22:38that incident alone
22:40with Bono and Bianchi
22:42showed them engaging
22:43in criminal activity.
22:47Ken's not an innocent man.
22:49He got up to stuff.
22:51Absolutely.
22:52But he didn't kill.
22:54He didn't kill anyone
22:55in Bellingham
22:56and he didn't kill anyone
22:57in California.
23:00The prosecution
23:01presented this young woman
23:03who was victimized
23:05by Bono and Bianchi,
23:07according to the testimony,
23:09and that Bono and Bianchi
23:10were the kind of guys
23:11who would do that.
23:12So they're the kind
23:13of guys who would pick
23:14people up off the street
23:15and kill them.
23:17Except Bono and Bianchi
23:18didn't kill that young lady.
23:21She was alive.
23:24They've the right
23:25to kill me multiple times.
23:27When you're asphyxiated
23:28and you're suffocated
23:29and you play Russian roulette
23:30and you're raped,
23:32those are all pretty good signs
23:33of attempted murder.
23:38I was crying.
23:39It was hard to listen
23:42to what happened
23:42to these girls
23:43and stuff
23:44and, you know,
23:44your mind just goes
23:46to your child
23:47and you don't want that
23:49to happen to anyone
23:50you ever know.
23:52I think the jury
23:54connected with it entirely
23:55from that point on.
23:57It was really
23:57very compelling testimony
23:59that would indicate
24:01Bono's guilt.
24:04For the jurors,
24:06attorneys,
24:06and judge,
24:07this case has been
24:08a full-time job
24:09for nearly two years.
24:11With over 450 witnesses
24:13and 2,000 pieces
24:14of evidence,
24:15including this model
24:16of the house
24:16where the women
24:17were allegedly killed,
24:19the trial has now produced
24:2056,000 pages
24:21of transcripts in all.
24:22The trial at the time
24:26was the longest
24:27and most expensive
24:28in California history.
24:29The case has been
24:31in court for nearly two years
24:32and tonight
24:33it finally goes
24:34to the jury.
24:36Well, I thought
24:37the verdict would take
24:38MEP to a month
24:39before they would come back.
24:41But the first verdict
24:43came in
24:44after less than two weeks.
24:46In Los Angeles today,
24:48one verdict
24:48was finally reached
24:49in the longest criminal trial
24:51in California history.
24:52The seven-woman,
24:53five-man jury
24:54convicted Bono
24:55of first-degree murder
24:56in the death
24:57of Lauren Wagner.
24:59They read the first verdict
25:00which was guilty.
25:02I even remember seeing
25:03the prosecutor
25:04and the defense
25:05saying,
25:06okay,
25:06I think that was
25:07kind of one
25:08that they figured
25:08was kind of the easiest
25:09for us.
25:14Obviously,
25:14we're very delighted
25:15and we think
25:16that after the long term
25:17of this trial
25:18that justice
25:19is being served.
25:20We're, of course,
25:21disappointed
25:21because we thought
25:22there wasn't really
25:23sufficient evidence
25:23to get Mr. Bono
25:24of us to any counts.
25:26But we're encouraged
25:26by the fact
25:27that the jury's
25:27deliberating, obviously,
25:29as to each count
25:30and trying to analyze
25:31each count separately.
25:34Obviously,
25:35we were relieved
25:36that we've got
25:37a murder count now.
25:38What's next?
25:41Yolanda Washington.
25:44This afternoon,
25:44the jury found
25:46Angela Bono
25:47not guilty
25:47in the death
25:48of 20-year-old
25:49Yolanda Washington.
25:54The first one
25:55was a guilty.
25:56The second one
25:57was a not guilty.
25:58In the Yolanda
25:59Washington case,
26:00I assume
26:01we had pointed out
26:02enough inconsistencies.
26:04I think they
26:05followed the evidence
26:05and there really
26:06was no evidence
26:06on this count
26:07other than Mr. Bianchi
26:08and they obviously
26:08didn't believe
26:09Mr. Bianchi.
26:11Yolanda Washington,
26:11there was no evidence
26:13to connect the murder
26:15with Angelo or Kenneth.
26:16It could have been
26:17anyone that picked her up.
26:22The Hillside Strangler case,
26:24when prostitutes were killed,
26:25everybody kind of
26:26turned a blind eye.
26:27At the time she died,
26:28I don't even know
26:29if there was an investigation.
26:31So they didn't have evidence
26:32and victims and witnesses.
26:35Maybe this is why
26:36they were not able
26:36to get a successful
26:37prosecution on her.
26:38Nobody really cared.
26:43Shortly afterwards,
26:44they came back
26:44with a verdict
26:45of guilty
26:46on Judy Miller.
26:48Angelo Bono
26:49has been convicted
26:50of a second murder
26:51in the 10 Hillside
26:52Strangler killings.
26:53Today's conviction
26:53makes the former
26:54auto-upholsterer
26:55eligible for
26:56the death penalty.
26:58And then the rest of them
26:58kind of flowed from that.
27:00He was found guilty
27:01of murdering
27:0112-year-old Dolly Cepetta,
27:0314-year-old Sonia Johnson,
27:0520-year-old Christina Weckler,
27:0721-year-old Elisa Custon,
27:10and Jane King.
27:11Bono is convicted
27:12of killing
27:12Cindy Lee Hudspeth.
27:14It was the ninth
27:15and final conviction.
27:18The jury came back
27:19with guilty verdicts
27:21on nine of the counts,
27:23nine to one,
27:24which is not bad,
27:26you know.
27:27It's been a long six years.
27:29Probably been a lot longer
27:32for the parents
27:33of the victims,
27:34so it's satisfying.
27:35I'm very confident
27:39of our decisions.
27:40Yeah.
27:40Yeah.
27:41I think everything
27:42went the way it should.
27:44Yeah.
27:45Tomorrow,
27:46the same panel
27:46will begin to deliberate
27:47whether Bono
27:48will go to prison
27:49for life
27:49without the possibility
27:50of parole
27:51or to the gas chamber.
27:53You have to understand
27:56when you try a case
27:57with this many victims
27:59and this much publicity,
28:01a lot of times
28:01you're fighting over
28:02what the penalty
28:03is going to be.
28:04And in this case,
28:05was it going to be death?
28:06When we went back
28:18for sentencing,
28:19I think we only sat down
28:20and talked about it
28:21afterwards
28:21for a couple of hours.
28:23We had probably
28:24had thought about it
28:25ourselves on our own.
28:28Angelo Bono
28:29and Kenneth Bianchi
28:30subjected various
28:31of their murder victims
28:32to the administration
28:34of lethal gas,
28:36electrocution,
28:38strangulation by rope,
28:40and lethal
28:41hypodermic injection.
28:43I would not have
28:44the slightest reluctance
28:46to impose the death penalty
28:47in this case
28:48were it within my power
28:49to do so.
28:51If ever there was a case
28:52where the death penalty
28:53is appropriate,
28:55this is that case.
28:58Life in prison,
28:59no chance of parole.
29:01That's the recommendation
29:01of the jury
29:02in the Hillside Strangler
29:03case in California.
29:05I was surprised,
29:06you know,
29:06Bianchi got life
29:07as part of a plea bargain
29:08and I don't know
29:10why Bono got life
29:11without parole.
29:12I think it had to do
29:13with the feeling of equity
29:14with regard to
29:15Kenneth Bianchi
29:16who was equally
29:17responsible
29:19for these heinous murders
29:20and that they felt
29:21that it was necessary
29:23to treat them equally.
29:24I agree 100%
29:26with what the judge said.
29:28If there was any case
29:29where they should have
29:31received the death penalty,
29:32this was the case.
29:33I was disappointed
29:34that he didn't get
29:35the death sentence.
29:36We had figured
29:37he would suffer more
29:38spending his life in jail
29:40than being killed.
29:43And the only good part
29:44about all that
29:44was that Angela Bono
29:45died in 2002.
29:47After the trial
30:03of Bono,
30:04Bianchi was sentenced
30:06to Washington State Penitentiary
30:09in Walla Walla, Washington.
30:10According to Robert
30:11전에 Tavros
30:225,000
30:23EMA
30:25fuer
30:26BOLO
30:272,001
30:275,000
30:286,003
30:29CINEMPRIATURES
30:303,000
30:318,1000
30:32It's been a long time since the actual trial, but the hurt, it still exists after all these years.
30:51The only injustice in this case was that Bianchi has the ability to go before a parole board.
30:59When he comes up for any kind of parole hearing, it's just an insult to everyone.
31:22Investigators and law enforcement aren't automatically invited to parole hearings.
31:28But we're gonna come out.
31:30He does not deserve to be paroled. He deserves to die in prison.
31:35And hopefully that's what'll happen.
31:39I can't imagine anybody letting him out.
31:42You have a pre-paid call from...
31:48Ken.
31:49...an inmate at Washington State Penitentiary. To accept this call, press 5 now.
31:55Can you talk?
31:57Can you talk?
31:58Yeah, you can hear me.
32:00Your parole hearing is coming up?
32:02Yes.
32:03That's great.
32:05My goal in this is for the Hillside Stranglings and the Bellingham murders to be reopened.
32:10To end what is a real achy agony.
32:14Who really did commit the Hillside Stranglings in 1977-78?
32:19And that's one of the reasons I want to visit the former Los Angeles Hillside Strangler Task Force officers in Los Angeles.
32:28Because to believe that Ken Bianchi is the Hillside Strangler means you must close your mind to new evidence.
32:37Nice to meet you, Jen.
32:39Pete Trinigan.
32:40Pete, nice to meet you.
32:41First name?
32:42David.
32:43Frank Salerno.
32:44Well, I wanted to meet you because we had something in common.
32:49We'd both become, for a time, obsessed by this case.
32:53And so there are some notes I'd like to compare with you about what you found from the direct knowledge.
32:59And as much to get your advice, you were there at the time.
33:04Well, Ken Bianchi, as you know, he was a liar.
33:08Have you?
33:09Oh, yeah.
33:10He was lying about being Hillside Strangler.
33:15Ken Bianchi had made a false confession.
33:19In fact, when...
33:20What have you got to convince yourself that he didn't commit any of the Los Angeles murders?
33:24I've got seven years of investigation in them.
33:27I have gone through every statement he's made to the psychiatrist and compared them to the physical state.
33:36And they just don't match.
33:39And what I'm seeing is that I believe under the terrible pressure that all you detectives were operating, mistakes were made.
33:50David, let me ask you something.
33:53How does Bianchi explain his fingerprints being at the phone booth where the Martin girl was called to in the out-call service?
34:03They had fingerprints at the phone booth where the phone call was made to have Martin respond to the Tamron apartment.
34:10He used that public phone box.
34:13Oh, it's a public phone, but why did he use it?
34:16Bianchi had made a phone call, said he wanted a young girl, and he got her to that apartment complex.
34:22The prints were later identified as Bianchi's.
34:29And fingerprints are individual. There's no two people alike.
34:34Okay? So, how did the fingerprint get in there?
34:37How did the fingerprint get in there?
34:38Yeah.
34:39He gave us information that only a killer would have known, which we corroborated.
34:44Which, which, which only killer would know information?
34:49When we first interviewed him, he points out to us things that we observed, but didn't know what caused them.
34:58Okay?
34:59He says, Weckler, we tried to inject her with Windex.
35:05And there was an injection mark.
35:07And this chemical was found in the...
35:10There were no chemicals.
35:11There was no chemicals found in the autopsy report.
35:13So they've injected her with Windex, but there's no evidence of Windex in the autopsy report.
35:19Windex wouldn't show up in a standard toxicology test.
35:23He said they tried to gas her by using a gas flex pipe, which explained the serration marks on her neck.
35:32He said that each girl was placed in the chair.
35:35And in the Wagner case, she's got fibers and burn marks.
35:39So we take the chair and what do we find in the chair?
35:43The same cluster of fibers that are on Wagner's hands.
35:47I know.
35:48How does he know that?
35:49How does he tell us those things unless he was there?
35:52This case is not built on one fact.
35:55It's built on a series of facts.
35:58We follow the facts.
35:59The trail led us to where we are.
36:02You are believing a pathological liar who's a sociopath and you've swallowed his lying lines and you're just trying to justify him.
36:13I hear what you say, but what I'm having a conversation with you about is that you may have been led to tunnel vision to focus on...
36:21Well, we didn't have...
36:22I'll tell you right now, we did not have tunnel vision.
36:25You obviously believe Ken Bianchi's not guilty of any of these murders, is that right?
36:32I believe that the evidence shows that Ken Bianchi should have a trial.
36:37He was denied the right of trial because he signed a plea bargain.
36:41He gave up his right to a trial.
36:42That's right.
36:43That's right.
36:44And he pled guilty.
36:45Right.
36:46So you're saying that he should find an attorney that can reverse all of that and give him a trial.
36:52This is a matter for the American justice system.
36:55Have you brought any of this stuff up with the Attorney General's Office of the State of Washington?
37:00I think it's powerful enough to.
37:02Well, have you?
37:03No.
37:04I'd be happy to and if I could use your recommendation that you felt it was powerful enough to be...
37:10No, I wouldn't make a recommendation like that.
37:13I think you're hanging your head on something totally ridiculous.
37:16You think he's a pathological liar?
37:19No.
37:20Okay.
37:21So let me summarize.
37:22Wait a minute.
37:23Wait a minute.
37:24Wait a minute.
37:25No.
37:26Let me summarize.
37:27We can sit here all night and you can go on with what you're saying.
37:30But we seek the truth.
37:32We seek the facts.
37:34You talk about narrow-mindedness that you lock onto something and you go that way.
37:39I think that is what's happening.
37:40I'm very much aware I may be the only person who thinks Ken Bianchi is innocent of murders in Washington State or California.
37:57But I made a decision.
37:58But I made a decision.
37:59It wasn't going to stop me.
38:01I didn't go into this hoping to make friends.
38:04It can be a lonely road when you decide to take the side of someone who's been made society's monster.
38:15It's not going to stop.
38:16If anybody thinks that Ken's innocent I think they're not looking at the facts.
38:30They don't know the facts.
38:32And if they are they're disregarding the facts.
38:35And they perhaps are trying to get attention for themselves.
38:39Bianchi is one of the most manipulative persons I have ever dealt with in my 32 years of law enforcement.
38:46And handling Bianchi, it opens your mind up of what human beings are capable of doing.
38:53A Washington State woman who was fascinated with the notorious hillside strangler and who even powdered a crime after him is back behind bars tonight.
39:01Get out of the truck!
39:02I need a truck!
39:03I'm in the truck!
39:04Spread your legs!
39:05Do you have any weapons on you?
39:07Veronica Compton escaped from prison last week.
39:10That situation first started when one day Bianchi called us from the jail.
39:16And he just asked, I know you're in charge of who can come and see me on a visit.
39:21And he said, I've received a couple of letters from this gal.
39:24Her name's Veronica Compton.
39:25He gave us the letters.
39:27And he wanted her added to her, put her on the list to be able to visit.
39:31So we ran record check and everything on her.
39:34And it was kind of like, if this is something that's going to settle him down and keep him on an even keel, why not go for it, right?
39:43Yeah.
39:44Veronica visited Bianchi in jail and came under his spell.
39:48I remember he pulled out this band that he had made.
39:52He had torn his shirt and he had made this rope.
39:55And then he proceeded to show me this news.
39:58He is showing you how to kill someone.
40:01Yeah.
40:02He ordered her to commit a copycat murder to convince cops the hillside strangler was still on the loose.
40:09He says, I'm going to be dead in two weeks if you don't go out and kill somebody.
40:12And you know, and look at Veronica, it won't be you.
40:14It'll be me.
40:15It'll be my hands.
40:16Just say my name.
40:17I'll be there.
40:18I'll be there.
40:19And so he somehow convinced her to come up to Bellingham and she met a young woman at a local bar here.
40:30The victim, Kim Breed, met a woman at a bar who introduced herself as Karen and was later identified as Compton.
40:37They went to a motel later that night to buy drugs.
40:40So the woman was sitting on her bed and Veronica Compton went in the bathroom, came out with a ligature and started strangling her.
40:47I took this news out of the drawer and put it around her neck and started pulling.
40:59I straddled her and I pulled.
41:10Fortunately, she picked the wrong gallop.
41:13She was physically strong and fought her off.
41:16My head was dizzy.
41:17I just, I knew I had to do something really fast.
41:20I knew I was going to die.
41:23According to the state, Compton committed the copycat crime out of love for convicted killer Kenneth Bianchi.
41:29Of course he killed those people.
41:33He knows he killed them.
41:35I know he killed them.
41:37A lot of people know he killed them.
41:39When we got to kill them.
41:40They killed them.
41:41We're plusieurs people in the room.
41:42Maybe not.
41:43But then we were going to do something like this.
41:44Not some people.
41:45Never.
41:46I'm sorry.
41:47We're going to kill them.
41:48You're going to kill them.
41:49You're going to kill them.
41:50You're not going to kill them.
41:51You're going to kill them.
41:52Whatever the killer gets moved home.
41:53What are your best?
41:54talking to her about trying to commit a murder.
41:57So, what does that tell you?
42:03Bianchi wanted to have control over people.
42:06He wanted to manipulate people.
42:09He was doing it in his ruse that they were cops.
42:11He had to have been very convincing.
42:13These victims were kicking and screaming.
42:15They were going willingly.
42:17So, I don't think that that behavior,
42:22that sort of default to manipulate and double down
42:25would dissipate once you're behind bars.
42:29You know, Veronica Compton, up until this point,
42:32had been a normal functioning member of society,
42:35yet she was convinced to do the unthinkable by Ken Bianchi.
42:39So, I think she really showed not just the courtroom,
42:43but the public, that anyone is susceptible to the advances
42:47of the right sociopath if you cross paths with them.
42:52I'm sorry I just ran out like that.
42:55No, I don't.
42:56That's all I can.
42:57I understand.
42:58I mean, I can apologize.
43:00Ken has the ability to get people to believe him,
43:04to fall for him, to feel sympathy for him,
43:07and to be on his side.
43:09Ken's very manipulative.
43:11And if you just talk to him,
43:13and you don't know who he is, he seems normal.
43:16These victims, they were put in a position of trust.
43:23They never fought back.
43:25The way he handles people, the way he's able to dupe people,
43:30I think it's all he knows.
43:32Whether it's Veronica Compton, his doctors,
43:35or young girls that are winding up dead,
43:38relationships are about one person pulling one over on another person.
43:44That's the dynamic that he is expecting,
43:47no matter who he encounters.
43:49We're on.
43:52We hope so.
43:54Let's hope Ken's waiting at the other end.
43:58Right start session.
44:01I absolutely don't feel I've been manipulated by Ken Bianchi.
44:05The accusation that Ken Bianchi is a manipulator
44:09is an attempt to change the conversation
44:13from the very real evidence
44:16of the failure of his claims
44:19of how these crimes were committed
44:21to chime with the reality of the evidence in the case.
44:26Once I realised and saw him as a victim of wrongful conviction,
44:31I came to a point in my relationship with him
44:34where I would call him a friend, and I do so.
44:38This is wonderful. We meet again.
44:41This is brilliant.
44:42It's great to catch up this way.
44:46Your parole hearing is coming up.
44:48What would you...
44:50What do you dream of doing should you get out if these parole...
44:56Well, listen, I have a family now.
44:58I have six grandchildren, my stepdaughter.
45:01They love me, and that's where I would go
45:04to live my life with my wife and my family
45:07for the rest of my life.
45:08Oh, that's a lovely ambition, Ken.
45:10I can see that the smile on your face
45:14just thinking of the vision.
45:16Absolutely. Absolutely.
45:18When is the parole hearing?
45:22It's ten o'clock tomorrow morning.
45:24Listen, I'm ready.
45:25I just want to get this over with.
45:27I think that David has been seduced by Kenneth Bianchi,
45:34but I also think you can't really be seduced
45:38unless you kind of want to be seduced.
45:40David is Bianchi's latest victim,
45:44convincing him that none of this is true.
45:47Now, listen, we're gonna...
45:49I only have 30 seconds left.
45:50Yeah.
45:51Well, well...
45:52You take care, my friend.
45:53I'll talk to you again.
45:54Best of luck tomorrow, and I'll be there in spirit.
45:57Well, you'll be there in spirit.
45:58Yeah, yeah, wishing you well.
46:00Kenneth Bianchi has not displayed any signs
46:04that he has learned anything from his crimes.
46:07After almost 50 years, you know,
46:11still saying the same things.
46:13I didn't do it, I don't remember, whatever.
46:16You know, I was framed.
46:18This is not an individual that should be out and about.
46:21This person should be away for the rest of his life.
46:34Good morning.
46:35We're on the record in the matter of Anthony Diamato
46:38for two counts of murder in the first degree.
46:41And for voice recognition,
46:43can we have everybody introduce themselves,
46:45starting with you?
46:46Mr. Diamato.
46:47Hi, Anthony Diamato.
46:49DOC number 266961.
46:54Is your stance still the same, Mr. Diamato,
46:58that you are innocent of the murders here in Washington State?
47:03And also the murders in California.
47:08I have knowledge, but I don't have any first-hand knowledge
47:12of the crimes.
47:13What is the second-hand knowledge that you have of the crimes?
47:25Can you talk about that?
47:27If I were to talk about the unworn statements,
47:30I would literally be giving up my 5th and 14th Amendment rights.
47:35So let me get this straight, Mr. Diamato.
47:37In essence, you're saying that you are unable to talk about the crimes
47:41in which you're convicted of.
47:43It would take a matter of relitigating the case.
47:46Okay.
47:47You're denying the crimes.
47:48Okay.
47:49You're denying the crimes.
47:53I wrote this letter at the request of the district attorney's office.
48:12My name is Frank Salerno.
48:16I'm a retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detective sergeant.
48:20I've partnered with retired detective Peter Finnegan,
48:23and I were the primary investigators for the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
48:28regarding the series of kidnappings, rapes, torture, and murders in Los Angeles County in 1977-1978.
48:45The killers terrorized the citizens of York County over a seven-month period.
48:52This series ended when Bianchi moved to Bellingham, Washington in February 1978.
49:07These photos.
49:11That's all we had.
49:13Just this.
49:22I think of Cindy a lot, wondering what she would have been,
49:29and if she was ever going to be your mother and have children,
49:32and all those things, you know.
49:38In January 1979, two young women were murdered by Bianchi in Bellingham, Washington.
49:45That December, Karen and I exchanged Christmas gifts,
49:55and she bought me this beautiful three-piece wool suit.
50:02Unfortunately, the first time I got to wear this suit was at her funeral.
50:08We determined that Bianchi and Bono had been crime partners in an out-call prostitution service
50:23using two girls that were 15 years old and 16 years old.
50:29It's a memory that you almost wish that it would go away, but it's never going to go away.
50:36Bianchi is responsible for the killing of 12 young females.
50:57Yolanda Washington, Judy Miller, Lisa Kasten, Jane King,
51:05Dolly Cepeda, Sonia Johnson, Christina Weckler, Lauren Wagner, Kimberly Martin, Cindy Hudspeth, Karen Mandick, and Diane Wilder.
51:22Ken Bianchi's never shown any remorse. He should die in prison.
51:25Ken Bianchi's never shown any remorse. He should die in prison.
51:29.
51:32Ken Bianchi AHMETA
51:36Ken Bianchi's never shown any remorse. He should die in prison.
51:42When this đ Ashley is doomed,
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