- 2 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:28You
00:35He said how you gonna get a girl from always in the apartment to the garage? He says I'm like
00:40you knock her out or something
00:48And Angela went behind her and he grabbed her one arm I grabbed her other arm
01:00There's a smile that mean you know, I knew he approved
01:23You'll hear it will kill her
01:26After watching 17 hours of videotapes of Ken Bianchi under hypnosis claiming he was guilty
01:37What I was seeing was a man broken down
01:44Put through psychiatric excesses
01:48To confess against himself to the point in which he believed his own false confession
01:56And you remember where she was taken
01:58there there is
02:01With the session of the first girl without the use of the Los Angeles
02:08Material the best year of reports. I couldn't really tell you exactly where the bodies were dumped
02:16My confessions, I said under hypnosis, were not reliable
02:21They did not match up with the facts
02:25My lawyer can't be materials for the case through a discovery
02:32And I essentially realized that I had no first-hand information about the crimes, or who committed the crimes
02:38That all the information was second-hand information from news reports
02:43The two women strangled were stuffed in the back area of the car
02:48The police files or cops
02:50What I read was prompted in my memory during hypnosis subconsciously
02:57And I came out of it believing in committing crimes
03:02I had literally false memory syndrome.
03:09How about down in L.A.?
03:10Angelo.
03:11Has he killed anybody?
03:12Yep.
03:13How many?
03:14He has.
03:16Five girls?
03:18Did you watch them kill them all?
03:20You bet I did.
03:21You can be sure that he killed those five?
03:24Positively, without a doubt.
03:26Did you kill any down there?
03:27Yep, I did.
03:28How many?
03:29Four of them.
03:32Markins would ask one leading question after the other.
03:36And he wasn't the only one to ask leading questions.
03:39Ellison did the same thing, too.
03:41He would make a statement in the form of a question,
03:45and I ended up providing an answer that was not the truth.
03:52But he assumed it was the truth.
03:56When these doctors came in, they were fumbling around,
03:59and they did have ulterior motives.
04:02Dr. Ellison had a book coming out,
04:04and he wanted to get the world record for most multiple personality cases,
04:09you know?
04:10And so he may have been leading with information.
04:14Why have you decided not to kill anyone?
04:19Fuck, I know.
04:20Is that when you decided to move?
04:22I wanted to.
04:23I wanted to fucking kill more broads, you know?
04:27When you're under hypnosis, you're susceptible to somebody telling you that a memory happened
04:34when it didn't happen, creating false memories.
04:37So a clinician, if they're hypnotizing you,
04:40they could tell them what their memory is when it was actually not what happened at all.
04:47You remember being at the office, you say?
04:49Yes, I know.
04:50Okay.
04:51And that was that particular night in January the 10th.
04:5611.
04:5611, something like that.
04:57Yeah, okay.
04:59There was actually a famous study called Lost in the Mall.
05:08Basically, you could implant the memory of being lost in a mall with hypnosis.
05:13And that 25% of the people had apparently never been lost in a mall as a child.
05:20But under hypnosis, they became convinced that they had been lost in a mall as a child.
05:26Believe it or not, it's pretty easy to implant a lot of things into a person's mind.
05:31Yeah.
05:35No one bothered to warn me that there were real dangers to using hypnosis to retrieve or refresh memories.
05:42And once hypnotized, there would be a tendency to recall those memories that never existed,
05:47yet be convinced those memories are real and more.
05:53With the hypnosis, they led him down a path of, you know, now confess,
05:59and now he's convinced he did it.
06:01But if Ken was hypnotized, yes, his argument could be plausible for sure.
06:09But chances are, in my opinion, in front of what I've seen,
06:12I don't think Ken was ever hypnotized.
06:18You want to play games, I'll play games.
06:21I want him out of the way.
06:23You don't, wait, no.
06:24You don't fucking understand.
06:33Just keep looking at one, just keep thinking over and over in your mind, that you're feeling very tired.
06:41We know that people absolutely can be hypnotized.
06:44We can see there's plenty of fMRI studies that show, like, what happens to the brain.
06:48There are different techniques that get people to be in a state where they're susceptible to things that you are
06:54now going to lead them towards.
07:04But here's a fun fact about hypnosis.
07:08Unless you want to be hypnotized, you can't be hypnotized.
07:12So for someone like Kenneth Bianchi, I don't know if he would allow himself to be that vulnerable.
07:20Your head dropping down, down, down.
07:28And I think that for any kind of serial killer, being in the non-dominant position, it's too risky.
07:38When you've got someone who's hypnotized, it's often really slow and quiet and figuring it out in a haze.
07:48None of this was the behavior of Ken.
07:50It's way too awake.
07:56There's a lot of energy.
07:57There's a lot of movement.
08:02I think that Ken saw doctors that seemed kind of excited, and I really think he was thinking, I am
08:09smarter than all these people.
08:12But after Dr. Watkins and Dr. Allison assessed Ken, the prosecution brings in their guys.
08:21And their job is to be more skeptical about this whole situation.
08:28Hi, Dr. Orne.
08:29Hi, good to see you.
08:31How you doing?
08:32One of the experts I have is Dr. Martin Orne.
08:36He was a world expert in hypnosis and looking at people who are simulating being hypnotized.
08:43He seems like a pleasant, cooperative individual.
08:46But whenever I see an individual in a forensic situation, somebody accused of a premeditated murder facing a death penalty,
08:55I always have to ask myself, is this individual telling me how he really feels, or is he malingering or
09:04faking?
09:04When Orne comes in, he does a couple of pretty clever things.
09:09One of them, he's like, all right, what if we suggest that Dean Brett, who is Ken's attorney,
09:16we're going to have him show up, but an imaginary Dean Brett.
09:19I asked him to hallucinate Mr. Brett, his attorney.
09:24Shortly, I'm going to ask you to open your eyes.
09:28When I do, the one evening, Mr. Brett will have come in, and he will be sitting in the chair
09:37right beside you.
09:39Open your eyes.
09:41Okay, Mr. Brett, what's the call?
09:43Hey, Dean.
09:44How you doing?
09:47I'll leave you to talk to him if you want, and I'll be back.
09:53You want to hear the media?
09:55The immediacy at which, you know, Ken jumps up, shakes the hand of Dean Brett, and, you know,
10:01so right there it feels like malingering.
10:04Even more striking, though, is what he does when I ask him to describe Dean Brett.
10:09What are we going to talk about, the three of us?
10:11Well, I want you to describe Dean to me in some detail.
10:16What is his, is he shaven?
10:19Oh, no.
10:20Beard?
10:21God, you can see him.
10:23You must be able to see him.
10:25His hair isn't cold as usual.
10:28You wouldn't say that, in my opinion.
10:30You wouldn't be saying, like, don't you see him?
10:32It's like you assume a person sees him.
10:34You would just say, yeah, I see him.
10:36You wouldn't be like, don't you?
10:38It's, again, that part right there feels malingery.
10:41And then you've got him having the real Dean Brett showing up.
10:45Tell me, who is this over here?
10:52Dean Brett?
10:54Who is this?
10:57Dean Brett is here.
10:59Dean Brett is here.
11:01How can he be in two places?
11:04Me.
11:05Stay home.
11:08What do you want to see him?
11:17In my opinion, this all feels like a charade.
11:24He's seen Three Faces of Eve, the film,
11:26which is like an education in how to fake a multiple personality.
11:30Have you ever heard of multiple personality?
11:33In the 70s, Hollywood was really interested in this whole idea.
11:39We've got the Three Faces of Eve, we've got Sybil.
11:42And I used to think that everybody was like this,
11:45that they would just naturally wake up and be someplace else
11:48or a whole lot older or wearing another dress.
11:52It exploded to the point where now, in the court systems,
11:56this is becoming a question.
11:58Can we use this for the defense?
12:01The judge ruled today that Billy Milligan
12:03was not responsible for the crimes of rape, kidnapping, and robbery.
12:07That man was found not guilty by reason of insanity
12:10because he had multiple personalities.
12:12It was a huge deal.
12:14A couple months after that,
12:16Kenneth Bianchi's case.
12:18So it's possible that Attorney Dean Brett
12:21is thinking to himself,
12:22maybe we can use this for Kenneth Bianchi.
12:27You haven't come out in jail at all here?
12:29Yeah, I fucking used to.
12:33To do what?
12:34Anything I fucking wanted.
12:37We're watching the videotape.
12:39We eject the tape out.
12:41I said, what do you think?
12:43He said, well, look what I wrote.
12:44His notebook said total bullshit,
12:46and mine said bullshit.
12:49It was a joke.
12:50It was a joke.
12:52There's a performative nature to this,
12:55and I believe Kenneth Bianchi
12:56has been performing his whole life.
12:59What's your name?
13:01Steve.
13:02One of the psychologists said,
13:05who is that now?
13:06He says, that's Steve.
13:07Steve got a last name?
13:10He did have a last name.
13:12What was it?
13:16I can't remember.
13:18What's Steve?
13:19Walker.
13:20Walker.
13:21Oh, where did he get that?
13:23He says, Walker.
13:25Steve Walker.
13:26I said, oh, he forgot this name.
13:29Yeah.
13:29And he jumps,
13:30and he went and found this piece of paper
13:32that says Steve Walker written on it.
13:35So I was like, woo-hoo.
13:39And then there were some transcripts
13:41that were found from local schools in L.A.
13:44and Bianchi's name,
13:45which didn't make much sense.
13:47So we went to Valley College,
13:50said, we'll work on this murder case,
13:52and here's a transcript we found.
13:54Could you tell us who it belongs to?
13:59She looks at it,
14:01and she's, well, I can tell you right now
14:02it doesn't belong to that name.
14:05This transcript belongs to an individual
14:07by, I think it was Thomas Stephen Walker.
14:10And we looked at each other,
14:12we said, bingo, we got you.
14:14They asked me if I recognized the name
14:16that was at the top of the paper.
14:19I looked up, expecting to see my own name,
14:21instead seeing the name of Kenneth A. Bianchi.
14:24I said, how would an individual get these from you?
14:29He said, well, I applied for a lot of jobs
14:32when I graduated.
14:32I had answered an ad in the Los Angeles Times Classified
14:36for a job.
14:39So then we spent four days down in the archives
14:43grinding those old tapes of L.A. Times.
14:49The one ad we found
14:50was a one ad for a counselor or psychologist.
14:54Send your resume and transcripts.
14:59610 Verdugo, Glendale.
15:01Well, that had been an address Bianchi had lived at.
15:04We knew we were on to something there.
15:06We wrote it up, sent it up to Bellingham,
15:11showed it to Bianchi,
15:13and he realized that he had been caught
15:16in one of his major lies.
15:20That was a massive blow to the defense,
15:23because now they realize we're screwed.
15:26Our insanity defense is crumbling.
15:29This person is some dude that he conned.
15:32Once they got this report,
15:34Bianchi decided,
15:35hey, I got a snowball's chance in hell.
15:38You know, I've got to change my plea.
15:45My defense has been destroyed.
15:49Dean Grant, my defense lawyer,
15:52told me in no uncertain terms,
15:56you're going to get the death penalty
15:57in both states.
15:58You're going to be put to death,
15:59and it scared the hell out of me.
16:01It scared me straight.
16:03So I decided I needed to
16:05change the plea agreement
16:07and testify against Angelo.
16:11He was attempting to do anything
16:14he could to stop the state
16:15from killing him,
16:17including making false confessions
16:19against himself and others.
16:21He was a broken man
16:23who could be manipulated.
16:25The Los Angeles District Attorney
16:27didn't feel like he had enough
16:29to arrest Angelo Bono.
16:33Angelo Bono was still on the streets.
16:35When I'd see him in the restaurant,
16:36I would just get really scared,
16:38and I just, you know,
16:39I didn't want to be around him.
16:41All of the agencies in Los Angeles,
16:44they really needed help.
16:46They needed help from Ken Bianchi
16:48to be able to convict Bono.
16:52So we went up to Bellingham
16:55to assess Bianchi
16:56as a potential witness
16:59against Angelo Bono.
17:01I felt if he was a believable witness
17:04and we could corroborate it,
17:06we could convict Bono.
17:09There had been unconfirmed reports
17:12of plea bargaining efforts
17:13in the case,
17:14including reports of Bianchi
17:16waiving extradition to Los Angeles
17:18and changing his not guilty plea
17:20to the Bellingham charges
17:21in exchange for Whatcom County
17:23not asking for the death penalty.
17:26Bellingham authorities
17:27will not comment
17:28on those unconfirmed reports.
17:34The Los Angeles PD,
17:36the sheriff's office,
17:37they came up to Bellingham.
17:39They wanted to know
17:40what our case was like,
17:41and we wanted to know
17:42what their case is like.
17:44If their case wasn't very good
17:46and they couldn't convict him,
17:47I didn't want to give up
17:48the death penalty here
17:49in Washington.
17:51So I wanted to make sure
17:52they had a reasonable case
17:54so that if I was going
17:55to give something up,
17:56it was reasonable to give up.
18:03Once we got up to Bellingham,
18:05all the investigators
18:06and the agencies
18:07wanted first crack at Bianchi.
18:09There was a lot of politicking
18:11going on.
18:13The LAPD got him first,
18:16so we listened
18:18to all the interviews
18:20that we didn't participate in.
18:23We're sitting there listening
18:24when they were talking to
18:26about Christina Weckler,
18:27and he's telling the detectives
18:30what they did
18:31when they got back
18:31to Angelo's business.
18:35I'm Christina Weckler.
18:37After she was dead
18:39and nude on the floor,
18:41he leashed up
18:43and got the needle,
18:44the syringe.
18:47He made a crack about
18:49checking if she's dead or not.
18:53And he took the syringe
18:55and he poked the cubic area
18:56a couple of times.
19:02We've got a series
19:04of murder photos
19:05when we're listening,
19:06and Pete grabs the photo
19:07and he brings it over
19:08and he says,
19:09look.
19:10An injection mark
19:11on her hip.
19:13The LAPD didn't ask him that.
19:15They didn't say,
19:16hey, what about
19:16that injection mark?
19:18He brought it up.
19:22Then we finally got
19:24to interview Bianchi.
19:26We went in
19:27and looked at
19:27where he was being interviewed.
19:29We took the table
19:30and put him
19:31so he's looking
19:32straight at the wall
19:33so he had no room to move.
19:35We were smoking cigars.
19:37We were smoking cigars.
19:37Closed all the doors.
19:40When we first sat down
19:41to talk to him,
19:42he just came across
19:43as a sleazy con man
19:45and he was of the opinion
19:47he was going to be
19:48on the team.
19:49He had all this paperwork.
19:51Frank stood up
19:52and he just swept
19:53all that stuff
19:53onto the floor.
19:54He said,
19:55you're not going to need
19:55that shit.
19:56We're going to talk
19:57about real stuff.
20:00We're interested
20:00in doing one thing.
20:02It's interviewing you,
20:03knowing what you know,
20:04what you did.
20:05What I knew then
20:06or what I know now.
20:08Ken, we're not going
20:08to play that game.
20:09There's a difference.
20:10Well, wait a minute.
20:12Wait a minute.
20:12Just be quiet.
20:13I'm not going to play that either.
20:14There is a big difference.
20:16Be quiet and listen to me.
20:17All right?
20:18We're not playing that game.
20:20Don't think you're going
20:21to try and run it
20:21through on us, all right?
20:22We're interested
20:23in what you know.
20:24what you did,
20:25what Bodo did
20:26and his involvement.
20:27When I say...
20:28Listen to me.
20:29Don't talk to me
20:30in that tone of voice.
20:30I'm not some kind of animal.
20:31Listen, you can listen to us
20:33and you can be interviewed
20:34by us,
20:34but you're not going
20:35to interview us.
20:36I'm cooperating.
20:37We're trying to determine
20:38your worth as a witness,
20:39all right?
20:39That's all we want
20:40and it's not going
20:41to work any other way.
20:44Fine.
20:48We want to talk to you
20:49about Cindy Hudson's case.
20:52We set her in the trunk
20:53of the car.
20:54He took off
20:55and I followed him
20:56to Angelo's crest.
21:04Angelo's behind the car.
21:06Tom's on the trunk
21:08of the car.
21:10And he and I
21:11both pushed it and...
21:12You say Angelo
21:13pushed from the rear?
21:15That's correct.
21:26I thought he was lying
21:27because the car landed,
21:28put it up.
21:30We thought the car
21:31had been pushed over backwards.
21:33We're saying,
21:34wait a minute.
21:34Is he telling us
21:35the truth or not?
21:36Then we went to CHP
21:38and had a report written.
21:41They came back and they said,
21:43that car was driven in.
21:45They pushed it over front first.
21:48It auto-rotated
21:49because it hit big boulders
21:51that turned it around
21:53and it landed facing up the hill.
21:57The other thing they told us,
21:58they put every girl
22:00they took to the shop
22:02ligatured
22:03and put them in one chair
22:05in one room.
22:08The three of us
22:08walked into the house
22:09and said,
22:11why don't you have a seat?
22:14They pointed to the
22:15mother's chair
22:16and she sat down in it.
22:20And I turned around
22:22and got behind her
22:23when she was sitting
22:24in the chair.
22:31On the Wagner case,
22:33the palms of her hands
22:34had burn marks.
22:36And we were fortunate enough
22:38to pull fibers
22:39out of the chair
22:40and match fibers
22:41that were on Wagner's hands.
22:44There were so many things
22:45he told us
22:46that only the killer would know.
22:51Another thing
22:52that we were able
22:53to corroborate
22:54was from one of
22:55the various interviews
22:56by the psychologists
22:57and psychiatrists.
22:59The thing with
23:00the hillside killings
23:01was the pretending
23:04to be police officers,
23:05that sort of thing.
23:13that was one of the more
23:15important things
23:15he told us,
23:16how they were operating.
23:20And it's exactly
23:21what they were doing.
23:25were there people
23:27who were considered
23:30as victims
23:31but then rejected?
23:35Peter Lorre's daughter
23:37was going to be
23:38a victim.
23:41Somehow the notoriety,
23:43the fact that who she was,
23:44you know,
23:44Peter Lorre's daughter,
23:46somehow stifled,
23:48somehow stifled
23:48whatever was going on.
23:51I can remember her
23:52showing the pictures
23:53of her sitting
23:54on her father's lap.
23:57Peter Lorre
23:59was a well-known actor
24:01in Hollywood.
24:02Actually played
24:04a serial murderer
24:05in a film,
24:06which was sort of ironic.
24:10With her,
24:11if you go up to her
24:14and ask,
24:15would you show her a badge?
24:18Yes.
24:19And what do you say?
24:25Hi, we're police
24:26out of service.
24:27We should step over
24:28to the car, please.
24:30What he said
24:31about Kathy Lorre,
24:33nobody knew about.
24:34Kathy Lorre
24:35didn't even report it.
24:37It was an unreported attempt.
24:39All right?
24:40And he tells us about it.
24:43We found her.
24:44She corroborated.
24:46She says,
24:46yeah, I was stopped once.
24:48This car came around
24:50the corner
24:50and just cut us off.
24:52At which point,
24:54two men got out of the car.
24:56One, uh,
24:58the one on the driver's side,
25:00Bianchi,
25:01uh,
25:01who started questioning me
25:05for ID and age.
25:07The other one,
25:08Bono,
25:09who was on the other side
25:10of the car,
25:10standing in the doorway
25:14with his head
25:15just showing over the car,
25:15and both of them
25:16were just kind of
25:17flashing badges.
25:18She identifies
25:19Bianchi and Bono
25:21as having tried
25:22to kidnap her,
25:23but they backed off.
25:31On top of that,
25:33as luck would have it,
25:35we get a phone call
25:36from Detective Stan White,
25:38who's working
25:39in Homicide Bureau.
25:40He says,
25:41Frank, listen to this.
25:42He says,
25:43an attorney
25:44who's a friend of mine,
25:45David Wood,
25:47recognized Bianchi
25:48when his name
25:49was put out
25:50in the paper
25:51in his picture.
25:52He said,
25:53Bianchi,
25:54along with his partner,
25:56Angelo Bono,
25:57their crime partner,
25:58is running
25:59an out-call service.
26:03David Wood
26:04had got a copy
26:05of the Los Angeles
26:06Free Press,
26:07which had a lot
26:08of personal ads
26:09in it
26:10for out-call stuff
26:11and massages.
26:13So he called one,
26:15and a gal shows up.
26:17There was a lady
26:18by the name
26:19of Becky Spears.
26:23She had one of those
26:25credit card machines.
26:26He put the card in it.
26:28He got a receipt
26:29for Angelo's Trim Shop
26:31for services rendered.
26:34Becky was a runaway
26:35from Arizona.
26:36It became obvious
26:37to him that she
26:38wasn't being treated
26:39very well.
26:40Did they work together?
26:41Yes, they did.
26:42How closely?
26:45Very closely.
26:47Becky Spears
26:48led us to say
26:50Brehannon.
26:51They had worked
26:52for Bianchi and Bono
26:53as odd-call prostitutes.
26:56So we'd interviewed
26:57both young ladies.
27:01After I graduated
27:02high school,
27:03I did some runway modeling.
27:06I will be honest,
27:08I was a very
27:09street-savvy kid.
27:13I spent a year
27:15going back and forth
27:16from Phoenix
27:16to California.
27:19I would come
27:19and I would visit friends.
27:21One of them asked
27:23if I would be interested
27:23in meeting this individual
27:25that was looking
27:26for models.
27:28And I kind of thought,
27:29sure,
27:30because I thought
27:31it was a way
27:32of getting into
27:33the modeling scene
27:33in California.
27:40They flew me out
27:41to California
27:42to meet Ken
27:43and I thought,
27:44okay, well, you know,
27:44here's an individual.
27:45They're going to spot
27:46my plane fare.
27:49I met him
27:50at the airport,
27:51picked me up
27:51and I'll never forget.
27:53He said, hey,
27:54do you want a drink?
27:55And I said, sure.
27:56Got me an orange juice
27:57out of a vending machine.
28:05By the time I got
28:06to the car,
28:07I knew I had been drugged.
28:09And by then,
28:11it was too late.
28:14The next place
28:15that I ended up
28:16was at Angelo Bono's.
28:20That's when
28:21the horror began.
28:26I was forced
28:27into prostitution.
28:29They demanded
28:31of me
28:31to do things
28:33that were unimaginable
28:34with not only themselves,
28:36but with others.
28:39I was being,
28:40you know,
28:41pursed out
28:42to individuals
28:43of power.
28:47And I had seen
28:49elected officials
28:50or law enforcement
28:51at Angelo's shop
28:55casually meeting
28:56with him.
28:57Do you think
28:57that's how they got
28:58their badges?
28:59I know that's how
29:00they got their badges.
29:01I saw badges
29:03being traded.
29:06You know,
29:06when you're 17,
29:07where do you go?
29:09I'm going to go
29:09tell the local police
29:10department who
29:11I feel are involved.
29:14If I ever
29:15decided I wanted
29:16to turn them in
29:17or run away,
29:19they threatened
29:20to take me
29:21so far out
29:21in the country
29:22that I would never
29:22find my way back
29:23or really mess me up
29:26so I'd be a vegetable
29:27the rest of my life
29:28or never look the same.
29:33I was being watched
29:35and every move
29:36I made,
29:36they knew
29:37and they knew
29:38exactly what I purchased,
29:39exactly how much
29:40was spent,
29:41exactly where I even
29:41stopped to get a drink.
29:46So I'd always been
29:47thinking in my mind,
29:47what do I do?
29:48How do I get out of this
29:49without being followed?
29:51You don't have a vehicle,
29:52you don't have any means
29:53of transportation
29:55so you are driven
29:57to different locales.
29:59I knew one of the drivers
30:01was planning on leaving
30:02Los Angeles
30:03to go back home.
30:07One night,
30:08early to mid-summer
30:10of 1977,
30:13Angelo and Ken
30:15told me that I needed
30:16to be there at 2 o'clock
30:17and they were coming
30:18and I better be there.
30:22I knew something bad
30:24was about to happen
30:25because the night before
30:27my whole place
30:28had been completely ransacked.
30:31So I knew it was going
30:33to be bad,
30:33whatever it was.
30:36You start having
30:37the palpitations
30:38and you can feel
30:39your heart beating
30:39your carotid artery
30:42and that little voice
30:43inside of me said,
30:45get out,
30:46get out now.
30:50That's when I asked
30:51the driver
30:51if he would please
30:52come and get me,
30:54get me out of here.
30:56I'll pay for anything
30:56you need.
30:59And literally,
31:00I was out within,
31:01I want to say,
31:0210 minutes.
31:05And this is just
31:06a small part
31:07of the story.
31:11Both Sabra
31:12and Becky
31:13laid out the fact
31:14that they were living
31:15at Bono's house.
31:17He and Bianchi
31:18were quite abusive
31:18to them.
31:19It was obvious
31:20that they were
31:20crime partners.
31:22That was a major
31:23break in the case.
31:26Now we felt
31:27we would be able
31:28to convict
31:29Bono
31:30of these murders.
31:35Our agreement
31:36for the plea
31:37to avoid
31:38the death penalty
31:39was that
31:40Bianchi would
31:41testify
31:42against his cousin
31:43and in doing so,
31:46he would give up
31:46his right
31:47his right
31:47to go to trial.
31:53In Bellingham,
31:54Washington today,
31:55Kenneth Bianchi
31:55pleaded guilty
31:56to murdering
31:57two college co-eds
31:58and he confessed
31:59to killing
32:00at least five
32:00of the women
32:01who were victims
32:02of the hillside
32:03strangler
32:04in Los Angeles.
32:05Police say
32:05Bianchi agreed
32:06to confess
32:07in exchange
32:07for escaping
32:08the death penalty
32:09in both states.
32:13I can't find
32:14the words
32:14to express
32:15the sorrow
32:16I feel
32:16for what I've done.
32:21In no way
32:21can I take away
32:22the pain
32:23that I've given
32:24to others.
32:26And in no way
32:28can I expect
32:29forgiveness
32:29from anybody.
32:34to even begin
32:35to try
32:36and live
32:36with myself.
32:38I have to take
32:39responsibility
32:40for what I've done.
32:44And I have to do
32:46everything I can
32:48to get
32:48Angelo Bono
32:51and to devote
32:52my entire life
32:54to do everything
32:55I possibly can
32:56to give my life
32:58so that nobody
32:59else will hopefully
33:00follow my
33:02will hopefully
33:02won't follow
33:03my footsteps.
33:07It's taken me
33:08years to
33:09actually believe
33:11anything that
33:12Ken Bianchi says
33:13because I've been
33:14influenced by
33:15what I've read
33:16by the professionals
33:18in this case.
33:19I trusted their
33:20word that this
33:21was a man
33:23who was a liar
33:23and a psychopath.
33:26But this man
33:27had no
33:29presumption of
33:30innocence.
33:31Not even from
33:32the defence
33:34attorney
33:35who did
33:36everything he
33:37could to
33:38get a confession
33:39and a guilty
33:40verdict.
33:40The job of the
33:41prosecutor
33:41done by the
33:43defence attorney.
33:46I'd like to
33:48have my
33:48convictions shaken.
33:50Like
33:50I really
33:51would.
33:52I more than
33:53as much as
33:55anyone
33:55would like
33:56to see
33:56a simple
33:57solution
33:58with a
33:59rightful
34:00answer
34:00that the
34:01correct
34:02and horrific
34:03predator
34:03has been put
34:04behind bars.
34:06And in
34:08my career
34:09I am no
34:10bleeding heart
34:10for those
34:12that cry
34:13foul of the
34:14criminal justice
34:14system.
34:16But
34:17my investigation
34:19of the case
34:20shows that not
34:21only was I
34:21finding reasonable
34:22doubt that
34:23Bianchi was the
34:25killer,
34:26there were
34:27other candidates,
34:28these wide
34:29spectrum of quite
34:31notorious serial
34:32killers that
34:32were overlooked
34:34in the rush to
34:35convict Bianchi
34:36and Bueno.
34:39The unfortunate
34:40truth is that
34:41since 1976
34:42and the early
34:43part of 1977
34:44Los Angeles
34:45was struck
34:46with a tsunami
34:47of murder.
34:48Law enforcement
34:49agencies have
34:5030 detectives on
34:51the case but
34:52the murder wave
34:53continues.
34:54Police tie one
34:55killer to six
34:55legs, the
34:56suspect still at
34:57large.
34:58I'm just
34:59afraid, that's
35:00all, really
35:00afraid.
35:02All these
35:03events were
35:04overlapping with
35:05the hillside
35:06strangler crimes.
35:08You're talking
35:08about maybe
35:09two, even
35:10possibly three
35:11different suspects.
35:12And when I
35:13was able to
35:14isolate a
35:16wider series of
35:17strangle dump
35:19murders of
35:19women in the
35:20greater Los
35:20Angeles area,
35:23I discovered
35:24there were
35:25uncaught serial
35:26killers on the
35:27loose at the
35:27time.
35:29There was
35:29William Choist
35:31who had kidnapped
35:32and body dumped
35:33a woman in
35:34Topanga Canyon.
35:35There was the
35:36West Side
35:37rapist, John
35:37Thomas Jr., who
35:39committed nearly a
35:40dozen crimes at
35:41the beginning of
35:42the spree.
35:43Robert Honenberg
35:44escaped to
35:46Louisiana after
35:47strangling two
35:48women in Los
35:49Angeles.
35:54one has got to
35:56consider that at
35:57this time, Los
35:59Angeles was
36:00riddled with
36:01predatory men,
36:03more vicious,
36:04with even worse
36:05backgrounds than
36:06Bianchi, who were
36:07killing in similar
36:09ways to the
36:10hillside strangler
36:11crimes.
36:13And the key
36:13amongst those was
36:14Rodney Alcala.
36:17And here they
36:19are.
36:20An appearance on
36:21the classic 70s
36:22TV show, The
36:23Dating Game.
36:24This is what led
36:24to the capture of
36:25a suspected serial
36:26killer.
36:27Please welcome
36:28Rodney Alcala.
36:31Rodney Alcala is
36:33now linked to at
36:33least five and as
36:35many as ten
36:35murders, mostly
36:37through DNA
36:37testing of old
36:38evidence.
36:39Number one, would
36:40you say hello to
36:41Cheryl, please?
36:42We're going to have a
36:43great time together,
36:44Cheryl.
36:45For me, what was
36:46crucial is the DNA
36:48evidence from 2007
36:50showed that he was
36:53the killer of Jill
36:54Barkham.
36:55Eighteen-year-old
36:56Jill Barkham was
36:57bludgeoned and
36:58strangled in the
36:59Hollywood Hills.
37:00Her photograph was
37:01prominent of what
37:03was 13 victims of
37:06perceived hillside
37:07strangler in a
37:08conference headed by
37:10Ed Henderson, the
37:11then head of the
37:13Hillside Strangler
37:14Task Force.
37:15Bachelor number
37:16one.
37:17You're a dirty old
37:20man.
37:21Take it.
37:22Come on, over
37:23here.
37:27All these other
37:28victims, because the
37:30crimes was considered
37:31sold after the
37:32confession of
37:33Ken Bianchi, Rodney
37:36Alcala was overlooked
37:38as being connected to
37:40any of these crimes.
37:43Seeing these
37:44possibilities of
37:46these predators
37:47capturing and
37:48killing Los Angeles
37:49women gave me
37:51faith that the
37:52real Hillside
37:53Strangler was
37:54potentially still
37:55at large.
37:57And Ken Bianchi was
37:58telling me the truth
38:00of his innocence.
38:10The day Bianchi
38:12pled guilty, we
38:13arrested Bono.
38:18This morning in
38:19Glendale, California,
38:20Bono was arrested.
38:21Police said he and
38:22Bianchi had run a
38:23prostitution ring in
38:24Los Angeles and had
38:25together murdered 10
38:27of the young women,
38:27the principal
38:28Hillside Strangler
38:29victim.
38:32They will be
38:32arraigned Monday.
38:39What's your reaction
38:40at all of this?
38:42It surprises us to
38:44think that he would
38:45be implicated in this
38:46thing, because I
38:48know he's just nice,
38:50anything you want,
38:51like these little
38:52rabbits he has running
38:53around, he gives them
38:54to kids.
38:54Did you say that he
38:56threw his cousin out of
38:57the place?
38:57Well, he told me to
38:57get out because he
38:58was too lazy, he didn't
38:59want to work.
38:59So he says he threw
39:00him out.
39:01So he came over here
39:02and he said he didn't
39:04have a place to live.
39:04He came from back east
39:05someplace, I don't know
39:06where.
39:07And then he got tired of
39:08him and he threw him
39:09out.
39:10And all this trouble
39:11was tired of me, I
39:14I remember hearing
39:15about the Hillside
39:17Strangler case and that
39:18Bono had been
39:18arrested.
39:21And I remember
39:22thinking, that's the
39:23next case of the
39:25century.
39:26And when I went in
39:27the office that
39:28morning, one of our
39:30lawyers ran up to me
39:31and said, I think
39:33we're going to get the
39:34Strangler case, but
39:35you've got to be the
39:36one to go down and go
39:38in to see it.
39:39I had a high success
39:41rate in signing up
39:42clients.
39:47The next thing I know,
39:48I'm driving down to L.A.
39:50County Jail and going in
39:52to see Bono, I saw
39:56Angelo walk from the
39:58holding area, being
40:00accompanied by an
40:01officer to this little
40:02glass cubicle.
40:05I remember the swagger,
40:07the almost cockiness of
40:10aren't I a big shot?
40:12This guy's just been
40:13arrested for one of the
40:14most serious crimes in L.A.
40:16I have talked to a lot of
40:18bad guys, serial killers,
40:20that did awful things.
40:23And I never felt a feeling
40:25of evil like I felt every
40:27time I was in that
40:29cubicle with Angelo Bono.
40:32He signed the retainer and,
40:35you know, I shook hands and
40:37left.
40:38It was a real feather in our
40:39cap from a criminal defense
40:41business standpoint to
40:44represent Bono.
40:46But did I think that it was
40:48possible that this guy was a
40:50psychopath, serial killer?
40:52Yeah, that's what bothered me.
40:54But we're going to have our
40:55work cut out for us.
40:58Bono has hired six Orange
40:59County attorneys to represent
41:01him.
41:02They refuse to discuss how
41:03they're being paid.
41:05Vindicated to us, they have
41:06file cabinets full of police
41:09reports, all that have to be
41:10gone through.
41:11It's impossible for one or two
41:14or even three men to do that.
41:15Additional motions will be
41:16filed by Bono's attorneys on
41:18December 10th here at the
41:19Criminal Courts Building.
41:20A preliminary hearing is
41:22scheduled for January 21st,
41:241980.
41:27Kenneth Bianchi flew today by
41:29helicopter to a Los Angeles
41:30jail.
41:32As part of a plea bargain,
41:33Bianchi will receive life in
41:35prison instead of the death
41:36penalty.
41:37He also agreed to testify
41:39against his cousin, Angelo
41:40Bono, in the Hillside Strangler
41:42case.
41:45Once we brought him back, it
41:48had been at least two years
41:50since the crimes had occurred
41:52and a year or so after he'd been
41:54arrested in Bellingham for the
41:56two murders up there.
41:58The lawyers in the district
42:00attorney's office, they were
42:03struggling.
42:04It was a very difficult case to
42:06build and Roger Kelly worked
42:09very hard to do it.
42:11The defense is talking about
42:13attacking the credibility or the
42:15sanctity of our witness, Kenneth
42:17Bianchi.
42:18Do you feel you can establish him
42:21as a credible witness in court?
42:22We wouldn't have filed the case
42:24unless we thought we did.
42:25We could.
42:27Someone representing Bianchi,
42:30I took on a role that was very
42:33different from any other defense
42:35counsel.
42:36I became part of Angelo Bono's
42:39prosecution because I didn't want
42:42to see Bianchi convicted for the
42:44death penalty.
42:45Bianchi would give me information
42:48and I would give it to them.
42:50We worked hard with them to try to
42:53build a case against Angelo Bono.
43:03The next step in the process was
43:05for there to be a preliminary
43:07hearing of Angelo Bono.
43:10The purpose of the preliminary
43:12hearing is to determine whether or
43:13not there's enough evidence to go
43:15to trial.
43:16There was a really significant
43:19lack of evidence that Bono did
43:21these killings.
43:23The biggest thing we had going for
43:25us was the fact that Bianchi moves
43:27to Washington in the killing style
43:29and they don't start up again.
43:31And then if Bianchi's confession
43:34turned out to be wobbly or not
43:36believed, they would be left with
43:38nothing.
43:42Bianchi testified.
43:44He went through a period there
43:45where he started vacillating on
43:48his testimony.
43:51Today, after a pretrial hearing
43:52in which Bianchi described Bono's
43:54role in Ten of the Murders,
43:55prosecutors announced Bianchi had
43:57recanted his earlier confession.
43:59When we started to ask him,
44:01well, if you weren't involved in
44:02them, how did you know these
44:04specific aspects of the killings,
44:06burn marks on people's hands,
44:08certain areas of the person's body
44:10that have been shaved, etc., that
44:11only either the killer or the police
44:13would have awareness of?
44:15He would explain those away by
44:17stating that he had seen some
44:19photographs that had been shown to
44:21him by Angela Bono.
44:23Bianchi's answers were at odds a
44:25lot with statements he'd previously
44:28made to police and to psychiatrists.
44:31He said one time Bono showed him
44:33photographs of the victims, and then
44:36he said later his own attorneys showed
44:38them.
44:39Bianchi went from describing the
44:42murderers and accepting responsibility,
44:44then went to, I didn't do it, or maybe I
44:47did, or I don't remember.
44:49Obviously, he did everything to scuttle the case.
44:56When I was on the stand, I didn't know what the
44:58hell I was talking about.
45:00I wasn't trying to remember what I
45:03allegedly did, because I didn't have any
45:06firsthand knowledge.
45:07I was trying my best to remember what I
45:10told the doctors during the evaluations
45:17in Bellingham, because so much I had said
45:19was untrue, that it was just one
45:24inconsistency, one messed up version
45:27after the other, and I couldn't keep
45:29things straight.
45:30My testimony was wholly unreliable.
45:33This may be one of the last times
45:35Hillside Strangler suspect Angelo Bono
45:38makes the ride from county jail to the
45:40criminal courts building.
45:41The case against Bono is falling apart.
45:45Roger Kelly was investigating
45:48the circumstance of the killings of each
45:51of those victims, comparing them to
45:53Ken Bianchi's version of Vance, and in
45:56each and every crime, he was coming up
45:59that these confessions were bunkum, that
46:03they did not match the circumstances of
46:05the crime.
46:05That resulted in Roger Kelly doing something
46:12extraordinary, and that was to write a memo
46:16to his own boss, the district attorney,
46:19describing the failings of Ken Bianchi as
46:24the main witness, to the extent that it would
46:28be dangerous to cry Angelo
46:30Bueno for these murders.
46:36Ken?
46:38David.
46:39Yes.
46:40You look very dapper.
46:41Oh, there you go.
46:42Well, you're looking good too, Ken.
46:46The exciting news is the memo.
46:49This is the July 2, 1981 memo from
46:54Roger Kelly, which I'd been trying to get
46:58for nine years.
46:59It's absolutely amazing.
47:00Nobody ever showed it to me.
47:02That's extraordinary in itself, but I'm going
47:05to read out some of the memo to you.
47:09And this is Christine Weckler.
47:13In this case, like in all previous cases,
47:17Bianchi tells of how Bueno used handcuffs
47:20to restrain the victims.
47:23He rolled her to the side and took her
47:28handcuffs off.
47:29The LAPD analysed evidence report shows that
47:33none of the doctors, coroners, felt that any
47:37of the ligature impressions of any of the bodies
47:40could be associated with standard
47:42adjustable handcuffs.
47:45I mean, what particularly struck me is the
47:48detail that they knew of the ligatures, that
47:51there was no way that they could have been
47:54handcuffed.
47:55I mean, that's very significant.
47:56I mean, I actually believed what was false
48:00under hypnosis.
48:02Nobody said, wait a minute, wait a minute,
48:04that's not true.
48:05I mean, it's not just one false.
48:08It's literally hundreds.
48:10I should have come within 10 miles of a witness
48:13stand in this case.
48:18Jarred by conflicting testimony of their key
48:21witness, prosecutors in California's Hillside
48:23Strangler case today asked the judge to dismiss 10
48:26murder charges against suspect Angelo
48:28Wono.
48:30We are making this motion on the base of the evidence today,
48:33particularly relating to the credibility or lack of it
48:36thereof of the witness, Kenneth Bianchi, that there is
48:39insufficient evidence to convict Mr. Bono beyond a
48:41reasonable doubt.
48:44I think all of us are disappointed that we are at this
48:47position today.
48:49We're pleased that the district attorney's office has just moved
48:52to dismiss this case.
48:54It was a controversial move by the DA's office,
48:59particularly in a case with that many murders, that many
49:03complications.
49:06That was the first case I was involved in, where the DA had made a
49:10decision to dismiss it after we had filed it.
49:15It's just bullshit.
49:18When you put your case together and you take it to the DA's office,
49:21and you have to convince them that you have a good enough case for
49:24them to file and get a conviction, and then come out and say, well,
49:29we made a mistake, it was a real blow.
49:33They kept talking to Ken, and they got close.
49:37And in effect, they became one of his victims.
49:41That's his M.O.
49:42I mean, he works everybody all the time.
49:45You just can't pay attention to that.
49:48You pay attention to what he's told you, that you've corroborated.
49:52How they were killed.
49:54The fact that all the girls were put in that one chair, the fibers that
50:01were used, and the mark found on Weckler, who else would know that?
50:10All this work, all this effort, all these resources, we knew we had the
50:16killers.
50:17We had a case.
50:20How we're just going to flush it down the toilet.
50:25All this work, we thought that we ought to review them, isn't sure.
50:27We'll be and-
50:27We'll be and-
50:51We'll be and-
50:53We'll be and-
Comments