Feb 23, 20235 min read

Serial Killer Kenneth Bianchi: Sexual Sadist Dressed as A Cop, Raped Women And Strangled To Death

“You feel the last bit of breath leaving their body. You’re looking into their eyes. A person in that situation is God!” These words by Ted Bundy showcase why men usually turn into serial killers. The men turn into serial killers to enjoy the feeling of power over another human’s life, especially women.

This was one of the major reasons why killers like Ted Bundy, The Zodiac killer, and even cold-blooded murderer Kenneth Bianchi murdered women and men. These serial killers showcase one of the dark sides of the human psyche that terrify and at the same time intrigue us. The matter of Violent delights does end up in violent ends in Shakespeare's terminology.

The early life of Kenneth Bianchi

Kenneth Bianchi was born to a sex worker on May 22, 1951, in Rochester, New York. The seventeen-year-old mother then gave up toddler Kenneth for adoption. Kenneth Bianchi was soon adopted by a couple named Nicholas Bianchi and Frances Scioliono-Bianchi.

Kenneth Bianchi thus grew up as an only child of the parents he was adopted by. Kenneth Bianchi’s mother Frances claims that he was a troubled child despite the comforts that both his parents tried to provide him with.

Kenneth Bianchi turned out to be a compulsive liar right after he started to talk. At the tender age of five Kenneth Bianchi was diagnosed with Petit Mal Seizures. Young Kenneth Bianchi also struggled with involuntary urination causing frequent trips to the doctor.

Kenneth Bianchi had a multitude of behavioral problems and was sent to the Psychiatrist multiple times in hopes of finding out the root cause of the problems faced by young Kenneth. Kenneth Bianchi also had fits of anger and even insomnia.

So to teach tender-aged Kenneth Bianchi the ways of a disciplined life his mother sent him to a private catholic school. At the age of eleven Kenneth Bianchi was diagnosed with “Passive aggressive-personality-disorder” and was also said to have a high IQ of 116 at his early age. However, having a high IQ didn’t help him excel at school though and he turned out to be an underachiever and had to move schools twice.

Early crimes of Kenneth Bianchi

In July of 1963, at the early age of twelve Kenneth Bianchi inappropriately touched a six-year-old girl and said that he liked doing it. This was the beginning of his behavior of sexual Sadism and later turned him into the serial killer he is known as today. After the death of his father in 1964, Kenneth Bianchi refused to show signs of grief and sadness alluding to his psychopathic tendencies.

He became a serial dater and usually fooled around with women even while in high school and even joined a biker gang. After graduating high school in 1970, Kenneth went on to marry his high school lover Brenda Beck, but the relationship soon ended up in ruins with Brenda running away without any explanation. This seems to have turned Kenneth Bianchi enraged at women.

One thing is interesting to note though, that Kenneth Bianchi wanted to join the police force and even enrolled at the Monroe community college to pursue a career in Police but ended up dropping out after a semester. These led Kenneth Bianchi to fall into a life of petty crimes like thieving the jewelry from the shop he worked as a guard. In the due course of time, Kenneth Bianchi met his mother’s nephew and started to hang out with him.

Angelo Buono impressed young Kenneth Bianchi with his “posh” clothes and even influenced him to put women in their “proper place”. By 1977, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono started to work as pimps and began to molest and strangle women together.

The Murders

Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono would drive around in Buono’s car around Los Angeles with fake police Ids convincing young women to get into their car. The victims usually ranged from the age of 12-28 from the various strata of lives. They managed to even buy one of the retired cop cars from an auction to drive forward their narrative of being officers.

Both Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono would drive the women they picked up acting as officers to Buono's house and assault and torture them sexually and finally strangle them. Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono went on to test various methods of killing the women they picked up and tried to murder them by electrical shocks and even Carbon Monoxide poisoning.

Usually, Kenneth Bianchi and his accomplice resorted to their original method of sexually assaulting the women and then strangling them to death. This led those incidents to be referred to as the “Hillside strangler case”. By 1978 the duo of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono managed to rape and kill at least twelve women. They had managed to murder women from all walks of life.

The Victims of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono

As reiterated before, the women that Kenneth Bianchi murdered with his partner Angelo hailed from different backgrounds and different ages and added up to twelve. The body of 19-year-old Yolanda Washington was discovered by the Ventura Hillside road in Los Angeles on October 17, 1977, in a compromising position. The body was thoroughly cleaned and dumped on the road to be found by passersby. The body bore marks of torture, assault, and even rope marks around the ankles, hand, and neck.

The second victim of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono was Judith Lynn Miller, a fifteen-year-old student and sex worker at Hollywood High School on October 31, 1977. She was found in the Alta Terrace in La Crescenta, with her legs positioned in a diamond shape. The marks of a ligature were found on her ankles, neck, and hands just like the previous victim and she was also molested, sodomized, and then tortured and strangled.

The body of Elissa Teresa Kastin was discovered next to a country club. She was 21 years old and worked as a dancer and waitress in North Hollywood. On November 6, 1977, the body was found abandoned naked showcasing similar rope marks, and signs of rape and torture.

The youngest victims of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono were only 12 and 14 years old. Both the victims were friends, named Dolores Ann “Dolly” Cepeda and Sonja Johnson, and were found amongst a pile of garbage with their decomposing bodies. The bodies also bore the signs of rape and strangulation. Their youngest victims were picked up by Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono in their fake cop car and then raped and murdered.

The Murder Trial

Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono were convicted for the murders of twelve women in 1978. Kenneth Bianchi claimed that his “other personality” named Steven Walker was the reason for all the murders and not him. However, Kenneth Bianchi was evaluated by a psychiatrist named Martin Orne who refuted his theory of multiple personality disorders with an able evaluation of Kenneth Bianchi. Thus both Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono were found guilty of their crimes and ordered a sentence of life imprisonment. But Kenneth Bianchi was allowed the chance of possible parole.

Kenneth Bianchi is still serving his sentence in the Washington State Penitentiary at Walla Walla, Washington. He was denied the chance of parole on August 18, 2010. Kenneth Bianchi will be eligible for parole again in 2025. Angelo Buono still is serving his sentence.

Conclusion

The very horrific case of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono truly is an apt example of the darker side of the human psyche capable of grim and terrific crimes. Kenneth Bianchi with his antisocial personality disorder and sexual sadism disorder supported and aided by Angelo Buono managed to take the life of twelve young and innocent lives brimming with hopes and dreams for the future. So they deserve to rot in jail paying for their crimes.