The Hillside Stranglers

The Hillside Stranglers is a true crime account of serial killings in 1970s Los Angeles. In the fall of that decade, the bodies of sexually violated and brutally murdered young women accumulated, causing widespread fear throughout the city. Los Angeles newspapers dubbed the killer the Hillside Strangler. In January 1979, more than a year after the initial murders, the disappearance of two university students near Seattle led police to arrest security guard Kenny Bianchi. The investigation revealed that the crimes were committed not by one man but by two: Bianchi and his cousin Angelo Buono. O'Brien examines the relationship between the two men, their crimes, and the lives of their victims. The book also covers the subsequent trial, one of the longest and most controversial criminal court cases in American history. The defense presented expert witnesses who were deceived by Bianchi's impersonation of someone with multiple personality disorder. O'Brien combines narrative skill with detailed investigative observations to tell this true-crime story.