In the late 1970s, Los Angeles was gripped by fear. Women were being found naked, dead, and dumped on the hillsides of Glendale, Eagle Rock, and Mount Washington. The bodies bore signs of brutal torture, sexual assault, and deliberate posing.
At first, investigators believed it was the work of a single madman. But the truth was more disturbing.
Two men were behind the killings.
Two cousins.
Two monsters.
They came to be known as The Hillside Stranglers—and their rampage revealed not just depravity, but the terrifying potential of shared psychopathy.
The First Victims
Between October 1977 and February 1978, ten women were found dead in and around Los Angeles. Their ages ranged from 12 to 28. They were sex workers, students, and ordinary citizens.
All had been raped, strangled, and dumped in public spaces. Their bodies were often posed—arms outstretched, legs spread, as if the killers wanted to humiliate them in death.
The media dubbed the predator “The Hillside Strangler.”
But there was something off about the case. The methods changed. The bodies were dumped in pairs. Witnesses described multiple men.
Detectives began to wonder: were there two stranglers?
They were right.
Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi
The murderers were Angelo Buono, a middle-aged auto upholsterer, and his younger cousin Kenneth Bianchi, a drifter with a flair for manipulation.
Buono lived in Glendale and had a long history of misogyny and violence. Bianchi, unstable and eager to please, idolized his older cousin. Together, they escalated quickly—from small-time crime to rape, torture, and murder.
They lured women into Buono’s home by pretending to be undercover cops. Once inside, the victims were chained, sexually assaulted, and strangled. Some were injected with household chemicals. Others were killed slowly, over hours.
The cousins acted without remorse. They laughed. They bragged. Then they dumped the bodies like garbage across L.A.’s hillsides.
The Pattern Breaks
After ten murders, the killings suddenly stopped. For months, the city held its breath. Had the killer died? Moved on?
Unbeknownst to police, Kenneth Bianchi had relocated to Bellingham, Washington.
In January 1979, two college students were found dead—lured by a man offering babysitting work. Their deaths bore the hallmarks of the Hillside Strangler.
Bianchi was arrested days later. Under pressure, he confessed not only to the Bellingham murders but also to the L.A. killings. He told investigators about his cousin.
But getting Buono into court would prove a nightmare.
The Trial
Kenneth Bianchi agreed to testify against Buono in exchange for a lighter sentence. But he played games—faking multiple personalities, giving conflicting stories, and nearly derailing the prosecution.
Eventually, his testimony held.
In 1983, Angelo Buono was convicted on nine counts of murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Bianchi received multiple life sentences as well.
The trial was one of the longest in California history and exposed the full horror of their crimes—how two men, bound by blood and sadism, created a killing machine fueled by dominance and cruelty.
A Deadly Duo
What makes the Hillside Stranglers so disturbing is not just the body count. It’s the partnership. Most serial killers act alone. Bianchi and Buono fed off each other, each pushing the other deeper into depravity.
They showed how serial killing could become a shared fantasy. A game, played with human lives.
And once it ended, the trail of victims left behind wasn’t just physical—it was psychological. The fear they created still echoes in Los Angeles.
The Hillside Stranglers proved that evil doesn’t always operate in solitude. Sometimes, it arrives as a pair—smiling, ordinary, and utterly lethal.
They prowled a city that had already seen its share of darkness. But what they left behind was more than bodies on a hillside. It was a blueprint for how madness can multiply when shared.
Two men.
Ten bodies.
One unforgettable nightmare.
For more cases like this, explore our archive. SinisterArchive.com—where the legends are real.
