Wed., Aug.

3, 1983

The Register A&1

Benin's history: 14 convictions, 2 acquittals

By Tim Alger The Register So far, William George Bonin has been convicted of 14 first-degree murders in connection with Southern California's rash of freeway killer slayings in 1979 and 1980. He has been acquitted of two murders. Charges stemming from two other deaths were dismissed because of lack of evidence. Based on a confession by Benin's co-defendant, Vernon Butts, who later hanged himself in the Los Angeles County Jail, sheriff's officials in Orange and Los Angeles counties accused Bonin of the following murders when he was arrested in June 1980: 1. Thomas Lundgren, 13, of Reseda, was last seen leaving home with his skateboard on May 28,1979. His throat was slashed and his body was found next to Mulholland Highway near Malibu Canyon later that day. Bonin was acquitted of Lundgren's slaying in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Jan. 6, 1982. 2. Mark Shelton, 17, of Westminster, was last seen, alive by neighbors at his family's Heil Avenue home on Aug. 4, 1979. His decomposed body was found Aug. 11,1979, near Interstate 15 in Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino. He was killed by a stick driven into his body. No charges were filed by Orange or San Bernardino counties. 3. Markus Grabs, 17, of West Germany, disappeared while hitchhiking in Newport Beach on Aug. 5, 1979. He was stabbed to death and his nude body was found in Malibu Canyon the next day. Bonin was convicted of Grabs' murder in Los Angeles County. 4. Donald Hyden Jr., 15, of Los Angeles, disappeared near his home in Hollywood on Aug. 27, 1979. He was found dead later that day at a building site in Agoura near the Ventura Freeway. He was nude and had been strangled. Bonin was convicted of Hyden's murder in Los Angeles County. 5. David Murillo, 17, of La Mirada, vanished from a shopping center near his home Sept. 9,1979. His body was found three days later next to Pacific Coast Highway in Ventura. He died of strangulation and a blow to the head. Bonin was convicted of Murillo's murder in Los Angeles County. 6. Robert Wirostek, 18, of Newport Beach, disappeared while hitchhiking in Huntington Beach. Several weeks later, on Sept. 12,1979, his decomposed body was found near Highway 111 outside Palm Springs. Charges against Bonin were dismissed for lack of evidence during a pretrial hearing in Los Angeles County. 7. John Doe, an unidentified male victim through! to be between 19 and 25, was discovered in a dry irrigation pond near Taft in Kern County on Nov. 30, 1979. Charges against Bonin were dismissed for lack of evidence in Los Angeles. 8. Frank Fox, 17, of Long Beach, was last seen in Nov. 16,1979, in Long Beach. He was suffocated and his nude body was found Dec. 2,1979, on Ortega Highway, east of San Juan Capistrano. Bonin was convicted Tuesday of Fox's murder. 9. John Kllpatrlck, 15, of Long Beach, was last seen alive in Long Beach on Dec. 10, 1979. His strangled nude body was found in Rialto on Dec. 13,1979. No charges were filed in Los Angeles or San Bernardino counties. 10. Michael McDonald, 15, of Rialto, disappeared while hitchhiking from his home to Ontario on Jan. 1,1980. Two days later, his strangled body was discovered near Chino Airport. No charges were filed by San Bernardino County. 11. Charles Miranda, 14, of Bell Gardens, vanished in Hollywood early Feb. 3,1980. He was found later that morning in a central Los Angeles industrial alley. He was nude and had been strangled. Bonin was convicted of Miranda's murder in Los Angeles County. 12. James McCabe, 12, of Garden Grove, was abducted Feb. 3,1980, while waiting for a bus to Disneyland on Beach Boulevard in Huntington Beach. He was strangled and then reclothed by his killer, and his body was dumped in an industrial area of Walnut three days later. Bonin was convicted of McCabe's murder in Los Angeles County. 13. Ronald Gatiin, 18, of Van Nuys, disappeared near his home March 14, 1980. He was found the next morning, strangled and nude, near the Foothill Freeway in Duarte. Bonin was convicted of Gatlin's murder in Los Angeles County. 14 and 15. Russell Rugh II, 15, of Garden Grove, and Glenn Barker, 14, of Huntington Beach, were hitchhiking separately in the Westminster area when they disappeared the afternoon of March 21,1980. Their strangled nude bodies were found together next to Ortega Highway, east of San Juan Capistrano, the next day. Bonin was convicted Tuesday of murdering both. 16. Harry Todd Turner, 15, of Lancaster, was killed sometime after March 20,1980, when he ran away from the Optimist Boys Home in Los Angeles. His nude body was found in an alley in central Los Angeles five days later. He had been strangled. Bonin was convicted of Turner's murder in Los Angeles County. 17. Steven Wood, 16, of Bellf lower, vanished April 10, 1980, while hitchhiking from his dentist's office to his driver education class in Downey. He was strangled. His nude body was found the next morning in a Long Beach alley. Bonin was convicted of Wood's murder in Los Angeles County. 18. Daren Kendrlck, 19, of Cypress, was killed April 29, 1980, after he was abducted while collecting shopping carts in the parking lot of a Stanton grocery store. The next morning his nude body, stabbed and strangled, was found in Carson. Bonin was convicted of Kendrick's murder in Los Angeles County. 19. Lawrence Sharp, 17, of Long Beach, was killed sometime after May 10, 1980, and his body was dumped behind a service station at Westminster Avenue and Bolsa Chica Street in Westminster on May 18,1980. He had been strangled. Bonin was convicted of Sharp's murder Tuesday. 20. Sean King, 14, of South Gate, disappeared May 19,1980, while waiting for a bus in South Gate. His body was not found until Dec. 22, 1980, when Bonin told police where to find the corpse in the San Bernardino Mountains. Under an agreement with authorities, the information could not be used against Bonin in trial and the Los Angeles County jury acquitted Bonin of King's killing. 21. Stephen Wells, 14, of Downey, was strangled June 2,1980, after leaving work in Los Angeles. His nude body was found behind a service station at Beach Boulevarc and Adams Avenue in Huntington Beach shortly after midnight the next morning. Bonin was convicted of Wells' murder in Lo Angeles County.

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^William Bonin toys with a pen as he hears the verdict.

Four more fnurder convictions

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:.~ "I think you're going to have problems in the California Supreme Court," Charvet said. ' It was the possibility of an overturned conviction ihat led Orange County prosecutors to try Bonin here, $yen after his 10 murder convictions in Los Angeles jEounty. Deputy District Attorney Bryan Brown has aid a conviction here will serve as an insurance policy, should the Los Angeles conviction be changed jrjn appeal. ^ "This case will help to ensure he gets what he deServes," Brown said. X Among the issues Charvet said he will fight on apJjeal will be testimony offered by Gregory Miley and James Munro, Bonin accomplices who were conyjcted in the Los Angeles cases. Brown called .both Jtb establish a pattern in the Los Angeles and Orange .County deaths. . 'Charvet's associate, Tracy Stewart, also claimed 'the jurors learned too much about the Los Angeles .murders during the Orange'County trial. Stewart sajc Ithat knowledge biased the jury against Bonin. r* Officials in at least one other Southern California 'county said Tuesday that Bonin remains a suspect in [connection with other killings. In San Bernardino .County, Deputy District Attorney John Kochis said 'Bonin is suspected in three killings there. '- But Kochis said his office probably would not file Charges against Bonin if a death penalty verdict is ;isued in Orange County. - In Riverside and San Diego counties, officials said $hey are not considering charges against Bonin in any 'cases.

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There's plenty to do on weekends In Southern California. From theaters to theme parks. From movies to museums. The Register's Sunday Arts & Leisure calendar helps you plan your weekends ahead of time. And It gives you the latest In show business news, books and nightlife. Arts & Leisure

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