Michele StuevenIn the late 1970s, during the Daryl Gates era of the LAPD, Los Angeles was the serial murder capital of the world, haunted by the Freeway Killers, the Toolbox Killer, the Dating Game Killer, and the Skid Row Slasher. But none terrorized the city, especially its young women, more than the Hillside Strangler.
The new Hillside Strangler series on MGM+ is a fantastic snapshot of LA in the 70s and the most comprehensive look yet at the murders that got their name from from fact that most of the 10 victims’ nude bodies, ranging in ages from 14 to 28, were dumped on the wooded hillsides around Glendale, Eagle Rock, Los Feliz and the Angeles Crest Highway.
With an endless amount of original footage from the period and a fascinating parade of friends, family, attorneys, former girlfriends, prosecutors, cops, former jurors, and survivors, executive producer Tim Walsh and director Peter LoGreco take a detailed look at each victim through the subtle lens of the women’s movement that was just picking up momentum at the time.
Homicide detective Frank Salerno (Courtesy MGM+)
Walsh, who also produced the Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer on Netflix, spotlights homicide detective Frank Salerno, who originally worked the case, and whose dedicated pursuit led to the strangler’s capture and the revelation that the vicious acts were carried out by two men, Kenneth Bianchi and his cousin Angelo Buono.
For the first time in more than 40 years, Salerno tells his story in compelling detail, revisiting the case that rattled LA from Halloween 1977 through February 1978. While Buono has since died behind bars, Bianchi is alive in the Washington State Penitentiary, telling his story for the first time on camera, still professing his innocence.
“It took a number of years to get Bianchi to want to speak on record,” Walsh tells LA Weekly. “ In one of our initial conversations, he said he was a fan of my work on Chicago PD. I think that gave me a level of credibility with him, and over time, helped build trust. And so, I took a journalistic approach, setting aside personal feelings and allowing him to tell his side, which revealed new insight into the investigation and the case as a whole.”
Survivor Sabra Hannan (Courtesy MGM+)
Despite videotaped confessions, pleading guilty in a plea bargain, and apologizing to victims’ families in court, seasoned journalist David Monaghan believes the case was bungled and that Bianchi deserves a new trial. Through the world of serial killer art, he has struck up a nine-year friendship with the convicted killer, and a variety of Zoom calls and correspondence between the two are woven throughout the series, while looking back at the evolution of the crimes.
It was the longest and most expensive trial in California history at the time, with more than 450 witnesses over two years. I was working at the Associated Press LA bureau at the time and remember the daily roller coaster ride of twists and turns of the trial. The best thing about it was when photographer Wally Fong would come back at lunchtime to develop his film and bring us all kosher burritos from the truck parked outside the packed courthouse.
To avoid the death penalty, Bianchi pleaded guilty to five of the murders for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. Buono pleaded not guilty and was convicted of nine of the Hillside Strangler murders in late 1983 before being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Buono died in prison in September 2002 at age 67.
The Hillside Strangler premieres Sunday, Jan. 18, on MGM+
Kenneth Bianchi today (Courtesy MGM+)