Victims of the Hillside Stranglers

In just four months, the hillsides around LA had become

infamous. Between October 1977 and February 1978 the bodies of 10 young women

and girls were discovered naked and positioned in lascivious poses with

ligature marks around their feet, ankles and neck.

A tidal wave of fear crashed down on the City of Angels. Media

dub the killer The Hillside Strangler. Hysteria reached a fever pitch when the

bodies of five women were found the week of Thanksgiving and law enforcement

was frustrated by the lack of evidence.

A pattern quickly emerged. The Hillside Strangler would wash

the bodies before dumping them. Based on that lack of evidence, it appeared the

victims hadn’t put up a struggle. Detectives worried that the killer could be a

person of authority, like a police officer or someone posing as law

enforcement.

Another thing that kept investigators up at night was the

semen in the body and the placement of bruises. They led investigators to

believe these heinous murders were the work of two people, not just one, which

meant they were looking for not just one serial killer, but two working

together.

Without a doubt, the autopsies pointed the finger at a cruel

hand. Not only had the victims been sexually assaulted, the ligature marks told

a cruel tale. The killer strangled his victims as slowly and painfully as

possible for one purpose: to make him feel powerful.

And then in February, just as quickly as the killings had

begun, they stopped.

It would take two more murders over 1,000 miles away to

finally unmask the Hillside Strangler.