Murder Phone

She filled her house with fresh flowers, home-cooked meals, and a smile that made lonely, forgotten people feel safe. Then she made sure they never left. Dorothea Puente called herself a caretaker, but beneath the grandmotherly mask was a predator who knew exactly how to earn trust, right up until the moment she killed.

After years of letters and face-to-face prison visits, Tony is taking you where no one has gone before. Secrets she’d never say on a recorded line. A chilling encounter behind bars with another woman, Carol Bundy, that awakened something dark. And a long-buried confession about the men who may never have woken up.

Some of her story can be checked against the record. 

Some of it you’ll have to decide for yourself.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

Twenty-one victims. Fourteen death sentences. And a killer who didn’t work alone.

William Bonin—the Freeway Killer—is finally in cuffs. But the real story is the crew behind him… and the lies they told to survive.

Vernon Butts. Greg Miley. James Munro. Billy Pugh.

Then things get bizarre.

Four notorious killers. One prison. And a bridge table.

Bonin. Doug Clark. Randy Kraft. Larry Bittaker.

The San Quentin Bridge Club.

Wait until you hear what Clark and Kraft really thought of Bonin.

On February 23, 1996, William Bonin was executed.

But we’re not ending this story with his name.

We’re ending it with theirs.

Twenty-one victims. Twenty-one lives. Twenty-one names.

Season 8, Episode 11 — “The Freeway Killer: Party’s Over, Billy.”

The final chapter.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

The Timeline That Doesn't Add Up

Officially, three of William Bonin's murders from March 1980 — Ronald Gatlin, Glenn Norman Barker, and Russell Rugh — are on the books as solo kills. No accomplice. No second set of hands. No one else in the van.

Murder Phone isn't buying it.

In this episode, we rebuild the March 1980 timeline matching the days of the week against the facts, and mapped every move Bonin made that March. What we found doesn't fit.There's reason to believe William Pugh and James Munro were already riding with him, long before investigators say they were.

Four Men. One Van. All of Them Lying.

Vernon Butts. Gregory Miley. James Munro. William Pugh. 

Four men climbed into that van with Bonin. Four men walked away with plea deals, half-truths, and stories that don't line up. 

We go through all of it — the contradictions, the deals cut to save their own skin, and what happened to each of them in the years after Bonin was finally caught, on June 11, 1980.

Not all of them made it out.

A Tape No One Was Meant to Hear

In 2007, Tony picked up the phone. On the other end: Gregory Miley.

What he said has never been aired. Never been heard. Until now.

Miley makes a claim that should chill you — about the night Vernon Butts died in his jail cell. The official story says suicide.

Miley says murder.

You'll hear the tape. And more voices from the men who rode in the Murder Van — men who know exactly what happened, and have spent decades deciding how much of it to tell.

We want to know what you think:

• Did Bonin really act alone that March — or was someone else in the van the whole time?
• Did Vernon Butts take his own life... or did someone make sure he never talked?

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

James Munro has always told the same story: one murder, one moment of terrible luck, and no real involvement. It's the story that helped him cut a deal — the story that's kept him talking about parole ever since.

This episode, Tony and Al put that story under a microscope.

Drawing on taped conversations with Greg Miley and Munro. Miley who served time alongside Munro and was present during the Freeway Killer era — Murder Phone examines a claim that contradicts Munro's official account: that Munro didn't confess to one killing, but to six, and that he described them in detail on a prison yard. 

We break down the timeline of the murders of Lawrence Sharp and Sean King, the abduction and killing of Steven Wells, and the events at William Bonin's Downey home — and we lay out why the dates, the relationships, and Munro's own words don't line up with a man who claims he arrived in Bonin's orbit days before his only crime.

Tony and Al also revisit Billy Pugh, who had information that could have stopped Bonin weeks earlier and said nothing.

At Murder Phone, we're going to keep telling it like we see it and let the chips fall where they may.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

William Bonin didn't work alone. 

In this episode, host Tony Ciaglia pulls back the curtain on the men who rode beside The Freeway Killer, and introduces a new name: seventeen-year-old William Pugh, who survived his first encounter with Bonin by pure luck, then made the incomprehensible decision to come back. 

That choice would cost fifteen-year-old Harry Todd Turner, Victim 16 everything. 

Tony also digs into the contradictions between accomplices James Munro and Gregory Miley, examining who is telling the truth, who is running damage control, and what the official record is still refusing to say. 

Somewhere between the stories these men tell is the truth,  buried beneath self-preservation and the silence of boys who never made it home.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

William Bonin. The Freeway Killer. The winter of 1979 is about to get a lot darker.

In this episode, Tony Ciaglia ,The Serial Killer Whisperer,  and his father Al walk you through the brutal final weeks of 1979 and into the blood-soaked opening days of 1980, as Bonin accelerates his killing with terrifying speed. Victims 8 through 13 — Frank Dennis Fox, John Kilpatrick, Mike McDonald, Charles Miranda, James McCabe, and Ronald Gatlin,  each story more devastating than the last.

But this episode goes somewhere most true crime podcasts never can. Tony plays never-before-heard recorded phone calls from accomplice Gregory Miley — in his own words, in his own voice describing what happened inside that van. Flat. Casual. Remorseless.

Twelve-year-old James McCabe just wanted a ride to Disneyland. Charles Miranda, 14, was standing on a street corner. Within 24 hours, both were gone.

And then  impossibly the system had Bonin in custody and let him walk. Twenty-eight days later, he killed again.

This one is not easy to listen to. It's not supposed to be.

Please Remember their names.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

The freeway never sleeps in Southern California and neither did William Bonin. 

This week, Tony and Al pull back the curtain on the Freeway Killer and the Murder Van that became a rolling chamber of horrors on the highways of Los Angeles. They break down the chilling details of how Bonin hunted, who he hunted, and  most disturbingly, who helped him do it. 

Tony shares never-before-heard audio from his personal phone calls with accomplices Greg Miley and James Munro, and the two men tell very different stories. One honest. One not. 

At the center of it all is seventeen-year-old David Louis Murillo a kid on a bike on an ordinary Tuesday who never made it home. His story, and the stories of Robert Wirostek and an unidentified victim whose name has never been recovered, demand to be told. This one hits hard. 

Remember the victims

We will

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

William Bonin wasn’t the only monster inside the Murder Van.

In Episode 5 of Murder Phone, we dive into the twisted world of the accomplices who didn’t just witness the horror — they became part of it. Men like Vernon Butts, a predator who needed no corruption, and Gregory Miley, a seemingly normal young man who climbed into Bonin’s orbit and slowly transformed into something terrifying.

This episode follows the brutal escalation of violence as 17-year-old Markus Grabs, far from his home in West Germany, crossed paths with the Freeway Killer. Seventy-seven stab wounds later, another life was discarded along the California highways.

But this isn’t just the story of William Bonin.

t’s the story of weak men, broken men, willing men — shadows standing beside pure evil.

We examine how Gregory Miley allegedly evolved from troubled follower to active participant in murders involving children like Charles Miranda and James McCabe, embracing Bonin’s infamy like a badge of honor.

And then came the moment that should have ended everything.

August 9th, 1979. Bonin was arrested again — caught molesting a 17-year-old boy in Dana Point. A blatant parole violation. A guaranteed return to prison.

Except it wasn’t.

The Monster slipped through the cracks AGAIN!

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

Tony and Al turn their attention to Vernon Butts, one of the most disturbing accomplices in the William Bonin murder spree. 

Known as the Freeway Killer, Bonin didn't always act alone — and Butts stands out as one of the most unsettling figures in his orbit.

This episode features a chilling audio conversation with James Munro, another accomplice who knew Butts personally. 

Munro offers a haunting firsthand account of Bonin's transformation during his crimes, describing how Bonin's entire demeanor would shift — his appearance and eyes changing into something unrecognizable, almost crazed.

 Munro also paints a vivid and deeply unsettling portrait of Butts himself: a towering 6'4" figure who didn't just assist in the killings — he relished them.

Tony then walks listeners through the first two murders committed by Bonin and Butts together — the deaths of Thomas Lundgren and Mark Shelton. 

Two victims. Two lives cut short.

 And as Tony makes clear, it was only the beginning.

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”

Bonin came back from war in 1968… but whatever returned wasn’t the same man.

William Bonin walked into California colder, emptier—like something had hollowed him out and left the shell behind. His family saw it in his eyes. Not pain. Not trauma. Something darker. Something waiting.

Then the frenzy began.

Five boys. Abducted. Assaulted. Discarded.
 Not a spree. Not even chaos.
 This was a predator off the leash, sloppy, reckless, escalating. And for one brief, fragile moment, the system actually caught him. 

This should’ve been the end. A cell. A lock. Silence.

Instead?
 They studied him. Labeled him. Diagnosed him like a specimen on a slide.
 Manic depression. Sexual sadism. Antisocial.

A stack of clinical terms trying, and failing to explain a human void. At Atascadero State Hospital, they didn’t stop him. They paused him. Because monsters don’t heal… they wait.

By 1974, the same system that saw everything, every warning sign, every victim, stamped him safe and opened the door.

And Bonin stepped back into the world, ready to hunt.

Arrested again, he didn’t deny it. He smirked.

“Next time, there won’t be any living witnesses.”

Still no life sentence.
 Still no real consequences.

By 1977, he was out. Again.
 Eighteen months probation. That’s it.

He buys a van.
 He starts recruiting.
 And what comes next, Isn’t a spree.
 It’s not even madness. It’s method.

And that’s when the killing starts!

Standard Legal Disclaimer for Murder Phone:

“The content of this podcast, including all phone calls, interviews, and original commentary, is the exclusive property of Murder Phone Podcasts, You Tube Video,Ciaglia Productions and Murder Phone LLC and any and all Murder Phone Productions. Unauthorized use, reproduction, or redistribution of any part of this show—including but not limited to recorded calls with incarcerated individuals—is strictly prohibited and may result in legal action.

All audio recordings featured in this podcast are used with permission and are protected under copyright law. Any individual or entity using our original material without express written consent will be subject to copyright infringement claims and DMCA takedown notices.

Murder Phone is more than a podcast—it’s a protected body of work. Respect it, or face the consequences.”