More of the Most Vicious Crimes of the 1970s — Part 2

The 1970s was a heyday for serial killers. The majority of prolific serial killers that are still known today committed their crimes during this decade. The decline of serial killers since the 1970s has been attributed to advances in forensic sciences, societal awareness resulting in less easy targets, and the rise in technology used in investigations. Currently, serial murder comprises less than 1% of all homicides, according to the FBI.

Hillside Stranglers

One, later discovered to be two, American serial killers Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Bueno terrorized Los Angeles, California, between October 1977 and February 1978. Their nicknames derived from many of their victims’ bodies were discovered in the hill surrounding L.A.

The murderous cousins’ began with murdering two prostitutes who were found strangled and nude in October and November 1977. The murders went pretty unnoticed by the media until the duo moved from murdering sex workers to five middle-class young girls.

Two more murders followed and then abruptly stopped. It wasn’t until Bianchi’s arrest in January 1979 for the murder of two women in Washington that he was tied to the L.A. victims.

Bianchi and Bueno were found guilty of the kidnapping, raping, torturing, and murder of 10…