The Hillside Strangler and Pee Wee Gaskins

The Hillside Strangler—the name given to the murderer or murderers who committed a series of gruesome killings in Los Angeles in the late 70’s—has become synonymous with a particularly heinous form of murder and terror that sent shockwaves of fear through the city and beyond.

The first victim was discovered on October 18, 1977. Judy Ann Dull, a twenty-five year old nurse, had been found strangled, her body dumped on a hillside in La Crescenta, California. Two weeks later, a second victim, twelve year old Dolores Cepeda, was found in a similar fashion. Both victims had been raped, tortured, and then strangled with their own clothing.

The discovery of two more similar murders within days of one another created panic in Los Angeles. Investigators began to look for links between the four victims and soon established a pattern: all four were brutally strangled, two were teenage girls, and two were middle-aged women. Thus was born the nickname “The Hillside Strangler.”

The official investigation into the case started on October 28, when detectives began to search for possible suspects. Within weeks, the police had arrested two men: cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono. They had been seen driving around in a van and were believed to have been responsible for the four strangling murders. Their van was later found to have blood, fibers, and pieces of clothing of the victims.

Both Bianchi and Buono were eventually convicted for the murders. They both blamed each other for the crime, but the judge believed that both men were equally guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment.

In the years since the Hillside Strangler killings, investigators have continued to look for other possible victims, but to no avail. To this day, many questions remain about the Hillside Strangler and the motive for their murders. Was one of the killers solely responsible for the four killings, or did Bianchi and Buono work together? What caused the pair to carry out such heinous acts?

The Hillside Strangler killing spree cast a long shadow over the city of Los Angeles and left a sense of fear and dread in its wake that has yet to be fully erased. For over forty years, it has served as a chilling reminder of mankind’s capacity for violence and evil.

Donald Gaskins, also known as notorious serial killer Pee Wee Gaskins, was an American murderer who killed up to eighty people during his lifetime. He was born in Florence County, South Carolina, in 1933 to a dysfunctional family. He was the only child in the family and was handed down his father’s name, who was a poor sharecropper.

From a young age, Gaskins’ childhood was characterized by poverty, neglect, and abuse. His mother, Nellie Louise, consistently beat him and his father abused a stream of female partners who lived in their home. In 1947, Gaskins’ father died in mysterious circumstances, being killed by a shotgun blast. This made five-year-old Gaskins and his mother more inseparable, and their bond only grew stronger as a result.

After Gaskins left home at sixteen, a string of petty crimes followed. Throughout his teens, Gaskins frequently moved around the United States and his criminal behaviour escalated. For instance, in the spring of 1954, Gaskins was arrested for stealing groceries and sending threatening letters to a local shopkeeper in Charleston. Around the same time, Gaskins was also suspected of raping a nine-year-old girl, but was never officially charged.

In 1958, Gaskins was sentenced to life imprisonment after murdering a drifter. He was pardoned in 1968, but soon after returned to his life of crime. In 1971 he was arrested and sent back to prison. It was during this period of incarceration that Gaskins committed the murders that made him infamous. Between 1972 and 1975 he went on a killing spree, murdering at least fourteen people, including two children, and in 1983 he confessed to a total of up to eighty murders.

Gaskins committed suicide in 1991 by toying with his prison guards and starting a riot in an attempt to escape. Over the course of Donald Gaskins’ life, he left a legacy as one of America’s most prolific serial killers with a body count estimated to be up to eighty victims. Though most of his victims were forgotten and remain unidentified, Gaskins’ memory remains embedded in American culture as one of the most notorious serial killers of all time.