January 8, 1947 - William Bonin
Operating across southern California's freeways in the late 1970s, Bonin killed at least fourteen young men and boys over roughly fourteen months, often with the assistance of accomplices recruited along the way. His case drew attention not only for its scale but for how effectively he exploited the vulnerability of hitchhikers during an era when the practice was still common. He had prior convictions for sexual assault and had been institutionalized before the killings began, raising lasting questions about the failures of the systems that had processed him.
From Wikipedia
William George Bonin (January 8, 1947 – February 23, 1996), also called the Freeway Killer and the Freeway Strangler, was an American serial killer and sex offender. Bonin attacked numerous boys and men between 1968 and 1980, in southern California, and briefly, Vietnam. He was convicted of 14 murders, but confessed to 21, and is a suspect in additional cases.
Born in Connecticut, Bonin moved to California as a child. He fought in the Vietnam War in 1967 and 1968. Returning to California, he was held at prison psychiatric facilities from 1969 to 1974. His first known murder was in May 1979.
Bonin's typical modus operandi in murdering was luring victims into his van by offering them sex, before binding, torturing, raping, then strangling or stabbing them.
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