The Freeway Killer – Part 1

Over the years, there have been many individuals who have been labelled “The Freeway Killer”. However, the moniker had to come from somewhere. 

William Bonin was born in Willimantic, Connecticut on January 8^th, 1947. He was the middle child of three sons, though neither of his brothers got along with him very well. However, they did tend to stick together, despite their differences. 

The Bonin children were heavily abused by their alcoholic father. Their equally alcoholic mother was of very little assistance, as she also suffered severe abuse at the hands of her husband. Though she never raised a hand against her childen, she did tend be overbearing and emotionally manipulative, micromanaging their lives at every turn – when she wasn’t squandering what little funds the family had at the bingo parlour. 

Between the abuse, the absence of their mother, and trying to stay away from their father, the children were often neglected. Neighbours knew what was going on with the Bonin family. Three filthy, poorly clothed, unfed boys were hard to ignore. Though loathe to outright do anything about it – it was ‘a different time’, after all – they would provide food, and sometimes clothing, for the children.

When Bonin’s parents were in a particularly foul temper, they would send the children to their maternal grandfather. Their treatment there wasn’t all that much better. The man had been known to physically and sexually abuse his daughter – the mother of his grandchildren. Without a doubt, the children were similarly abused under his “care”. 

In 1953, for reasons beyond comprehension, Bonin’s mother placed him and his younger brother in the care of a Catholic convent. At the time, she claimed it was to spare her two youngest from their father’s abuse. However, the facility where she dropped them was very well known for the abuse it inflicted on the children in their care. It stands to reason that Bonin and his brother were abused while being housed there. 

For a time, Bonin believed that his parents were dead. They never visited their children, and neither Bonin brother had heard a word from them for years. Then, suddenly, the parentds arrived in 1956 to pick the boys up, and resume family life. Bonin did not last long in the household. 

In 1957, Bonin was sent to a juvenile detention facility after being convicted of stealing the tags off of license plates. The facility, much like the other places he’d resided, was known for it’s abusive tendencies towards their wards. On more than one occasion, Bonin was physically and sexually assaulted by a specific boy, and a specific adult at the facility, instilling in him a “do unto others as others have done unto you” attitude in Bonin. 

When he was released from the facility, Bonin took all of the “lessons” he’d learned out on his younger brother. No one cared enough to stop him. 

In 1961, the Bonin family left Connecticut and headed west to California. Bonin’s father had accumulated extensive gambling debts, leading to a possible foreclosure on the family home. Rather than face the consequences (like a responsible adult), he opted to relocate. 

In high school, Bonin was a bit of a recluse. He wasn’t keen on getting along with the other students, and most of them found him strange anyway. He picked up bowling, a solitary activity that didn’t require much socialization. 

Bonin’s overbearing mother demanded that he appear as “normal” as possible, and pushed him to date girls. On one occasion, to appease his mother, he asked a classmate out on a date. She declined, and the rejection humiliated Bonin beyond words. He vowed then and there never to let another woman hurt him again. 

While Bonin was earning a reputation as a loner around school, he was known for the exact opposite around his neighbourhood. 

Bonin liked to lure young children into the Bonin home, often promising them alcohol or pornography. Neighbours would see these young boys go into the house, and then often then could come running out, screaming and crying. It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. 

But no one did anything. No one stopped him, or even tried. His mother, who was often home when the young boys were lured in, flat our refused to acknowledge that anything of the sort that the neighbours were whispering about was occurring under her roof, let alone being perpetrated by her son. She also refused to acknowledge that her son was a thief and a robber. 

In 1965, William Bonin graduated high school, and then proposed to a woman. Newly engaged, to appease his mother’s constant nagging, he joined the United States Air Force. Also at his mother’s behest. 

Bonin claimed that his experiences in the Vietnam War instilled in him a deeply seeded belief that human life was overrated, and that it didn’t matter. As such, he gave into his whims, and engaged in any behaviour that he damn well pleased. During this time, Bonin carried on sexual relationships with both men and women. He even sexually assaulted two of his fellow soldiers. At gunpoint. 

In 1968, at the age of 21, Bonin was honourably discharged from the United States Air Force. Following his discharge, he returned to Downey, California, where he moved in with his mother. 

Upon his return, Bonin learned that his fiancée, who had given birth to his son while he was away, had left him to marry another man. Bonin chalked it up to a mistake, spurred by his mother’s incessant pressure. He thought nothing of the woman, nor the child, again. 

On November 17^th, 1968, Bonin sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy. Following this assault, Bonin attacked three other boys, aged between 12 and 18. During the attacks, Bonin would bind the boys to restrain them, sexually assault them, and then proceed to engage in various methods of beating and torture.

 (I refuse to outline the exact nature of these methods. If you want to read about it, they can be found in detail in some of the sources found below.) 

In early 1969, William Bonin was arrested following the attempted abduction of a 16-year-old boy. The boy was lured into Bonin’s vehicle, and then fled when Bonin attempted to restrain him. 

Bonin was then indicted on five counts of kidnapping, four counts of sodomy, one count of oral copulation, and one count of child molestation. Bonin pleaded guilty to the charges of molestation and oral copulation. He was sentenced  to Atascadero State Hospital as a mentally disordered sex offender. 

While there, he underwent a series of psychiatric examinations. In doing so, psychiatrists learned that Bonin possessed an average IQ of 121, traits of manic depression, and damage to his prefrontal cortex. In essence, these factors indicated that Bonin severely lacked any form of impulse control. 

They further found through discussions with Bonin that was heavily emotionally dependent on his mother. The discussions led them to believe that there was psychological and emotional abuse inflicted on him by his mother, which also factored into his trauma. 

Further examinations also found evidence of severe childhood physical abuse all over his body, especially around his head. Bonin claimed to have no memories of ever having acquired the injuries, leading the examiners to suspect that Bonin had, either knowingly or unknowingly, repressed the memories. 

During his incarceration at the Atascadero State Hospital, Bonin attended therapy groups, and also took part in experimental programs. He earned the trust of the employees, and came off as non-violent, well-intentioned, and charming. As such, he started telling his psychiatrists what they wanted to hear, hoping to manipulate them in granting him early release. 

After two years at the Atascadero State Hospital, he was moved to prison. His psychiatrists found that he was not fit for further treatment. He was unrepentant, and continuously engaged in sexual relationships with two other patients. 

On June 11^th, 1974, William Bonin was released from prison. He was found to no longer be a danger to the health and safety of others. 

On September 8^th, 1974, three months after his release from prison, Bonin came across David Allen McVicker. 

David Allen was a 14-year-old boy hitchhiking around the area of Garden City. Bonin pulled up beside him, and offered him a ride, which David Allen accepted. Things took a turn when Bonin asked him if he was homosexual, to which David Allen replied that he was not. He asked to be let out of the vehicle, but  Bonin sped up instead. 

When he made an attempt to flee the vehicle, Bonin held a gun on him, drove to a deserted field, and proceeded to attack David Allen, beating and raping him. At one point, Bonin then strangled David Allen with his own T-shirt – something that would soon become his signature. 

David Allen pleaded for his life, shouting: “God, help!” to which Bonin ceased his attack, and drove David Allen home. As David Allen was getting out of the car, Bonin told him: “We’ll meet again.” Hurt, and terrified, David Allen fled, shouting: “No you won’t!” behind him. 

Returning home, David Allen had a panic attack. He then called the child abuse hotline, and then his mother. His mother rushed home, and took David Allen to the Garden City police department in order to file an official report of the attack. 

Two days later, Bonin was charged with rape and forcible oral copulation following the attempted abduction of a 15-year-old boy. Bonin had propositioned the teenager, who had rejected him and exited the vehicle. Enraged, Bonin had attempted to hit the boy with his car. 

On December 31^st, 1975, Bonin pleaded guilty to the charges, and was sentenced to serve between one and fifteen years in prison. On October 11^th, 1978, he was released from prison, with eighteen months of supervised probation. 

Following his release, Bonin moved into an apartment near his parents’ home in Downey, California. There, he did as he had done as a teenager – he lured young boys to his apartment with the promise of alcohol. To make ends meet, Bonin worked as a truck driver for Dependable Drive-Away.

During his time at the apartment, Bonin was befriended by his neighbour, Everett Scott Fraser. Fraser often threw elaborate parties on the weekends, which Bonin began attending regularly. Bonin was introduced to Fraser’s friends, and the two often shared stories of their “encounters” with children and teenagers.  

Through these parties, Bonin befriended 21-year-old Vernon Robert Butts, and 18-year-old Gregory Matthews Miley. Butts was an occultist, and Miley just seemed to like to be around the parties. Butts later claimed that he had been both fascinated and terrified of Bonin, but felt that Bonin held him in a “hypnotic control” that he could not shake. 

Bonin enjoyed Butts’ company, and felt that the charming, socializing young man helped him shed his own poor self-esteem. They began a sexual relationship, and Butts introduced Bonin to the game Dungeons and Dragons. During these games, Bonin brought up the idea of raping and murdering a teenage hitchhiker. Butts agreed that this seemed like a good idea – though he would adamantly state later that he only agreed our of fear. 

Miley also agreed that this seemed like a good idea, and made a decision then there to follow Bonin wherever he went. 

On May 28^th, 1979, Thomas Glen Lundgren left his parents’ house in Reseda at around 10:50 AM. This was the last his family saw of him. 

That afternoon, his body was found in Agora. He was wearing a T-shirt, shoes, and socks. In a nearby field, police found his underwear, jeans, and severed genitals. 

The autopsy revealed that Thomas has suffered many blows to the head, as well as a slash across his throat, and multiple stab wounds. Butts had assisted Bonin in this attack. 

Later in 1979, Bonin was arrested for molesting a 17-year-old boy near the community of Dana Point. This violated the conditions of his parole, and he was returned to prison to, seemingly, fulfill the rest of his original sentence behind bars. However, an administrative error scheduled Bonin’s release not long after. 

Fraser collected Bonin from the Orange County Jail, and drove them back to Downey. As they were driving, Bonin turned to Fraser and stated: “No one’s going to testify again. This is never going to happen to me again.” 

William Bonin would ensure that his statement would become a promise, and that his moniker would become known world-wide. 

Stay tuned for part two.

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Sources:

William Bonin Prowled Over California’s Freeway and Left a Wake Dead Hitchhikers – All That’s Interesting
From the Archives: “Freeway Killer” William Bonin is executed: Sadistic slayer confessed to 21 murders – Ken Ellingwood, J.R. Moerhringer and Rebecca Trounson – Los Angeles Times
Profile of Serial Killer William Bonin, The Freeway Killer – Charles Montaldo – Thought Co.
I Survived a Serial Killer – S01E10 – The Freeway Killer – A&E docuseries
Morbid Podcast – William Bonin “The Freeway Killer” – Episodes 278 (Part 1) and 279 (Part 2)
William Bonin Wikipedia page