Veronica Lynn Compton: The Hillside Strangler Copycat
Introduction
Veronica Lynn Compton earned the notorious title of “Copycat Strangler” for her 1980 attempt to murder a woman on behalf of convicted serial killer Kenneth Bianchi, one-half of the infamous Hillside Strangler duo that terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. Her bizarre criminal act represents one of the most peculiar cases of hybristophilia-romantic attraction to criminals-in American true crime history.
The Hillside Strangler Connection
In June 1980, 24-year-old Veronica Compton contacted Kenneth Bianchi, who was incarcerated at the Los Angeles County Jail awaiting trial. Compton claimed to be an actress, poet, and playwright who had written a screenplay titled “The Mutilated Cutter” about a female serial killer, and she ostensibly wanted Bianchi to help her with characterization. What began as a correspondence quickly evolved into an obsessive relationship.
Bianchi, along with his cousin Angelo Buono, had been responsible for the rape, torture, and strangulation of ten women in Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978. The victims’ bodies were typically dumped on hillsides around Los Angeles, earning the killers their infamous moniker. After murdering two college students in Bellingham, Washington, Bianchi was arrested in 1979 and eventually confessed to multiple murders.
The Twisted Plot
Between June and September 1980, Compton visited Bianchi numerous times in jail, and together they concocted an elaborate scheme to prove his innocence. The plan was straightforward yet deranged: Compton would travel to Bellingham, strangle a woman using methods similar to the Hillside Strangler murders, and plant evidence at the scene to make it appear the real killer was still at large. To make the crime scene more convincing, Bianchi smuggled a semen-filled condom to Compton hidden in the spine of a book, which she would plant to simulate a rape-murder.
The plan was fundamentally flawed from the start. Bianchi had already provided detailed confessions that included information never released to the public, such as specific torture methods and burn marks on victim Lauren Wagner from electrocution. Yet Compton believed in the scheme and proceeded with meticulous preparation.
The Attack on Kim Breed
On the evening of September 19, 1980, Compton traveled to Bellingham disguised with a fake pregnant belly, blonde wig, and affected Texas accent. Using the alias “Karen,” she befriended 26-year-old Kim Breed, a maintenance worker, at a local bar. After socializing together at multiple locations, Compton lured Breed back to her room at the Shangri-La Motel.
Once inside, Compton attacked Breed, binding her hands and attempting to strangle her with a ligature-twice bringing her victim nearly to the point of unconsciousness. However, Breed, though intoxicated, was physically stronger than Compton anticipated and managed to fight back. Initially reluctant to use full force because she thought Compton was pregnant, Breed eventually struggled free and escaped, still bearing rope burns on her neck.
Arrest, Trial, and Conviction
Compton fled Bellingham immediately after the attack, but investigators easily traced her. On October 2, 1980, she was arrested at her home in the Shangri-La Trailer Park in Carson, California, on a Whatcom County warrant charging first-degree attempted murder, with bail set at $500,000. The media quickly dubbed her the “Copycat Strangler”.
Authorities also connected Compton to several cassette tapes sent to various locations in Los Angeles and Bellingham containing messages claiming that an innocent man was imprisoned and that the strangler would strike again. Police speculated that she may have been acting under Bianchi’s direct guidance.
During Bianchi’s trial, Compton testified for the defense, telling the jury a vague false tale designed to exonerate him. Her trial began on March 9, 1981, and lasted less than two weeks. After deliberating for only three hours on March 20, 1981, the jury found Compton guilty of first-degree attempted murder with a special finding of being armed with a deadly weapon (a ligature), which carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. On May 22, 1981, Judge Swedberg sentenced her to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, citing the calculated viciousness of the attack on Breed.
Prison, Escape, and Transformation
While incarcerated at the Washington Corrections Center for Women, Compton’s life took unexpected turns. In July 1988, she and another inmate, Candice L. Burk, escaped from prison by cutting through four fences. Compton later stated she broke out because she was desperate to be with her preteen son, whom she had given birth to when she was 17, as he was being transferred to a new living situation. She was apprehended in Arizona after a week and a half on the run and received an additional two years for first-degree escape and possession of a firearm.
During her imprisonment, Compton’s infatuation with Bianchi eventually faded, and she reportedly became engaged to another serial killer, Doug Clark, who along with his partner Carol M. Bundy had killed and decapitated seven women in Los Angeles. However, this relationship also did not endure.
In August 1989, Compton married James Wallace, a retired Eastern Washington University political science professor 26 years her senior, during a formal ceremony at the prison officiated by Washington State Supreme Court Justice James Dolliver. Wallace later adopted Compton’s son. During a conjugal visit, Wallace impregnated Compton, and she gave birth to a daughter in 1993.
Wallace testified at all of Compton’s parole hearings, insisting she was “not a monster” but had done “a monstrous thing,” and that “people change”. Prison staff widely supported her parole requests, with many testifying in her favor, praising her dedication to rehabilitation programs and her work developing the prison’s recreation program.
Parole and Life After Prison
Compton was granted parole in 1996, only to have it revoked two weeks later after a social worker conducting a routine visit claimed she answered the door nude and had “pornographic” paintings on the wall deemed unsuitable in the presence of her young daughter. Compton disputed the nude allegation and argued her artwork-vivid, colorful paintings depicting political themes and women-was not pornographic. However, she had also failed to attend required counseling sessions, a condition of her parole. The parole board revoked her release, and her daughter was temporarily removed from Wallace’s home before being returned to him.
Compton appealed the decision all the way to the Washington State Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case. She remained in prison until her final release in 2003.
Post-Release Years: Art, Music, and Redemption
After her release, Compton kept a low profile and stayed out of legal trouble. She published a book in 2003 titled “Eating the Ashes: Seeking Rehabilitation within the US Penal System,” offering insights into correctional practices and her personal journey toward rehabilitation. In 2013, she released a music album called “Home,” featuring songs heavily influenced by stories she learned in prison and personal experiences.
Throughout her post-prison years, Compton identified herself as a multi-media artist known as “Copycat Artist,” creating music, paintings, and literature. Her artwork focused on political themes and women, and she explicitly stated she never created pornography. Her music reached out to marginalized communities and reflected on her experiences within the criminal justice system.
In interviews, Compton expressed deep embarrassment about her past as what she called “the world’s number 1 serial killer fetishist”. She attributed her infatuation with Kenneth Bianchi to heavy drug usage and traumatic childhood experiences, including being born with kidney problems that resulted in frequent hospitalizations.
Death
Veronica Lynn Wallace (née Compton) passed away on October 4, 2023, at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in California at the age of 67. She died from complications related to cancer. Her death marked the end of a life that encompassed extraordinary darkness and an equally remarkable journey toward redemption and self-transformation.
The Veronica Compton case remains a disturbing example of the psychological phenomenon of hybristophilia and the dangerous extent to which obsessive infatuation can drive individuals to commit violent acts. Her story also demonstrates the complex possibility of rehabilitation, as she spent more than two decades working to transform herself from a would-be copycat killer into an artist, author, and advocate for prison reform.
FOR READERS FASCINATED BY CRIMINAL MINDS
From the creators of Violent Minds comes Murder.net - a psychological cyber-thriller about control, fear, and obsession, where a killer streams his murders online to paying subscribers. How far would you go to stop a monster?
Get The Book
