The Complete Story of Kenneth Bianchi: The Hillside Strangler
Introduction
Kenneth Alessio Bianchi, infamously known as one of the “Hillside Stranglers,” stands as one of America’s most disturbing serial killers, whose reign of terror alongside his cousin Angelo Buono shocked Los Angeles between 1977 and 1978. Together, they kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered at least 10 young women and girls, leaving their bodies displayed on hillsides throughout the city. What makes Bianchi’s case particularly chilling is not just the brutality of his crimes but his psychological complexity – a man who attempted to fake multiple personality disorder to escape punishment and whose troubled childhood laid the groundwork for his later violence. This comprehensive analysis explores Bianchi’s life, crimes, psychological profile, and the investigation that finally brought him to justice, revealing the complex and disturbing mind behind one of America’s most horrific killing sprees.
Early Life and Formative Trauma
Birth and Adoption
Kenneth Alessio Bianchi was born on May 22, 1951, in Rochester, New York, to a 17-year-old alcoholic prostitute who gave him up for adoption just two weeks after his birth. In August 1951, he was adopted by Nicholas Bianchi and his wife, Frances Scioliono-Bianchi, becoming their only child. This early abandonment by his biological mother would later be identified by psychologists as a significant factor in his psychological development and his troubled relationships with women.
Childhood Behavioral Problems
From his earliest years, Bianchi displayed troubling behavioral patterns that foreshadowed his future violence. Frances Bianchi described her son as “a compulsive liar” from the time he could talk, noting his tendency toward manipulation and deception. By age five, Bianchi frequently experienced trance-like states of daydreaming, characterized by his eyes rolling back in his head and periods of inattentiveness6. These episodes concerned his mother enough that she consulted a physician, who diagnosed the young boy with petit mal syndrome (a form of epilepsy), assuring the Bianchis that Kenneth would eventually outgrow these episodes.
Bianchi’s childhood was further complicated by physical issues, including involuntary urination that persisted until he was a teenager. His mother’s response to this problem – making him wear sanitary napkins – likely contributed to feelings of shame and inadequacy that would later manifest in his violent behavior toward women. By age 10, Bianchi was diagnosed with passive-aggressive personality disorder, reflecting his growing psychological disturbance.
Educational Struggles and Early Warning Signs
Despite having above-average intelligence, with an IQ measured at 116 at age 11, Bianchi was consistently an underachiever in school. He was removed from schools twice due to his inability to get along with teachers, demonstrating early difficulties with authority figures. His academic struggles, combined with his behavioral problems, created a pattern of failure and rejection that further damaged his already fragile self-esteem.
As Bianchi entered adolescence, his behavioral issues intensified. He became prone to fits of anger and violent tantrums, displaying the emotional volatility that would later characterize his crimes. His adoptive mother attempted to address these problems by sending him to a private Catholic elementary school and arranging sessions with a psychiatrist, but these interventions failed to correct his increasingly disturbed behavior.
Psychological Development and Early Adulthood
Military Service and Sexual Identity
After graduating from high school in 1970 at age 20, Bianchi briefly attended Monroe Community College, taking courses in police science and psychology, but his poor academic performance led him to drop out quickly. He married his high school girlfriend, Brenda Beck, in 1971, but his chronic infidelity caused the marriage to end after just eight months. This pattern of failed relationships would continue throughout his life, reflecting his inability to form healthy attachments to others.
Bianchi had long been interested in law enforcement and attempted to join the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department, but his application was rejected. This rejection of his desire for authority and power would later manifest in his crimes, where he and Buono frequently posed as police officers to gain their victims’ trust. After failing to secure a position in law enforcement, Bianchi found work as a security guard, but his employment was marked by theft from his employers and other dishonest behaviors.
Move to Los Angeles and Meeting Angelo Buono
In 1975, Bianchi left Rochester and moved to Los Angeles, where he would live with his older adoptive cousin, Angelo Buono. This relocation marked a turning point in Bianchi’s criminal evolution, as Buono – a man 17 years his senior with an extensive criminal history – would become both his mentor and accomplice in murder. Buono impressed the younger Bianchi with his fancy clothes, jewelry, and his ability to attract and control women, boasting about “putting them in their place“.
Bianchi later described Buono as a rigid, controlling man who was difficult to live with. According to Bianchi’s testimony, Buono “liked to give orders, not take them” and had a habit of making “belittling comments… a persistent type of off-color teasing”. Despite these tensions, Bianchi remained under Buono’s influence, with the power dynamic clearly established in Buono’s favor. When asked if he ever gave orders to Buono, Bianchi replied, “Not on your life“.
The Murder Spree: 1977-1978
The Beginning of the Hillside Strangler Murders
Shortly after Bianchi’s arrival in Los Angeles, he and Buono began operating as pimps, holding women as virtual prisoners and forcing them into prostitution. This exploitation of women served as a precursor to the violence that would follow, as the cousins developed techniques of intimidation and control that they would later use in their murders.
The Hillside Strangler murders began in October 1977, when Buono and Bianchi assaulted and strangled 19-year-old Yolanda Washington in the backseat of Bianchi’s 1972 Cadillac before dumping her body on a hillside near Forest Lawn Cemetery in Los Angeles. Their second victim, 15-year-old Judy Miller, was taken to Buono’s home, where she was raped and strangled before her body was dumped on a neighborhood street, in full view of children heading to school on Halloween morning.
Methodology and Victim Selection
Between October 1977 and February 1978, Bianchi and Buono claimed the lives of 10 women and girls ranging in age from 12 to 28. Their victims included both sex workers and middle-class women and girls, demonstrating an escalation in confidence and a broadening of their predatory scope. The killers typically posed as police officers to gain their victims’ trust, exploiting societal respect for authority figures to lure women into their vehicles.
Once a victim was in their control, Bianchi and Buono would take her to Buono’s home in Glendale, where the torture and murders took place. Their methods were both calculated and brutal, involving rape, torture, and ultimately strangulation. The bodies were then displayed on hillsides around Los Angeles, often near freeways, in a deliberate attempt to taunt authorities and generate publicity for their crimes.
The Bellingham Murders
During the late spring or early summer of 1978, Bianchi moved from Los Angeles to Bellingham, Washington, where he continued his criminal behavior independently of Buono. On January 11, 1979, Bianchi murdered two Western Washington University students, Karen L. Mandic and Diane A. Wilder, whom he had lured to a vacant house using his position as a security company supervisor. This deviation from his partnership with Buono demonstrated Bianchi’s capacity for independent violence and would ultimately lead to his capture.
The Bellingham police mounted a thorough investigation, collecting crucial forensic evidence including pubic hairs found on the victims’ bodies and carpet fibers from the crime scene that matched fibers found on the victims’ shoes and clothes. This meticulous evidence collection would prove instrumental in linking Bianchi to the murders and eventually to the Hillside Strangler cases in Los Angeles.
Arrest and Investigation
Capture in Bellingham
On January 12, 1979, Bellingham Police detectives arrested Kenneth Bianchi as the prime suspect in the strangulation murders of Mandic and Wilder. The investigation had quickly focused on Bianchi after it was discovered that he was the last person known to have contact with the victims. A search of his home revealed stolen goods from job sites he had been managing, giving police a reason to keep him in custody while they built their murder case.
Chief Terry Mangan of the Bellingham Police Department remembered the Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles and, noting that Bianchi had recently moved from L.A., contacted authorities there to explore possible connections. Detective Frank Salerno of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department responded to the call and quickly recognized potential links between Bianchi and the Hillside Strangler murders. The addresses of several Hillside Strangler victims matched locations where Bianchi had lived during the time of the murders, providing a crucial breakthrough in the case.
The Multiple Personality Defense
While in custody, Bianchi began claiming that another personality named “Steve Walker” had committed the crimes. This sudden emergence of an alleged multiple personality occurred after Bianchi’s attorney filed papers with the Whatcom County Superior Court stating that his client had been examined by three doctors who concluded he suffered from severe multiple personality disorder. As a result, Bianchi was ordered to undergo extensive psychiatric evaluations.
During these taped sessions, which would later become crucial evidence, Bianchi alternately denied and confessed to the killings in Los Angeles and Washington. When hypnotized, a second personality emerged—”Steve” – who was hostile, crude, impatient, and sadistic, proudly claiming responsibility for the slayings. “Killing a broad doesn’t make any difference to me,” bragged the “Steve” personality during one session.
Dr. Martin Orne’s Exposure of Malingering
The breakthrough in understanding Bianchi’s psychological state came when psychiatrist Dr. Martin T. Orne was brought in to evaluate him. After conducting a series of tests, Orne concluded that Bianchi was consciously simulating hypnosis and faking his multiple personality disorder. In one revealing test, Orne asked Bianchi, while supposedly under hypnosis, to hallucinate his attorney in the room. When Bianchi claimed he could see and was conversing with this hallucinated attorney, Orne had the real attorney enter the room. Bianchi’s flustered reaction to this “double hallucination” and his statement that one of the “two” attorneys had vanished provided compelling evidence that he was faking his condition.
Orne also noted that Bianchi’s portrayal of multiple personality disorder was inconsistent with genuine cases of the condition, appearing to be based more on popular media portrayals than clinical reality. This assessment was particularly significant given that multiple personality disorder had recently entered the public consciousness through the 1976 TV movie “Sybil,” which Bianchi had likely seen.
Trial and Conviction
Plea Bargain and Testimony Against Buono
Following Dr. Orne’s evaluation exposing his malingering, Bianchi withdrew his insanity claim and agreed to plead guilty to the Washington murders and five of the California murders. In exchange for avoiding the death penalty, he agreed to testify against his cousin Angelo Buono. This decision marked a significant turning point in the case, as Bianchi’s testimony would be crucial in securing Buono’s conviction.
In June 1982, Bianchi took the stand as the 200th prosecution witness against Buono in what would become one of the longest and most expensive trials in Los Angeles County history. Over six weeks of testimony, Bianchi detailed their crimes and Buono’s role in them, though he notably avoided looking at his cousin throughout the proceedings except when required to identify him for the record.
Sentencing and Imprisonment
Bianchi received a total of eight life sentences – six for the California murders and two for the Washington murders. Under an agreement between California and Washington, Bianchi was permitted to serve his sentences in Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, where he could access treatment options not otherwise available in the California corrections system.
Since his conviction, Bianchi has been consistently denied parole. At his first parole hearing in 1985, he told the board that “someone who has killed as many people as he has should never be released from prison”. Despite this apparent acknowledgment of his crimes, Bianchi has maintained that he does not suffer from serious mental disturbances and does not believe he is a danger to others. The parole board, however, has repeatedly found that he would pose “an unreasonable risk to the safety of the community at large”.
Psychological Profile: Inside the Mind of a Killer
Childhood Trauma and Maternal Relationship
Psychological experts who have studied Bianchi’s case identify his relationship with his adoptive mother, Frances, as a crucial factor in his development. Court-appointed psychiatric experts characterized Frances as a “neurotic and ineffective parent” whose “anxious, protective, clinging control” made Bianchi “ambivalent” toward her. According to Dr. A. W. Sullivan of the DePaul Clinic, where Bianchi was seen at age 11, Frances “dominated the boy and indulged him in terms of her own needs,” creating a dynamic where Bianchi “represses the hostile aggression and is increasingly dependent upon her”.
This complex maternal relationship, combined with the knowledge of his adoption and abandonment by his birth mother, created profound identity issues for Bianchi. Some psychiatrists have suggested that Bianchi’s later violence against women represented displaced aggression toward his mother, with his victims symbolically standing in for the maternal figures who had either abandoned him (his birth mother) or controlled him (his adoptive mother).
Antisocial Personality Disorder and Psychopathy
Modern psychological assessments of Bianchi consistently identify him as suffering from antisocial personality disorder with psychopathic traits. A recent evaluation using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) placed Bianchi at “high moderate risk for psychopathy,” with the highest possible score on the measure of psychopathic personality traits. This assessment tool predicts future risk by using levels of psychopathy as the major predictor, suggesting that despite decades of incarceration, Bianchi’s fundamental personality structure remains unchanged.
Bianchi’s psychopathy manifested in his complete lack of empathy for his victims, his manipulative behavior (particularly his attempt to fake multiple personality disorder), and his absence of genuine remorse. These traits allowed him to commit brutal acts of violence while maintaining a facade of normalcy in other aspects of his life – living with his girlfriend Kelli Boyd and their infant son, and being described by his employer as a “valuable and responsible member of his staff”.
The Influence of Angelo Buono
The psychological dynamic between Bianchi and his cousin Angelo Buono reveals much about Bianchi’s personality and susceptibility to influence. Despite being the younger of the two, Bianchi described Buono as rigid, controlling, and intimidating. This relationship demonstrates Bianchi’s tendency toward submission to dominant personalities, a trait that may have roots in his relationship with his controlling mother.
Criminologists have noted that criminal partnerships like that of Bianchi and Buono often involve a dominant partner who encourages and amplifies the violent tendencies of the submissive partner811. In this case, Buono’s extreme misogyny and history of sexual violence provided a template that Bianchi, with his own unresolved issues toward women, readily adopted8. The fact that Bianchi continued killing independently after moving to Washington, however, indicates that while Buono may have facilitated his violence, Bianchi’s homicidal tendencies were not solely dependent on his cousin’s influence2.
Prison Life and Current Status
Life at Washington State Penitentiary
Since 1983, Bianchi has been incarcerated at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, the same facility that houses other notorious killers like Gary Ridgway (the Green River Killer). During his imprisonment, Bianchi has claimed to have become a Christian, though the sincerity of this conversion has been questioned by many, including parole board members who continue to find him at high risk for reoffending.
In 1989, Bianchi married a Louisiana pen pal in a prison chapel ceremony, demonstrating the phenomenon of “hybristophilia“- sexual attraction to those who have committed atrocious crimes – that sometimes surrounds notorious killers. This marriage, occurring after his conviction for multiple brutal murders, reflects the continued ability of some serial killers to attract admirers despite their heinous crimes.
The Veronica Compton Incident
One of the most bizarre chapters in Bianchi’s imprisonment involved his relationship with Veronica Compton, a freelance screenwriter who contacted him in 1980 to interview him for research for a screenplay. After exchanging letters and visiting Bianchi in prison, Compton fell in love with him and became willing to commit murder on his behalf.
Together, Bianchi and Compton devised a plan to make it appear that the Hillside Strangler was still at large, potentially undermining the case against Bianchi. The plan involved Compton abducting and strangling a woman in the same manner as the Hillside Strangler victims, even leaving semen (smuggled out of prison from Bianchi) on the body to match the evidence pattern of previous murders. Compton attempted to carry out this plan but was overpowered by her intended victim, who escaped and reported the incident to authorities. Compton was subsequently arrested and convicted for her role in this attempted murder.
Current Status and Parole Eligibility
As of 2025, Bianchi remains imprisoned at Washington State Penitentiary. Despite becoming eligible for parole in 1979, he has been consistently denied release. In 2010, his request for parole was denied, and according to court documents, he is scheduled for another parole hearing in 2025.
Recent psychological evaluations continue to find Bianchi at high risk for reoffending. Dr. Robtoy, who conducted one such evaluation, found “no evidence to suggest that Mr. Bianchi’s underlying personality structure has changed” despite his decades of incarceration. This assessment, combined with the brutal nature of his crimes, makes it highly unlikely that Bianchi will ever be released from prison.
Legacy and Cultural Impact
Influence on Criminal Psychology
The Bianchi case has significantly influenced the field of criminal psychology, particularly regarding the assessment of malingering (faking mental illness) in criminal defendants. Dr. Orne’s work in exposing Bianchi’s attempt to fake multiple personality disorder has become a textbook example of forensic psychological assessment and has informed approaches to similar cases.
Bianchi’s psychological profile – combining antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, and manipulative behavior – continues to be studied by forensic psychologists seeking to understand the development of serial killers and prevent future violence. His case demonstrates the complex interplay between childhood trauma, personality disorders, and environmental influences in the creation of violent offenders.
Media Representation and Public Fascination
The Hillside Strangler case has been the subject of numerous books, documentaries, and films, including the 1989 film “The Case of the Hillside Stranglers,” in which Bianchi was portrayed by actor Billy Zane, and the 2004 film “The Hillside Strangler”. More recently, Peacock’s four-part docu-series “The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise” provided an in-depth look at the case, featuring the taped psychiatric evaluations that exposed Bianchi’s malingering.
This continued media interest reflects the public’s enduring fascination with Bianchi’s case, particularly the stark contrast between his seemingly normal appearance and the brutality of his crimes. The case also continues to raise important questions about the nature of evil, the reliability of psychiatric diagnoses in criminal cases, and the factors that contribute to the development of serial killers.
Conclusion
Kenneth Bianchi represents one of the most psychologically complex and disturbing figures in American criminal history, a man whose troubled childhood and personality disorders culminated in a series of brutal murders that terrorized Los Angeles in the late 1970s. His case reveals the dangerous intersection of antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy, and manipulative behavior that can create a predator capable of extreme violence while maintaining a facade of normalcy.
What makes Bianchi particularly chilling is not just the brutality of his crimes but his calculated attempt to evade responsibility through malingering – his elaborate performance of multiple personality disorder that was ultimately exposed through careful psychological assessment. This manipulation extends beyond his crimes to his interactions with the criminal justice system, demonstrating the sophisticated deception that characterizes many psychopathic individuals.
As Bianchi continues to serve his multiple life sentences, his case remains a sobering reminder of the human capacity for evil and the complex psychological factors that drive serial killers. Understanding these factors is crucial not only for addressing the needs of victims and their families but for developing more effective approaches to identifying and treating potentially violent individuals before they act on their homicidal impulses.
