Killers: Behind the Myth The Freeway Killer (Season 2, Episode 5)
TV Episode | 44 min | Documentary, Crime

Killers: Behind the Myth

The Freeway Killer (Season 2, Episode 5)

TV Episode | 44 min | Documentary, Crime

William Bonin was the first man in California to be executed by lethal injection. His death in 1996 followed a conviction for the murder of 21 boys aged between 12 and 19 in just one frenzied year. He is estimated to have killed as many as...See moreWilliam Bonin was the first man in California to be executed by lethal injection. His death in 1996 followed a conviction for the murder of 21 boys aged between 12 and 19 in just one frenzied year. He is estimated to have killed as many as double that. A truck driver and son of a bingo-addicted, alcoholic mother and compulsive gambling father, he was incarcerated in juvenile detention at a young age where he suffered his first rape. On his release he began molesting young boys - a crime that would see him imprisoned and consigned to a mental institution. He met a part-time magician, Vernon Butts, and struck up a deadly friendship that would see them recruit a small gang of accomplices and go on to rape and murder lone boys, often hitch-hiking in the southern Californian sunshine. His victims were attacked in the back of his van, named by investigators as "the Death Wagon" and dumped by the side of the freeway, earning him the title; "The Freeway Killer". Written by Sky Vision [gb] See less

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Cast	+ Add Cast
11 cast members

Name	Known for
Simon James Bailie William Bonin William Bonin See fewer	Enemy of England (2022)
Mark Billingham Self - Crime Writer Self - Crime Writer See fewer	Thorne: Scaredycat (2010)
William Bonin Self - Serial Killer (archive footage) Self - Serial Killer (archive footage) See fewer
Vernon Butts Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) See fewer
Harry Harrold Detective Myers Detective Myers See fewer	Killers: Behind the Myth (2013)
David Holmes Self - Criminal Psychologist Self - Criminal Psychologist See fewer	May I Kill U? (2012)
Gregory Miley Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) See fewer
James Munro Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) See fewer
Vonda Pelto Self - Clinical Psychologist Self - Clinical Psychologist See fewer	Surviving a Serial Killer (2021)
Billy Pugh Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) Self - Accomplice of William Bonin (archive footage) See fewer
Zachary Street Vernon Butts Vernon Butts See fewer	Butchers Blossom (2009)