The Serial Killer Duo Who Savagely Tortured and Murdered California Teens in Their Van

foreign hi Julie it's Laura hi Hi how are you I'm fine um I don't even know where to begin with this call um so you're Andrea Hall's sister yes I'm her oldest sister wow how can I help you um oh God this is so crazy so um I have a background in forensic psychology uh bachelor's and um I've been interviewing different serial killers for the last couple years but two of which are pathetic or north and last summer I went to go see Whitaker and um he drew me a map of where Andrea and Cindy are New York City no I'm not um he gave me their locations they've been flying me back out to San Quentin and we actually place where they are on a map they're going to make a decision the next two or three months if they're gonna go actually do an excavation for them but we've actually proven they owe us that much yeah they do they do you oh my God don't hear any make me cry so hard right now I'm sorry I feel like I know you and I feel like I know Andrea digging into this case and it's like it just breaks my heart like she's still out there it was awful yeah I can't even imagine we would love to have her back I hope you get it done you know I'm gonna do everything I can to bring her back for you guys oh God thank you so much I just feel like I knew Andrea that I'm like they must be still looking for her and it just killed me it kills me study serial colors they said it would be fun they said [Music] I thought I'd be able to sit and listen but I've never heard anything like that in my life but I have a daughter and I just I just could see her and I just I just couldn't take it I just picture those girls how alone they were when they died prosecutor told the jurors the tape would give them some idea of what hell is like he was right [Applause] [Music] [Music] and you write me a poem [Music] [Music] I'm sure many of you have seen the true crime series Criminal Minds many of their episodes are based on the actions of real life criminals the show and others like it often refer to the toolbox Killers I touched Miss Ledford on the breast with cold metal pliers and if you listen to tape you'll hear those pliers being replaced in the toolbox a few seconds later what what did you touch her on the breast board with a pair of fire to shock her with a cold medal they're not to be confused with David Parker Ray the disgusting toy box killer instead the toolbox Killers is a title given to a pair of sadistic murderers known as bitticker and Norris they abducted tortured raped and killed women in the back of their van in Southern California while their Killing Spree lasted only five months the pair's savagery is the stuff of nightmares on top of the extreme and tragic brutality these two losers dealt out they actually went as far as to record the sounds of some of their victims on a tape recorder I'm Mr Black and this is the disturbing truth of the toolbox killers [Music] according to reporter Michael Newton Southern California is known as psycho Central with over 20 million people in California the state's prey population is abundant especially considering so many people live off the grid such as the case for sex workers homeless people child runaways drug addicts and hitchhikers many of these people likely wouldn't even be reported missing if something were to happen to them but while Lone Wolf Off the Grid individuals might be considered easy pickings for society's most sadistic monsters this wasn't the mo for the evil Duo known as bitticker and Norris these two chose young girls with families that loved them families that reported them missing families who would stop at nothing to find answers perhaps that's why their evil reign of terror only lasted five months as short a time as it may seem the horror of their brutality lives on and still haunts people today after hearing the nightmarish details of this case you may not sleep well for quite some time okay those look Global apparently have a prepaid calls from an inmate act a California State Prison and Quentin California let's call and your telephone number will be monitored and recorded to accept this call same or dial 5 now is interesting to me is you're you're very very intelligent and it just it's so odd to me you guys took an audio recording of the killing oh it's like taking physical evidence I mean there's no greater one than an audio tape of the killing and I'm just it it could have had a video camera so that you know it works putting sheets back then I'd had one of them why take audio why take a video of The Killing it was it was in line with the idea behind taking the photographs it was a you know uh it actually is the fact that I had the the recorder at all was it was kind of a coincidence because Rory and I had going into a electronic store in some shopping center somewhere I don't remember exactly what it was Lawrence Sigmund bittiger and Roy Lewis Norris were depraved Thugs who met in prison where I'm sure will soon all agree they should have stayed but as fate would have it the leniency of our legal system set these rabid animals loose on the public resulting in innocent victim after innocent victim by way of some of the most violent measures imaginable nicknamed by the press as the toolbox killers bitticker and Norris had a lot of victims both as separate individuals and together as a team while they admitted to murdering five teenage girls the total count of victims for these two clowns is unknown Lawrence bitticker was born on September 27 1940 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania his mother was poor and had no choice but to place him in an orphanage where he was adopted by Mr and Mrs George bitticker so bitticker doesn't never in an orphanage it was an Antipas that made his mother give him and his brother Charles up for adoption within the family he was adopted by a great aunt and uncle within his own family I want to clarify one thing after he broke into a neighbor's house this is an elderly man and robbed him while he was sleeping he tried to pull down these curtains and use the lighter to try to pull them down the curtains went up in flames and the house actually caught fire bitticker ran out of the house leaving the elderly man sleeping while the house is burning down his mother or adoptive mother Thelma tried to teach him not to play with fire by burning him with a cigarette he left that man in his home burning when he was only 12 years old because Mr bitticker worked in the aviation industry the family moved frequently never really putting down Roots anywhere as they were always on the go Roy Norris on the other hand was born out of wedlock on Feb February 5th of 1948 in Greenlee Colorado his parents went on to marry to avoid the stigma of having a bastard son but reports indicate they never really liked their roles as parents Roy's father Mr Norris worked in a scrapyard while his mother allegedly preferred drugs to Motherhood either way like Lawrence bitticker Roy Norris also failed to establish secure rootings himself like his evil counterpart he was always being moved around Norris was frequently being pulled out of his family home and sent to an abusive foster care system Roy would stay there for a while before being sent back to his family again only to be ripped away over and over as the cycle looped repeatedly throughout his childhood he claimed he was abused both physically and sexually as well as being starved periodically and neglected by both of his parents and foster parents so when I went back to investigate the case and were these allegations of physical abuse sexual abuse foster care being in an orphanage where it all stemmed from was I tracked it actually back to Norris he was putting out false information to his pen pals Norris actually reports of a really good childhood he had a loving family with his parents and his grandparents lived right up the street and his little sister they used to go to the roller rink all the time the only thing he reported to me was his grandparents hated his mother and they would degrade her like viciously in front of him vinegar and Norris shared a common theme of drifting it may be the reason why they chose to kidnap and torture their victims in a van while going down the highway being on the move was something they were comfortable with I imagine it added an extra Dimension to the mental torture of their victims by disorienting them the motion of the van coupled with not knowing where they were being taken or what would happen to them surely created extra layers of fear for those captured by the toolbox killers both Whitaker and Norris had lengthy rap sheets betteker had a juvenile record starting at the age of 12. charges began with petty theft but increased in severity after he dropped out of high school in 1956. I imagine with a high IQ of 138 which less than one percent of the population has he was probably bored in school and didn't think he needed it but within a year of leaving school behind bitticker faced charges of auto theft evading arrest and even hit and run he was convicted and sentenced to the California Youth Authority until he was 18. unbeknownst to him Lawrence bitticker's adoptive parents took this time to flee to a different state and never saw him again so bitticker's adoptive parents did not flee after he went to Youth Authority they continued to try to help him even after he went to San Quentin at 19. his dad kept visiting him they still tried to get him help it wasn't until his 20s they finally just gave up California was rather lenient on bitticker between the ages of 18 and 24. he was in and out of prison numerous times however he would never serve his entire sentences for some reason he was always paroled early twice he was sentenced to 15 years in prison only to serve two or three years of each sentence after turning 18 in 1958 the California Youth Authority turned him loose then by August of 1959 Lawrence had stolen a vehicle and crossed state lines he ended up in Oklahoma where he was sentenced to 18 months in prison but released early in 1960. so in 1959 bitticker did cross state lines but he went to Louisiana with a girl that he had met from a psych ward he was transferred to Oklahoma and that's actually where he became friends with the Birdman of Alcatraz by May of 1960 Lawrence was back in Los Angeles convicted of robbery and sentenced to 15 years he served two years and was paroled in 1963. in October of 1964 bitticker was picked up again for a parole violation and sent back to prison he was released in June of 1967. but Lawrence bitticker just couldn't help himself a month after being paroled he was arrested again for theft and fleeing the scene of an accident but yet again he didn't serve much time this evil menace to society was re-released in April of 1970. by March of 1971 Lawrence was arrested again for burglary and October of that year he was sentenced to six months to 15 years he only served three years before walking free again I'm sure this added weight to his ego as it painted a picture that the legal system was simply no match for Lawrence bitticker shortly after his release in 1974 he stole a stake from the supermarket and stabbed the employee that caught him the employee Gary Louis survived the attack bitticker was remanded to the California men's colony in 1976. it was at this institution where fate would introduce him to Roy Norris Roy Norris was 16 when his deviant sexual behavior first reared its ugly head he was visiting a family relative in her home and began to talk to her in a sexually suggestive nature she ordered him to leave and informed his father who threatened him with a beating Norris retaliated by stealing his dad's car and driving it into the Rocky Mountains where he allegedly attempted to take his own life unfortunately for his future victims he failed police found him and returned him to his parents a year later in 1965 Norris dropped out of school and joined the Navy four years later in 1969 he was deployed to Vietnam to serve in the Vietnam conflict he did a four-month tour there but never saw any active combat shortly after this Roy was honorably discharged so Roy Norris was kicked out of the Navy for committing violent vicious rapes over in Vietnam by November of 1969 Norris began his reign of terror as a serial rapist he was charged with rape and assault to attempt to commit rape the attempt was the result of a failed effort to snatch a woman who was alone in her car luckily she got away a mere three months later in February of 1970 Roy Norris tried to break into a woman's house thankfully she called the police and they were able to capture him before he could harm her while out on Bell in May of 1970 Roy Stockton brutally attacked a student on the San Diego State University campus he struck her with a rock from behind and when she fell he grabbed her by her hair and bashed her head into the sidewalk thankfully again the woman survived the attack Norris copped a charge for assault with a deadly weapon but was only sentenced to a mere five years in a state hospital he was classified as a mentally disorder sex offender then in 1975 doctors determined that Norris was no further danger to others and released him with five years probation those doctors were wrong and a Savage Beast was free to Prey Upon more victims just three months later Roy Norris grabbed a woman from the street dragged her behind some bushes and raped her she reported the rape and later gave police a description of his motorcycle along with the license plate number Norris was apprehended again he was sent to the California men's colony and that's where he met Lawrence bitticker in 1977. by that time Roy Norris would be 29 years old and bitticker 37 both sustained long criminal records and short stints in prison the pair also shared in their dark desires to harm innocent women it was during that time that the two would plan to make their sick fantasies a reality both of these men were repeat inmates even before reaching adulthood both of them were analyzed by professionals too between 1961 and 1963 a psychiatrist labeled Lawrence bitticker as highly manipulative with considerable concealed hostility then in 1966 two other psychiatrists called him a borderline psychopath bitiker even admitted himself that his crimes gave him a feeling of self-importance but when he was released in 1967 he was prescribed antipsychotics as if that was the cure-all for his behavior spoiler alert it wasn't after the supermarket stabbing incident it's reported that a psychiatrist classified bitticker as a classic sociopath claiming the criminal was a highly dangerous man with no internal controls over his impulses a man incapable of learning to play by the rules who could kill without hesitation or remorse and as you'll see shortly this profile was 100 correct Roy Norris was diagnosed with a schizoid personality disorder by military psychologists in May of 1970 and remember when I mentioned that a state mental hospital deemed Roy as a mentally disordered sex offender well by its very definition in California law such a person will reoffend without remorse and is dangerous to society nevertheless regardless of every red flag and warning available in 1977 these two monsters were on a collision course for a fateful meeting that resulted in the vicious rapes tortures and deaths of several teenage girls like two demon Spirits recognizing their evil soulmates Lawrence and Roy were immediately drawn to each other from their first meeting during their developing friendship they discussed their crimes Norris confessed to bitticker that it turned him on when he saw fear in the eyes of the young women he assaulted bitticker told Roy that if he ever did that to a woman he'd have to kill her in order to leave no Witnesses they continued to fantasize about committing crimes together vowing to meet up again on the outside once they were both released they eagerly plotted to reap and kill one girl from each age between 13 to 19 and it wasn't long before their schemes became a horrifying reality on October 15th of 1978 Lawrence bitticker was released from prison he landed a job paying nearly a thousand dollars a week which is a hell of a lot of money back in those days he was living at the Burbank Motel people who knew Lawrence around that time found him generous and helpful if you can believe that he even donated money to the Salvation Army and provided food for the homeless these qualities made people in the neighborhood feel comfortable with him attracted Teenagers by keeping a supply of beer and marijuana in his room teens attracted more teens possibly even some that he and Norris could later kidnap at very least he could use the company of these kids to learn their hideouts habits and how to manipulate them Whitaker did have an IQ of 138 and he was a very skilled machinist and he got a job right out of San Luis Obispo making a thousand dollars a week even though bitticker was making 453 thousand dollars a year equivalent to today he was still living in a seedy Motel Off the Grid known as the Scott Motel Next Door there was a Marketplace ironically named Roy's market and that's where he used to go and get teenagers who were standing in front you know trying to get somebody to buy them booze and invite them back to the motel he would give them marijuana buy them alcohol give them a place to hang out that's how he lured them in just three months later on January 15th of 1979 Roy Norris was released from prison within a month he violated a woman and left her in the desert on January 15 1979 Roy Norris was released from San Luis Obispo he went to see his father a month later in Greenlee Colorado on his way back to Los Angeles he stopped to help a girl with a flat tire he then proceeded to keep her he did not leave her in the desert he raped her in Colorado not far from Greenlee on his way back bitticker was an electrician in Compton when he got a letter from Norris the two met up in February and started putting the wills in motion for their horrific plan their first task they determined was to purchase an appropriate vehicle for their plans they secured a silver 1977 GMC Ventura it had no windows in the back and the passenger side had a sliding back door they laughed as they pictured pulling up close to a girl on the street and snatching her before she even knew what was happening with delight the two pulled their funds together and bought the van which they happily named murder Mac next they outfitted the van with the tools they wanted to use for their crimes you could call it a torture toolbox it contained tape rope knives pliers an ice pick tape recorder camera and a cooler for drinks so Lawrence Whitaker and Roy Norris did not buy the van together bitticker bought it himself but they both came up with the name murder Mac together Lawrence Whitaker and Roy Norris really made the van for the sole purpose of rape torture and murder they first sound proof the van so nobody could hear inside what was going on they put a makeshift bed in the van they put flooring panel Walling Shad Green carpet with a toolbox the infamous toolbox underneath the bed they even rigged up the back of the van to squirt oil in case the police were coming they had four CB radios inside of the van and they were even rigging it to explode in case the cops ever did try to open the van for a few months the pair did practice runs picking up over 20 women using different techniques to lure them into the van willingly how they kept themselves from harming during this time I don't know I guess they really wanted to perfect their MO they also surged for a secluded area to take the victims to once they captured them in April they found a desolate Fire Road in the San Gabriel mountains the pair agreed that this was the Prime spot for their future endeavors so at this point they had a vehicle a secluded location and two heads full of disturbing ideas it was back in 1979 in April when bitticker and Norris went to the fire roads of San Gabriel Whitaker had known about these locations from fighting fires and Youth Authority they broke the lock off of the gate and replaced it with their own so they would have private access to these remote fire roads deep in the San Gabriel mountains there is a lake called Crystal Lake and there's cabins the Crystal Lake cabins and campgrounds this is a virtually unknown location connected to bitticker and Norris because they never told the police or Stephen K once they were caught but this is a location that they actually took Jackie and Leah to and a few other victims the reason they love this secret location of Crystal Lake is because bitticker had found a cave there this was back when he was in Youth Authority fighting the fires he learned on the mountains all the fire roads and He Came Upon a cave nearby Crystal Lake and he also liked to use the cabins and brought a couple of the victims there as well I just went last year and I paid in cash and could have written down a fake name even in 2022 it is virtually paperless on June 24th of 1979 bitticker and Norris finished installing a bed in the van and stashed tools clothes and the cooler full of drinks inside the vehicle close to noon they drove to Redondo Beach to drink smoke pot and flirt with the girls there around 8 PM they spotted Lucinda Lynn Shaffer a 16 year old girl who had just left a Presbyterian church youth meeting when she refused the offer of a lift they pulled up further ahead of her as rehearsed Norris opened the sliding door and hid just inside the van as bitticker steered close to Schaefer Norris caught her by surprise and dragged her inside the van before closing the door of the vehicle bitticker turned the radio up full blast while Norris tied the young girl up they drove the van out to the San Gabriel mountains where they could take their time with the girl and avoid interruptions Lucinda Schaefer as expected initially screamed and struggled but she realized her efforts were in vain she was no match for a much stronger Roy Norris Whitaker would later write about the incident in his Memoirs in prison stating that the girl displayed a magnificent state of self-control and composed acceptance of her situation she didn't cry or resist according to bitticker she expressed no great concern for her safety I guess she knew what was coming acceptance what a complete scumbag she was terrified in shock and if she could think at all she probably thought if she didn't resist they might not hurt her too badly Lucinda Lynn Shafer probably thought that compliance was her only chance of survival they took her to that fire Road in the San Gabriel mountains just as planned there Norris told bitticker to go take a walk for an hour I'm sure that was one of the longest hours of Schaefer's Young Life Norris violated her then relinquished her to bitticker when he returned Norris took a walk of his own while bitticker also violated Lucinda once Norris returned he went at her again when Schaefer asked if they intended to kill her she also asked if she could pray first but Norris assured her that they didn't intend to kill her however sadly that's exactly what they did and they never gave her time to pray [Music] Whitaker and Norris told different accounts of the murder each claiming it was the others idea to kill Lucinda rather than release her but something tells me that the pair were both on par with the decision Norris tried to strangle Schaefer but according to him after 45 seconds the look in her eyes made him nauseous and he ran out of the van vomiting apparently bitticker stepped in and strangled Lucinda until she fell and began convulsing on the ground he then Twisted a wire coat hanger around her neck with a pair of pliers until she was dead after brutally using this teenage girl and murdering her the two methodically wrapped her in a plastic shower curtain and tossed her over the Steep Canyon Lawrence was sure that the animals would take care of the rest so there wouldn't be any evidence left just two weeks later on July 8th of 1979 spurred on by their first Victory they would go on to abduct 18 year old Andrea Joy Hall at Redondo Beach Norris hid in the back of the van while bitticker offered Hall a drink in the cooler as she went to retrieve the beverage Norris grabbed her bound her and gagged her again they drove to the San Gabriel mountains where bitticker violated her twice and Norris once himself while bitticker assaulted Andrea for the second time Norris thought he saw headlights so betticker dragged the poor girl into some bushes while Norris hopped into the driver's seat of the van to go scout out possible visitors when Norris returned they drove further into the mountains bitticker ordered Hall to walk uphill naked perform oral sex on him and then pose for a few polaroid pictures after the photos they then drove even deeper into the mountains bitticker again ordered the abused and frightened girl to walk uphill naked ahead of him according to Norris he took this time to drive to a nearby liquor store when he returned Andrea Hall was nowhere to be seen Whitaker showed Norris a couple photographs of Hall Norris asked why she looked so scared a grinning bitticker replied that he told Andrea Hall he was going to kill her and challenged her to give him reasons why he shouldn't but he was just being an asshole Lawrence had already made up his mind Paul's reasons to live only made him laugh he killed the poor girl by driving an ice pick through her ear and into her brain then he turned her over and put the ice pick into the other ear before stomping on the handle until it broke off to be sure he had finished off his victim he strangled the body and then dumped it off a cliff [Music] a few months later on September 3rd Labor Day bitticker and Norris picked up two girls Jackie Doris Gillum and Jacqueline lamp the guys found the girls at a bus stop near Hermosa Beach they offered the girls a ride and sadly the girls accepted once inside the van they also accepted the marijuana on offer but it didn't take long for the girls to notice that they were headed off the Pacific Coast Highway and into the San Gabriel mountains when 13 year old Jacqueline lamp tried to escape Norris knocked her unconscious by hitting her over the head with a bag of lead weights then he quickly subdued fifteen-year-old Jackie Gillum before tying her up and gagging her when lamp regained Consciousness she tried to escape a second time but bitticker stopped the van near some tennis courts and grabbed her again Lawrence noticed the tennis players were watching with some concern but he told them that the girl was just on a bad acid trip and not to worry so they didn't they simply returned to their tennis match as if nothing was out of ordinary bitticker passed lamp back to Norris who bound and gagged her too nope police were ever called for about two days Gillum and lamp were held captive in the San Gabriel mountains restrained and silenced the two young girls were forced to sleep next to their captors at one point bitter forced lamp to pose for pornographic pictures on a hill but neither man was interested in Jacqueline lamp so neither of them violated her still lamp saw and heard everything the men did to kill him being a witness to that kind of torture portrayed on your friend coupled with wondering when those sadistic sights would turn on you I'm sure was traumatic enough bitticker told Norris to snap Polaroids of him and Gillum with and without clothes he also audio taped his violation of Gillum where he can be found taking sick pleasure in her screams he stabbed her breasts with an ice pick and even tore off one of her nipples with pliers Roy Norris says he suggested that Gillum die quickly because she was so Cooperative but apparently bitticker declined saying no they only die once anyway Lawrence then repeated what he did to Andrea Hall with the ice pick on Gillum before strangling her to death Roy Norris then struck lamp in the head seven times with a sledgehammer bitticker then strangled her thinking she was surely dead but she opened her eyes so Norris hit her again with the sledgehammer and bitticker strangled the life out of her both of the bodies were thrown off a cliff just like in previous murders foreign [Music] on September 30th the pair captured Robin robek who was just in town visiting her father they maced her in the face and snatched her off the sidewalk both men violated her but somehow she managed to escape and Report the incident for the first time Lawrence bitticker became a bit concerned that police would come looking for him so he moved out of the Burbank motel and into an apartment their final victim that we know of was Shirley Lynette Ledford she was only 16 years old when they abducted her on Halloween in 1979. the police believe she knew bitticker because he frequently came into the McDonald's she worked in she actually got into the murder van willingly while trying to hitchhike home after a Halloween party this would prove to be a fatal mistake betticker drove to a secluded Street while Norris bound and gagged Shirley Ledford then Roy took the will and drove for about an hour while bitticker tortured the young girl in the van he began by slapping her but this quickly progressed to him straight up beating her with his fists he shouted at her to scream then to scream louder he hit her with a sledgehammer and tortured her with pliers he violated her in multiple ways throughout the ordeal while she pleaded for him to stop what's the matter don't you like to scream he asked the audio of the awful attack was recorded on a tape recorder eventually Norris took his turn in the back of the van with the exhausted and already traumatized girl he recorded the audio of his session with her too already excited by Shirley screams with bitticker Roy Norris told her go ahead and scream or I'll make you scream he then proceeded to hit her elbow with a sledgehammer breaking it in multiple places she pleaded with him not to hit her again but he did the sick loser hit Shirley 25 times with a sledgehammer on the same elbow as he relished her screams of Agony Roy Norris said this about the tape of ledford's tortured screams we've all heard women scream in horror films still we know that no one is really screaming why simply because an actress can't produce some sounds that convince us that something vile and heinous is happening if you ever heard that tape there's just no possible way that you'd not begin crying and trembling I doubt you could listen to more than a full 60 seconds of it Shirley's torture lasted about two hours two endless hours of fear and misery for the pleasure of these psychos deemed fit for society finally Nora strangled surely with a wire coat hanger she didn't react much whether from shock or from relief we simply don't know unlike the other murders the pair chose to leave her on someone's lawn to see how the Press would view it her bruised and lacerated young body was found by a jogger the following morning laying in a bed of ivy the autopsy found that she was not only violated but the 16 year old girl had extensive blunt force trauma to her face breasts her elbow a puncture wound on her left hand and a finger sliced on her right hand she also sustained significant injuries to her genitals and rectum from bitter using pliers on those regions and as if that wasn't barbaric enough Shirley Ledford was strangled with a coat hanger that was tightened around her neck so tight that its circumference was about the size of a silver dollar it's safe to say that these two rejects are two of the worst Monsters of all time [Music] you'd think that leaving Shirley's body on public display would have quickly led to the arrest of Lawrence bitticker and Roy Norris but that's not what led authorities to the toolbox Killers there's an old saying that goes two people can keep a secret if one of them is dead this phrase proves accurate in this case Roy Norris just couldn't keep his big evil mouth shut he wanted to brag to someone about his crimes and he did just that in November of 1979 when he jumped into Joseph Jackson a former inmate of the California men's Colony Roy told Jackson everything Norris was probably still feeling high from his kill he even confided in Joseph about the three other attempts to abduct women who escaped Jackson I suppose recognized that these psychos were worse than he could possibly imagine he consulted his attorney who advised him to go straight to the authorities the Los Angeles police referred him to the Hermosa Beach police where detective Paul Bynum began investigating Jackson's claims Bynum was sure that some details matched the reports of missing teenage girls in the past five months also Norris had told Jackson that they had sprayed mace in a woman's face to abduct and violate her that woman as you may remember was Robin robek she she reported the incident on September 30th when she was shown some pictures of the men she immediately picked out bitticker and Norris strangely though she was unable to pick them out of a lineup Paul Bynum was pretty sure he had his men he set up surveillance and arrested Norris within a few days Norris had been dealing marijuana and that violated his parole he was arrested on November 20th of 1979 parallel to this Lawrence bitticker was arrested for what he did to Robin robek but because Robin couldn't positively identify him in a lineup Bynum held bitticker for possession of drugs which was also a violation of his parole Bynum knew he had to get these guys off the streets so he held them the only way he could until he could gather enough evidence to formally end their reign of terror once and for all when bitticker's apartment was searched the Polaroid photographs of Hall and Gillum were found inside the van they found the Sledgehammer the bag of lead weights a jar of Vaseline two necklaces belonging to the victims and a tape recording of Shirley Ledford screaming in pain and horror ledford's own mother identified her daughter's voice I can only imagine how the horrific screams of her tortured daughter traumatized her I'm sure she was never the same again and police also found evidence that these men wouldn't have stopped unless someone stopped them their Madness was escalating and bitticker's residence they discovered seven bottles of acidic chemicals that the men intended to use on their next victim a search of Roy's residents revealed a bracelet belonging to Ledford and more pictures from the two men's habitats bind police recovered approximately 500 pictures of victims and even some of unsuspecting young girls who probably didn't even know they were being watched a preliminary hearing was held on November 30th of 1979 for Roy Norris in relation to the charge of violating robek Deputy district attorney Stephen K interrogated him about roback and the allegations of the other rapes and murders that Jackson had told him about at first Norris denied everything like the coward he was but in the face of the massive amount of evidence piled against him he caved in and confessed but he blamed bitticker for the murders according to Roy it was all bitticker's idea to kill the women and leave no Witnesses he was just there to violate them one might even think that maybe that's true especially considering his claims that he threw up and had to run out of the van when he tried to strangle Lucinda but he did admit to violating and torturing the ladies Roy even confessed to hitting 13 year old lamp in the head with the sledgehammer and brutally breaking ledford's elbow Norris went on to say that bitticker was getting increasingly more violent with each victim but Norris didn't seem to take notice of how his own brutality had escalated foreign that everything that he attributes of a nature which is detrimental to Mr bitter is actually what Mr Norris he himself did and is completely consistent with his complete pattern of behavior over the last 11 years there is nothing in this stupid background to indicate of any assault Behavior involving women any groups at all fart and Mr Norris is concerned he's completely consistent with these type of vicious assaults upon women Roy Norris used old Tony's on redondo's pier as his main hunting ground even before he met vinegar one night he watched a woman leave without her husband on the pier he followed her out dragged her into the bushes viciously raped and strangled her [Music] a month later she was driving with her husband and her kids and saw Roy on a motorcycle they wrote down his license plate and that's when he was charged for the Stephen K convicted him on three years to life that conviction landed him in San Luis Obispo with Lawrence Whitaker the co-defendant who obviously made a deal the involvement of the co-defendant is so much greater than that of Mr vitica that it's incomprehensible to me that the deal that a deal was made with Mr Norris so none of your like you guys didn't have any victims I just got away like you just ripped and let go no no to really attacked that messenger girl on the way to a graduation she got away but she couldn't identify him no girl that entered the van ever survived not well not when we were together doing those sorts of things no what do you mean like there was other times during a bag for each solo yeah I don't remember where the she just decided to trial she just testify of the primary hearing though so I got away from the area no problem I'm on foot and Roy stuffed the van he didn't know what to do so he drove around the block and left the area so I had to wait around to try to figure out how to contact him and how to get home so I went through some nearby bar and told her my answering service I figured so far I would stop somewhere call there and get a message from me to where to go he never thought of that so I had to wait around the bar until he drove all the way home and I could reach him there so then he drives back but not in his car he comes back in the damn van after the victim and sing the silver and try to snatch her he drives back in the van a nice car that's what kind of immunity to yours Roy was all for blaming bitticker and helping the police bring Lawrence down but obviously this was just to save his own neck Sheriff Peter pitches of Los Angeles County stated in a press statement on February 7 1980 that both men were being charged with five counts of first-degree murder while 19 of the women pictured in the Polaroids had in fact been reported missing pitches said there was no evidence that they were victims of betika and Norris one of the photos shows a woman with two men in a similar situation to that of known victims she was never identified nor did these men ever mention her but she may have been yet another victim of the toolbox killers Norris LED police to the San Gabriel mountains to recover the bodies of their victims however Lucinda Schaefer and Andrea Hall were never found on February 9th of 1980 lamp and gillum's bodies were found scattered over the canyon probably dragged Away by animals just as bitter had predicted lamp skull was crushed and Gillum still had the ice pick in it in February of 1980 both monsters were formally charged with the murders bitticker was denied Bill and Roy Norris could have actually gotten out of it if he'd come up with ten thousand dollars but thankfully he couldn't scrape it together a mere month later he pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against bitticker if the death penalty as well as life without parole was taken off the table to save his miserable life Norris would testify that his maniacal friend was worse than him he pleaded guilty to one count of robbery two counts of rape four counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in association with the demise of Andrea Hall during the sentencing hearing on May 7th of 1980 a probation officer told the court that Roy Norris can realistically be regarded as an extreme sociopath whose depraved pattern of behavior is beyond Rehabilitation Norris was sentenced to 45 years to life with the possibility of parole beginning in 2010. he came up for parole twice but thank God he was denied Norris continued to claim that the murders were all bitticker's idea and that he himself didn't enjoy the torture or the killings he said he only took joy in violating his victims but both detectives and psychologists contradict him stating that he liked terrorizing and torturing victims just as much as betteker did his previous criminal history involving women before he and bitter teamed up proves that and as we know violence only escalates when it comes to a dangerous psychopath fortunately Roy Norris finally died of natural causes in San Quentin State Prison on February 24th of 2020 he was 79 years old for nearly 40 years he wasted taxpayers money but at least he was never granted another opportunity to create more victims Lawrence bitticker actually went to trial at his arraignment on April 24 1980 a judge entered a not guilty plea for him because he refused to plea on his own behalf he was charged with 29 counts of kidnapping rape sodomy murder possession of a firearm criminal conspiracy and conspiracy to commit murder in December of 1979 he had allegedly attempted to hire too soon to be ex-cons to kill Robin robek to keep her from testifying against him however the charge of her rape was eventually dropped due to lack of evidence remember during the lineup for some reason she was unable to pick him out against his attorney's advice while in prison awaiting trial bitticker began his Memoirs with a book called The Last Ride the book details the torture and murders of his young victims all of whom had families to mourn their loss it was a slap in the face to the families a smug state it to the police as if to say look what I can do and you couldn't stop me until I led you to me what an absolute piece of shit on January 19th of 1981 bitticker went to trial and his former BFF Roy Norris was ready to sign his death warrant during his testimony Norris told all even details about the assault of Robin robeck bitticker's own neighbor a 17 year old named Christina said bitticker showed her a picture of Gillum and said the girls I get won't talk anymore bitticker also played her an audio tape of two girls probably lamp and Gillum screaming while he laughed this tape recording was never found a former cellmate of bitticker's Lloyd Douglas also repeated the criminal accounts that bitticker had boasted about according to him Lawrence graphically detailed his crimes such as how he used the vice Grip Pliers to tear off parts of his victims and assault them in other horrific ways a vital part of this case would be bitticker's own creation of the audio tapes of Shirley ledford's torture and murder Norris testified that this tape was played over and over while the pair drove around before they were arrested Roy said bitter thought it was funny the defense tried to get the judge to throw this evidence out but the judge denied the request pretty much everyone in the courtroom cried while the tape of Shirley Ledford was played even the prosecutor Stephen K had to wipe away tears from his face some folks even had to leave the courtroom but Lawrence bitticker smiled through the whole thing during recess a teary-eyed prosecutor K told reporters everyone who has heard that tape has had to defect their lives I just picture those girls how alone they were when they died a reporter asked if the tape should have been played if it affected people that much he replied the jury needs to know what these guys did damn right prosecutor damn right covering up the evils of this world as if they don't exist never does anyone any good Whitaker took the stand on his own behalf denying any knowledge of Lucinda Schaefer and claiming to have paid Andrea hall for sex and to pose for the pictures he forced her to take he claimed Norris was the one that walked off with her and returned alone he also claimed that Gillum had agreed to have sex and pose for pictures for money too he further claimed that he had left Norris alone with Gillum and lamp Lawrence also said Shirley ledford's tape was just a theatrical performance he claimed that he left her alone with Norris as well in closing arguments prosecutor K stated that the death penalty wasn't enough for bitticker if he could he would want to see the loser get the same treatment that he forced upon as victims but the law doesn't allow for that the torture of Shirley Ledford was in his opinion one of the most shocking brutal cases in the history of American Crime he asked if the death penalty is not appropriate in this case when will it ever be on February 17th of 1981 bitticker was found guilty on all charges the jury deliberated for three days then on March 24th bitticker was sentenced to death Judge Thomas Fredericks also added an alternative sentence just in case the sentence was ever reverted to life in prison in that event bitticker would serve 199 years and four months in other words there wasn't a hope in Hell Lawrence bitticker would ever leave prison alive he would never hurt another woman Lawrence filed several appeals and received a stay of execution multiple times then he made a nuisance of himself by filing over 40 frivolous lawsuits for insignificant silly issues like receiving a broken cookie in his lunch those lawsuits cost Californian taxpayers a pretty penny finally in 1993 a judge put a stop to it after that bitticker had to have the approval of an attorney or judge before filing another lawsuit bitticker settled into life on death row the monster received a lot of fan mail and even answered some of it he was known to sign his name as pliers bitticker he played Bridge with other Southern California serial killers like Randy Kraft aka the scorecard killer Douglas Clark aka the Sunset Strip killer and even William Bonin aka the freeway killer Yes it truly appears that Southern California is the serial killer capital in June of 2018 Laura brand a journalist for peacock TV began having telephone conversations with bitticker before going to see him in prison she was putting together a documentary about the toolbox Killers she hoped her interviews with bitter would lead to the locations of the remains of Andrea Hall in Lucinda Schaefer in hopes of bringing some closure to the families bitticker loved when she would visit she was always kind and pleasant he actually became quite attached to her if this evil man ever had a heart hurt she might have been the only one he'd have let in Lawrence treated Laura like family and for Laura bitticker actually did map out where the bodies were and while investigators searched and searched the area they never found them Laura brand visited bitter just before he died at that time he confided that he was terribly scared of the needle being put in his arm she asked him you put ice picks through people's ears and you're scared of a needle he was a tough hard man when he was torturing and killing sweet innocent little girls but he was frightened of a little tiny needle it's laughable how cowardly the worst monsters can actually turn out when dragged into the Judgment of the light bitticker had a fondness for Laura Brandon even put her down as his next of Ken in his will this evil excuse for a man finally died on December 13 2019 at the age of 79 in San Quentin prison from natural causes [Music] prosecutor Stephen K still had nightmares from this case for years following the trial in his dreams he was always trying to save the latest victim in the murder Mac van but he was always too late foreign [Music] [Music] detective Paul Bynum committed suicide and died in 1987 at the age of 39 and his suicide note which was 10 pages long he wrote that this case haunted him and he was afraid for society should bitter and Norris ever be released [Music] the tape of Shirley ledford's torture is reported to be held by the FBI Academy to this day it's used to desensitize agents I think it would be more likely to traumatize them there's a scene in Netflix mind hunter that actually alludes to this and there's also a clip of the tape being played in the background as reporters and attendees exit a courtroom looking seriously Disturbed [Music] in 1990 in preparation for his role as a profiler in the movie Silence of the Lambs Scott Glenn visited FBI's Behavioral Science unit in Quantico John Douglas renowned FBI profiler gave him a tour Douglas said bitticker was the most disturbing individual for whom he had ever created a criminal profile John also played Shirley ledford's tape for Scott Glenn after leaving the unit Glenn told reporters with tears in his eyes that he had been totally against the death penalty until now [Music] the truth is monsters do exist in our world in our neighborhoods in our school behind that bush in the back seat of a car and even in our own families we hear of sex traffickers driving through mall parking lots looking for victims and predators stopping at nothing to lure out our children for one-on-one time the toolbox Killers is a case that teaches us to be aware of our surroundings and always know our loved one's whereabouts if a suspicious van parks next to your vehicle don't hesitate to get a security guard to walk you out to your car and watch as you safely drive away make sure you're not followed home if you think you are being followed make your next stop the nearest police station often these evil people stock their prey for a long time before they finally grab them just look at Dennis Rader he sometimes stalked his victims for week before aborting the mission when the slightest sign of exposure tipped its hat in his Direction Take self-defense classes carry a defensive weapon that you know how to use better to have one and not need it than to need one and not have it in my house we have pepper spray and weapons hidden safely in strategic points all around the house and when we're out we always carry for defense I would never want to look back and wish that I had taken simple precautions that could have saved myself and my family members from an awful tragedy the truth is it could happen to you so if you feel your life is under threat fight scream resist and do whatever you have to do to stay alive there's no shame in securing your back by looking over your shoulder lock your doors in the house and in the car at all times and it doesn't matter what time of day it is here's a tip if you wear headphones invest in the ones that have Ambient sound or hear through features they're definitely worth the money be aware of what model that car was or what do you call that person had on their shirt never be caught off guard do your best to never let an assailant take you to a second location they have bad intentions if they're trying to move you especially if they aren't hiding their face whatever you do never become someone's easy target never let yourself be the victim [Music] [Music] there's no bucket list just one close [Music] we got it we gotta find a way okay

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 369,775

Keywords: law and crime, law and crime network

Id: 3Lvu63Dqr4E

Length: 59min 48sec (3588 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 04 2023