Parole Shock: Strangler’s New Claim Stuns

Collection of photographs laid out on a table for analysis

Serial killer Kenneth Bianchi’s recent parole push revives doubts over his shaky testimony that convicted cousin Angelo Buono, questioning if justice relied on a proven liar’s word.

Story Highlights

Bianchi testified against Buono in a plea deal to avoid execution, but flip-flopped repeatedly, saying “I don’t know” about key details before implicating him.[1][2]
Courts ruled Bianchi faked hypnosis and multiple personalities, yet his contradictory statements fueled Buono’s 1983 life sentence.[2][5]
Physical evidence tied victims to Bianchi alone, with no direct forensic links named to Buono’s upholstery shop despite claims.[4]
Bianchi now claims innocence of all murders in parole petitions, alleging hypnosis coercion, as California denies release until 2035.

Hillside Strangler Crimes Terrorized Los Angeles

Between October 1977 and February 1978, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono raped, tortured, and murdered ten women and girls in Los Angeles, earning the “Hillside Strangler” moniker.[3] The killers targeted prostitutes initially, then middle-class women aged 12 to 28. They posed as police officers using fake badges, abducted victims in Bianchi’s Cadillac, and took them to Buono’s Glendale upholstery shop for abuse before strangling them and dumping bodies on hillsides.[1][2][3]

Fibers from Buono’s upholstery workshop appeared on two victims, rabbit hairs from his property on another, and a fake police badge imprint matched his wallet.[2] Eyewitnesses described two men matching their appearances in abductions. Bianchi later confessed to three additional “Alphabet murders” in Rochester, though unproven.[2]

Bianchi’s Confession Ploys and Court Rulings

Arrested in 1979 for Washington murders, Bianchi claimed multiple personality disorder and hypnosis-induced confessions.[2][5] Judge Ronald George ruled in 1981 he faked both, citing police circumstantial evidence and psychiatric opinions from Dr. Martin Orne.[2][5] Bianchi pleaded guilty to five California and two Washington murders, avoiding the death penalty by agreeing to testify against Buono.[4]

During the 1982 Buono trial, Bianchi proved uncooperative, contradicting himself to sabotage the case.[3] He first said “I don’t know” if he participated or was present for the ten killings, then named “Angelo Buono, sitting at the end of the table there,” claiming his role “always stuck” despite memory gaps.[1] Bellingham investigators testified he lied about assaulting some victims.[4] Jewelry from victims Yolanda Washington and Kimberly Martin was found at Bianchi’s residence.

Convictions Hold Despite Testimony Doubts

Buono’s defense portrayed Bianchi as the sole killer, but a jury convicted Buono in 1983 of nine first-degree murders based on testimony, fibers, and witnesses.[1][2] Both received life without parole; Buono died in 2002 of heart failure, Bianchi remains in Washington State Penitentiary.[1][3] Bianchi’s post-conviction petitions retract all confessions as hypnosis coercion, claiming facts mismatched evidence; courts rejected these.[4]

On July 10, 2025, California’s parole board denied Bianchi release, citing crime gravity; next eligibility is 2035. Prosecutors and victim families oppose parole, emphasizing guilty pleas and trial outcomes. True crime media highlights Bianchi’s deceptions, fueling public skepticism of his Buono testimony reliability.[5][6]