Quote:
Originally Posted by Collects
The Hillside Strangler operated in Los Angeles also.
One hot summer night in Hollywood in the 1970s, when I normally slept soundly through the night, I was awakened feeling an evil presense, looked out my window and saw a man about 6 feet away, peering through the screen of the open window at me and my wife, both naked lying on top of the sheets. I shouted something and he ran away. I think he was eyeing my wife as his next victim. He was later convicted of some of the Hillside Stranglings. Several of his victims were taken from within a single mile of my house.
The next day, I bought my first shotgun, loaded it with 00 ammo, and mounted it in a gun rack attached to the head of the bed.
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And the Skid Row Slasher, and others. Ken Bianchi (one of the two doing the Strangler killings) worked in in the title insurance industry, as did I. I met him once at an interoffice/industry party. He worked in the same position I did but for a different company==my ex-sister-in-law worked for him as a relief secretary. My impression, based on one introduction, was he was a wimp.
I walked through the area where the Slasher was doing his crimes just before and just after he did them; A couple of times before the police found them (For those familiar with L.A., I took the RTD in from Long Beach to the main Greyhound station off of 7th and walked up to the Hall of Records on Temple.) My co-workers joked that it was me because of my attitude on Skid Row winos such as Burlap Bertha who slept in the doorway at the Mexican Tourist Bureau. Yes, there are guys with trench coats and dozens of wristwatches on, AND guys with trench coats and NO WATCHES on.
If I remember right, their victims were targets of opportunity, mostly hookers and run-aways (like Peter Lorre's grandaughter). I think you might be thinking of the Night Stalker, Ramirez, who did enter homes.