they’re one of the most fascinating, fucked up serial killers that have ever lived, and i think they would have fun covering this one. In response, Bittaker again ordered her to scream as loud as she wished, then began alternately striking her with a hammer, beating her breasts with his fistsShortly after Norris switched places with Bittaker, he himself switched on the tape recorder that Bittaker had used to record much of the time he had been in the rear of the van with Ledford.Norris then reached for the sledgehammer as Shirley Ledford—seeing him do this—screamed, "Oh no!" Bittaker would later claim these numerous theft-related offenses committed throughout his adolescence had been attempts to compensate for the lack of love he received from his parents.Norris's extended family lived within a short distance of his parents' home due to his grandfather's real estate investments.Norris's childhood recollections were interspersed with memories of wrongful accusations while living with his biological parents, and of being While living with his birth parents at the age of 16, Norris visited the home of a female relative who was in her early twenties and began speaking to her in a sexually suggestive manner. Don't you like to scream? Due to repeated parole violations, he was sentenced to 6 months to 15 years' imprisonment in October 1971.In 1974, Bittaker was arrested for assault with attempt to commit murder, after he stabbed a young supermarket employee who had accused him of stealing. In 1966, Bittaker underwent further examinations by two independent psychiatrists, both of whom classified him as a borderline psychopath: a highly manipulative individual unable to acknowledge the consequences of his actions.A month after his parole in July 1967, Bittaker was again arrested and convicted of theft and of leaving the scene of an accident. He was sentenced to five years but was released in April 1970.
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If you ever heard that tape, there is just no possible way that you'd not begin crying and trembling. With regards to the murder of Ledford, he claimed she had agreed to theatrically scream for the tape recorder, and that she was not tortured in his presence, but had been left alone with Norris. "On July 8, 1979, two weeks after the murder of Schaefer, Bittaker and Norris encountered 18-year-old Andrea Joy Hall hitchhiking along the On this occasion, Norris hid in the back of the van in order to dupe Hall into thinking Bittaker was alone. To support their case, the defense produced a friend of Norris named Richard Shoopman, who testified as to Norris's repeatedly divulging to him his desire to rape young girls.The most damning evidence presented at Bittaker's trial was a 17-minute section of the audio tape the pair had created of Ledford's abuse and torment. "As Ledford began to cry, she pleaded with Bittaker, saying, "No, don't touch me." From demons and slashers to cults and serial killers, the last podcast is guaranteed to satisfy your blood lust. On February 9, 1981,Seeking the death penalty for Bittaker, Kay referred to the case as "one of the most shocking, brutal cases in the history of American crime," before adding: "If the death penalty is not appropriate in this case, then when will it ever be? From demons and slashers to cults and serial killers, the last podcast is guaranteed to satisfy your blood lust.Press J to jump to the feed. Garber harked to the earlier testimony of a psychologist named Michael Maloney, who had testified as to Bittaker's inability to On March 24, in accordance with the jury verdict, Bittaker was formally sentenced to death. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcutsCookies help us deliver our Services. An autopsy revealed that, in addition to having been sexually violated, she had died of strangulation after receiving extensive blunt-force trauma to the face, head, breasts, and left elbow, with her Bittaker would later claim the tape recording the pair had created of Ledford's clear abuse and torture offered nothing other than the evidence of a threesome, adding that, towards the very end, Shirley Ledford was screaming for him and Norris to kill her.In November 1979, Norris became reacquainted with a friend named Joseph Jackson, an individual with whom he had previously been incarcerated at the California Men's Colony.Upon hearing Norris's confessions, Jackson consulted his attorney, who advised him to inform authorities.A Redondo Beach Detective named Paul Bynum was assigned to investigate Jackson's claims as to Norris's confessions of the murders, attempted abductions, and rapes that he had confided to Jackson had occurred between June and October.Bynum dispatched an investigator to visit Robeck at her residence in Upon linking Bittaker and Norris to the rape of Robin Robeck, the Hermosa Beach police placed Norris under Although Robeck had been able to identify mug shots of Bittaker and Norris, in a police lineup she was unable to positively identify her assailants.A search of Bittaker's apartment revealed several Polaroid photographs which were determined as depicting Hall and Gilliam—both of whom had been reported as missing earlier the same year. Bittaker responded by stabbing his pursuer in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. When Schaefer passed the van, Norris exchanged a few words with her before dragging her into the van and closing the door. Woah I thought about them doing an episode about them earlier today.