Second, and perhaps more important, the judge did not conduct an adequate voir dire himself. The horror killings began in June 1979, with the death of Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, 16. No sooner had Lawrence been paroled when he was in trouble again, this time in Louisiana, where he was picked up by the FBI after he broke the Interstate Motor Vehicle Theft Act. The officers ultimately seized numerous photographs, several police scanners, a replica .45 caliber gun, several bottles and jars of chemicals, pornographic film, and various other items. Norris struggled with Cindy in the back, but then managed to get a strip of duct tape across her mouth, and managed to bind her wrists and ankles. fn. In March, 1971, he was arrested for burglary and, as usual, parole violation. Use the links under See more to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. On October 31, 1979, the Tool Box Killers would abduct 16-year-old Shirley Lynette Ledford. Resend Activation Email. (Bittaker subsequently earned the nickname Pliers from his desire to twist and tear girls nipples with his pliers he had used them in the torment of at least one previous victim.). Lynette climbed into the van and they drove away. By November, 1969, Norris was back in the United States, and once again stationed at San Diego. The sliding door opened and Cindy was forced into the van, screaming. Lynette told him, Ill scream if you stop hitting me., But Norris didnt stop. After Norris also raped Gilliam, they retied the girls, and all remained in the van over night. Yet the prosecutor was aware that Norris had previously been found to have committed a violent rape in which he beat the victim with a rock, and was committed as a MDSO. The girls continued making complaints and said they wanted to get out, and Norris was trying to shut them up, but failing. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6681995/shirley-lynette-ledford. At trial, confronted with the tape, Bittaker actually had the audacity to claim that it was just a threesome, and pointed out that Lynette had asked them to kill her. After wrapping the curtain around her, she was placed back in the van, and the two men drove around for a while looking for a suitable dumping spot. Rptr. Three months later, while Norris was out on bail pending his trial, he went up to a house and knocked on the door. He would commit a crime, get sent to jail, and then, shortly after, he would be released and then promptly repeat the whole thing again. No animated GIFs, photos with additional graphics (borders, embellishments. (The last execution in California took place in 2006 and since then there has been a Federal Court ordered moratorium on the death penalty in California over the lethal injection controversy.) They deserve to die like Shirley, Jackie, Jacqueline, and many others. 0 cemeteries found in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA. The two men drove back into Los Angeles, pleased with the nights accomplishments, but also feeling unsatisfied. Bittaker was sentenced to death for the killings in 1981; Norris took a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and testified against Bittaker. FN 16. He wanted a strong case, and a quick arrest may not provide that. Please ensure you have given Find a Grave permission to access your location in your browser settings. They then drove to a remote area, and started to torture her, Bittaker immediately turned on the tape recorder and started slapping and beating Shirley. 15 Holding that the doctrine did not permit the search of a closed container within a vehicle (p. 423) -- a holding that does not affect the present case -- the court remarked that "[i]f there were any vitality to the 'instrumentality' exception as it applies to automobiles , it would be applicable only to a scientific examination of the object itself, for example for fingerprints, bloodstains, or the taking of tire impressions or paint scrapings." (People v. [48 Cal. Considered to be a soft prison, its more relaxed and not tough. Norris was sentenced to 45 years to life. 3d 1, 71-75 [168 Cal. "Murder of Shirley Lynette Ledford" On October 31, 1979, 16-year-old Lynette was on her way home from a Halloween party in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles when she encountered two real-life monsters Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, also known as the "Tool Box Killers". Superior Court (1972) 8 Cal. On the sidewalk sat one lone shoe, dropped from Cindys foot as she was dragged into the van. 2d 782, 87 S. Ct. 1642], and People v. Hill, supra, 12 Cal. Quickly see who the memorial is for and when they lived and died and where they are buried. Some prisons, such as San Quentin, are harsh places, where a sentence is considered hard time. But the Mens Colony is not like that. He later said it brought him to tears, and caused him to change his stance on capital punishment, from anti to pro. Flowers added to the memorial appear on the bottom of the memorial or here on the Flowers tab. An initial execution date was set. In May, 1970, while he was still awaiting the disposition of the two charges against him, Norris attacked a woman on the campus of San Diego State College. But, appropriately for Halloween, her night turned into one of terror. (e) The method of weighing factors and determining penalty. Bittaker was also picked up and charged on suspicion of the kidnap and rape of Shirley Sanders. FN 26. Andrea Joy Hall was hitchhiking along the highway when they saw her. . On the night of November 29, 1988, near the impoverished Marlborough neighborhood in south Kansas City, an explosion at a construction site killed six of the citys firefighters. Getty ImagesLawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris had bonded over a love of sadism and fantasies of rape and torture. When defendant was tried in 1981, the court apparently overlooked both Wiley, supra, 18 Cal. Then, towards the middle the sounds are of Bittaker beating her about the chest with his fists and tormenting the screaming and pleading girl with vise grip pliers on her genitals, breasts and nipples. The conclusion was that Bittaker would likely continue to commit new crimes once he was released. Paroled once more, he went back to prison in October, 1964. Ancira Auto Group, one of the premier leading dealer groups in San Antonio, TX and serving all of South Texas since 1972, treats the needs of each individual customer with paramount concern. Norris got out and stood guard while defendant raped Hall. Norriss 30 years were up in 2010, and he was eligible for parole. Caldwell v. Mississippi, supra, 472 U.S. 320, however, tells us that the sentencer must assume the full burden of deciding whether a defendant should live or die. (a)(18)), raising the question whether the acts of torture must be the cause of death. Norris strangled her with a wire coat hanger. How To Change Cdl To Regular License, For the next month, Bittaker and Norris laid low, wondering if there would be a knock on the door. fn. He also gets fan mail from serial killer groupies, who also buy memorabilia such as his fingernail clippings. This browser does not support getting your location. Norris spent five years at Atascadero, at which point the doctors there decided that he was no further danger to others.. Warning Sensitive Content: Click here to read the Transcript of Shirley Lynette Ledford audio recording. Rptr. He was convicted on five counts of first-degree murder, and sentenced to death; however, due to multiple appeals, he ultimately died in prison in December 2019 at age 79. Please contact Find a Grave at [emailprotected] if you need help resetting your password. The prosecutor offered the evidence to prove defendant's state of mind -- that defendant did not feel intimidated by Norris -- rather than defendant's conduct on any particular occasion. But the display of Lynettes body was not the only mistake, and what would eventually seal their fate was from within the team itself. The second stage of the criminal trial, now that he had been found guilty, would be to determine what punishment he would suffer. The two men drove through the city and into the hills, then along the fire road far enough that they were hidden from view from the highway. It was around 5 p.m., and Cindy decided to leave the meeting early and make her way toward her grandmothers house in Torrance. Surrounded by the Angeles National Forest, it was remote enough for the men and their purpose. On October 31, 1979, 16-year-old Lynette was on her way home around 10.30 pm from a Halloween party in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles when she encountered two real-life monsters Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, also known as the Tool Box Killers. Neither constitutional fn. Prosecutors must demonstrate to the court that there are special circumstances that support the call for a death sentence. Try again later. The body had extensive bruising and tearing on the breasts, bruises on the genitals, and bruises on one elbow. After they had finished the alterations, sometime around 11 a.m., they began to drive aimlessly around, stopping at beaches and chatting with girls, drinking some beers, and always on the lookout for someone who would be suitable for their adventures. Remove advertising from a memorial by sponsoring it for just $5. The time for obtaining copies of evidence and submitting them to expert examination is before trial, not during the prosecution's case. The photographs were of Andrea, her face stricken with terror. [20] , [17c] The trial judge denied a defense challenge for cause because the juror "just said he would have a difficult time. The prosecutor's comment, however, is clearly improper for another reason. The audio tape Bittaker and Norris created of themselves raping and torturing Shirley Lynette Ledford remains in the possession of the FBI Academy. Its just her screaming, she said. When both men were finished, Bittaker took out a Polaroid camera and loaded film into it. 27, Defendant raises 40 guilt phase issues. 0 cemeteries found in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles County, California, USA. For those of you who do not know what Hell is like, you will find out, prosecutor Stephen Kay told the jurors during Bittakers trial. Just two months after he was released in 1963, he was jailed for parole violation, and was also suspected in a robbery. Il procuratore Stephen Kay . Your email address will not be published. medianet_crid = "168111523"; You can customize the cemeteries you volunteer for by selecting or deselecting below. But for veteran crime writer and crusading editor J. Patrick OConnor, the factsor a lack of themdidnt add up. Dalton didnt believe one word of it, thinking Norris was trying to make himself look important. Bittaker and Norris The Tool Box Killers, here to read the Transcript of Shirley Lynette Ledford audio recording. A Los Angeles County jury convicted Bittaker of five counts of murder, five counts of kidnapping as well as other charges including criminal conspiracy, rape, oral copulation, sodomy and being an. This browser does not support getting your location. They drove around until they found a suitable lawn, finally choosing one in Hermosa Beach, then they dragged the body from the van. One year later, in 1978, another psychiatrist said that Bittaker was a sophisticated psychopath and that he would never be successfully paroled. Defendant kidnapped and murdered five teenage girls, raped four of them, and tortured at least one. Try again later. (Pp. But the fact that Bittaker had saved him, according to a prisoners code, meant that Norris was bound to his older companion, and would do anything that he asked of him. They removed Cindy from the van and tossed her into the canyon, confident that it was unlikely to be discovered, and that the wildlife in the area would take care of any evidence anyway. The sought imposition of the death penalty thus rests upon the unproven and illegitimate assumption that it acts as a deterrent to the described 'potential killers'. They were only caught after Norris told another former inmate. E1 P2 | Halloween Edition: The Toolbox Murders. Recording the ordeal, he started torturing Shirley as Norris drove the van. She was followed by Andrea Joy Hall, 18; Jacqueline Doris Gilliam, 15; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13, and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16. Andrea Hall, 18; Jacqueline Gilliam, 15; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13; and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16, were killed over the following five months. An automatic appeal delayed the execution for two years, and another six years passed before a court affirmed the sentence. Shirley Ledford was 16 years young when she was abducted, assaulted, tortured and murdered on Halloween Night of 1979 by the "Toolbox Killers". Your email address will not be published. She never made it there. The object of the game was to see how long they could keep her alive and screaming before they killed her. The following February, 1980, Norris took Steve Kay, Detective Bynum, and a mountain rescue team to the sites where they dumped the bodies. After serving just two thirds of his sentence, the doctors released him. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Becoming a Find a Grave member is fast, easy and FREE. 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