Where Are The Hillside Stranglers Today?
The Hillside Stranglers were a pair of rapists and serial killers that tormented Los Angeles in a four-month killing spree that left 10 girls — as young as 12 years old — dead and strewn about the hills of the City of Angels (via All That's Interesting). The murderers, at the time suspected to be one person, struck with such frequency that sometimes multiple bodies were found within a single day, often stripped naked and with signs of rope marks around their necks. It was eventually discovered that two men were behind the terrible crimes — Kenneth Bianchi, who committed two further murders on his own, and his cousin, Angelo Buono.
Bianchi had a troubled childhood and couldn't hold a job, while Buono had a history of abuse against women. The two hatched a scheme to make money by kidnapping runaway teen women and pimping them out. This festered into violence, rape, and eventually murder, and the dreadful pair was only apprehended when Bianchi murdered two girls without his literal partner-in-crime. A long, highly-publicized trial followed where Bianchi tried and failed to claim insanity, and both were sentenced to life in prison.
One is dead, the other still behind bars
Angelo Buono has been dead for nearly two decades, dying behind bars at the age of 67 on September 21, 2002 (via The Washington Post). Buono died alone in his cell at California State Prison with no signs of trauma, and a heart ailment is suspected to be the cause of his death. He had been serving a life sentence after the jury decided not to recommend the death penalty. His death was celebrated by the prosecutor and judge that presided over his trial.
According to Biography, Kenneth Bianchi is currently serving six life sentences, having avoided the death penalty by testifying against his cousin. In 1989, Bianchi married a pen pal from Louisiana in a prison chapel ceremony, and in 2010, his latest request for parole was denied. At the age of 70, Bianchi has been imprisoned for about four decades, and it doesn't look likely that he'll leave any time soon.