In the late 1970s, Southern California witnessed a huge number of deceased male teenage victims being discovered on the sides of highways, dumpsters, and other areas. The discovery of the victims took place in Los Angeles and Orange counties, which created fear in the communities because many parents did not know whether their child was the next victim. Most of the victims who were found had shown signs of strangulation, sodomization, and rape (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, 2024). The discoveries of the victims on the sides of highways gave the public the nickname of the unknown perpetrator, “The Freeway Killer,” who was later identified as William Bonin. For 14 months, Bonin continued to claim victims’ lives until…show more content… Criminal Charges When law enforcement officers arrested Bonin, he was charged with 14 counts of first-degree murder, robbery, sodomy, and mayhem in the county of Los Angeles (Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 1995)). The. The charges filed against Bonin were for special circumstances such as “felony murder-robbery special circumstances and a felony murder-sodomy special circumstances” (Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 1995)). The. The evidence presented by the prosecution was physical, scientific, and testimonial, which found Bonin guilty of all charges that were filed against him (Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 1995)). The. The physical evidence presented proved beyond reasonable doubt that Bonin was the perpetrator because the evidence presented were: fibers that matched the carpeting of Bonin’s van, hair follicles that were present on three of the victims’ bodies, seminal fluid, and human blood found in his van (Bonin v. Calderon, 59 F.3d 815 (9th Cir. 1995)). The. Subsequently, Bonin was charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder in Los Angeles County and four counts of first-degree murder in Orange County. The 14 counts of first-degree murder were determined by the prosecution because Bonin had the intent to murder the victims and also disregarded human life (Manshoory,
