Sex, Sun, And Serial Killers: Los Angeles In The 1980s

Serial murders peaked in the United States during the 1980s, and sunny Los Angeles became the primary hunting ground for a string of psychopaths. Of the 2,670 total serial murders that took place that decade, roughly one-fifth took place in California, according to 24/7 Wall St.

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“At the time we were considered the homicide capital of the world, or the United States at least,” Mike Stallcup, a retired detective who worked in the LAPD Robbery Homicide Division, said in an episode of Vanity Fair Confidential called “Murder on the Sunset Strip.”

“I believe we had close to 1,200 homicides within the city of Los Angeles. We were running hard at that time — fast and furious,” Stallcup continued.

Below are a few of the most notorious.

Douglas Clark and Carol Bundy — “The Sunset Strip Killers“

Between June and September 1980, Doug Clark, 31, and Carol Bundy, 37, raped and murdered six female victims, most of whom were young runaways or prostitutes.

Bundy also killed and decapitated her ex-boyfriend.

Clark wanted to fulfill his fantasy of killing a woman during sex.

His first victims were Gina Narano and Cynthia Chandler, whom he picked up on the Sunset Strip and ordered to perform fellatio on him before shooting them both in the head and taking them to a garage to rape their dead bodies.

Related: Slaughter On The Sunset Strip: Sex Killers Doug Clark And Carol Bundy Terrorized L.A.

He dumped their bodies near the Ventura Freeway. At one point, Bundy called the police, but refused to give her name.

Clark went on to murder more victims, and took one victim’s head back home and stored it in the fridge — and Bundy, upon seeing the grisly trophy put make-up on it before Clark used it to commit necrophilia.

In August 1980, Bundy lured Jack Murray, her ex-boyfriend, into a van and killed and decapitated him.

Writer Mark MacNamara, who interviewed Bundy for an article he wrote in Vanity Fair, said that he believes Murray may have been involved in the killings as well, and it haunts him that he will never know the full story.

Clark was sentenced to death in 1983. Bundy received a life sentence, and died in prison in 2003. 

Randy Kraft — “The Scorecard Killer“

Kraft committed the rape, torture, mutilation, and murder of a minimum of 16 young men in a series of killings spanning between 1972 and 1983, and the majority of the killings took place in California.

Kraft, who was convicted in 1989 of murdering 16 victims, is also believed to have committed the rape and murder of up to 51 additional boys and young men.

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Kraft became known as the “Scorecard Killer,” because upon his arrest, investigators discovered a coded list depicting cryptic references to his victims.

Richard Ramirez — “The Night Stalker“

Ramirez went on a months-long rampage of sexual assault and murder that generated widespread fear throughout Southern California.

His modus operandi was to enter homes in the early morning hours through open windows or doors.

Related: Crime History: Richard Ramirez, The Satanic Serial-Killing “Night Stalker,” Was Apprehended 31 Years Ago

He killed 13 people in a variety of ways: Some were found strangled, others had their throats slashed, but most had been fatally shot.

Spray-painted pentagrams — a distinctive Satanist symbol — were also found on the walls of some victims’ homes.

“The Golden State Killer”

Police have been searching for the “Golden State Killer,” also known as the “Original Night Stalker,” for over 40 years. Police attempted to change the nickname so that the public did not confuse the case with Night Stalker Richard Ramirez.

Authorities say that he committed 12 murders, about 45 rapes, and dozens of home break-ins from 1976 to 1986.

Related: Authorities Relauch Search For The “Original Night Stalker,” 4 Decades After Killings Began

Investigators have also linked him to the 1986 rape of an 18-year-old in Irvine, as well as rape, murder, and attempted murder cases from 1979 through 1981 in Goleta, Ventura, Laguna Niguel, and Irvine.

The FBI continues to search for information, and have offered a reward of $50,000 for help in finding him.

William George Bonin — “The Freeway Killer“

Bonin raped, tortured, and murdered a minimum of 21 boys and young men in a series of killings in 1979 and 1980 in southern California — and authorities believe that he may have committed 15 more.

Bonin became known as the “Freeway Killer” due to the fact that the majority of his victims’ bodies were discovered alongside numerous freeways in southern California. He shares this nickname with Randy Kraft and Patrick Kearney, an unrelated serial killer who murdered over 40 victims during the 1970s.

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Described by the prosecutor at his first trial as “the most arch-evil person who ever existed,” Bonin was convicted of 14 of the murders. He spent 14 years on death row and was executed at San Quentin in 1996.

Phillip Carl Jablonski 

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