Trucker, Magician Accused

by Bill Fabb

William G. Bonin, a Downey truck driver, today was accused by investigators of committing 21 of the so-called “freeway” murders in five Southland counties. Named as suspect with the 33-year-old Bonin in “at least six of the killings” was Vernon Butts, 22, a magician, who also lives in Downey. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department released a statement in late morning that evidence has been developed linking Bonin and Butts to the multiple slayings of young male hitchhikers. The announcement came just a few hours before the district attorney’s office in Los Angeles was to formally charge Bonin with 14 killings that occurred in this county. Butts was to be charged with five of the same murders.

Other Actions Expected

Authorities in Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Kern counties are expected to follow with formal charges in the near future on murders that occurred in their jurisdictions. Bonin was first named as a suspect in the “freeway” murders after he was arrested June 12 in Hollywood while allegedly committing an act of sodomy on a 17-year-old male. Investigators said Bonin had been under surveillance for nine days before that time after a juvenile informant supplied Los Angeles Police Department detectives with information suggesting that Bonin might be involved in the killings which occurred between May, 1979, and June, 1980. Bonin was not charged with any of the homicides until last Friday when he was arraigned on a charge that he murdered Marcus Grabs, a 17-year-old student from Germany who had been hitchhiking around the United States. Work of Two Bureaus The sheriffs department announcement said the combined efforts of its homicide and narcotics bureaus developed the evidence that pointed to both Bonin and Butts as being the killers of Grabs.

Investigators said they interviewed Butts at his home last Thursday and discovered additional evidence that linked him to the slaying of victim No. 16, whom they identified as Daren Kendrick, 19, of Cypress. Butts was arrested the next day and booked in Grabs’ murder at the sheriff’s substation in Norwalk. Investigation is continuing into other murders in the series of slayings to determine whether Bonin and Butts may be responsible for additional killings. The slayings have come to be described as the “freeway” murders because most of the victims’ bodies were dumped along or near Southern California.