Tragically, Ronald Gatlin was one of the victims of California serial murderer, William Bonin who was convicted of the rape, torture and murder of 14 boys and young men between 1968 and 1980. Known as “The Freeway Killer”, he was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison in 1996. Prosecutors portrayed him as “the most arch-evil person who ever existed.” Although he was found guilty of 14 murders, he confessed to 21 and is suspected of even more.

On March 14, 1980, 18-year-old Ronald Gatlin was picked up by Bonin in Van Nuys, CA. He had been sodomized and strangled with a ligature. His body showed wounds to the neck and his right ear made by an ice pick and also showed signs of beating. Gatlin’s nude body was found the next day in Duarte, CA, near the 210 and 605 Freeways.