Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker (September 27, 1940 – December 13, 2019) and Roy Lewis Norris (February 5, 1948 – February 24, 2020), also known as the Tool Box Killers, were two American serial killers and rapists who kidnapped, raped, tortured and killed five teenage girls in Southern California over a period of five months in 1979.
Described by FBI Special Agent John E. Douglas as the most disturbing individual for whom he has ever created a criminal profile, Bittaker was sentenced to death for five murders on March 24, 1981, but died of natural causes while incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State Prison in December 2019.
Norris accepted a plea bargain whereby he agreed to testify against Bittaker and was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 7, 1980, with possibility of parole after serving 30 years. He died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility in February 2020.
Bittaker and Norris became known as the "Tool Box Killers" because the majority of instruments used to torture and murder their victims, such as pliers, ice picks and sledgehammers, were items normally stored inside a household toolbox.
Early life
Lawrence Bittaker
Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 27, 1940, as the unwanted child of a couple who had chosen to not have children. Bittaker was placed in an orphanage by his natural mother and was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. George Bittaker as an infant. Bittaker's adoptive father worked in the aviation industry, which required the family to frequently move around the United States throughout his childhood.
Bittaker was first arrested for shoplifting at the age of 12 and obtained a minor criminal record over the next four years after further arrests for the same offense—in addition to petty theft—which brought him to the attention of juvenile authorities. Bittaker would later claim these numerous theft-related offenses committed throughout his adolescence had been attempts to compensate for the lack of love he received from his parents.
Although reported to have an IQ of 138, Bittaker considered school to be a tedious experience and dropped out of high school in 1957. By this stage in his adolescence, he and his adoptive parents were living in California. Within a year of dropping out, he had been arrested for car theft, a hit and run, and evading arrest. For these offenses he was imprisoned at the California Youth Authority, where he remained until he was 18 years old. Upon release, Bittaker discovered his adoptive parents had disowned him and had relocated to another state. He would never see his adoptive parents again.
Roy Norris
Roy Lewis Norris was born in Greeley, Colorado, on February 5, 1948. Norris was conceived out of wedlock; his parents had married to avoid the social stigma surrounding illegitimate birth at the time.
Norris's extended family lived within a short distance of his parents' home due to his grandfather's real estate investments. His father worked in a scrapyard and his mother was a drug-addicted housewife. He occasionally lived with his parents throughout his childhood and adolescence but was repeatedly placed in the care of foster families throughout the state of Colorado.
Norris's childhood recollections were interspersed with memories of wrongful accusations while living with his biological parents, and of being neglected by many of the foster families he lived with, frequently being denied sufficient food or clothing. He also claimed to have been sexually abused when in the care of a Hispanic family, later stating the prejudice he held towards Hispanic people originated from the neglect and abuse he endured as a child when placed in the care of this family.
While living with his birth parents at the age of 16, Norris visited the home of a female relative who was in her early twenties and began speaking to her in a sexually suggestive manner. She ordered him to leave her house and informed Norris' father, who threatened to subject him to a beating. Norris subsequently stole his father's car and drove into the Rocky Mountains, where he attempted to commit suicide by injecting pure air into an artery in his arm. He was later apprehended as a runaway, and returned to live with his parents. Upon his return home, Norris' parents informed him that he and his younger sister were unwanted children and that they intended to divorce when both reached adolescence.
A year later, Norris dropped out of school and joined the United States Navy. He was stationed in San Diego in 1965 and was deployed to Vietnam in 1969, although he did not see active combat during his four-month tour of duty. He was honorably discharged from the Navy after one tour of duty.
First offenses
Bittaker
Within days of his parole from the California Youth Authority, Bittaker was arrested for transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines. In August 1959, Bittaker was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment, to be served in the Oklahoma State Reformatory. He was later transferred to the medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, to serve the remainder of his sentence.
In 1960, Bittaker was released from prison and soon reverted to crime. Within months of his release, he had been arrested in Los Angeles for robbery and, in May 1961, was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. While incarcerated for this robbery, he was diagnosed by a psychiatrist as being highly manipulative. The psychiatrist also described Bittaker as "having considerable concealed hostility."
Bittaker was released on parole in 1963 after completing two years of his sentence. In October 1964, he was again imprisoned for parole violation. In 1966, Bittaker underwent further examinations by two independent psychiatrists, both of whom classified him as a borderline psychopath: a highly manipulative individual unable to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. Bittaker explained to one of them that his criminal activities gave him a feeling of self-importance, although he insisted circumstantial matters pertaining to his environment and upbringing decreased his ability to resist committing crimes. Bittaker was prescribed anti-psychotic medication. A year later, he was again released into society.
A month after his parole in July 1967, Bittaker was again arrested and convicted of theft and of leaving the scene of an accident. He was sentenced to five years but was released in April 1970. In March 1971, Bittaker was again arrested for burglary. Due to repeated parole violations, he was sentenced to 6 months to 15 years' imprisonment in October 1971. Three years later, Bittaker was again released from prison.
In 1974, Bittaker was arrested for assault with attempt to commit murder, after he stabbed a young supermarket employee who had accused him of stealing. The supermarket employee had observed Bittaker stealing a steak and had followed Bittaker outside and into the store's parking lot, where he asked Bittaker whether he had forgotten to pay. Bittaker responded by stabbing his pursuer in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. He attempted to flee but was quickly restrained by two other supermarket employees. The employee, Gary Louie, survived the stabbing, and Bittaker was convicted of the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon and sent to California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.
Norris
In November 1969, Norris was arrested for his first known sexual offenses: he was charged with both rape and assault with attempt to commit rape. In the latter incident, he had attempted to force his way into the car of a lone woman. Three months later, in February 1970, Norris attempted to deceive a lone woman into allowing him to enter her home. When the woman refused, he attempted to break into her house; the woman phoned the police, who arrested Norris before he had the opportunity to cause the woman any harm.
Less than three months after this offense, Norris was diagnosed by military psychologists with a severe schizoid personality. He was given an administrative discharge from the Navy under terms labeled as psychological problems.
In May 1970, Norris—on bail for his latest offense—attacked a female student whom he had been stalking on the grounds of the San Diego State University campus. Norris repeatedly struck her on the back of the head with a rock until she slumped to her knees before he repeatedly beat her head against the sidewalk as he knelt upon her lower back. Shortly thereafter, Norris was charged with assault with a deadly weapon; he was committed to a total of five years' imprisonment at the Atascadero State Hospital, where he was classified as a mentally disordered sex offender.
Norris was released from the Atascadero State Hospital in 1975, with five years' probation, having been declared by doctors as an individual who was of "no further danger to others". Just three months after his release, Norris approached a 27-year-old woman walking home from a restaurant in Redondo Beach and offered her a ride on his motorcycle. When she declined, Norris parked his motorcycle and grabbed the woman's scarf, twisting it around her neck, before informing her he intended to rape her and dragging her into nearby bushes. Fearing for her life, the woman did not resist the rape.
Although the rape was reported to police, they were initially unable to find the perpetrator. However, one month later, the victim observed Norris's motorcycle and noted the license number, which she immediately gave to police. Norris was arrested for the rape; one year later, he was tried and convicted for this offense and sent to the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo. While incarcerated at the California Men's Colony, Norris met and befriended Bittaker.
Acquaintance
Bittaker and Norris initially became loosely acquainted in 1977, one year after Norris arrived at San Luis Obispo. Bittaker's initial impression of Norris upon his arrival at the California Men's Colony was that he was a savvy individual who largely associated with hardened criminals from motorcycle gangs, in addition to dealing in contraband drugs. The pair gradually became more closely acquainted and began talking in friendly terms when Norris taught Bittaker how to construct jewelry.
According to Norris, Bittaker saved him from being attacked by fellow inmates on at least two occasions. By 1978, the pair had become close acquaintances; discovering they shared a common interest in sexual violence and misogyny, with Norris also divulging to Bittaker the biggest stimulation for him was of seeing frightened young women, adding this was the primary reason he had amassed a lengthy record for sexual offenses. Bittaker—who is not known to have committed any sexual offenses prior to his meeting Norris—himself divulged to Norris that if he ever raped a woman, he would kill her so as not to leave a witness to the crime.
When alone, the pair regularly discussed plans to assault and murder teenage girls once they were freed. This shared fantasy evolved into an elaborate plan to murder one girl of each teenage year from 13 through 19. The pair vowed to become reacquainted once they were released.
Bittaker was released from the California Men's Colony on October 15, 1978; he returned to Los Angeles and found work as a skilled machinist. This work earned Bittaker close to $1,000 a week, and despite classifying himself as a loner, he became friendly with several people in his neighborhood, earning a reputation as a generous and helpful individual who occasionally donated money to The Salvation Army. On one occasion, he is known to have purchased large quantities of fast food and wine which he then handed to homeless individuals in Downtown Los Angeles.
Bittaker was particularly popular amongst the local teenagers, and later admitted the primary reason he always had beer and marijuana in his Burbank motel was that his residence would remain a popular place for teenagers to socialize.
Three months after Bittaker was released from the California Men's Colony, on January 15, 1979, Norris was released from prison and moved into his mother's home in Redondo Beach. He soon found employment as an electrician in Compton. Shortly thereafter, he received a letter from Bittaker. In late February, the pair met at a hotel and rekindled their plan to kidnap and rape girls.
In order for the pair to be able to successfully abduct teenage girls, Bittaker decided they would need a van as opposed to a car. With financial assistance from Norris, Bittaker purchased a silver 1977 GMC cargo van in February 1979. The vehicle was windowless on the sides and had a large passenger-side sliding door. According to Bittaker, when viewing this sliding door, he realized he or Norris could "pull up [to a teenage girl] real close and not have to open the doors all the way." Bittaker and Norris would nickname this van "Murder Mac".
Murders
From February to June 1979, Bittaker and Norris picked up over 20 female hitchhikers. The pair did not assault these girls in any manner: these practice runs were merely a way for them to develop ruses to lure girls into the van voluntarily and of discovering secluded locations. In late April, the pair discovered a secluded fire road located in the San Gabriel Mountains. Bittaker broke the locked gate to this fire road with a crowbar and replaced the lock with one he owned.
Lucinda Lynn Schaefer
Bittaker and Norris killed their first victim, 16-year-old Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, on June 24, 1979. Schaefer was last seen leaving a Presbyterian Church meeting in Redondo Beach. In his written accounts of the events of this day, Bittaker stated he and Norris first finished constructing the bed the pair had installed in the rear of the van, beneath which they placed tools, clothes and a cooler filled with beer and soft drinks. At approximately 11 a.m., the pair drove to "the beach area, drinking beer, smoking grass and flirting with girls. We had no set routine."
At approximately 7:46 p.m., Norris spotted Schaefer walking down a side street and remarked to Bittaker, "There's a cute little blonde."
After unsuccessfully attempting to entice Schaefer into their van with alternative offers of marijuana and a lift home, Bittaker and Norris drove further ahead and parked alongside a driveway. Norris then exited the vehicle, opened the passenger-side sliding door, and leaned into the van, with his head and shoulders obscured from view behind the door. When Schaefer passed the van, Norris exchanged a few words with her before dragging her into the van and closing the door. Using a ruse they would repeat in most of their subsequent murders, Bittaker turned the radio to full volume as Norris bound the victim's arms and legs and gagged her with duct tape as Bittaker drove Schaefer to the fire road in the San Gabriel Mountains where, in April, the pair had previously switched the locks.
Despite initially screaming when she was abducted, Schaefer quickly regained her composure. In his written account of the night that followed, Bittaker wrote that Schaefer "displayed a magnificent state of self-control and composed acceptance of the conditions of which she had no control. She shed no tears, offered no resistance and expressed no great concern for her safety ... I guess she knew what was coming."
At the fire road, Norris first raped Schaefer after instructing Bittaker to "go take a walk" and return in one hour. Upon returning to the van, Bittaker similarly raped the girl in Norris's absence. Upon the second occasion in which she was raped by Norris in Bittaker's absence, Schaefer asked him whether they intended to kill her, to which Norris replied, "No." In response, Schaefer requested to be allowed time to pray before she was killed if that was Bittaker and Norris's intention
In their subsequent accounts of the actual murder, Bittaker and Norris gave differing accounts as to who argued over whether they should kill her rather than release her: each stated the other argued that they should kill her. In any event, Schaefer pleaded for "only a second, to pray," before Norris attempted to manually strangle her. After approximately 45 seconds, he became disturbed at "the look in her eyes" and ran to the front of the van, vomiting. Bittaker then manually strangled Schaefer until she collapsed to the ground and began convulsing. He then twisted a wire coat hanger around her neck with vise-grip pliers until Schaefer's convulsions ceased. Schaefer was denied her requests to pray before Bittaker and Norris killed her.
Schaefer's body was wrapped in a plastic shower curtain and thrown over a steep canyon Bittaker had selected. According to Norris, after Bittaker had thrown Schaefer over the canyon, Bittaker assured him "the animals would eat her up, so there wouldn't be any evidence left."
Andrea Joy Hall
On July 8, 1979, two weeks after the murder of Schaefer, Bittaker and Norris encountered 18-year-old Andrea Joy Hall hitchhiking along the Pacific Coast Highway. As the pair slowed the van to offer Hall a lift, another vehicle pulled over and offered Hall exactly that, which she accepted. Bittaker and Norris followed the vehicle from a distance until Hall exited the vehicle in Redondo Beach.
On this occasion, Norris hid in the back of the van in order to dupe Hall into thinking Bittaker was alone. Inside the van, Bittaker offered Hall a cold drink from the cooler located in the rear of the van. Norris pounced on her when she went to retrieve it and, after a strenuous fight, managed to subdue Hall by twisting her arm behind her back, causing her to scream in pain. Norris then gagged Hall with adhesive tape and bound her wrists and ankles.
Bittaker and Norris drove Hall to a location in the San Gabriel Mountains beyond where they had taken Schaefer. At this location, she was raped twice by Bittaker and once by Norris. While Bittaker was raping Hall for the second time, Norris saw what he believed to be vehicle headlights approaching. Bittaker clasped his hand over Hall's mouth and dragged her into nearby bushes as Norris drove in an unsuccessful search for the vehicle he thought he had seen. When he returned, the pair drove to a location farther in the San Gabriel Mountains. Bittaker forced Hall to walk uphill naked alongside the road and to then perform oral sex on him, before ordering Hall to pose for several Polaroid pictures.
Bittaker and Norris drove Hall to a third location, where Bittaker again walked Hall up a nearby hill, this time as Norris drove to a nearby store to purchase alcohol. When Norris returned, Bittaker was alone and in possession of two further Polaroid pictures he had taken, both of which depicted Hall's face in expressions Norris later described as being of "sheer terror" as she begged for her life to be spared. Bittaker informed Norris that he had told Hall he was going to kill her and challenged her to give him as many reasons as she could come up with as to why she should be allowed to live, before thrusting an ice pick through her ear into her brain. He then turned her body over and thrust the ice pick into her other ear, stomping on it until the handle broke. Bittaker then strangled her before throwing her body off a cliff.
Jackie Doris Gilliam and Jacqueline Leah Lamp
On September 3, Bittaker and Norris observed two girls named Jackie Doris Gilliam and Jacqueline Leah Lamp sitting on a bus stop bench located close to Hermosa Beach. Lamp and Gilliam had been hitchhiking along the Pacific Coast Highway before Bittaker and Norris observed them as they were resting at the bus stop. Bittaker and Norris offered the girls a ride, which Gilliam and Lamp accepted. Inside the van, both girls were offered marijuana by Norris, which they accepted.
Shortly after entering the van, both girls realized that Bittaker had steered the van off the Pacific Coast Highway and was driving in the direction of the San Gabriel Mountains. When the girls protested, both Bittaker and Norris attempted to allay the girls' concerns with excuses, which did not deceive either girl. Lamp, aged 13, attempted to open the sliding door, whereupon Norris hit her on the back of the head with a bag filled with lead weights, briefly knocking her unconscious, before overpowering 15-year-old Gilliam. As he began to bind and gag Gilliam, Lamp regained consciousness and again attempted to flee the van, whereupon Norris twisted her arm behind her back and dragged her back into the van. As this struggle ensued, Bittaker—noting the girls' struggle was in full view of potential witnesses—stopped the van, punched Gilliam in the face, and assisted Norris in finishing binding and gagging the two girls.
Gilliam and Lamp were driven to the San Gabriel Mountains, where they were held captive for almost two days, being bound and gagged between repeated instances of sexual and physical abuse. Both men slept in the van alongside their two hostages, with each alternatively acting as a lookout. On one occasion, Bittaker walked Lamp onto a nearby hill and forced her to pose for pornographic pictures before returning her to the van. Bittaker also asked Norris to take several Polaroid pictures of himself and Gilliam, both nude and clothed. In the first of three instances in which Bittaker raped Gilliam, he also created a tape recording of himself raping her, forcing the girl to pretend she was his cousin and informing Gilliam to feel free to express her pain. (Bittaker later claimed he buried the tape in a cemetery. The tape recording of Gilliam's rape was never found.) Bittaker is also known to have tortured Gilliam by stabbing her breasts with an ice pick and using vise grip pliers to tear off part of one nipple.
After almost two days of captivity, Lamp and Gilliam were murdered. At Bittaker's subsequent trial, Norris claimed he had suggested that Gilliam be killed quickly as, unlike Lamp, she had been largely cooperative throughout the period of her captivity, whereupon Bittaker replied, "No, they only die once anyway." Gilliam was struck in each ear with an ice pick, then strangled to death.
After Bittaker had murdered Gilliam, he then forced Lamp out of the van. Upon exiting the sliding door, Bittaker shouted to her: "You wanted to stay a virgin; now you can die a virgin!" before Norris struck her upon the head with a sledgehammer. Bittaker then strangled Lamp until he believed she had died; when Lamp opened her eyes, Norris again bludgeoned her repeatedly as Bittaker strangled her to death.
The bodies of Gilliam and Lamp were thrown over an embankment into the chaparral.
Shirley Lynette Ledford
Bittaker and Norris abducted their final victim, 16-year-old Shirley Lynette Ledford, on October 31, 1979. Ledford was abducted as she stood outside a gas station, hitchhiking home from a Halloween party in the Sunland-Tujunga suburb of Los Angeles. Investigators believe Ledford accepted a ride home from Bittaker and Norris because she recognized Bittaker, as he is known to have frequented the restaurant in which Ledford held a part-time job as a waitress.
Upon accepting the offer of a lift home and entering the van, Ledford was offered marijuana by Norris, which she refused. Bittaker drove the van to a secluded street, where Norris drew a knife, then bound and gagged Ledford with construction tape.
Bittaker then traded places with Norris, who drove in an aimless manner for in excess of an hour as Bittaker remained with Ledford in the back of the van. After removing the construction tape from the girl's mouth and legs, Bittaker tormented Ledford: initially slapping and mocking her, then beating her with his fists as he repeatedly shouted for her to "say something", then, as Ledford began screaming, shouting for her to "scream louder". As Ledford continued screaming, Bittaker began asking her as he struck her: "What's the matter? Don't you like to scream?"
As Ledford began to cry, she pleaded with Bittaker, saying, "No, don't touch me." In response, Bittaker again ordered her to scream as loud as she wished, then began alternately striking her with a hammer, beating her breasts with his fists and torturing her with pliers both between and throughout instances when he raped and sodomized her. Repeatedly, Ledford can be heard pleading for the abuse to cease and making statements such as, "Oh no! No!" as sounds of Bittaker alternately extracting either the sledgehammer or the pliers from the toolbox can be heard on a tape recorder he had switched on after entering the rear of the van. Norris later described hearing "screams ... constant screams" emanating from the rear of the van as he drove.
Shortly after Norris switched places with Bittaker, he himself switched on the tape recorder that Bittaker had used to record much of the time he had been in the rear of the van with Ledford. Norris first shouted for Ledford to: "Go ahead and scream or I'll make you scream." In response, Ledford pleaded, "I'll scream if you stop hitting me," then emitted several high-pitched screams as Norris encouraged her to continue until he ordered her to stop.
Norris then reached for the sledgehammer as Shirley Ledford—seeing him do this—screamed, "Oh no!" Norris then struck Ledford once upon the left elbow. In response, she informed Norris he had broken her elbow, before pleading, "Don't hit me again." In response, Norris again raised the sledgehammer as Ledford repeatedly screamed, "No!" Norris then proceeded to strike Ledford 25 consecutive times upon the same elbow with the sledgehammer, before asking her, "What are you sniveling about?" as Ledford continuously screamed and wept.
We've all heard women scream in horror films ... still, we know that no-one is really screaming. Why? Simply because an actress can't produce some sounds that convince us that something vile and heinous is happening. If you ever heard that tape, there is just no possible way that you'd not begin crying and trembling. I doubt you could listen to more than a full sixty seconds of it.
After approximately two hours of captivity, Norris killed Ledford by strangling her with a wire coat hanger, which he tightened with pliers. Ledford did not react much to the act of strangulation, although she died with her eyes open. Bittaker then opted to discard her body on a random lawn in order to view the reaction from the press. The pair drove to a randomly selected house in Sunland and discarded Ledford's body in a bed of ivy upon the front lawn.
Ledford's body was found by a jogger the following morning. An autopsy revealed that, in addition to having been sexually violated, she had died of strangulation after receiving extensive blunt-force trauma to the face, head, breasts, and left elbow, with her olecranon sustaining multiple fractures. Her genitalia and rectum had been torn, caused in part by Bittaker having inserted pliers inside her body. In addition, her left hand bore a puncture wound and a finger on her right hand had been slashed.
Bittaker would later claim the tape recording the pair had created of Ledford's clear abuse and torture offered nothing other than the evidence of a threesome, adding that, towards the very end, Shirley Ledford was screaming for him and Norris to kill her.
Investigation
In November 1979, Norris became reacquainted with a friend named Joseph Jackson, an individual with whom he had previously been incarcerated at the California Men's Colony. Norris confided in this individual as to his and Bittaker's exploits over the previous five months, including graphic details of the murder of Shirley Ledford (the only victim whose body had been found at this time). Norris also divulged to Jackson that, in addition to the five murders he and Bittaker had committed, there had been three additional incidents in which he and Bittaker had abducted or attempted to abduct young women who had either successfully escaped their attackers or, in one instance, had actually been raped but released.
Upon hearing Norris's confessions, Jackson consulted his attorney, who advised him to inform authorities. Jackson agreed, and he and his attorney informed the Los Angeles Police Department, who in turn relayed the two men to the Redondo Beach police.
A Redondo Beach Detective named Paul Bynum was assigned to investigate Jackson's claims as to Norris's confessions of the murders, attempted abductions, and rapes that he had confided to Jackson had occurred between June and October. Bynum initially noted that Jackson's statements as to Norris's confessions did match reports on file of several teenage girls who had been reported missing over the previous five months. In addition, the incident Norris had confided to Jackson where he claimed he and Bittaker had sprayed mace in the face of a woman, who had then been dragged into Bittaker's GMC van and raped by both men, matched a report filed in relation to an incident that occurred on September 30. In this filed report, a young woman named Robin Robeck had had mace sprayed in her face before being dragged into a van and raped by two Caucasian men in their mid-30s, before being released. Although Robeck had reported the abduction and rape to police, they had been unable to identify her assailants.
Bynum dispatched an investigator to visit Robeck at her residence in Oregon, to show her a series of mug shots. Without hesitation, Robeck positively identified two photos presented to her as those of the men who had kidnapped and raped her on September 30. The two individuals she identified were Bittaker and Norris.
Arrest
Upon linking Bittaker and Norris to the rape of Robin Robeck, the Hermosa Beach police placed Norris under surveillance; within days, they had observed his dealing in marijuana. On November 20, 1979, Norris was arrested by the Hermosa Beach police for parole violation. The same day, at the Burbank motel where he resided, Bittaker was arrested for the rape of Robin Robeck.
Although Robeck had been able to identify mug shots of Bittaker and Norris, in a police lineup she was unable to positively identify her assailants. Nonetheless, police had observed Norris dealing in marijuana, whereas Bittaker had been in possession of drugs at the time of his arrest. Both were held on charges of parole violation.
A search of Bittaker's apartment revealed several Polaroid photographs which were determined as depicting Hall and Gilliam—both of whom had been reported as missing earlier the same year. Inside Bittaker's van, investigators discovered a sledgehammer, a plastic bag filled with lead weights, a book detailing how to locate police radio frequencies, a jar of Vaseline, two necklaces (later confirmed as belonging to two of the victims), and a tape recording of a young woman in obvious distress, screaming and pleading for mercy while being tortured and sexually abused.
The mother of Ledford—named by Jackson as being one of the women whom Norris had confessed he and Bittaker had killed—identified the voice on the tape as being that of her only daughter; the voices of the two men mocking and threatening Ledford in the process of her torture and abuse were identified as being Roy Norris and Lawrence Bittaker. Also found in Bittaker's motel were seven bottles of various acidic materials. (Investigators would later discover Bittaker planned to use these acidic materials upon their next victim.)
Inside Norris's apartment, police discovered a bracelet he had taken from Ledford's body as a souvenir. Also found at the homes of both Bittaker and Norris were Polaroid pictures of almost 500 teenage girls and young women, most of which had apparently been taken at Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, with others taken by Bittaker at a Burbank high school. Most of these pictures had been taken without the girls' knowledge or consent.
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