Further reading for the Hillside Strangler/ The Murder of Dana Bradley
The Hillside Stranglers: The Inside Story of the Killing Spree That Terrorized Los Angeles
Hitching a Ride: The Unsolved Murder of Dana Bradley
Current reading and book recommendations:
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
And an added side rave about
Newfoundland, December 1981.
Fourteen year old, Dana Bradley was last seen hitchhiking on Topsail Road in St johns, she had been at a friends house for a birthday party and was making her way home. She had walked towards the bus stop but for some reason never got on the bus, instead two local witnesses reported they last saw her getting into a car with a male driver. Before having left her friends house, Dana had phoned home to let her parents know she was on her way, so when she did not make it home at a reasonable time they immediately contacted the local constables.
Four days after this sighting her body was discovered in a heavily wooded area just south of the city, just 6 miles off the road where she was seen hitchhiking. Her skull had been fractured by a blunt object and she had been sexually assaulted and her body had been left in a “burial” position with her school books tucked under her arm. A huge and heavily publicized police investigation would follow, described as “the most expensive murder investigation in Canadian history.”
In 1986 the police receive an anonymous tip that and ex con David Grant Somerton was involved in the crime, he had a violent past and resembled the sketches given to police by the witnesses. Somerton then confesses to the crime, giving information on where he had left his car and murder weapons. Nothing is found in the areas he give and he would later recant saying that he was coerced by the police after being held for 18 hours by the police and being heavily medicated. In the end he was convicted of public mischief in relation to the false confession and got two year in prison.
Over the years many theories and phone calls have come into the police but as of today the murder is still unsolved.
A big heavy hitter:
The Hillside Stranglers murdered and raped 10 women and girls between the ages of 12 and 28. The bodies would be found in the hills of LA, most often in places that people would easily find them. The crimes were committed by cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono jr, who just terrorized the city.
They were both horribly evil men who were eventually arrested with Bianchi given six life sentences and Buono life without parole. Their story is grim and sadistic, if you are into it the link for the book can be found above.
Episode 114
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