'Murder Mack', rear view — Credit: State of California. · Public domain
Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker and Roy Lewis Norris were convicted of the kidnapping, rape, torture, and murder of five teenage girls in Southern California over five months in 1979. The two met in 1977 while incarcerated at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo, where they began planning to abduct and kill young women after release. Bittaker was released on October 15, 1978, and found machinist work in Los Angeles; Norris was released on January 15, 1979, and moved into his mother's home in Redondo Beach. In February 1979 the two reunited, and Bittaker bought a 1977 GMC Vandura van, nicknamed 'Murder Mac', chosen for a sliding door that let them pull close to a target without opening it fully.
Between June and October 1979, Bittaker and Norris abducted and killed five victims, typically luring them with offers of rides or marijuana before driving them to remote sites, most often in the San Gabriel Mountains. Sixteen-year-old Lucinda Lynn Schaefer was forced into the van in Redondo Beach after leaving a church meeting and was killed the same night, June 24, 1979. Eighteen-year-old Andrea Joy Hall was abducted while hitchhiking on the Pacific Coast Highway on July 8, 1979, and killed hours later in the San Gabriel Mountains. On September 3, 1979, fifteen-year-old Jackie Doris Gilliam and thirteen-year-old Jacqueline Leah Lamp were abducted together near Hermosa Beach and held captive for almost two days, during which both were repeatedly sexually assaulted, before being killed. Sixteen-year-old Shirley Lynette Ledford was abducted on October 31, 1979, while hitchhiking home from a Halloween party in Sunland-Tujunga; she was tortured for roughly two hours before being strangled, and her body was left on a lawn in Sunland, found by a jogger the next morning.
The case broke after Norris described the killings to a former fellow inmate, who reported the account to his attorney and then to police. Detectives matched details from that account to missing-persons reports and to an unrelated rape reported on September 30, 1979, whose survivor identified Bittaker and Norris from photographs. Both men were arrested on November 20, 1979, initially on parole-violation and rape-related charges. A search of Bittaker's van and apartment turned up a bag of lead weights, jewelry later linked to two victims, and an audio recording of a victim's abuse; Norris's apartment yielded a bracelet taken from Ledford. On November 30, 1979, after waiving his Miranda rights, Norris confessed to investigators, describing the abductions, assaults, and killings in detail. Investigators then recovered the skeletal remains of Gilliam and Lamp from a San Gabriel Mountains canyon on February 9, 1980; the remains of Schaefer and Hall were never found.
Bittaker and Norris were formally charged with all five murders in February 1980. Norris pleaded guilty on March 18, 1980, to four counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, two rape counts, and one robbery count, under a plea deal to testify against Bittaker in exchange for prosecutors foregoing the death penalty; he was sentenced on May 7, 1980, to forty-five years to life, with parole eligibility beginning in 2010. Bittaker was arraigned on 29 charges on April 24, 1980, and stood trial beginning January 19, 1981, in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance, California, with Norris testifying for the prosecution. Bittaker was convicted and sentenced to death for the five murders on March 24, 1981. He died of natural causes on death row at San Quentin State Prison on December 13, 2019. Norris died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility on February 24, 2020.
Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, Jackie Doris Gilliam, Andrea Joy Hall, Jacqueline Leah Lamp, Shirley Lynette Ledford
Date
1977
Location
Redondo Beach, California
Case status
solved
Case timeline
1940-09-27
Lawrence Bittaker is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
1948-02-05
Roy Norris is born in Greeley, Colorado.
1977
Bittaker and Norris meet while incarcerated at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.
1978-10-15
Bittaker is released from the California Men's Colony.
1979-01-15
Norris is released from prison and moves into his mother's home in Redondo Beach.
1979-02
Bittaker purchases the 1977 GMC Vandura van later used in the abductions.
1979-06-24
Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, 16, is abducted and killed, the first of the five murders.
1979-07-08
Andrea Joy Hall, 18, is abducted and killed.
1979-09-03
Jackie Doris Gilliam, 15, and Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13, are abducted together; both are killed after nearly two days of captivity.
1979-10-31
Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16, is abducted; she is the fifth and final victim.
1979-11-20
Bittaker and Norris are arrested, initially on parole-violation and rape-related charges.
1979-11-30
Norris waives his Miranda rights and confesses to investigators, describing the abductions and killings in detail.
1980-02-09
Skeletal remains of Gilliam and Lamp are found in a San Gabriel Mountains canyon.
1980-02
Bittaker and Norris are formally charged with the murders of all five victims.
1980-03-18
Norris pleads guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder.
1980-04-24
Bittaker is arraigned on 29 charges.
1980-05-07
Norris is sentenced to forty-five years to life in prison, with parole eligibility beginning in 2010.
1981-01-19
Bittaker's trial begins in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Torrance, California.
1981-03-24
Bittaker is convicted and sentenced to death for the five murders.
2019-12-13
Bittaker dies of natural causes on death row at San Quentin State Prison.
2020-02-24
Norris dies of natural causes at the California Medical Facility.
Best coverage
VIDEO
Bailey Sarian / 8 min
The Bittaker & Norris Kidnapping Spree | Mystery & Makeup
People
Lucinda Lynn Schaefer
VICTIM
16-year-old victim abducted in Redondo Beach and killed on June 24, 1979, the first of the five murders.
Lawrence Bittaker
CONVICTED
Convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on March 24, 1981; died of natural causes on death row in December 2019.
Jackie Doris Gilliam
VICTIM
15-year-old victim abducted with Jacqueline Lamp on September 3, 1979, and killed after nearly two days of captivity.
Andrea Joy Hall
VICTIM
18-year-old victim abducted while hitchhiking on the Pacific Coast Highway and killed on July 8, 1979.
Jacqueline Leah Lamp
VICTIM
13-year-old victim abducted with Jackie Gilliam on September 3, 1979, and killed after nearly two days of captivity.
Roy Norris
CONVICTED
Pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder; sentenced on May 7, 1980, to forty-five years to life in prison under a plea deal to testify against Bittaker.
Shirley Lynette Ledford
VICTIM
16-year-old victim abducted on October 31, 1979, the final of the five murders.
Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.
Archival records
archival location
'Murder Mack', rear view
Credit: State of California. · Public domain · Source
mugshot
L. Bittaker and Roy Norris
Credit: State of California · Public domain · Source
mugshot
Lawrence Sigmond Bittaker, 2018
Credit: State of California · Public domain · Source
mugshot
Roy Norris 2018
Credit: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation · Public domain · Source
Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris were convicted of kidnapping, raping, torturing, and murdering five teenage girls in Southern California between June and October 1979.
Where did the murders happen?
Redondo Beach, California.
Who was convicted?
Lawrence Bittaker (Convicted of five counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death on March 24, 1981; died of natural causes on death row in December 2019.) and Roy Norris (Pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder; sentenced on May 7, 1980, to forty-five years to life in prison under a plea deal to testify against Bittaker.).
