The murder of Shirley Ledford took place on the night of October 31, 1979, when the 18-year-old was hitchhiking home from her job in the Los Angeles area and was picked up by Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, the pair later known as the “Toolbox Killers.” She was their fifth and final victim. Bittaker recorded her torture on audiotape, and that recording became one of the most notorious pieces of evidence ever presented in an American courtroom.
How Shirley Ledford Was Killed
Bittaker and Norris were driving a silver 1977 GMC Vandura van they called the “Murder Mac,” stocked with pliers, an ice pick, a sledgehammer, knives, rope, tape, and wire fashioned from coat hangers.1All That’s Interesting. Toolbox Killers When they picked Ledford up, Bittaker drove to a secluded area, stopped the van, and drew a knife. Norris took the driver’s seat. Bittaker turned on a tape recorder.2Westlaw. People v. Bittaker
During the attack, Norris forced Ledford to perform oral copulation and struck her on the elbow with a hammer. After prolonged torture, Bittaker instructed Norris to kill her, and Norris strangled Ledford with a wire coat hanger.3Stanford Law – Supreme Court of California. People v. Bittaker The killers dumped her body in a bed of ivy on a suburban lawn. An early-morning jogger found her the next day, the coat hanger still wrapped around her neck. A post-mortem examination showed extensive bruising and the presence of sperm, confirming she had been sexually assaulted.2Westlaw. People v. Bittaker
Why Her Murder Broke the Killers’ Pattern
Between June and October 1979, Bittaker and Norris had abducted four other teenage girls in Los Angeles County: Lucinda Schaefer, 16; Andrea Hall, 18; Jacqueline Gilliam, 15; and Leah Lamp, 13. All four were killed, and their remains were either hidden in the San Gabriel Mountains or never recovered at all.4Oxygen. Toolbox Killers – How Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris Got Caught
Ledford’s body was left in the open. That change meant her killing was, from the start, a homicide investigation with a corpse and physical evidence, and it eventually helped lead investigators to Bittaker and Norris.
The Audio Recording
The tape Bittaker made during Ledford’s torture ran roughly 10 minutes and captured her screams as she was beaten and tortured.5UPI. A Stunned Jury in the Murder Trial of Lawrence Bittaker It was recovered from Bittaker’s van after his arrest and became the central piece of evidence at trial.
Prosecutor Stephen Kay played the recording for the jury over defense objections in January 1981. “The jury needs to know what these guys did,” Kay told jurors. He later said he himself had broken down in tears after hearing it. When the tape played in the courtroom, several jurors cried; others appeared to be in shock.5UPI. A Stunned Jury in the Murder Trial of Lawrence Bittaker
The Trials and Sentences
Norris agreed to plead guilty to all counts and testify against Bittaker in exchange for prosecutors not seeking the death penalty against him. He was sentenced to 45 years to life.6CBS News. Rapist Murderer Roy Norris, Part of Notorious Tool Box Killers, Dies in Prison
Bittaker stood trial in Los Angeles. The prosecution built its case on Norris’s detailed testimony about each of the five murders, the audio recording of Ledford’s torture, photographs Bittaker had taken of victims during sexual assaults, physical evidence including the ice pick, sledgehammer, and pliers recovered from the van, and testimony from jail inmates to whom Bittaker had reportedly bragged about the killings, signing autographs “Pliers Bittaker.”7Findlaw. People v. Bittaker Investigators also recovered a manuscript Bittaker had been writing, titled “The Last Ride,” containing his own accounts of the crimes.
Kay described Bittaker as a “monster” and called the case “one of the most horrendous murder cases ever tried in this state.”8Los Angeles Times. State Supreme Court Upholds Bittaker Death Sentence In February 1981, the jury convicted Bittaker on 26 felony counts, including five counts each of murder and kidnapping, and found 38 special circumstances. As to Ledford specifically, the jury found special circumstances for forcible oral copulation and forcible sodomy.3Stanford Law – Supreme Court of California. People v. Bittaker Bittaker was sentenced to death.
Appeals and Parole Hearings
In June 1989, the California Supreme Court unanimously affirmed Bittaker’s conviction and death sentence. The court cited the “astonishing cruelty” of the crimes and the “careful and deliberate planning” behind them.8Los Angeles Times. State Supreme Court Upholds Bittaker Death Sentence Bittaker later sought federal habeas corpus relief. A discovery dispute reached the Ninth Circuit, which in 2003 ruled that any waiver of attorney-client privilege in a federal habeas case was limited in scope and could not be used by the prosecution in a potential retrial.9U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Bittaker v. Woodford, No. 02-99000 The habeas petition was ultimately denied, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case later that year.10vLex. Bittaker v. Woodford
Norris came up for parole in March 2009 but opted not to have a formal hearing, telling officials he had “not formulated a plan to show where he would live or work if released.” He was denied parole for 10 years.11Daily Breeze. Redondo Beach Killer Is Denied Parole Kay, by then serving as the Redondo Beach city prosecutor, spoke publicly against any release: “He should never get out and I don’t believe there is any parole board that will ever grant him parole.” A second parole hearing in 2019 also resulted in denial.6CBS News. Rapist Murderer Roy Norris, Part of Notorious Tool Box Killers, Dies in Prison
Deaths of Both Killers
Lawrence Bittaker died of natural causes on December 13, 2019, at San Quentin State Prison, where he had been on death row since March 1981. He was never executed; California has not carried out an execution since 2006.12California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Condemned Inmate Lawrence Bittaker Dies of Natural Causes
Roy Norris died of natural causes on February 24, 2020, at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, still serving his 45-years-to-life sentence. Denied parole twice, he never left prison.13Daily Breeze. Roy Norris, Who Along With Lawrence Bittaker Killed 5 in L.A. County, Dies