Watch CBS News

Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker, One Of 'Toolbox Killers', Dies On Death Row

SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) — Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker, a serial killer and rapist known as one of the infamous "Toolbox Killers" who kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered five teenage girls in Southern California in 1979, has died at San Quentin State Prison at the age of 79.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) said Bittaker died of natural causes on Friday afternoon.

Bittaker, along with Roy Lewis Norris, went on a grisly, murderous rampage over a period of five months in 1979 with their five victims ranging from ages 13 to 18 years old, abducting them in a van as they traveled along the Pacific Coast Highway.

The bodies of two of their victims were never recovered.

Read more on CBSSF.com.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.