Latest / Murder Files Unsealed / The Bouncy Ball Serial Killer that Caused Panic in L.A. - Part I

Transcript

The Bouncy Ball Serial Killer that Caused Panic in L.A. - Part I · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: The Bouncing Ball Killer is recognized as one of California's
• 0:03
  most infamous serial murderers, with the perpetrator's identity remaining elusive
• 0:09
  to this day. This serial killer, also referred to as
• 0:14
  the Bouncing ball Slayer, the Bouncing Ball Strangler, and the
• 0:18
  rubber Ball Strangler, instilled fear in Los Angeles by raping
• 0:24
  and murdering at least seven women between May nineteen fifty
• 0:28
  nine and June nineteen sixty. A witness who reported having
• 0:33
  seen the assailant in her apartment informed the police that
• 0:37
  he was bouncing a rubber ball, which contributed to his
• 0:40
  notorious moniker. The killer emerged from the bedroom crouched low
• 0:46
  and was bouncing a rubber ball, recounted sixty two year
• 0:49
  old Adela Williams to the Los Angeles Times, he made
• 0:53
  eye contact with me, then, without uttering a word, he
• 0:57
  calmly exited through the front door, continuing to bounce the ball,
• 1:02
  his black hair obscuring his eyes. Who were the victims
• 1:07
  of the Bouncing ball killer. Ruth Gwynn, aged fifty seven,
• 1:12
  was the victim of two assaults within a span of
• 1:15
  seven years in Los Angeles, with the second attack resulting
• 1:20
  in her death. She is believed to be the inaugural
• 1:23
  victim of the Bouncing Ball's serial killer. According to a
• 1:27
  report by the Associated Press on May twenty ninth, nineteen
• 1:31
  fifty nine, a sex maniac attacked her early Thursday as
• 1:36
  she walked at twenty fourth Street and Grand Avenue. The
• 1:39
  report detailed how a shadowy figure emerged from behind a
• 1:43
  tree forcibly dragging her into a parking lot, where he
• 1:47
  assaulted her with a piece of oak flooring, raped her,
• 1:51
  and inflicted further injuries with a broken wine bottle. In
• 1:56
  a particularly alarming development, the assailant persisted with the atae
• 2:00
  despite the awakening of nearby residents. The attacker disregarded the
• 2:05
  shouted concerns from residents of nearby apartments who were alerted
• 2:10
  by Missus Gwynn's screams. The ap noted Missus gwyn sustained
• 2:15
  a fractured skull and internal injuries. Although she managed to
• 2:19
  survive long enough to provide police with an account of
• 2:22
  the incident, gwyn succumbed to her injuries the following day.
• 2:27
  She was the youngest victim of the Bouncing Ball killer,
• 2:30
  and following her horrific murder, the perpetrator appeared to take
• 2:34
  an extended hiatus of eight months from his violent activities,
• 2:39
  resuming in January nineteen sixty with a six month period
• 2:43
  of terror in Los Angeles. Los Angeles police have identified
• 2:48
  the next victim of the killer as seventy three year
• 2:51
  old Amanda Rockefellow, whose body was discovered strangled in an
• 2:55
  alley approximately two blocks from her residence on January twenty nine,
• 3:00
  nineteen sixty, as reported by the Los Angeles Times. Nurse
• 3:05
  Anne Cotter, age sixty, was tragically murdered at approximately six
• 3:10
  thirty a m. While en route to church on February tenth,
• 3:15
  nineteen sixty, as reported by the Associated Press. Authorities characterized
• 3:21
  the assailant as a depraved strangler who targets vulnerable or
• 3:25
  elderly women. Several months later, on May second, nineteen sixty,
• 3:31
  seventy four year old Elmira Miller, who was semi invalid,
• 3:35
  was found dead in her residence, and her murder was
• 3:39
  connected to the Bouncing Ball killer, according to the AP.
• 3:43
  Shortly thereafter, on May thirteenth, nineteen sixty, sixty year old
• 3:48
  Bessie Elva Green, an apartment manager, was also murdered in
• 3:53
  her home The series of killings continued with the death
• 3:57
  of eighty three year old Grace Moore on June twentieth,
• 4:00
  nineteen sixty, who was believed to be the oldest victim
• 4:04
  of the serial killer. The AP reported that within a
• 4:08
  span of thirteen months, six women had suffered sexual assault,
• 4:13
  often involving sadistic torture, with all but one being strangled.
• 4:19
  The seventh victim of the bouncing ball killer was seventy
• 4:22
  two year old Mercedes Langerons, who was strangled in her
• 4:26
  apartment on June twenty eighth, nineteen sixty. This incident provided
• 4:32
  police with a significant lead. A witness, her roommate, missus
• 4:37
  Adela gy Williams, age sixty two, informed authorities that upon
• 4:42
  returning from the store, she encountered a man in their
• 4:46
  apartment who was bouncing a rubber ball, and he fled
• 4:50
  upon her arrival, as noted by the AP. Additionally, at
• 4:54
  least three other individuals claimed to have seen the suspect
• 4:58
  and believed they could identif him. They saw him looking calm,
• 5:03
  bouncing a soft white rubber ball. Immediately after the latest killing,
• 5:08
  The California Eagle reported, Williams offered a detailed account of
• 5:14
  the assailant's appearance. He was dressed in gray Ivy League
• 5:19
  trousers featuring a buckle at the rear, a light colored
• 5:22
  sports shirt, and dark sunglasses. The individual was identified as black,
• 5:29
  approximately thirty years of age, standing around six feet tall
• 5:34
  and weighing roughly one hundred and fifty five pounds. Additionally,
• 5:39
  she assisted police artist Ector Gracia in creating a composite
• 5:44
  sketch of the suspect. What other tips did police get
• 5:49
  about the Bouncing Ball killer? Following the public revelation of
• 5:53
  the serial killer, additional assaults were reported to law enforcement
• 5:57
  during the summer of nineteen sixty, many of which were
• 6:01
  linked to the legend of the Bouncing Ball. On August eighteenth,
• 6:06
  nineteen sixty, a ten year old girl and her grandmother
• 6:10
  were assaulted when an intruder entered their residence. Floyd Harris,
• 6:16
  a forty five year old boarder residing with forty eight
• 6:19
  year old Mody Hall, responded to their cries for help.