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Without Redemption: Creation & Deeds of Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, His Five Accomplices & How One Who Escaped Justice
Without Redemption
was written on a number of parallel tracks that constantly First, it is the most detailed historical biography ever written about Bill Bonin, the notorious Freeway Killer responsible for murdering 22 teenage boys over ten-months in 1979-80.
Second, it is a psychological roadmap which charts the evolution of Bonin’s personality from abused child to sexual predator to serial killer. This is accomplished using documents from his childhood, war service, multiple California government mental health and penal institutions, witness testimony and the expertise of Clinical Psychologist Vonda Pelto, Ph.D., who had many sessions with Bonin and two of his accomplices while working in Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail.
Third, it is a narrative which, using long hidden documents, reveals the inner workings of Bonin’s mind, showing how he thought, felt, planned and viewed the world. The narrative displays Bonin, an abused high school dropout, cleverly manipulating lawyers, judges, doctors, social workers, friends, family, probation officers, government bureaucrats, detectives, journalists and, most tragically, the innocent victims of his rage.
Fourth, Without Redemption reveals the complex story of what happened after Bonin’s final arrest, when so much was in flux and so many moving parts were swirling about. Archived investigative documents, collected from a variety of sources, brings to light a number of surprising, shocking, sad and even funny events from those ten tumultuous months from June 1980 to March 1981.
Finally, it is a book which solves two murder mysteries and unlocks how one day of crossroads and coincidences, in the midst of the murder spree, profoundly impacted many lives and future events.
Most detailed bio of serial killer Bill Bonin ever written using previously hidden documents.How childhood abuse & Vietnam War helped create what followed.How Bonin manipulated California mental health & prison systems in the ten years before the killings.Interviews of Bonin, Miley & Munro with Vonda Pelto, Ph.D. before, during & after his Los Angeles trial.Bonin’s jailhouse writings offer new perspective on his brutality, methods, thoughts and personality.How & Why Bonin covered for accomplice Eric Wijnaendts, who helped him with two murders.How & Why March 24, 1980, is a key date in the Bill Bonin story.www.WithoutRedemption.com
Second, it is a psychological roadmap which charts the evolution of Bonin’s personality from abused child to sexual predator to serial killer. This is accomplished using documents from his childhood, war service, multiple California government mental health and penal institutions, witness testimony and the expertise of Clinical Psychologist Vonda Pelto, Ph.D., who had many sessions with Bonin and two of his accomplices while working in Los Angeles Men’s Central Jail.
Third, it is a narrative which, using long hidden documents, reveals the inner workings of Bonin’s mind, showing how he thought, felt, planned and viewed the world. The narrative displays Bonin, an abused high school dropout, cleverly manipulating lawyers, judges, doctors, social workers, friends, family, probation officers, government bureaucrats, detectives, journalists and, most tragically, the innocent victims of his rage.
Fourth, Without Redemption reveals the complex story of what happened after Bonin’s final arrest, when so much was in flux and so many moving parts were swirling about. Archived investigative documents, collected from a variety of sources, brings to light a number of surprising, shocking, sad and even funny events from those ten tumultuous months from June 1980 to March 1981.
Finally, it is a book which solves two murder mysteries and unlocks how one day of crossroads and coincidences, in the midst of the murder spree, profoundly impacted many lives and future events.
Most detailed bio of serial killer Bill Bonin ever written using previously hidden documents.How childhood abuse & Vietnam War helped create what followed.How Bonin manipulated California mental health & prison systems in the ten years before the killings.Interviews of Bonin, Miley & Munro with Vonda Pelto, Ph.D. before, during & after his Los Angeles trial.Bonin’s jailhouse writings offer new perspective on his brutality, methods, thoughts and personality.How & Why Bonin covered for accomplice Eric Wijnaendts, who helped him with two murders.How & Why March 24, 1980, is a key date in the Bill Bonin story.www.WithoutRedemption.com
433 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 17, 2022
12 people are currently reading
27 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 25, 2025
Certainly a Detailed, Unique & Complete Serial Killer Biography, One of the Best I've Read...
When one comes across a biography about someone like Freeway Killer Bill Bonin—who spent a majority of his adult live in California state mental hospitals, prisons or jail—the ability of historians to obtain government documents can be difficult, especially 40 years after the fact. I know this from my own experiences dealing with them, but the authors of 'Without Redemption' had two unique advantages—a Clinical Psychologist who dealt with three of the six killers, including the main one Bonin, and 40 boxes of law enforcement investigative documents gifted to them by a retired detective.
Bonin’s crimes took place in 1979-80 and during the decade of the 1970s he was incarcerated for various offenses.
Included in all those boxes were the private handwritten jailhouse diaries of Bonin and his murder confession stories, the latter created before his first trial with the hope of using them to get a deal. That never happened and they remained hidden for 40 years, until used in this book, and the authors used those stories to dispel many Bonin myths, solve two murder mysteries and create an amazingly personal look at the life of the notorious Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, responsible for the deaths of 22 boys in ten months and ruining families and communities.
This book has it all and more—Bonin's full life story, a detailed view of Bonin’s tactics and how he fooled police for so long, how a lucky break gave police the tip they needed, an inside view of Bonin's mind and personality, and a look at the horse trading that went on after his arrest between prosecutors, TV reporters, journalists, detectives, defense lawyers, judges, friends, witnesses, snitches and more.
What a terrific read, rough at times, this is one of the best serial killer bios I have read.
When one comes across a biography about someone like Freeway Killer Bill Bonin—who spent a majority of his adult live in California state mental hospitals, prisons or jail—the ability of historians to obtain government documents can be difficult, especially 40 years after the fact. I know this from my own experiences dealing with them, but the authors of 'Without Redemption' had two unique advantages—a Clinical Psychologist who dealt with three of the six killers, including the main one Bonin, and 40 boxes of law enforcement investigative documents gifted to them by a retired detective.
Bonin’s crimes took place in 1979-80 and during the decade of the 1970s he was incarcerated for various offenses.
Included in all those boxes were the private handwritten jailhouse diaries of Bonin and his murder confession stories, the latter created before his first trial with the hope of using them to get a deal. That never happened and they remained hidden for 40 years, until used in this book, and the authors used those stories to dispel many Bonin myths, solve two murder mysteries and create an amazingly personal look at the life of the notorious Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, responsible for the deaths of 22 boys in ten months and ruining families and communities.
This book has it all and more—Bonin's full life story, a detailed view of Bonin’s tactics and how he fooled police for so long, how a lucky break gave police the tip they needed, an inside view of Bonin's mind and personality, and a look at the horse trading that went on after his arrest between prosecutors, TV reporters, journalists, detectives, defense lawyers, judges, friends, witnesses, snitches and more.
What a terrific read, rough at times, this is one of the best serial killer bios I have read.
January 24, 2023
‘Without Redemption’ is a truly informative serial killer bio because the authors had access to so many documents, plus co-author Vonda Pelto, Clinical Psychologist, met with Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, and others, at LA Men’s Jail on multiple occasions while he was on trial. Quickly paced reading that is packed with relevant facts and information, doesn’t linger too long on any one subject, which helps.
The book takes the reader through the family history before Bill Bonin was born and goes into great detail about his difficult childhood and into his twenties, which was mostly spent in mental hospitals and prisons. Based on the crimes for which he was convicted, in his early and mid-twenties, he should never have been walking the streets to commit those heinous murders.
Bonin, responsible for murdering 22 boys and young men from August 1979 to June 1980, slowly evolved into a cunning manipulator and was able to fool many smart people on his road to infamy. Using his personal jailhouse diary/murder confession stories, the authors were able to reveal the inner workings of Bonin’s mind, especially when he covered for an accomplice who murdered with him, twice.
In addition, they were given access to thousands of pages of official investigative documents that include interviews, psyche reports, military records, parole reports, court transcripts, arrest reports and so much more. Combining all that with news articles, and Bonin’s diaries, makes ‘Without Redemption’ one of the most detailed serial killer historical biographies ever written!
Keep an eye out for the one day, during the murder spree, which changed everything to follow, AMAZING investigative work.
The book takes the reader through the family history before Bill Bonin was born and goes into great detail about his difficult childhood and into his twenties, which was mostly spent in mental hospitals and prisons. Based on the crimes for which he was convicted, in his early and mid-twenties, he should never have been walking the streets to commit those heinous murders.
Bonin, responsible for murdering 22 boys and young men from August 1979 to June 1980, slowly evolved into a cunning manipulator and was able to fool many smart people on his road to infamy. Using his personal jailhouse diary/murder confession stories, the authors were able to reveal the inner workings of Bonin’s mind, especially when he covered for an accomplice who murdered with him, twice.
In addition, they were given access to thousands of pages of official investigative documents that include interviews, psyche reports, military records, parole reports, court transcripts, arrest reports and so much more. Combining all that with news articles, and Bonin’s diaries, makes ‘Without Redemption’ one of the most detailed serial killer historical biographies ever written!
Keep an eye out for the one day, during the murder spree, which changed everything to follow, AMAZING investigative work.
July 24, 2025
I had gotten incredibly side tracked for awhile with life, which made the completion of this book difficult for awhile so I might not give the freshest review.
None the less, I felt this was a very informational book. This book includes plenty of information about Bonins life not just in regards to his murders.. but before his murders from his childhood and hospitalizations/prison sentences.. it also gives plenty of information about his life in prison not just from his jailhouse interviews but also from his journal entries.
I feel this story shows us despite how the authors personal feelings are that truly anyone depending on circumstances can become an evil person.. but it also shows how people who have experienced traumatic upbringings who we otherwise view as evil can oftentimes still show clear signs of struggle in adulthood.
This book also gives a good deep dive into the accomplices of Bonin who otherwise are much more difficult to find information on.
My only complaint is that there is so much information it’s hard to retain everything and can be difficult at times to not feel a bit bored.. though I still find this to also be a positive of this book especially as someone who likes to acquire knowledge from reading.
Definitely a must read.
None the less, I felt this was a very informational book. This book includes plenty of information about Bonins life not just in regards to his murders.. but before his murders from his childhood and hospitalizations/prison sentences.. it also gives plenty of information about his life in prison not just from his jailhouse interviews but also from his journal entries.
I feel this story shows us despite how the authors personal feelings are that truly anyone depending on circumstances can become an evil person.. but it also shows how people who have experienced traumatic upbringings who we otherwise view as evil can oftentimes still show clear signs of struggle in adulthood.
This book also gives a good deep dive into the accomplices of Bonin who otherwise are much more difficult to find information on.
My only complaint is that there is so much information it’s hard to retain everything and can be difficult at times to not feel a bit bored.. though I still find this to also be a positive of this book especially as someone who likes to acquire knowledge from reading.
Definitely a must read.
December 6, 2023
This is a historical biography in the true sense of those words, in fact extremely detailed because of the massive amounts of material the authors were gifted by former police investigators, included Bonin's diaries and jailhouse murder confession stories.
Serial killers are strange creatures, and trying to understand how they became so disconnected from reality can be difficult. This book gets as close as any to giving the full story, I mean small and large events are chronicled in such detail, plus all the interviews with Bill Bonin and his murdering companions' sheds even more light on the story.
Incredible book. I was blown away by Bonin's jailhouse diaries leading to the trial, he was pretty smart and no illusions about who or what he was, or wasn't. That section after his arrest is pretty interesting.
Plus, lots of surprises at many times in the book; solves a bunch of mysteries about all the Bonin cases with the uses of his diaries and murder stories.
Serial killers are strange creatures, and trying to understand how they became so disconnected from reality can be difficult. This book gets as close as any to giving the full story, I mean small and large events are chronicled in such detail, plus all the interviews with Bill Bonin and his murdering companions' sheds even more light on the story.
Incredible book. I was blown away by Bonin's jailhouse diaries leading to the trial, he was pretty smart and no illusions about who or what he was, or wasn't. That section after his arrest is pretty interesting.
Plus, lots of surprises at many times in the book; solves a bunch of mysteries about all the Bonin cases with the uses of his diaries and murder stories.
August 7, 2023
Wonderful book about a very disturbing serial killer case
This book was written by Dr. Vonda Pelto, who is a psychologist hired to give help and support to the high profile inmates of the Los Angeles County Jail after one of William Bonin's aka The Freeway Killer's codefendants committed suicide while awaiting trial for participating in six murders with William Bonin. After that happened they immediately hired Dr. Pelto to help give the high profile inmates by listening to them and she prevented any more high profile inmates from taking their own lives.
This book was written by Dr. Vonda Pelto, who is a psychologist hired to give help and support to the high profile inmates of the Los Angeles County Jail after one of William Bonin's aka The Freeway Killer's codefendants committed suicide while awaiting trial for participating in six murders with William Bonin. After that happened they immediately hired Dr. Pelto to help give the high profile inmates by listening to them and she prevented any more high profile inmates from taking their own lives.
September 30, 2023
Not the greatest writing
This telling was very repetitive at times. It was muddy and convoluted.
With that said, I had no knowledge of this killer before reading this. I was 10 the year he was arrested. However I was 26 when he was executed and still never heard of him. So, many of these gross murders think they're going to be MANSON. No one remembers or cares about them. True crime for me is about justice. This book is good....just good.
This telling was very repetitive at times. It was muddy and convoluted.
With that said, I had no knowledge of this killer before reading this. I was 10 the year he was arrested. However I was 26 when he was executed and still never heard of him. So, many of these gross murders think they're going to be MANSON. No one remembers or cares about them. True crime for me is about justice. This book is good....just good.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews