Dolores Ann "Dolly" Cepeda, a 12-year-old girl, was tragically murdered on November 13, 1977. She was the eighth victim of the notorious Hillside Stranglers, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi. On that fateful day, Dolores and her friend, Sonja Johnson, went to a local mall in Eagle Rock, California. A witness later reported seeing the girls get off a bus and approach a large two-tone sedan to talk to someone on the passenger side of the car.
One week later, the bodies of both girls were discovered in Elysian Park near Dodger Stadium.
The Hillside Stranglers, Angelo Buono and Kenneth Bianchi, were responsible for a series of murders in Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978. The duo kidnapped, raped, tortured, and murdered ten females together, with Bianchi committing two additional murders on his own. Their victims ranged in age from 12 to 28 years old. The nickname "Hillside Strangler" originated from the pattern of many of the victims' bodies being discovered in the hills surrounding the city, typically victims of strangulation.
The investigation into the Hillside Stranglers was extensive and complex. Initially, it was believed that only one person was responsible for the killings. However, the positions of some of the victims' bodies led investigators to deduce that two criminals were working together. This information was withheld from the press. The breakthrough in the case came when an elderly neighbor of one of the victims witnessed and reported her kidnapping, confirming that two individuals were involved.
The uncle-nephew duo, Buono and Bianchi, were eventually apprehended and convicted of their heinous crimes. They were charged with kidnapping, raping, torturing, and murdering ten females together, plus two additional murders by Bianchi alone. The victims included Dolores Cepeda, a 12-year-old girl, and her friend Sonja Johnson, a 14-year-old girl. The arrest of Bianchi in January 1979 for the murder of two young women in Washington state led to the linking of his past to the Strangler case.
The trial of the Hillside Stranglers was a significant event, drawing extensive media attention. The duo's method of posing as police officers to lure their victims into their vehicle under false pretenses added to the terror they inflicted on the community. The trial revealed the gruesome details of their crimes, including the sexual assault and torture of their victims. The conviction of Buono and Bianchi brought some measure of justice to the families of their victims, including the family of Dolores Cepeda.
