Lauren Wagner, an 18-year-old Caucasian female, was tragically murdered on November 28, 1977. Her body was discovered the following day on the west side of Mount Washington at 1217 Cliff Drive in Glassell Park. Lauren was a victim of the notorious Hillside Stranglers, a duo consisting of Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, who terrorized the women of Los Angeles between October 1977 and February 1978.
The Hillside Stranglers were responsible for the kidnapping, raping, torturing, and
murdering of 10 females together, with Bianchi committing two additional murders on his own. The victims ranged in age from 12 to 28 and were from various backgrounds. Lauren Wagner, a college student who lived with her parents in the San Fernando Valley, was one of the unfortunate victims of this heinous crime spree.
Lauren's murder, along with the other victims, was characterized by strangulation and signs of sexual assault and torture. The investigation into the Hillside Strangler murders was extensive and complex, involving multiple law enforcement agencies and a significant amount of media attention. The breakthrough in the case came with the arrest of Kenneth Bianchi in January 1979 for the murder of two young women in Washington state. This arrest eventually led to the linking of Bianchi and Buono to the Hillside Strangler case.
Both Bianchi and Buono were apprehended and convicted of their crimes. They were sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The trial and subsequent convictions of the Hillside Stranglers brought some measure of justice to the families of the victims, including Lauren Wagner. The case remains one of the most infamous serial killer cases in American history, highlighting the brutality and depravity of the perpetrators.
