behavior following his military service, although Bonin refused to elaborate as to the changes in his demeanor. First convictions On November 17, 1968, Bonin confronted 14-year-old Billy Jones in Arcadia, California, at 9:00 p.m. while driving his mother's white Chevrolet station wagon. Offering to take him home, the youth attempted to flee the vehicle in response to Bonin's repeated questions regarding homosexuality. Bonin growled and squeezed Jones' genitals before disclosing his sexual motive and parking behind a closed shopping center. Retrieving the youth from his vehicle and handcuffing him, Bonin choked him in the parking lot before threatening to murder and sodomize Jones if he did not comply with orders. Bonin raped the minor as he plead for his life, knocking him unconscious during the assault. Jones was then deposited at a park bench by Bonin, who threatened to kill him if he reported the assault. Returning home, his mother promptly reported Bonin to police. On November 26, 1968, at approximately 12:00 a.m. Bonin picked up 17-year-old hitchhiker John Treadwell of Torrance. Bonin began asking him about "fags" and homosexuality before accelerating the vehicle and producing a handgun. When Bonin parked his mother's car in a secluded area, he raped the young man before threatening to kill him if he reported Bonin, claiming he had friends who would aid in avenging him if he told "The Man" of the assault. During the assault, Treadwell was bludgeoned with a tire iron. On December 4, 1968, it was reported to the Torrance Police Department by 17-year-old Allen Pruitt that a man with medium-length dark hair and olive complexion had offered him a ride before deviating from the highway and handcuffing the boy, who was extensively sexually assaulted in the vehicle. While driving, the suspect became visibly angry before asking the minor whether he "knew there were homosexuals in this world" and homosexuality. Five weeks later, on January 1, 1969, Bonin offered a ride to 12-year-old Lawrence Brettman in Hermosa Beach, California. Ignoring the boy's pleas to let him go, Bonin began threatening Brettman and parked north of Hawthorne Boulevard and Palos Verdes North where he forced the child to orally copulate him, molesting and robbing the boy under threat of a pistol; he then threatened to kill this victim if he ever reported the incident. On January 12, 1969, at approximately 9:00 p.m. it was reported that Bonin had picked up 18-year-old