THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER

This paper was written June 26, 2006 for my UFV Crim 105 (Psychological Explanations of Criminal and Deviant Behavior) course, taught by now BC MLA/House Speaker, Dr. Darryl Plecas. The full title of this paper is: Kenneth Bianchi: The Hillside Strangler - The Prosecution’s Case

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FOR THE PROSECUTION

Arguing from the perspective of the prosecutor, I will point out what I believe to be several facts showing that Kenneth Bianchi does not suffer from Multiple Personality Disorder, but rather is a sexual sadistic psychopath who takes great pleasure in viciously raping and torturing his victims before snuffing out their lives. One fact that revealed that Bianchi did not have MPD was when he gave one of his personalities a last name. The name was in fact a real person that Bianchi used to acquire fraudulent diplomas when Bianchi tried to pass himself off as a psychologist while residing in Los Angles, California.

Another fact that reveal that Bianchi does not suffer from MPD was when it was discovered that he was faking hypnosis. For example, during an hypnosis session Bianchi would stand up an pretend that he was physically greeting another person. During hypnosis, the subject never moves and it is highly unlikely that a subject under hypnosis would get up and move around as to physically greet another person. Also, during his hypnosis sessions, Bianchi would go out of his way to repeat questions about things such as noticing a package of cigarettes on the table. And during interviews with Bianchi’s former common law, Kellie Boyd, she stated that she noticed nothing unusual that would support Bianchi’s claims of suffering from MPD. However, she did catch him lying from time to time.

CHARACTERISTICS AND UPBRINGING

Kenneth Bianchi was born May 22, 1951 in Rochester, New York. At birth, his birth mother, a seventeen-year-old alcoholic prostitute gave him up for adaptation to the Bianchi couple. Almost from the time of his adoption, Kenneth had a number of problems. Asthma was one of them. The family moved to Los Angeles for a while in the hopes of addressing the asthma. Kenneth had been prone to falls and in January 1957 he fell from a jungle gym at the Century Park Elementary School, striking his nose and the back of his head. Kenneth also began having petit mal seizures and a tendency to roll his eyes when he was upset and had a tendency to urinate with great frequency, dribbling in his pants.

Mrs. Bianchi had tried every type of punishment she could imagine. She even went so far as to spank Kenneth before he went to the bathroom to ensure that he did enough to not dribble in his pants. Kenneth had been admitted to the hospital on December 15, 1958 with a diagnosis of genito-urinary problems.

The diagnosis were Diverticulum, Horseshoe kindney and transient hypertension. The doctors also found that Kenneth had many emotional problems. The hospital staff felt that Mrs. Bianchi was unusually emotional and troublesome and that Kenneth’s behavior was abnormal. The hospital staff and investigating social workers felt that both mother and child should see a psychiatrist. They did not. In 1959 the Bianchi’s world developed new problems.

The Bianchi’s bought a home in Greece, a suburb of Rochester. This purchase was way beyond the financial means for the Bianchi family (Schwarz, Ted; The Hillside Strangler, 2004).

However, the real problem was not so much the house itself, but the tensions in meeting the mortgage payments. The tension seemed to effect Kenneth, though no one could be certain what this meant. Usually the medical reports indicated that Kenneth might be more of a con artist then truly troubled. For example, while still living in California, Dr. Ralph Bookman commented:

“The eye-rolling apparently occurs when the child is frightened or possibly it is a habit which the child has developed, as was what was suggested to them by Doctor Weeks.”

Doctor Bookman also said:

“The mother states that the child’s father lets the boy do anything he wishes, and there is quite possibly a conflict between the parents in their behavior and attitude towards the child.”

The Greece School District maintained records on Kenneth, which included the perceptions made during a parent-teacher conference on December 16, 1958.

That notation said:

“Mrs. Bianchi in. She is very nervous person, easily upset. As a result, Ken is also nervous and wets his pants. Check his health record. Mother needs to be calmed down.”

Some psychiatrists and psychologists say that when one parent is dominant and the other somewhat passive, the child can have emotional problems upon reaching adulthood. However, these problems are so numerous that critics of the theory say it is actually a “catch-all” when no other cause for the problems are easily identified by the doctor. On September 15, 1962, a report was made by the Rochester Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, Inc. (Schwarz, Ted, 2004).

The Bianchis had been repeatedly reported to the authorities because of concerns over Kenneth’s emotional state. Among the comments made following the investigation were:

“Worker found mother to be a deeply disturbed person, socially ambitious, dissatisfied, unsure, opinionated, and overly protective. Mother seemed guilt ridden by her failure to have children. She had a hysterectomy in 1951, and suffered post-operative depression. The possibility of adoption of a child was suggested to mother. This solution to her dissatisfaction was embraced by her with great enthusiasm and religious fervor. Worker felt that mother had smothered this adopted son in medical attention and maternal concern from the moment of adoption, at the age of three months.”

The Bianchi family problems had become more intense by the time the agency investigated the home. According to the report:

“Mother’s ambitious effort to place in a higher strata (sic) of society met with financial disaster. Soon after our initial contact with this family, the parents lost the middle-class home they were attempting to buy, and had to move into less desirable quarters. Mother went to work. Worker observed that during the time mother held a job, mother, as well as the boy, benefited emotionally. Mother was unwilling to accept the suggestion that possibly she, as well as the boy, might need psychiatric treatment, rather than medical treatment, and has shopped around for doctors endlessly.”

The report further said:

“During the time that we were active with the family, psychiatric opinion was that mother was not capable of following through with a plan of treatment for herself or the boy psychiatrically at that time.”

The agency later stated:

“...it became evident to the family that they could not pay their bills and keep up payments on the house they were buying. In 9-59, the family disposed of the home and moved to 65 Villa Street. In the meantime, mother took a job at Bell Aircraft Company to help alleviate the family’s financial difficulties. Arrangements were made for the boy to be cared for by a neighbor, and during this period the family functioned smoothly. Kenneth was noted to be markedly better with the enuresis disappearing. Family tensions were greatly reduced with mother working and out of the home. Father seemed to be happy with the new location and the elimination of his financial worries."

A lengthy report by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children focuses, in part, on the frequent attempts Mrs. Bianchi made to have Kenneth tested because of his constant urination. Each test involved the probing of Kenneth’s genitals. There was discomfort, possibly humiliation, fear, and pain involved, though what effect this may have had psychologically remains unknown. Some psychiatrists feel that repeated probing such as this can psychologically be much like rape. Others say that the mother’s attitude would prevent such feelings and it was obvious that she was having him tested because of loving concerns. The question remains as to how all this may have affected the small boy (Schwarz, Ted, 2004).

There were other reports. Strong Memorial Hospital of the University of Rochester did a preliminary report on Kenneth and his mother on February 3, 1959. In that report, there was much discussion of Mrs. Bianchi’s defiance toward doctors:

“...Mrs. Bianchi seemed very paranoid, feeling that everybody was against her in all her contact...defiant in telling me that this was something she would not stand for.”

Another report in regard to Kenneth’s problem controlling his urine. Under “School Adjustment” the report stated, in part:

“He has not been in school for the last two months because of his inability to control his urine that started again and then he started having sore throats and so she felt she should keep him home.”

Dr. Dane Pugh commented on March 13, 1959, in that same Strong Memorial report:

“The impression is gained that this mother is herself a serious disturbed person, and her discussion about the handling of the child by various medical men indicates some apparent paranoid trends. It is apparent that she has been strongly controlling toward this boy, keeping him out of school very frequently, particularly in the last several months, because of her fear that he would develop a sore throat and begin to wet. It is not clear whether this mother can carry through successfully with a psychiatric evaluation, but it is felt that diagnostic study should be offered, in order to clarify more fully the degree of personality disturbances on the part of the boy, the operation of any emotional components if present in the boy’s presenting symptom, and the nature of the family relationships, including the degree of disturbance on the part of the mother in particular.”

By the time Kenneth Bianchi was in the fifth grade at Holy Family School, he seemed to have endured and endless stream of doctors, testing, and other pressures. Seldom did his mother agree with any of the reports, though they were frequently similar. Then, in 1962, Kenneth was seen by the DePaul Clinic in Rochester. Under “Child’s Problems” was written:

“The boy drips urine in his pants, doesn’t make friends very easily and has twitches. The other children make fun of him and mother is extremely angry at the school because they do not stop the other children. The mother sounded as if she were very over-protective of this boy. When the boy fell on the playground in kindergarten early in the school year, she kept the boy home the total year.”

Further reports describe Kenneth as being deeply hostile, and that he is severely repressed, very anxious, very lonely, and severely disturbed (Schwarz, Ted, 2004). It is of my opinion that the characteristics and up bringing does not make Kenneth Bianchi a candidate for Multiple Personality Disorder. However, it is my belief that Kenneth Bianchi suffers from a psychopathy disorder.

TED SCHWARZ

After reading the book “The Hillside Strangler” by Ted Schwarz I found that, although it covered in great detail the life and crimes of Kenneth Bianchi, Schwarz’s coverage was very biased. It was biased in the sense that, although the evidence that the investigators uncovered revealed that Bianchi did not have MPD, but rather was psychopathic, Schwarz believed otherwise.

REFERENCES

Schwarz, Ted (2004) The Hillside Strangler