"Some Idea of What Hell Is Like": KNBC News Footage of the Lawrence Bittaker Case, 1980 to 1981

Name: "Some Idea of What Hell Is Like": KNBC News Footage of the Lawrence Bittaker Case, 1980 to 1981
Uploaded: 2014-10-10T00:00:00Z
Duration: 29 min 27 s
Description: Three KNBC Channel 4 reports by Joe Ramirez, with raw interviews: Bittaker brought in shackles to testify at a labor hearing, the opening of his Torrance murder trial, and the day the tape of Lynette Ledford's torture was played to the jury.

Three KNBC Channel 4 reports by Joe Ramirez, with raw interviews: Bittaker brought in shackles to testify at a labor hearing, the opening of his Torrance murder trial, and the day the tape of Lynette Ledford's torture was played to the jury.

Subject: Lawrence Bittaker
Recorded: about 1981
Runtime: 29:27

Content warning: Concerns the kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of five teenage girls, and the courtroom reaction to a tape recording of one of them being tortured (the tape itself is not heard).

The Interview

This is not an interview, and Lawrence Bittaker is not heard in it. It is 29 minutes of KNBC Channel 4 news footage from Los Angeles, from 1980 and early 1981: three finished reports by reporter Joe Ramirez, with the raw interviews, retakes and silent footage shot for them. The first report shows Bittaker, shackled and under guard, being brought to the Federal Building in Westwood to testify at a National Labor Relations Board hearing; his testimony is summarized by the reporter, not heard. The second covers the opening of his murder trial in Torrance. The third reports on the day the jury heard his tape recording of the torture of Shirley Lynette Ledford; the tape is described, not played.

Historical Context

In 1979 Bittaker and Roy Norris, who had met in prison, abducted five teenage girls in Los Angeles County in a van: Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, 16; Andrea Joy Hall, 18; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13; Jackie Doris Gilliam, 15; and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16. They raped, tortured and murdered them. Bittaker was arrested on November 20, 1979. Norris pleaded guilty, agreed to testify against Bittaker, and was spared the death penalty.

Circumstances of the Recording

After his release from prison in 1978 Bittaker worked as a machinist. While he awaited trial, the machinists union, accused by the struck company of picket-line violence, had him brought from custody to the NLRB hearing. A union official, Mr. Salazar, tells KNBC that strikebreakers like Bittaker had brandished weapons; Bittaker testified that he once waved a replica .45 automatic while driving through the picket line. The murder trial opened in January 1981 before Superior Court Judge Thomas Fredericks, prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay and defended by Albert Garber.

What the Interview Covers

On the opening day Ramirez reports that Kay described Bittaker as "a brilliant man with an IQ of 138, but an extremely violent man" and the "mastermind" of the crimes. In raw interviews Garber argues that his client "has been convicted and condemned without anyone having heard the evidence" and that Norris should be on trial; Kay defends relying on Norris as "a truthful witness" and says other witnesses will describe what Bittaker told them. The tape-day report describes Bittaker showing "no emotion" as the jury listened, a juror weeping, a spectator leaving, and KNBC's courtroom artist, Elizabeth Williams, having to step out. A spectator and, in raw footage, a deputy district attorney who came to listen say they had never heard screams like it.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The footage records the trial as Los Angeles television covered it at the time, including both lawyers' positions in their own words on the opening day and the immediate reaction to the tape that became the trial's most damaging evidence.

Archival Importance

Alongside the aired reports, the footage keeps the interviews as they were recorded, before editing for broadcast. Bittaker was convicted on February 17, 1981, and sentenced to death on March 24, 1981; this footage was shot in the weeks before the verdict.

Important Caveats

Bittaker does not speak anywhere in this video; do not present it as a Bittaker recording. Garber's claims about Norris were the defense case; the jury convicted Bittaker. The reporter says the tape lasted 11 minutes; other accounts describe a 17-minute section played at trial. The NLRB hearing date, the trial's opening-statement date, the union official's first name, the struck company's name and the identity of the person who says "I just picture those girls" are not confirmed. A surviving victim whose rape led to Bittaker's arrest is not named in the footage and must not be named on the page.

Joe Ramirez: It was a bizarre sight: 39-year-old Lawrence Bittaker, shackled and closely guarded, being brought to the federal building to testify in a labor dispute. Bittaker was working as a machinist at a manufacturing plant in Burbank during a strike when he was arrested. The ex-convict testified at a National Labor Relations Board hearing that he once brandished a replica of a .45 automatic while driving through the picket line. The machinists union is fighting company accusations that its members were responsible for the violence on the strike lines.

Mr. Salazar: There are a lot of incidents, such as the incident involving Mr. Bittaker, that a lot of those strikebreakers, or scabs as we call them, were brandishing weapons, and they had knives and so forth, and they would insult our pickets to incite them into a lot of the violence. So he's only one of many that our pickets told us about carrying all these different weapons, including great big bolo knives and so forth, and threatening to use them.

Joe Ramirez: The union will call more witnesses to testify. Their testimony is expected to be more damaging than Bittaker's, but none of them is awaiting trial for murder. From the Federal Building in Westwood, Joe Ramirez, News Center 4. [01:27 to 03:28: footage with no intelligible speech apart from the following fragments.]

Voice: [unclear: "I'm going to have to ask here, we talk to the judge about" / "If you have a seat for me, I'll give you a chance to stand out here at the time being, so we can talk to the judge about it"] [inaudible]

Voice: Yeah. [Raw interview with the union official.]

Reporter: Mr. Salazar, what did the union intend to show by bringing [unclear: "Mr. Whitaker" (both sources) / "Mr. Bittaker"] here to testify today?

Mr. Salazar: Well, the [unclear: "Manasco"] attorneys and the counsel for the general counsel of the NLRB have had several of their witnesses testifying to incidents on the picket line where they are blaming our strikers, our pickets. [...] Because we were instructed by the judge that we had to limit the witnesses that we put on to direct incidents that they have already testified to, and they're not letting us expand on the whole scope of it. They're limiting us very much to that. We didn't want the judge to stop us from questioning him, so our attorneys had to be very careful about the questions that they asked him. And we didn't want the judge to stop in the middle of the questioning. And we expected to get out as much as we could, which was pretty good. One of the things that I heard Mr. Bittaker testify to, that it wasn't until late November, about late November, that they were instructed by the company that our pickets were allowed a certain amount of time to cross in front of the vehicles. Now, I don't recall the date [unclear: "was met" / "was"]. He said, he said late in his employment, they were told about the time allowed pickets to walk. Now, our contention in all these hearings are that there were about four or five of our guys that were hit by vehicles. One guy was put in intensive care; he was in a coma. Now, if all the rest of those strikebreakers were not told until late, they were actually running our guys down. And that is our contention, that the violence started because of the actions of the pickets, I mean the strikebreakers.

Reporter: But Mr. Bittaker was not involved in any accident while working there?

Mr. Salazar: No accident. But he did mention this Kenneth guy, and he's the driver, Kenneth Acosta. He's a driver that hit one of our guys, that we say swerved into our guys and put him into a coma. He was in the hospital under intensive care for a long time.

Reporter: Do you think that Bittaker's testimony this morning was helpful to the defense?

Mr. Salazar: Yes. Yes, definitely so. Because early, from June till about November, we're of the opinion that the company didn't bother to tell them, "Hey, you have to give the pickets time to cross." And that's why there were a lot of accidents, and a lot of our guys got hurt, because these guys were forcing their way through without allowing our pickets the time necessary, and the time allowed by the injunction. [unclear: "All about it" / "Thought about it"], that the company witness, that under cross-examination, he admitted. [Reporter's closing lines, recorded in two takes.]

Joe Ramirez: The union intends to call more witnesses to show that it was a strike break[...] The union intends to call more witnesses to show that it was the strikebreakers, not the strikers, who were responsible for the violence on the picket lines. The testimony may be more damaging than Bittaker's, but at least none of the witnesses are awaiting trial for murder. From Westwood, Joe Ramirez, News Center 4. [Segment 2: aired KNBC report, opening of the murder trial, Torrance, January 1981.]

Joe Ramirez: A jury of seven women and five men today began hearing the case against 40-year-old Lawrence Bittaker, a Burbank machinist. Security was tight. Every spectator was searched by sheriff's deputies before entering Superior Judge Thomas Fredericks' courtroom. The man prosecuting Bittaker, Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay, showed up with a cartload of evidence he plans to present, including a tape recording Bittaker allegedly made while torturing one of his victims. In his opening argument, Kay described the defendant as a brilliant man with an IQ of 138, but an extremely violent man. He told the jury that Bittaker was the mastermind behind the kidnapping, rape and murder of the five girls. Kay also described in detail how Bittaker tortured some of his victims with pliers and ice picks. Two of the bodies never were found. Defense attorney Albert Garber claimed that Roy Norris, the chief prosecution witness, should be on trial, not Bittaker. Garber claimed that Norris is a [unclear: "sex deviant" / "sex deviate"] who derives sexual pleasure from terrorizing his victims. Norris has pleaded guilty to the same charges but agreed to testify against Bittaker to escape the death penalty.

Albert Garber: The people's case is based primarily on the testimony of the codefendant, who obviously made a deal. The involvement of the codefendant is so much greater than that of Mr. Bittaker that it's incomprehensible to me that the deal, that a deal was made with Mr. Norris. That's the problem.

Stephen Kay: You have to understand, in cases like this, when you have two people that are participating in murder, I mean, who else is there but those two people? And sometimes you have to rely on one of them and try and make your best determination as to which one is the least culpable and which one's telling the truth.

Reporter: Could you get a conviction without that testimony?

Stephen Kay: Well, I've been in this business for a long time. I, um, I don't know.

Joe Ramirez: The trial is expected to take two months. Because the multiple killings constitute special circumstances, Bittaker could get the death penalty if convicted. From the county courthouse in Torrance, Joe Ramirez, News Center 4. [Raw interview with the defense attorney.]

Reporter: Mr. Garber, can you give us some indication as to what your strategy is going to be?

Albert Garber: Yes. An opening statement will be made today by the district attorney. I will make an opening statement. What I'm concerned about, and what I've been concerned about from the beginning, is the fact that my client has been convicted and condemned without anyone having heard the evidence. And I'm hoping that when I'm finished with the opening statement that there will be a little more realistic approach to what is involved in this case.

Reporter: By realistic, what do you mean? How damaging do you think that's going to be?

Albert Garber: If it's believed, it'll be damaging. But I think you will find that everything that he attributes of a nature which is detrimental to Mr. Bittaker is actually what Mr. Norris, he himself did, and is completely consistent with his complete pattern of behavior over the last 11 years. There is nothing in Mr. Bittaker's background to indicate anything of any assaultive behavior involving women, any rapes at all, whereas, as far as Mr. Norris is concerned, and I'm sure it's going to be brought out in the opening statement, and the evidence is completely consistent with these type of vicious assaults upon women.

Reporter: Okay. [unclear: "The slightest I do at the moment" / "sest I do at the moment"]. How many have you lined up?

Albert Garber: Oh, we've lined up a number of defense witnesses, most of them [unclear: "by people's witness" / "people's witnesses"].

Reporter: I heard [unclear: "some state that they ever lived together" / "some, they ever lived together"]?

Albert Garber: Oh, no, they were [in] prison together. [...] They never lived together. There's nothing of that nature involved. Mr. Norris, as far as I know, has [...] [11:59 to 17:25: footage with no intelligible speech apart from the following remarks.]

Voices: [unclear: "It's a good size. It's not a good size." (Whisper only)] You've got to put me on Channel 4 noon. Yeah, yeah. That's how they do it. Everybody wants to be a ham. [inaudible]

Court Officer: Okay, the press, form a line on this side. Any other spectators, please [form a line on the other] side.

Voice: Steve? [Raw interview with the prosecutor.]

Voice: Larry, you want to get in here?

Reporter: You indicated to the jury that you weren't going to give them a blow-by-blow description, but you seem to be very specific. Why?

Stephen Kay: Well, I'm not giving them a blow-by-blow description of all of the evidence. I'm just talking about some of the evidence, some of the more interesting evidence that they should know about at this point to help them follow the evidence at the trial.

Reporter: Are you convinced that Mr. Norris is going to testify against Mr. Bittaker?

Stephen Kay: Yes.

Reporter: Your case seems remarkably reliant upon his testimony. Is that a prudent thing to do in terms of a prosecution?

Stephen Kay: Well, you have to remember that Mr. Norris testified at the preliminary hearing already. I think that he's a truthful witness. I thought he made a very good witness at the preliminary hearing, and I have no reason to believe that he'll do other than that here.

Reporter: Not even to save his own skin?

Stephen Kay: [unclear: "It's not just his word against Mr. Norris" / "This is that"]. [There are witnesses] that we'll put on that Bittaker has told things to and done things. So no, it doesn't boil down to that.

Reporter: Yes. How many of these are witnesses other than Norris who can testify to these specific events?

Stephen Kay: Well, a number of [them, unclear] about his participation in these crimes. So, I mean, nobody was at the crimes other than [unclear: "another witness like that" / "Norris"]. But he did relate the murders themselves, or the rapes, [in] another way.

Voice: Okay. [Reporter's closing lines, recorded in several takes.]

Joe Ramirez: The trial is expected to take two months because of the multiple killings. The trial is expected to take two months. Because the multiple killings constitute special circumstances, Bittaker could get the death penalty. From the county courthouse in Torrance, Joe Ramirez, News Center 4. The trial, the trial is expected to take two months. [Segment 3: aired KNBC report, the day the Ledford tape was played to the jury, Torrance, January 1981.]

Joe Ramirez: It was the most devastating testimony the jury has heard: the agonizing screams of teenager Lynette Ledford as she was being tortured in a moving van. The accused, Lawrence Bittaker, showed no emotion as he listened, his eyes fixed on a transcript of the tape. The jurors concentrated on the transcript as if to try and block out the screams. It was too much for one member, who wept. A spectator rushed from the courtroom. It was more than she could stand. KNBC artist Elizabeth Williams also had to leave briefly, too overwhelmed to keep sketching. The tape recording lasted 11 minutes, then Superior Court Judge Thomas Fredericks called a recess. Some spectators had waited days to hear the tape over defense objections. Now those spectators wish they hadn't.

Spectator: I've heard screams before. I didn't, I thought I'd be able to sit and listen, but I've never heard anything like that in my life. I just couldn't believe it. I have a daughter, and I just, I just could see her, and I just, I couldn't take it.

Reporter: You've heard it, obviously, several times before, and it still seems to affect you, obviously quite deeply.

Interviewee: I just picture those girls, and how alone they were when they died. I'm sorry.

Joe Ramirez: In his opening statement, the prosecutor told the jurors the tape would give them some idea of what hell is like. He was right. From the county courthouse in Torrance, Joe Ramirez, News Center 4. [22:20 to 27:54: footage with music, applause or ambient sound and only stray remarks.]

Voices: [unclear: "Hey, please let me know your difference in your first order, ma'am" (Whisper only)]. Did you get her first, the first lady? I thought you did.

Voice: [unclear: "You do this one."]

Voice: You want to stay out here? [inaudible] [Raw interview with a woman from the District Attorney's office who attended as a spectator.]

Reporter: What was your reaction listening to the tape today?

Deputy District Attorney: Oh, that was, well, I just wanted to [inaudible] start shaking.

Reporter: [District] Attorney's office? Yeah. You heard the tape before, did you?

Deputy District Attorney: No.

Reporter: Is this the first time? What is your involvement in the case?

Deputy District Attorney: None. Just another deputy. Just wanted to hear what the tape had.

Reporter: Right. We're rolling.

Deputy District Attorney: I've just never heard anything like that in my life. I've never heard screams like that. I don't know. It was bad.

Reporter: Why did you come down here today?

Deputy District Attorney: To hear the tape. I had heard, I had asked someone what was on it, and someone that had heard it said that mostly it was screams. I've heard screams [unclear: "proceed" / "proved"].

Reporter: Were you prepared for what you heard?

Deputy District Attorney: No, not for that.

Reporter: [unclear: "Why did you choose to attend" / "How did you feel"]?

Deputy District Attorney: Devastated. I never felt so close to being faint in all my life. I prosecuted people, I prosecuted [unclear: "him" / "them"] for murder, rapes, but I just can't believe it. ---