"I Really Have No Memory": Kenneth Bianchi's Prison Interview, with a Psychiatrist's Rebuttal
Years after pleading guilty to seven murders, Kenneth Bianchi told an interviewer he had no memory of killing anyone and had pleaded guilty only to escape the death penalty. A psychiatrist called it "yet another con".
- Subject
- Kenneth Bianchi
- Runtime
- 12:55
Content warning: Discusses the rapes and strangling murders of women and girls by the "Hillside Stranglers".
The Interview
In this undated program segment, Kenneth Bianchi answers an off-camera interviewer from prison, years after he pleaded guilty to murders in Washington and California. He says he has "no memory of having murdered anybody", that conversations he described to police were "made up" under pressure, and that he plea bargained "pretty much solely to escape the death penalty". He talks about his college credits, his plan to major in religion, and his faith as a Seventh-day Adventist. His answers are intercut with a psychiatrist, not named in the clip, who rejects his account, and with Bianchi's own apology in a Washington courtroom in 1979.
Historical Context
Between October 1977 and February 1978, Bianchi and his cousin Angelo Buono Jr. abducted, raped and strangled women and girls in the Los Angeles area, leaving their bodies on hillsides; the press called the unknown killers the "Hillside Strangler". Bianchi then moved to Bellingham, Washington, where on January 11, 1979, he murdered two Western Washington University students, Karen Mandic, 22, and Diane Wilder, 27. He was arrested the next day. Under hypnosis he claimed that another personality, "Steve", had committed the killings. Experts, chiefly Dr. Martin Orne, concluded he was faking. In October 1979 he pleaded guilty in Washington to the two Bellingham murders and later in California to five Los Angeles murders, avoiding the death penalty in return for testifying against Buono.
Circumstances of the Interview
The program is not identified, and the date is inferred from what Bianchi says: he was baptized in April 1985, expects to have 70 credits from Walla Walla Community College by the end of the quarter, and has been accepted by two Christian colleges. The interviewer's questions about parole and no-parole sentences suggest the program dealt with parole for serial murderers. The psychiatrist, who speaks with a European accent, refers to Bianchi's "act for the psychiatrist" and to Veronica Compton, who was later convicted of trying to strangle a woman she had lured to a motel, in an attempt to make it appear the real strangler was still at large.
What the Interview Covers
Bianchi denies remembering any murder, says he cannot recall conversations with Buono, and says that weeks before his hypnosis sessions he had access to all the police reports and photos as discovery and read them extensively. He corrects the interviewer's figure of 12 murders to seven, the number in his pleas. He opposes the death penalty "as a Christian now", favors life without parole except for the fully rehabilitated, says he fears the prison administration more than anything, and says he would not change anything in his life. The psychiatrist argues that Bianchi's memory came and went with his defense, describes the "sexual psychopath" as sane and likely to kill again, and calls Bianchi's good conduct in prison "yet another con".
What Makes the Recording Significant
The segment sets Bianchi's later account, in which he disowns his confessions, against his 1979 courtroom statement that he had to "take responsibility for what I've done". It records him in his own words years after his convictions, alongside a psychiatrist arguing against his parole.
Archival Importance
Bianchi is serving his sentences at Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla and has been refused parole, most recently in July 2025. The segment preserves both his denials and the expert response to them.
Important Caveats
Bianchi's denials, his claim to have no memory, and his reasons for pleading guilty are his own statements; he pleaded guilty to seven murders and his claims to have been coerced have been rejected. The program, the interviewer and the psychiatrist are not identified. The psychiatrist may be Dr. Martin Orne, but this is unconfirmed and he should not be named on the page. The recording date is inferred. Bianchi says he was baptized in April 1985; other sources date his joining the Seventh-day Adventist Church to March 1989. The clip is an edited excerpt that starts and ends mid-sentence.
Interviewer: ...if you have murdered anybody.
Kenneth Bianchi: I really have no memory of having murdered anybody. Even to satisfy other person's allegations at one time, I attempted to think about what it might feel like, and I have never been able to do that.
Interviewer: Are you able to talk about any conversations you might have had with Mr. Buono that would give us some understanding of these murders in California?
Kenneth Bianchi: I've never really had any substantial recollections of any conversations regarding Mr. Buono. I can't give you anything specific. There were times under extreme pressure by the police that I made up certain conversations [unclear: "to not get punished" / "that would not get punished"], for no retaliation, so they wouldn't retaliate. However, those are not credible. Those were made up.
Psychiatrist: He, when he was first picked up, he came not to remember certain things, but he really remembered a lot of details. His loss of memory became worse when he was trying to play the multiple personality. And at that point he came to have no memory about what he did during the multiple personality episodes, when he was Steve and so on. However, as soon as he gave up that defense, he remembered all the details. He told the police exactly where things were committed. He described all kinds of details which he knew.
Psychiatrist: Now, the trial being over, all of a sudden he again forgets. He forgets everything that he's done that's been wrong. He forgets even the things which he claimed earlier: that he had a bad childhood, that his mother beat him, that he killed people, that he had cons where he ran prostitutes with Buono, that he stole from his cousin, that he stole from the people who hired him to guard a store, and so on, all kinds of things. So now he seems, everything is great, you know, and he looks like the all-American boy.
Interviewer: How would you evaluate the motives for the killings? So, what do you think brought about the killings?
Kenneth Bianchi: For the record, to just further explain what you're mentioning here, I had access to all the police reports and photos as a matter of discovery, weeks prior to the hypnosis sessions. Based upon my extensive reading of these reports, my literally absorbing these reports to find out what was happening, I feel that the motive, the motivation may have been, for whoever committed these crimes, may have been simply to remove evidence, simply to, to, perhaps crimes of passion, perhaps the killings occurred to get rid of potential witnesses. That's the best I can surmise from everything I've read.
Psychiatrist: When he was already in Los Angeles, he persuaded a Veronica Compton, [unclear: "whom he hadn't known before" / "who he had known before"], to go out and actually murder someone. She tried to murder someone in the style of the Hillside Strangler, so as to make it appear that Bianchi wasn't the right person.
Interviewer: I think there was, there was [unclear: "a strong" / "a"] sexual motive in those murders?
Kenneth Bianchi: I don't know. Thinking back on the autopsy reports that I saw and other reports, it does appear that some of the women were sexually molested.
Psychiatrist: The sexual psychopath typically is not insane at all. He knows what he's doing. The difference is that he murders for sexual gratification. And it's just as insane as a bank robber who steals, robs banks because he feels he should have the money. Now, that isn't allowed. It isn't allowed that if you find yourself drawn to an attractive woman, that you go ahead and rape her. I mean, that's not, that's against the law, against any civilized society.
Psychiatrist: Now, the sexual psychopath is someone who gives in to this impulse, which many people might be [unclear: "attracted" / "attractive"], but they don't act on it. And the sexual psychopath not only acts on it, but once it has gone to the point where he kills, he will kill repeatedly and doesn't tend to stop this behavior. If you catch him, incarcerate him, he'll be a model prisoner. When he gets out, he'll kill again.
Interviewer: Mr. Bianchi, am I correct that you have been accused of committing 12 murders altogether, including California and the state of Washington?
Kenneth Bianchi: No, sir, it's seven.
Interviewer: Seven? And you plea bargained as guilty to a certain number of murders, is that correct?
Kenneth Bianchi: Yes, I plea bargained to primarily and basically and pretty much solely to escape the death penalty. The death penalty was very much a reality.
Interviewer: How many murders were involved in those charges that you plea bargained?
Kenneth Bianchi: Seven.
Interviewer: What punishment do you think is appropriate for Mr. Bianchi?
Psychiatrist: I don't think it's an issue of punishment. I don't know that there's any punishment which is appropriate for somebody who [unclear: "killed" / "kills"] a dozen people in the most vicious way. I don't know how, what is the right punishment. But really that's quite secondary from my point of view to what is going to happen: whether the man stays away from society. That's the danger. And not because he's not enough punished or too much punished. The issue is, you let somebody like that free, because his odds of doing it again are very high.
Kenneth Bianchi: I don't believe, as a Christian now, that it's right for even society to take another person's life. Although society hires people to do, push the button or pull the cord or whatever, it's still murder, still killing.
Interviewer: Which punishment do you think would be most appropriate for murder?
Kenneth Bianchi: I think it would, should be life in prison.
Interviewer: Without parole, or...
Kenneth Bianchi: Without parole.
Interviewer: Mm-hmm.
Kenneth Bianchi: Unless, of course, there are rare times when a person is so rehabilitated, so completely, especially a younger person who commits a murder when they're very young, there is a lot of room for growth. If there is then fully exhibited rehabilitation, without any question, then it's a different story. He should have an opportunity to perhaps re-enter society. Primarily life without parole.
Psychiatrist: [unclear: "The prisoner stays the same" / "The prison estate is the same"]. And in the case of Bianchi, he is a consummate confidence man, and he is trained up by a variety of parole boards to give the right appearance of being rehabilitated. And unfortunately, parole boards are very much concerned about remorse and about whether punishment has been enough, whereas the real issue you have to ask about this kind of person is what's going to happen if you let him out. And that's a very different issue. No matter how much remorse he's had, he's still likely to kill again.
Interviewer: Are you advocating no-parole clauses in the case of serial murderers who are convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment?
Psychiatrist: Yes, I think that that has to be very seriously considered, because these people have their full-time profession: getting out. And whereas parole boards change over time, and they don't have a memory in that sense, each time somebody like this gets to a parole board, he learns more. He learns better how to present himself. And it is not surprising that a consummate [unclear: "con artist" / "call artist" / "color artist"] is eventually able to con a parole board, particularly since the warden is tremendously impressed with his behavior. The chaplain is impressed with his behavior. He is very helpful to a lot of people. And it is understandable why a parole board might get taken in by him.
Interviewer: Your last degree was a high school diploma, is that correct?
Kenneth Bianchi: That's correct.
Interviewer: And you're now working towards a community college degree.
Kenneth Bianchi: That's correct. I am now currently, as of the end of this quarter, will have 70 credits from Walla Walla Community College. I've also been accepted at two other colleges to continue on for a bachelor's degree.
Interviewer: What do you think you'll major in?
Kenneth Bianchi: Well, I'll probably major in religion. Both colleges are Christian colleges, and they both, the major will be in religion.
Interviewer: Tell me about your current religious beliefs and how they are the same or different from what your beliefs were, let's say, 10 or 15 years ago.
Kenneth Bianchi: Very much different. Aside from my changing faiths, even, I'm a Christian now. I really don't care if anybody on the outside doesn't believe it; it is not important. The Lord knows that. I was baptized back in April of '85. And besides being baptized, I'm also a Seventh-day Adventist now rather than a Catholic, and I practice my faith actively.
Interviewer: How do you know that he's not in fact rehabilitated now? Why do you think he's conning now, when he shows that he can work with the chaplain and be a good prisoner, and that he is genuinely trying to behave in the most appropriate way?
Psychiatrist: I don't doubt that he's genuinely trying to behave most appropriately. He's a model prisoner. That's characteristic of the group. They're wonderful in prison. Everybody thinks they're great. They work for the chaplain. The warden thinks they're great. The social workers think they're great. And they act as if they're rehabilitated. That doesn't mean they are. It is yet another con, and he's very good at it.
Kenneth Bianchi: To even begin to try and live with myself, I have to take responsibility for what I've done. And I have to do everything I can to get Angelo Buono, and to devote my entire life to do everything I possibly can, to give my life so that nobody else will hopefully follow in, will hopefully won't follow in my footsteps.
Psychiatrist: [unclear: "First" / "Yes"], he played his act for the psychiatrist. But, you know, when this didn't work, then he played his act for the court in Washington, where he repented and cried and so forth. But of course he was set up to do that. And as soon as he left the court, he was seen laughing and having a great time.
Interviewer: What things do you fear the most?
Kenneth Bianchi: Right now, in the immediate sense, what I fear the most is the administration that holds me as a prisoner. It's just a very scary thing to be in a bureaucracy like this and to see the way it really functions, how it's just right on the edge of, you really could be in a lot of trouble. Guys have been killed because they've been moved from one place to another because of... Now, I'm not saying the administration is trying to do harm to anybody. Basically, I would imagine they don't, but it just has its imperfections enough that it's very scary. I'm very much afraid of it.
Interviewer: If you had to live your life over again, what things would you change?
Kenneth Bianchi: I really wouldn't change anything. You know, I had a good childhood, and... [edit] I really wouldn't change anything.
Interviewer: If you assume... [recording ends] ---