Serial Killer Bio in Kindle & Nook for 99 Cents Thru March, Solves Two Bill Bonin Homicides, Tracks Personal Evolution
February 28, 2023 Vonda3310 0 Comments
Los Angeles, CA—A major historical biography about serial killer Bill Bonin, aka The Freeway Killer, is now on sale in Kindle and Nook formats for 99 Cents thru March 31. A recent batch of 5-Star reviews for Without Redemption: Creation & Deeds of Freeway Killer Bill Bonin, His Five Accomplices & How One Who Escaped Justice, written by Clinical Psychologist Vonda Pelto, Ph.D. and Michael B. Butler, highlight the many aspects of a book that tracks how Bonin evolved from abused child to sexual predator and thence unfeeling serial killer.
The authors were able to uncover how and why one of Bonin’s accomplices, Eric Wijnaendts, got away with double-murder and how and why one day, March 24, 1980, during the ten-month murder spree altered events dramatically months after Bonin’s final arrest.
The first review below, written by someone with 30-years in the film business, indicates that the book is compelling and detailed enough for a solid movie production. Able to draw on thousands of pages of investigative documents, which included Bonin’s personal jailhouse diaries and murder confessions, Pelto and Butler thus created the first true and complete telling of William ‘Bill’ Bonin’s life.
Without Redemption Kindle on Sale for 99 Cents Till March 31, 2023
Here are some of the most interesting reviews of Without Redemption:
All the Makings of Compelling Serial Killer Movie or Mini-Series
‘Without Redemption’ sets itself apart from other serial killer bios with the sheer volume of factual detail, one which reads like historical biographies of famous leaders. Freeway Killer Bill Bonin’s whole life is laid out and this allows the authors to carefully track his 30-year journey/descent into murderous depravity. I have worked on a number of productions about serial killers and murderers, and this book has all the elements for a compelling movie, mini-series or docudrama.
First, you have Bonin’s detailed diaries/written confessions which give an inside view of everything; Second, the co-author, Vonda Pelto, Ph.D., having ersatz counseling/confession sessions with three of the six Freeway Killers in jail; Third, reams of documentary evidence about Bonin’s childhood, war service, years in mental hospitals and prisons followed by the months leading up to the murder spree. Next are Bonin’s carefully written stories of the 22 killings all over Southern California, the journalists reporting on his activities and the detectives chasing him.
Then, after his arrest the story really gets juicy, and complex, as everyone jumps in the pool together to hash out the penultimate act. Surprises await around every corner as cases are getting built, deals negotiated and more suspects pursued. Part and parcel are scenes of political backstabbing, deception, lying and coverups, which is followed by Bonin’s huge trial and the final curtain in this tragic drama.
Generous use of newspaper stories fills in the gaps and the whole book moves rapidly forward without too much lollygagging. ‘Without Redemption’ is as close to a complete serial killer historical biography that one might find.
M.E.
Paints the Whole Picture
Not much of Freeway Killer Bill Bonin’s life, leading up to his first and most important conviction, is left out of this book.
An interesting section is the one after his arrest, where Bonin’s jailhouse diaries are used to tell the inside story. It is fascinating because everyone, I mean everyone, is deceiving and lying to everyone else—homicide detectives from different agencies, prosecutors, witnesses, defense attorneys, press, politicians, district attorneys and, of course, the six Freeway Killer defendants. There are also humorous jailhouse stories that serve to break up the story.
Leading up to the disaster is like descending a slow staircase, and then there is the ten-month murder spree that is chronicled from many different perspectives. ‘Without Redemption’ definitely deserves the moniker ‘detailed historical biography.’
J.S.
Vonda Pelto, Ph.D. Talks Serial Killers on Thunderstruck Radio Show
Co-Author Vonda Pelto is Actually a Player in This Serial Killer Bio
My surprise in this book was how the co-author, Clinical Psychologist Vonda Pelto, Ph.D., actually participated in the story told about the life of Freeway Killer Bill Bonin—she dealt with Bonin and two of his accomplices while working at Los Angeles Central Jail. Pelto had numerous sessions with all three, and other horrible serial killers, and had to listen to their ghastly stories, told in some ways to see her reactions and in other ways to relive their crimes. Her disgust is evident, but she hides it during discussions with Bonin, Miley and Munro, where they all talked about murders in detail.
Aside from that ‘Without Redemption’ is interesting because it is the story of one person’s slow march to becoming an unfeeling monster. It was scary how the killing took over his life, kind of like Gollum in ‘Lord of the Rings,’ it simply swallowed him up.
The authors really packed in the factual stories of Bonin’s life, from birth all the way through months and months of day-to-day events after his arrest, when the system was gearing up and he was trying to make a deal to avoid the death penalty. This part of the book is when very public events are analyzed from inside and outside, and where big surprises pop up.
A thoroughly fascinating and engaging read.
They really tell the full story of a serial killer, from beginning to the end!
Serial killer biographers often lack access to many important documents, but that can’t be said of Without Redemption, which reveals for the first time how and why someone got away with double murder! In fact, the Freeway Killer Bill Bonin is the one who covered for his accomplice. One also learns that Bonin was in police custody on numerous occasions during the murder rampage.
It’s obvious the authors must have had boxes and boxes of material to write from—Bonin’s childhood, adult years spent in mental hospitals and prisons, well before Bill Bonin started killing, are ably reconstructed in amazing detail. You can sense the disaster to come as story slowly unfolds.
Then the killing starts and Bonin’s own written words and many different interviews, with homicide detectives and the co-author Vonda Pelto, Ph.D., give the reader a front row seat in the mind of the man who murdered 22 teenage boys, with five accomplices, in a short period of time. Taking place in 1979-80 in Los Angeles, the book paints of picture of how Bonin’s actions created a firestorm among police, the public and the media.
Part three is a fascinating look at what happened after Bonin’s arrest and how detectives rolled up the other killers and built their case against Bonin and his friends. It was a complicated ten-months, but the authors recreate it in fascinating detail, which includes using Bonin’s jailhouse diaries and see how he was manipulating events while also being unable to control his fate.
A historical biography worthy of that term.
B.B.
Radio Show Video of Vonda Pelto, Ph.D. on Gary Nolan Radio Show
Without Redemption Book Trailer