THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER: DEVIL IN DISGUISE, a four-part docuseries premiering August 2 on Peacock, offers a new, in-depth peek inside the minds of notorious serial killing cousins Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono who allegedly impersonated off-duty police officers to lure unsuspecting victims to their deaths before leaving their bodies to be found on the hillsides of East Los Angeles during the 1970s.
In 1979, in Bellingham, Washington, at the time of his arrest for the murders of two local women, Bianchi was not a suspect in the hillside killings. However, due to similarities in both the Washington and California murders, not to mention Bianchi recent departure from Los Angles, investigators began to consider his connection to the cases. When questioned, Bianchi flip-flopped back and forth, alternately denying and confessing to multiple killings in the LA and Washington areas. During his confessions, Bianchi purported to have a split personality and claimed some of the killings were committed by an alter-ego. Bianchi also began implicating his cousin Angelo Buono as a second suspect in the LA killings. He later convinced an innocent woman to attempt murder on his behalf in an effort to create an alibi.
THE HILLSIDE STRANGLER: DEVIL IN DISGUISE raises new questions around the psychology of Kenneth Bianchi, was he a cold-blooded killer who conned those in his orbit, or a madman coerced into confession? Or is it possible, as Bianchi has claimed in recent years, that the truth may be even more complex? The series takes a deep dive into Bianchi’s psychological analysis tapes and features audio recordings from the months following his arrest, leading up to his conviction. This four-part series features new and exclusive interviews with those close to the case, including Bianchi’s former girlfriend at the time of the Los Angeles killings, Sheryl Kellison.Â