On a Halloween night 45 years ago, the infamous "Toolbox Killers" kidnapped, tortured and killed their final victim, a 16-year-old girl named Shirley Ledford.
Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris, who were 39 and 31 at the time, picked up a hitchhiking Ledford in their van, which they nicknamed "Murder Mac," then tortured, raped and killed the teen girl before leaving her corpse on a random lawn.
She was the last of five teenage victims the duo killed during a 5-month spree in 1979.
They were nicknamed the "Toolbox Killers' because they used toolbox items, including pliers, hammers and ice picks, to torture and kill their victims.
Shortly after Ledford's body was found, one of Norris's acquaintances turned the two men in to authorities, WVNS reported.
Bittaker was sentenced to death while Norris took a plea deal for life in prison after testifying against his co-conspirator. Both men died of natural causes in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Originally published by Lawyer Herald
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