Andrea Hall

Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker (September 27, 1940 – December 13, 2019) and Roy Lewis Norris (February 5, 1948 – February 24, 2020), also known as the Tool Box Killers, were two American serial killers and rapists who committed the kidnapping, rape, torture and murder of five teenage girls in southern California over a five-month period in 1979.

Lawrence Sigmund Bittaker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 27, 1940, as the unwanted child of a couple who had chosen to not have children.

He was placed in an orphanage by his birth mother and was adopted as an infant.

Bittaker's adoptive father worked in the aviation industry, which required the family to frequently move around the United States throughout his childhood.

Bittaker was first arrested for shoplifting at the age of 12 and obtained a minor criminal record over the next four years after further arrests for the same offense—in addition to petty theft—which brought him to the attention of juvenile authorities.

Bittaker would later claim these numerous theft-related offenses committed throughout his adolescence had been attempts to compensate for the lack of love he received from his parents.

Roy Lewis Norris was born in Greeley, Colorado, on February 5, 1948.

Norris was conceived out of wedlock; his parents had married to avoid the social stigma surrounding illegitimate birth at the time.

Norris's extended family lived within a short distance of his parents' home due to his grandfather's real estate investments.

His father worked in a scrapyard and his mother was a drug-addicted housewife.

He occasionally lived with his parents throughout his childhood and adolescence but was repeatedly placed in the care of foster families throughout the state of Colorado.

Norris's childhood recollections were interspersed with memories of wrongful accusations while living with his biological parents, and of being neglected by many of the foster families he lived with, frequently being denied sufficient food or clothing.

He also claimed to have been sexually abused when in the care of a Hispanic family, later stating the prejudice he held toward Hispanic people originated from the neglect and abuse he endured as a child when placed in the care of this family.

While living with his birth parents at the age of 16, Norris visited the home of a female relative who was in her early twenties and began speaking to her in a sexually suggestive manner.

She ordered him to leave her house and informed Norris's father, who threatened to subject him to a beating.

Norris subsequently stole his father's car and drove into the Rocky Mountains, where he attempted to commit suicide by injecting pure air into an artery in his arm.

He was later apprehended as a runaway, and returned to live with his parents.

Upon his return home, Norris's parents informed him that he and his younger sister were unwanted children and that they intended to divorce when both reached adolescence.

A year later, Norris dropped out of school and joined the United States Navy.

Although reported to have an IQ of 138, Bittaker considered school to be a tedious experience and dropped out of high school in 1957.

By this stage in his adolescence, he and his adoptive parents were living in California.

Within a year of dropping out, he had been arrested for car theft, a hit and run, and evading arrest.

For these offenses he was imprisoned at the California Youth Authority, where he remained until he was 18 years old.

Upon release, Bittaker discovered that his adoptive parents had disowned him and moved to another state.

He would never see his adoptive parents again.

In August 1959, Bittaker was sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, to be served in the Oklahoma State Reformatory.

He was later transferred to the medical center for federal prisoners in Springfield, Missouri, to serve the remainder of his sentence.

In 1960, Bittaker was released from prison and soon reverted to crime.

Within months of his release, he had been arrested in Los Angeles for robbery and, in May 1961, was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment.

While incarcerated for this robbery, he was characterized by a psychiatrist as being highly manipulative.

The psychiatrist also described Bittaker as "having considerable concealed hostility."

Bittaker was released on parole in 1963 after completing two years of his sentence.

In October 1964, he was again imprisoned for parole violation.

He was stationed in San Diego in 1965 and was deployed to serve in the Vietnam War in 1969, although he did not see active combat during his four-month tour of duty.

He was honorably discharged from the Navy after one tour of duty.

Within days of his parole from the California Youth Authority, Bittaker was arrested for transporting a stolen vehicle across state lines.

Norris accepted a plea bargain whereby he agreed to testify against Bittaker and was sentenced to life imprisonment on May 7, 1980, with possibility of parole after serving thirty years.

Described by FBI Special Agent John Edward Douglas as the most disturbing individual for whom he has ever created a criminal profile, Bittaker was sentenced to death for five murders on March 24, 1981, but died of natural causes while incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State Prison in December 2019.

He died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility in February 2020.

Bittaker and Norris became known as the "Tool Box Killers" because the majority of instruments used to torture and murder their victims, such as Pliers, ice picks and sledgehammers, were items normally stored inside a household toolbox.