title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: I think (short of documentary evidence to the contrary) that if people are not crazy, they get themselves out of crazy situations, so I have never been able to buy the notion that it was my father's drinking which led her to the sanitarium. Nor do I think she led him to the drinking.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Scott and Zelda were buried in Rockville, Maryland — originally in the Rockville Union Cemetery, away from his family plot. Only one photograph of the original gravesite is known to exist, taken in 1970 by Fitzgerald scholar Richard Anderson and first published in 2016. At Scottie's request, her parents were later interred with the other Fitzgeralds at Saint Mary's Catholic Cemetery. Inscribed on their tombstone is the final sentence of "The Great Gatsby": "So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past."


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: At the time of his sudden death in 1940, Scott believed himself a failure, and Zelda's death in 1948 was little noted. However, interest in the Fitzgeralds surged in the years following their deaths. In 1950, screenwriter Budd Schulberg, who knew the couple from his Hollywood years, wrote "The Disenchanted", with characters based recognizably on the Fitzgeralds who end up as forgotten former celebrities, he awash with alcohol and she befuddled by mental illness. It was followed in 1951 by Cornell University professor Arthur Mizener's "The Far Side of Paradise," a biography of F. Scott Fitzgerald that rekindled interest in the couple among scholars. Mizener's biography was serialized in "The Atlantic Monthly," and a story about the book appeared in "Life" magazine, then one of America's most widely read and discussed periodicals. Scott was viewed as a fascinating failure; Zelda's mental health was largely blamed for his lost potential.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: A play based on "The Disenchanted" opened on Broadway in 1958. Also that year, Scott's Hollywood mistress Sheilah Graham published a memoir, "Beloved Infidel", about his last years. "Beloved Infidel" became a bestseller and later a film starring Gregory Peck as Scott and Deborah Kerr as Graham. The book and movie painted him in a more sympathetic light than the earlier works. In 1970, however, the history of Scott and Zelda's marriage saw its most profound revision in a book by Nancy Milford, then a graduate student at Columbia University. "Zelda: A Biography", the first book-length treatment of Zelda's life, became a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, and figured for weeks on "The New York Times" best-seller list. The book recast Zelda as an artist in her own right whose talents were belittled by a controlling husband. Thus in the 1970s, Zelda became an icon of the feminist movement—a woman whose unappreciated potential had been suppressed by patriarchal society. When Tennessee Williams dramatized the Fitzgeralds' lives in the 1980s in "Clothes for a Summer Hotel", he drew heavily on Milford's account. A caricature of Scott and Zelda emerged: as epitomes of the Jazz Age's glorification of youth, as representatives of the Lost Generation, and as a parable about the pitfalls of too much success.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Zelda was the inspiration for "Witchy Woman", the song of seductive enchantresses written by Don Henley and Bernie Leadon for the Eagles, after Henley read Zelda's biography; of the muse, the partial genius behind her husband F. Scott Fitzgerald, the wild, bewitching, mesmerizing, quintessential "flapper" of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties, embodied in "The Great Gatsby" as the uninhibited and reckless personality of Daisy Buchanan.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Zelda's name served as inspiration for Princess Zelda, the eponymous character of "The Legend of Zelda" series of video games. Series co-creator Shigeru Miyamoto explained, "[Fitzgerald] was a famous and beautiful woman from all accounts, and I liked the sound of her name. So I took the liberty of using her name for the very first "Zelda" title." New York City's borough of Manhattan's Battery Park's resident wild turkey Zelda (d. 2014) was also named after her, because according to legend during one of Fitzgerald's nervous breakdowns, she went missing and was found in Battery Park, apparently having walked several miles downtown. Of Zelda's legacy in popular culture, biographer Cline wrote, "Recently myth has likened Zelda to those other twentieth-century icons, Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana. With each she shares a defiance of convention, intense vulnerability, doomed beauty, unceasing struggle for a serious identity, short tragic life and quite impossible nature." In 1989, the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald museum opened in Montgomery, Alabama. The museum is in a house they briefly rented in 1931 and 1932. It is one of the few places where some of Zelda's paintings are kept on display.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Painting Zelda Fitzgerald as an artist in her own right, Deborah Pike wrote a biography titled "The Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald" (2017). Pike notes Zelda's creative output as "an important contribution to the history of women's art with new perspectives on women and modernity, plagiarism, creative partnership, and the nature of mental illness," based on literary analysis of Zelda's published and unpublished work as well as her husband's.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: After the success of Milford's 1970 biography, scholars and critics began to look at Zelda's work in a new light. In a 1968 edition of "Save Me the Waltz," F. Scott Fitzgerald scholar Matthew Bruccoli had written, ""Save Me the Waltz" is worth reading partly because anything that illuminates the career of F. Scott Fitzgerald is worth reading—and because it is the only published novel of a brave and talented woman who is remembered for her defeats." But as "Save Me the Waltz" was increasingly read alongside Milford's biography, a new perspective emerged. In 1979, scholar Jacqueline Tavernier-Courbin wrote rebutting Bruccoli's position: ""Save Me the Waltz" is a moving and fascinating novel which should be read on its own terms equally as much as "Tender Is the Night". It needs no other justification than its comparative excellence."


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: "Save Me the Waltz" became the focus of many literary studies that explored different aspects of her work: how the novel contrasted with Scott's take on the marriage in "Tender Is the Night"; how the commodity culture that emerged in the 1920s placed stress on modern women; and how these attitudes led to a misrepresentation of "mental illness" in women.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Zelda's collected writings (including "Save Me the Waltz"), edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli, were published in 1991. "New York Times" literary critic Michiko Kakutani wrote, "That the novel was written in two months is amazing. That for all its flaws it still manages to charm, amuse and move the reader is even more remarkable. Zelda Fitzgerald succeeded, in this novel, in conveying her own heroic desperation to succeed at something of her own, and she also managed to distinguish herself as a writer with, as Edmund Wilson once said of her husband, a 'gift for turning language into something iridescent and surprising.'"


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Scholars continue to examine and debate the role that Scott and Zelda may have had in stifling each other's creativity. Zelda's biographer Cline wrote that the two camps are "as diametrically opposed as the Plath and Hughes literary camps"—a reference to the heated controversy about the relationship of husband–wife poets Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath.


title: Zelda Fitzgerald

text: Zelda's artwork also has been reappraised as interesting in its own right. After spending much of the 1950s and '60s in family attics—Zelda's mother even had much of the art burned because she disliked it—her work has drawn the interest of scholars. Exhibitions of her work have toured the United States and Europe. A review of the exhibition by curator Everl Adair noted the influence of Vincent van Gogh and Georgia O'Keeffe on her paintings and concluded that her surviving corpus of art "represents the work of a talented, visionary woman who rose above tremendous odds to create a fascinating body of work—one that inspires us to celebrate the life that might have been."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Described by FBI Special Agent John E. 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

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


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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 by Mr. and Mrs. George Bittaker 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

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


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

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


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: 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."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker was released on parole in 1963 after completing two years of his sentence. In October 1964, he was again imprisoned for parole violation. In 1966, Bittaker underwent further examinations by two independent psychiatrists, both of whom classified him as a borderline psychopath: a highly manipulative individual unable to acknowledge the consequences of his actions. Bittaker explained to one of them that his criminal activities gave him a feeling of self-importance, although he insisted circumstantial matters pertaining to his environment and upbringing decreased his ability to resist committing crimes. Bittaker was prescribed anti-psychotic medication. A year later, he was again released into society.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: A month after his parole in July 1967, Bittaker was again arrested and convicted of theft and of leaving the scene of an accident. He was sentenced to five years but was released in April 1970. In March 1971, Bittaker was again arrested for burglary. Due to repeated parole violations, he was sentenced to serve between six months and fifteen years' imprisonment in October 1971. Three years later, Bittaker was again released from prison.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In 1974, Bittaker was arrested for assault with attempt to commit murder, after he stabbed a young supermarket employee who had accused him of stealing. The supermarket employee had observed Bittaker stealing a steak and had followed Bittaker outside and into the store's parking lot, where he asked Bittaker whether he had forgotten to pay. Bittaker responded by stabbing his pursuer in the chest, narrowly missing his heart. He attempted to flee but was quickly restrained by two other supermarket employees. The employee, Gary Louie, survived the stabbing, and Bittaker was convicted of the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon and sent to California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In November 1969, Norris was arrested for his first known sexual offenses: he was charged with both rape and assault with attempt to commit rape. In the latter incident, he had attempted to force his way into the car of a lone woman. Three months later, in February 1970, Norris attempted to deceive a lone woman into allowing him to enter her home. When the woman refused, he attempted to break into her house; the woman phoned the police, who arrested Norris before he had the opportunity to cause the woman any harm.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Less than three months after this offense, Norris was diagnosed by military psychologists with schizoid personality disorder. He was given an administrative discharge from the Navy under terms labeled as psychological problems.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In May 1970, Norris—on bail for his latest offense—attacked a female student whom he had been stalking on the grounds of the San Diego State University campus. Norris repeatedly struck her on the back of the head with a rock until she slumped to her knees before he repeatedly beat her head against the sidewalk as he knelt upon her lower back. Shortly thereafter, Norris was charged with assault with a deadly weapon; he was committed to five years' imprisonment at the Atascadero State Hospital, where he was classified as a mentally disordered sex offender.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris was released from the Atascadero State Hospital in 1975, with five years' probation, having been declared by doctors as an individual who was of "no further danger to others". Just three months after his release, Norris approached a 27-year-old woman walking home from a restaurant in Redondo Beach and offered her a ride on his motorcycle. When she declined, Norris parked his motorcycle and grabbed the woman's scarf, twisting it around her neck, before informing her he intended to rape her and dragging her into nearby bushes. Fearing for her life, the woman did not resist the rape.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Although the rape was reported to police, they were initially unable to find the perpetrator. However, one month later, the victim observed Norris's motorcycle and noted the license number, which she immediately gave to police. Norris was arrested for the rape; one year later, he was tried and convicted for this offense and sent to the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo. While incarcerated at the California Men's Colony, Norris met and befriended Bittaker.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker and Norris initially became loosely acquainted in 1977, one year after Norris arrived at San Luis Obispo. Bittaker's initial impression of Norris upon his arrival at the California Men's Colony was that he was a savvy individual who largely associated with hardened criminals from motorcycle gangs, in addition to dealing in contraband drugs. The pair gradually became more closely acquainted and began talking in friendly terms when Norris taught Bittaker how to construct jewelry.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: According to Norris, Bittaker saved him from being attacked by fellow inmates on at least two occasions. By 1978, the pair had become close acquaintances; discovering they shared an interest in sexual violence and misogyny, with Norris also divulging to Bittaker the biggest stimulation for him was of seeing frightened young women, adding this was the primary reason he had amassed a lengthy record for sexual offenses. Bittaker—who is not known to have committed any sexual offenses prior to his meeting Norris—himself divulged to Norris that if he ever raped a woman, he would kill her so as not to leave a witness to the crime.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: When alone, the pair regularly discussed plans to assault and murder teenage girls after they were released. This shared fantasy evolved into an elaborate plan to murder one girl of each teenage year from 13 through 19. The pair vowed to become reacquainted once they were released.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker was released from the California Men's Colony on October 15, 1978; he returned to Los Angeles and found work as a skilled machinist. This work earned Bittaker close to $1,000 a week, and despite classifying himself as a loner, he became friendly with several people in his neighborhood, earning a reputation as a generous and helpful individual who occasionally donated money to The Salvation Army. On one occasion, he is known to have purchased large quantities of fast food and wine which he then handed to homeless individuals in Downtown Los Angeles.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker was particularly popular among the local teenagers, and later admitted the primary reason he always had beer and marijuana in his Burbank motel was that his residence would remain a popular place for teenagers to socialize.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Three months after Bittaker was released from the California Men's Colony, on January 15, 1979, Norris was released from prison and moved into his mother's home in Redondo Beach. Within one month of his release, he had raped a woman whom he then simply abandoned in a desert. He soon found employment as an electrician in Compton. Shortly thereafter, he received a letter from Bittaker. In late February, the pair met at a hotel and rekindled their plan to kidnap and rape girls.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In order for the pair to abduct teenage girls, Bittaker decided they would need a van as opposed to a car. With financial assistance from Norris, Bittaker purchased a silver-gray 1977 GMC Vandura in February 1979. The vehicle was windowless on one side and had a large passenger-side sliding door. According to Bittaker, when viewing this sliding door, he realized he or Norris could "pull up [to a teenage girl] real close and not have to open the doors all the way." The pair would nickname this van "Murder Mac".


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: From February to June 1979, Bittaker and Norris picked up over twenty female hitchhikers. The pair did not assault these girls in any manner: these practice runs were merely a way for them to develop ruses to lure girls into the van voluntarily and of discovering secluded locations. In late April, the pair found an isolated fire road in the San Gabriel Mountains. Bittaker broke open the locked gate with a crowbar and replaced the lock with one he owned.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker and Norris killed their first victim, 16-year-old Lucinda Lynn Schaefer, on June 24, 1979. Schaefer was last seen leaving a Presbyterian Church meeting in Redondo Beach. In his written accounts of the events of this day, Bittaker stated he and Norris first finished constructing the bed the pair had installed in the rear of the van, beneath which they placed tools, clothes, and a cooler filled with beer and soft drinks. At approximately 11 a.m., the pair drove to "the beach area, drinking beer, smoking grass, and flirting with girls. We had no set routine."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: At approximately 7:46 p.m., Norris spotted Schaefer walking down a side street and remarked to Bittaker, "There's a cute little blonde."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: After unsuccessfully attempting to entice Schaefer into their van with alternative offers of marijuana and a lift home, Bittaker and Norris drove further ahead and parked alongside a driveway. Norris then exited the vehicle, opened the passenger-side sliding door, and leaned into the van, with his head and shoulders obscured from view behind the door. When Schaefer passed the van, Norris exchanged a few words with her before dragging her into the van and closing the door. Using a ruse they would repeat in most of their subsequent murders, Bittaker turned the radio to full volume as Norris bound the victim's arms and legs and gagged her with duct tape as Bittaker drove Schaefer to the fire road in the San Gabriel Mountains where, in April, the pair had previously switched the locks.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Despite initially screaming when she was abducted, Schaefer quickly regained her composure. In his written account of the night that followed, Bittaker wrote that Schaefer "displayed a magnificent state of self-control and composed acceptance of the conditions of which she had no control. She shed no tears, offered no resistance, and expressed no great concern for her safety ... I guess she knew what was coming."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: At the fire road, Norris first raped Schaefer after instructing Bittaker to "go take a walk" and return in one hour. Upon returning to the van, Bittaker similarly raped the girl in Norris's absence. Upon the second occasion in which she was raped by Norris in Bittaker's absence, Schaefer asked him whether they intended to kill her, to which Norris replied, "No." In response, Schaefer requested to be allowed time to pray before she was killed if that was Bittaker and Norris's intention.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In their subsequent accounts of the actual murder, Bittaker and Norris gave differing accounts as to who argued over whether they should kill her rather than release her: each stated the other argued that they should kill her. In any event, Schaefer pleaded for "only a second, to pray," before Norris attempted to manually strangle her. After approximately 45 seconds, he became disturbed at "the look in her eyes" and ran to the front of the van, vomiting. Bittaker then manually strangled Schaefer until she collapsed to the ground and began convulsing. He then twisted a wire coat hanger around her neck with vise-grip pliers until Schaefer's convulsions ceased. Schaefer was denied her requests to pray before Bittaker and Norris killed her.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Schaefer's body was wrapped in a plastic shower curtain and thrown over a steep canyon Bittaker had selected. According to Norris, after Bittaker had thrown Schaefer over the canyon, Bittaker assured him "the animals would eat her up, so there wouldn't be any evidence left."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On July 8, 1979, two weeks after the murder of Schaefer, Bittaker and Norris encountered 18-year-old Andrea Joy Hall hitchhiking along the Pacific Coast Highway. As the pair slowed the van to offer Hall a lift, another vehicle pulled over and offered Hall exactly that, which she accepted. Bittaker and Norris followed the vehicle from a distance until Hall exited the vehicle in Redondo Beach.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On this occasion, Norris hid in the back of the van in order to dupe Hall into believing Bittaker was traveling alone. Inside the van, Bittaker offered Hall a cold drink from the cooler in the rear of the van. Norris—who had hidden behind a bedspread in the rear of the van—pounced on Hall when she attempted to retrieve the drink and, after a strenuous fight, managed to subdue her by twisting her arm behind her back, causing her to scream in pain. Norris then gagged Hall with adhesive tape and bound her wrists and ankles.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker and Norris drove Hall to a location in the San Gabriel Mountains beyond where they had earlier taken Schaefer. At this location, she was raped twice by Bittaker and once by Norris. While Bittaker was raping Hall for the second time, Norris saw what he believed to be vehicle headlights approaching. Bittaker clasped his hand over Hall's mouth and dragged her into nearby bushes as Norris drove in an unsuccessful search for the vehicle he thought he had seen. When he returned, the pair drove to a location farther in the San Gabriel Mountains. Bittaker forced Hall to walk uphill naked alongside the road and to then perform oral sex on him, before ordering Hall to pose for several Polaroid pictures.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker and Norris drove Hall to a third location, where Bittaker again walked Hall up a nearby hill, this time as Norris drove to a nearby store to purchase alcohol. When Norris returned, Bittaker was alone and in possession of two further Polaroid pictures he had taken, both of which depicted Hall's face in expressions Norris later described as being of "sheer terror" as she begged for her life to be spared. Bittaker informed Norris that he had told Hall he was going to kill her and challenged her to give him as many reasons as she could come up with as to why she should be allowed to live, before thrusting an ice pick through her ear into her brain. He then turned her body over and thrust the ice pick into her other ear, stomping on it until the handle broke. Bittaker then strangled Hall before throwing her body off a cliff.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On September 3, Bittaker and Norris observed two girls named Jackie Doris Gilliam and Jacqueline Leah Lamp sitting on a bus stop bench near Hermosa Beach. Lamp and Gilliam had been hitchhiking along the Pacific Coast Highway before Bittaker and Norris observed them as they were resting at the bus stop. Bittaker and Norris offered the girls a ride, which Gilliam and Lamp accepted. Inside the van, both girls were offered marijuana by Norris, which they accepted.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Shortly after entering the van, both girls realized that Bittaker had steered the van off the Pacific Coast Highway and was driving in the direction of the San Gabriel Mountains. When the girls protested, both Bittaker and Norris attempted to allay the girls' concerns with excuses, which did not deceive either girl. Lamp, aged 13, attempted to open the sliding door, whereupon Norris hit her on the back of the head with a bag filled with lead weights, briefly knocking her unconscious, before overpowering 15-year-old Gilliam. As he began to bind and gag Gilliam, Lamp regained consciousness and again attempted to flee the van, whereupon Norris twisted her arm behind her back and dragged her back into the van. As this struggle ensued, Bittaker—noting the girls' struggle was in full view of potential witnesses—stopped the van, punched Gilliam in the face, and assisted Norris in finishing binding and gagging the two girls.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Gilliam and Lamp were driven to the San Gabriel Mountains, where they were held captive for almost two days, being bound and gagged between repeated instances of sexual and physical abuse. Both men slept in the van alongside their two hostages, with each alternatively acting as a lookout. On one occasion, Bittaker walked Lamp onto a nearby hill and forced her to pose for pornographic pictures before returning her to the van. Bittaker also asked Norris to take several Polaroid pictures of himself and Gilliam, both nude and clothed. In the first of three instances in which Bittaker raped Gilliam, he also created a tape recording of himself raping her, forcing the girl to pretend she was his cousin and informing Gilliam to feel free to express her pain. Bittaker is also known to have tortured Gilliam by stabbing her breasts with an ice pick and using vise grip pliers to tear off part of one nipple.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: After almost two days of captivity, Lamp and Gilliam were murdered. At Bittaker's subsequent trial, Norris claimed he had suggested that Gilliam be killed quickly as, unlike Lamp, she had been largely cooperative throughout the period of her captivity, whereupon Bittaker replied, "No, they only die once anyway." Gilliam was struck in each ear with an ice pick, and then strangled to death.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: After Bittaker had murdered Gilliam, he then forced Lamp out of the van. Upon exiting the sliding door, Bittaker shouted to her: "You wanted to stay a virgin; now you can die a virgin!" before Norris struck her upon the head with a sledgehammer. Bittaker then strangled Lamp until he believed she had died; when Lamp opened her eyes, Norris again bludgeoned her repeatedly as Bittaker strangled her to death.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker and Norris abducted their final victim, 16-year-old Shirley Lynette Ledford, on October 31, 1979. Ledford was abducted as she stood outside a gas station, hitchhiking home from a Halloween party in the Sunland-Tujunga suburb of Los Angeles. Investigators believe Ledford accepted a ride home from Bittaker and Norris because she recognized Bittaker, as he is known to have frequented the restaurant in which Ledford held a part-time job as a waitress.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Upon accepting the offer of a lift home and entering the van, Ledford was offered marijuana by Norris, which she refused. Bittaker drove the van to a secluded street, where Norris drew a knife, then bound and gagged Ledford with construction tape.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker then traded places with Norris, who drove in an aimless manner for in excess of an hour as Bittaker remained with Ledford in the back of the van. After removing the construction tape from the girl's mouth and legs, Bittaker tormented Ledford: initially slapping and mocking her, then beating her with his fists as he repeatedly shouted for her to "say something", then, as Ledford began screaming, shouting for her to "scream louder". As Ledford continued screaming, Bittaker began asking her as he struck her: "What's the matter? Don't you like to scream?"


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: As Ledford began to cry, she pleaded with Bittaker, repeatedly saying, "No, don't touch me." In response, Bittaker again ordered her to scream as loud as she wished, then began alternately striking her with a hammer, beating her breasts with his fists and torturing her with pliers both between and throughout instances when he raped and sodomized her. Repeatedly, Ledford can be heard pleading for the abuse to cease and making statements such as, "Oh no! No!" as sounds of Bittaker alternately extracting either the sledgehammer or the pliers from the toolbox can be heard on a tape recorder he had switched on after entering the rear of the van. Norris later described hearing "screams ... constant screams" emanating from the rear of the van as he drove.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Shortly after Norris switched places with Bittaker, he himself switched on the tape recorder that Bittaker had used to record much of the time he had been in the rear of the van with Ledford. Norris first shouted for Ledford to: "Go ahead and scream or I'll make you scream." In response, Ledford pleaded, "I'll scream if you stop hitting me," then emitted several high-pitched screams as Norris encouraged her to continue until he ordered her to stop.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris then reached for the sledgehammer as Ledford—seeing him do this—screamed, "Oh no!" Norris then struck Ledford once upon the left elbow. In response, she informed Norris he had broken her elbow, before pleading, "Don't hit me again." In response, Norris again raised the sledgehammer as Ledford repeatedly screamed, "No!" Norris then proceeded to strike Ledford 25 consecutive times upon the same elbow with the sledgehammer, before asking her, "What are you sniveling about?" as Ledford continuously screamed and wept.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: After approximately two hours of captivity, Norris killed Ledford by strangling her with a wire coat hanger, which he tightened with pliers. Ledford did not react much to the act of strangulation, although she died with her eyes open. Bittaker then opted to discard her body on a random lawn in order to view the reaction from the press. The pair drove to a randomly selected house in Sunland where Norris discarded Ledford's body in a bed of ivy upon the front lawn.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Ledford's body was found by a jogger the following morning. An autopsy revealed that, in addition to having been sexually violated, she had died of strangulation after receiving extensive blunt-force trauma to the face, head, breasts, and left elbow, with her olecranon sustaining multiple fractures. Her genitalia and rectum had been torn, caused in part by Bittaker having inserted pliers inside her body. In addition, her left hand bore a puncture wound and a finger on her right hand had been slashed.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker would later claim the tape recording the pair had created of Ledford's clear abuse and torture offered nothing other than the evidence of a threesome, adding that, toward the very end, Ledford was screaming for him and Norris to kill her.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In November 1979, Norris became reacquainted with a friend named Joseph Jackson, an individual with whom he had previously been incarcerated at the California Men's Colony. Norris confided in Jackson regarding his and Bittaker's exploits over the previous five months, including graphic details of the murder of Shirley Ledford (the only victim whose body had been found at this time). Norris also divulged to Jackson that, in addition to the five murders he and Bittaker had committed, there had been three additional incidents in which he and Bittaker had abducted or attempted to abduct young women who had either escaped their attackers or, in one instance, had actually been raped, but released.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Upon hearing Norris's confessions, Jackson consulted his attorney, who advised him to inform authorities. Jackson agreed, and he and his attorney informed the Los Angeles Police Department, who in turn relayed the two men to the Hermosa Beach police.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: A Hermosa Beach detective named Paul Bynum was assigned to investigate Jackson's claims as to Norris's confessions of the murders, attempted abductions, and rapes that he had confided to Jackson had occurred between June and October. Bynum initially noted that Jackson's statements as to Norris's confessions did match reports on file of several teenage girls who had been reported missing over the previous five months. In addition, the incident Norris had confided to Jackson where he claimed he and Bittaker had sprayed mace in the face of a woman, who had then been dragged into Bittaker's GMC van and raped by both men, matched a report filed in relation to an incident that occurred on September 30. In this filed report, a young woman named Robin Robeck had had mace sprayed in her face before being dragged into a van and raped by two Caucasian men in their mid-30s, before being released. Although Robeck had reported the abduction and rape to police, they had been unable to identify her assailants.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bynum dispatched an investigator to visit Robeck at her residence in Oregon, to show her a series of mug shots. Without hesitation, Robeck positively identified two photos presented to her as those of the men who had kidnapped and raped her on September 30. The two individuals she identified were Bittaker and Norris.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Upon linking Bittaker and Norris to the rape of Robin Robeck, the Hermosa Beach police placed Norris under surveillance; within days, they had observed his dealing in marijuana. On November 20, 1979, Norris was arrested by the Hermosa Beach police for parole violation. The same day, at the Burbank motel where he resided, Bittaker was arrested for the rape of Robin Robeck.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Although Robeck had identified mug shots of Bittaker and Norris, she was unable to positively identify her assailants in a police lineup. Nonetheless, police had observed Norris dealing in marijuana, whereas Bittaker had been in possession of drugs at the time of his arrest. Both were held on charges of parole violation.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: A search of Bittaker's apartment revealed several Polaroid photographs which were determined as depicting Hall and Gilliam—both of whom had been reported as missing earlier the same year. Inside Bittaker's van, investigators discovered a sledgehammer, a plastic bag filled with lead weights, a book detailing how to locate police radio frequencies, a jar of Vaseline, two necklaces (later confirmed as belonging to two of the victims), and a tape recording of a young woman in obvious distress, screaming and repeatedly pleading for mercy while being tortured and sexually abused.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The mother of Ledford—named by Jackson as being one of the girls whom Norris had confessed he and Bittaker had killed—identified the voice on the tape as being that of her only daughter; the voices of the two men mocking and threatening Ledford in the process of her torture and abuse were identified as being Roy Norris and Lawrence Bittaker. Also found in Bittaker's motel were seven bottles of various acidic materials. (Investigators would later discover Bittaker planned to use these acidic materials upon their next victim.)


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Inside Norris's apartment, police discovered a bracelet he had taken from Ledford's body as a souvenir. Also found at the homes of both Bittaker and Norris were Polaroid pictures of almost 500 teenage girls and young women, most of which had apparently been taken at Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach, with others taken by Bittaker at a Burbank high school. Most of these pictures had been taken without the girls' knowledge or consent.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On November 30, 1979, Norris attended a preliminary hearing in relation to the September 30 rape. By this stage, Norris was beginning to display visible signs of stress. At the hearing, Norris waived his Miranda rights before Detective Bynum and Deputy District Attorney Stephen Kay began questioning him, initially in relation to the rape of Robin Robeck, then in relation to the statements given to police by Joseph Jackson and the evidence recovered from his and Bittaker's residences.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Initially, Norris flatly denied any involvement in any murders, rapes or disappearances; however, when confronted with the evidence investigators had compiled, Norris began to confess, although he did attempt to portray Bittaker as being more culpable in the murders than himself. In what Bynum and Kay later described as a "casual, unconcerned manner," Norris divulged that he and Bittaker had been in the habit of driving around areas such as the Pacific Coast Highway and randomly approaching girls whom they found attractive with offers of a ride, posing with the pair for photographs, or marijuana. Most of those whom they approached rejected whatever given ruse Bittaker and Norris used to entice them into the van, although four girls had accepted lifts from the pair and had been murdered, with a fifth victim—their first—being grabbed by force.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Inside the van, the girls would typically be overpowered, bound hand and foot, gagged, and driven to locations deep within the San Gabriel Mountains, where they would be sexually assaulted by both men, then usually killed by strangulation with a wire coat hanger, although two of the victims had had ice picks driven into their ears before being strangled. Norris admitted to bludgeoning their youngest victim, Lamp, about the head with a sledgehammer as Bittaker strangled her, and admitted to repeatedly striking Shirley Ledford upon the elbow with a sledgehammer before strangling her to death. The bottles of acid found at Bittaker's motel, Norris stated, were intended for use upon the next victim they abducted, and the acts of torture and humiliation had been committed against their victims "for fun".


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: According to Norris, the level of brutality Bittaker had exhibited toward their victims had increased on each successive instance they had lured a girl into the van; their final victim, Ledford, had actually pleaded to be killed in order that her agony could cease. Additional details by Norris provided further corroborating evidence to support his confessions. For example, he knew that their first victim, Schaefer, had left a meeting at a Presbyterian Church shortly before she was abducted and that Schaefer had lost one shoe as she had been dragged into Bittaker's van. Norris also knew part of Shirley Ledford's ancestry was Hispanic, and that Bittaker had unsuccessfully asked her to date him prior to October 1979.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In a press statement relating to the police investigation into the murders issued on February 7, 1980, Los Angeles County Sheriff Peter Pitchess stated the victims had been subjected to "sadistic and barbaric abuse", adding that five charges of first-degree murder would be sought against both Bittaker and Norris. Sheriff Pitchess also stated that, in relation to the Polaroid pictures found in Bittaker and Norris's apartments, police had located 60 of the young women depicted—none of whom had been harmed.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Nonetheless, Pitchess also stated that police had also identified 19 of the women depicted in the pictures as being individuals who had been reported missing, and that these teenage girls and young women may well have been murdered, although Pitchess did stress that they had no conclusive evidence to suggest that these additional 19 women photographed had fallen victim to Bittaker and Norris.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: One of the Polaroid pictures seized from Bittaker and Norris depicts an unidentified young white woman, alone with Bittaker and Norris, in circumstances very similar to the pictures found depicting known victims Hall, Lamp, and Gilliam. The young woman in the pictures has never been identified. This photograph is indicative there may have been one further victim whom neither Bittaker or Norris ever mentioned to investigators.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris agreed to return to the San Gabriel Mountains to search for the bodies of the girls to whose abduction and murder he had confessed to assisting in. In each instance, Norris brought detectives to the area where he and Bittaker had disposed of their victims' bodies. Despite extensive searches of the areas where he stated the bodies of Schaefer and Hall had been discarded, their bodies were never found. On February 9, 1980, the skeletalized bodies of Lamp and Gilliam were found at the bottom of a canyon, alongside a dry river bed. The bodies were scattered over an area measuring hundreds of feet in diameter. An ice pick was still lodged in the skull of Gilliam; the skull of Lamp bore multiple indentations—evidence of the numerous hammer blows Norris had stated he inflicted.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In February 1980, Norris and Bittaker were formally charged with the murders of the five girls. At the arraignment, Bittaker was denied bail, whereas Norris's bail was set at $10,000. Within one month of his being charged with murder, Norris had accepted a plea bargain in which he would testify against Bittaker in return for the prosecution agreeing not to seek the death penalty against him.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On March 18, 1980, Norris pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder (in relation to victim Hall), two counts of rape, and one count of robbery. Formal sentencing was postponed until May 7.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In return for Norris's agreeing to plead guilty and to testify against Bittaker, prosecutors had agreed to seek neither the death penalty nor life without parole at the upcoming sentencing hearing.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Prior to his May 7 sentencing, Norris was reviewed by a probation officer who testified at his sentencing that Norris had again accused Bittaker of the actual torture of their victims, and that for Norris himself, the feeling of power and the dominance he had over the victims was the main overriding factor, as opposed to having sexual intercourse with them. The probation officer added that Norris "never exhibited any remorse or compassion about his brutal acts toward the victims ... the defendant appears compulsive in his need to inflict pain and torture upon women." In conclusion, the probation officer testified that Norris "can realistically be regarded as an extreme sociopath, whose depraved pattern of behavior is beyond rehabilitation."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On May 7, 1980, Norris was sentenced to forty-five years to life imprisonment, with eligibility for parole from 2010.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On April 24, 1980, Bittaker was arraigned on 29 charges of kidnapping, rape, sodomy, and murder in addition to various charges of criminal conspiracy and possession of a firearm. He was also charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder dating from December 1979 in which he had unsuccessfully attempted to persuade two inmates due to be released to murder Robin Robeck in order to prevent her from testifying against him at his upcoming trial. The charges for the rape of Robin Robeck would later be dropped because of a lack of physical evidence as well as Robeck's failing to identify her attackers in a lineup.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: When asked by Judge William Hollingsworth as to how he pleaded, Bittaker remained silent—refusing to answer any questions. In response, the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The star witness to appear for the prosecution at the trial of Bittaker was Norris, who began his testimony on January 22. Norris testified as to how he became acquainted with Bittaker in jail, and how the pair had formulated a plan to kidnap, rape and kill teenage girls. Responding to questions from the prosecutor, Norris stated that in June 1979, he had unsuccessfully attempted to abduct and rape a woman, who escaped unharmed. When he informed Bittaker of this incident, they both agreed to act together on all future abductions.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris then chronologically recounted for the court the details of each of the five murders he and Bittaker had committed in addition to the September 30, 1979 rape of Robeck; the attempted abduction of a woman named Jan Malin, which had also occurred on September 30; and the attempted abduction of an unidentified young woman on September 27.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In reference to the actual murders, Norris stated that after he unsuccessfully attempted to strangle Schaefer, Bittaker had strangled her with a wire coat hanger. The pair had then thrown her body into a location at or near the San Dimas Canyon. In reference to the murder of Hall, Norris stated he had been told by Bittaker to drive to a nearby store to purchase alcohol when Hall was murdered, after which he returned to find Bittaker, smiling and holding Polaroid pictures he had taken of Hall after informing her he intended to kill her.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: With reference to victims Lamp and Gilliam, Norris stated that the two girls were held captive for "over a day" before being murdered, adding that Bittaker had killed Gilliam before he himself bludgeoned Lamp about the head as Bittaker strangled her. When discussing the abuse and torture of Ledford, Norris stated he had, upon the insistence of Bittaker, committed the actual murder of Ledford, adding Bittaker had informed him that "I should kill her, because I hadn't killed anyone yet. I knew this was coming, so I agreed." Norris then confessed to having killed Ledford by strangling her with a coat hanger, which he had tightened with pliers in much the same manner Bittaker had with previous victims Schaefer and Lamp. Norris then stated the pair had driven to Sunland, where he discarded Shirley Ledford's body upon the front lawn as Bittaker waited in his van.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Several witnesses testified as to Bittaker having shown them pictures of the victims he had retained as keepsakes and which had been found in his motel. One witness, a 17-year-old neighbor of Bittaker's named Christina Dralle, testified that Bittaker had shown her a Polaroid picture he had taken of Gilliam before stating, "The girls I get won't talk anymore." Dralle also stated Bittaker had once played a cassette tape to her in which she heard two girls screaming and Bittaker laughing. Another witness to testify was Lloyd Douglas, who had shared a jail cell with Bittaker following his November 1979 arrest. Douglas testified that Bittaker had discussed in detail the torture he had inflicted on victims Gilliam and Ledford, stating Bittaker had informed him he had stabbed one of Gilliam's breasts with an ice pick, which he then twisted as the tool remained inserted in the wound; he had also "pinched" Gilliam on the legs and breasts with a vise grip, before tearing off part of one nipple. Douglas also stated Bittaker had informed him he had "pulled on" the genitals and breasts of Shirley Ledford with the same instrument, and that he had attempted to beat her breasts "back into her chest."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The defense contended that Norris was the actual perpetrator of the murders and that Bittaker had only become aware of Norris's activities shortly before his arrest when Norris had informed him he had murdered several girls with whom they had both encountered and engaged in sexual activities. To support their case, the defense produced a friend of Norris named Richard Shoopman, who testified as to Norris's repeatedly divulging to him his desire to rape young girls. Shoopman also testified that Norris had informed him that the look of shock and fear on the face of a young girl was a prime sexual stimulus for him. In support of Bittaker's case, the defense also harked to the Polaroid images taken of the facial expressions of Hall, and of Bittaker's statements as to Norris's revelations to Bittaker regarding his prime sexual stimulations while both were incarcerated at the California Men's Colony in 1977.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The most damning evidence presented at Bittaker's trial was a 17-minute section of the audio tape the pair had created of Ledford's abuse and torment. The audiotape, which had been found inside Bittaker's van and which Norris had earlier testified Bittaker had repeatedly played as he drove in the weeks prior to his arrest—adding that Bittaker considered the contents to be "real funny"—was presented in evidence on January 29, with Stephen Kay forewarning the jury: "For those of you who do not know what hell is like, you will find out." (Judge Fredericks had earlier denied motions by the defense to omit the tape recording from admission as evidence.)


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: More than 100 people were present in the courtroom as the tape was played, and many members of both the jury and the audience wept openly upon hearing the contents, with several members of the audience either burying their heads in their hands, dabbing tears from their eyes or rushing out of the courtroom before the tape had finished. Bittaker was undisturbed at hearing the contents of the tape, and smiled throughout the duration of the recording.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: In one of two instances throughout the trial when prosecutor Stephen Kay was reduced to tears, he walked out of the courtroom during recess following the hearing of the recording of Ledford's rape, abuse, and torture. Weeping openly, Kay stated to the reporters gathered outside the courtroom: "Everybody who has heard that tape has had it affect their lives. I just picture those girls ... how alone they were when they died." When questioned by reporters whether the audiotape should have been introduced into evidence, given the obvious psychological and emotional trauma caused to many in the courtroom through the contents being broadcast, Kay simply stated: "You're darn right it [the audio tape] should have been. The jury needs to know what these guys did."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On February 5, 1981, Bittaker testified on his own behalf. Bittaker denied any knowledge in the abduction and murder of Schaefer, and claimed he had paid Hall to pose for the Polaroid photographs depicting her found at his Burbank motel after Hall had agreed to his offer of $200 for sex. He then claimed Norris had walked Hall into the San Gabriel Mountains, before returning alone and informing Bittaker he had told Hall to "find her own way home."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker had a similar explanation as to the double murder of Lamp and Gilliam: he claimed Gilliam accepted an offer of money for sex and posing for pictures, and that he had last seen the girls alone with Norris in his GMC van. With regards to the murder of Ledford, he claimed she had agreed to theatrically scream for the tape recorder, and that she was not tortured in his presence, but had been left alone with Norris in his van.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker's trial lasted for over three weeks. On February 9, 1981, the prosecution and defense counsels began their closing arguments. In the closing argument delivered by the prosecution, Kay apologized to the jury that he was only asking for the death penalty, adding that he wished the law permitted him to request that the same suffering be inflicted upon Bittaker that he had inflicted upon his victims. Kay then described Bittaker as an "excuse for a man" as he held aloft pictures of each of the five murdered girls before the jury.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Seeking the death penalty for Bittaker, Kay referred to the case as "one of the most shocking, brutal cases in the history of American crime", and added: "Make no mistake, ladies and gentlemen, a punishment of life imprisonment in prison would be a total, complete victory for him. If the death penalty is not appropriate in this case, [then] when will it ever be?" In his own closing argument before the jury, Deputy District Attorney C. Randolph Ramsey discredited Bittaker's claims that—contrary to Norris's testimony—Shirley Lynette Ledford had agreed to scream, weep, and plead for mercy theatrically for the tape recording introduced as evidence, stating to the jury: "You've heard the sounds on this tape ... Ms. Ledford screaming, yelling 'Don't touch me! No, no, no, no, no!' That tape should be sufficient corroboration by itself!"


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Defense attorney Albert Garber requested the jury discount the testimony of Norris; arguing in favor of Bittaker's claims that Norris had committed the actual murders, and claiming the testimony of the prosecutors throughout the trial amounted to little more than a "bloodlust," adding that the prosecution had repeatedly recited the "gory details" of the murders. Garber harked to the earlier testimony of a psychologist named Michael Maloney, who had testified as to Bittaker's inability to empathize with other people's feelings and emotions in addition to the fact that, with the exception of Bittaker's 1974 stabbing of Gary Louie, all of Bittaker's previous criminal convictions were for nonviolent offenses. The defense also claimed that insufficient corroborative evidence existed to convict Bittaker.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On February 17, 1981, after deliberating for three days, the jury found Bittaker guilty of five counts of first-degree murder, one charge of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, five charges of kidnapping, nine charges of rape, two charges of forcible oral copulation, one charge of sodomy, and three charges of unlawful possession of a firearm. Deliberations as to whether Bittaker should be sentenced to death or life without parole began February 19.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before they returned with their verdict: Bittaker was sentenced to death for the five counts of first-degree murder upon which the prosecution had sought this penalty. He showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered. Superior Court Judge Thomas Fredericks then ordered Bittaker to appear in court on March 24 for formal sentencing.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: On March 24, in accordance with the jury verdict, Bittaker was formally sentenced to death. In the event that the sentence imposed was ever reverted to life imprisonment, Judge Thomas Fredericks imposed an alternative sentence of 199 years, 4 months' imprisonment to take immediate effect.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker appealed his conviction and sentencing, citing procedural errors such as the validity of warrants used to authorize the search of his van and motel room, and the dismissal by the judge of a woman initially hired at the stage of jury selection to advise the defense counsel in matters relating to jury views upon the death penalty. Nonetheless, Bittaker's appeal was dismissed on June 22, 1989, with the court ruling that any procedural errors were minor and—in view of the strong evidence against Bittaker—did not affect the overall verdict.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: An initial execution date for Bittaker was set for December 29, 1989. Bittaker appealed this decision, although on June 11, 1990, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the decision that he be executed. A renewed execution date was scheduled for July 23, 1991. Bittaker again appealed the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that he be executed, and was granted a further stay of execution on July 9, 1991.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker granted several death row interviews following his 1981 conviction. He never expressed any remorse for his crimes; repeatedly stating the only remorse he felt had been for the fact he and Norris were arrested, thus "ruining" his own life. He corresponded with numerous individuals; responding to letters he received with the nickname "Pliers" Bittaker in reference to one of the implements he and Norris had used to torture and murder their victims.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: While incarcerated, Bittaker filed more than 40 frivolous lawsuits over issues as trivial as his being served a broken cookie and crushed sandwiches by the prison cafeteria, which he cited as examples of his being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Bittaker was declared a vexatious litigant in 1993. As a result of this declaration, he was not allowed to file lawsuits without the express permission of an attorney or a judge.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Despite the fact Bittaker considered his life to have been a "wasted" one and claiming to wish he "could go back and not do it", having "hurt so many people", he also marveled that he and Norris had little in common before their acquaintance at the California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo in 1977, before adding that they had "one hell of a lot in common now!"


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: When asked in 2016 if he would consider writing to the victims' families, Bittaker claimed he was "too ashamed to even try and beg for forgiveness". The sincerity of his expressions of remorse have been disputed by numerous professionals, who referenced Bittaker's consistent revelling in his notoriety and who noted the fact he would tailor his outlook on his actions to one of regret to those whose attention he wished to maintain.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Bittaker died while incarcerated on death row at San Quentin State Prison on December 13, 2019, at the age of 79. His death was reported as being due to natural causes.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris was incarcerated at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility. He died of natural causes at the California Medical Facility on February 24, 2020, at the age of 72, having been transferred to this facility one week prior to his death. In the years following Norris's conviction, he had repeatedly claimed the sole reason he participated in the murders was out of fear of Bittaker. Norris also claimed to have twice contemplated confessing to his and Bittaker's responsibility in the murders to the police; he also claimed to have deterred three potential victims from entering Bittaker's van.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Although Norris readily admitted that he enjoyed the acts of rape with the victims, he claimed only Bittaker enjoyed the acts of torture and murder, stating: "I didn't enjoy killing—that was Lawrence [Bittaker]. It was his favorite part: watching the women struggle to live; knowing he'd soon be taking life away."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Both investigators and psychologists have stated Norris derived equally extreme gratification from the domination, abuse, and torture inflicted upon the victims as Bittaker; these respective parties have also harked toward Norris's extensive history of physical and sexual violence against women prior to his meeting Bittaker, and his repeated instances of denial of culpability for his actions.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Norris initially became eligible for parole in 2009. Norris declined to attend the parole hearing, thereby automatically deferring his parole eligibility for another ten years. He was denied parole again in 2019, and died while still incarcerated early the following year.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Stephen Kay, the prosecutor at Bittaker's trial, still considers the murders committed by Bittaker and Norris as being the worst criminal case he has ever prosecuted or encountered and remained insistent in his belief that, prior to Bittaker's death via natural causes, he had been more deserving of being executed than any other inmate incarcerated on California's death row. In interviews, he has stated that for over two years following the trial of Lawrence Bittaker, his sleep was disturbed by recurring nightmares in which he would be rushing to Bittaker's van to prevent harm coming to the girls, but would "always get there too late."


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: Paul Bynum, the chief investigator of the murders committed by Bittaker and Norris, committed suicide in December 1987. He was 39 years old. In a ten-page suicide note, Bynum specifically referred to the murders committed by Bittaker and Norris as haunting him, and of his fear they may be released from prison.


title: Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris

text: The audio cassette Bittaker and Norris created of themselves raping and torturing Ledford remains in the possession of the FBI Academy; this recording is used to train and desensitize FBI agents to the raw reality of torture and murder.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Assassin's Creed is a 2016 dystopian science fiction action film based on the video game franchise of the same name. The film is directed by Justin Kurzel, written by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, and stars Michael Fassbender (who also produced), as well as Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling and Michael K. Williams. The film is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story that expands the series' mythology. The plot revolves around Callum "Cal" Lynch (Fassbender), who is abducted by the Abstergo Foundation because of his heritage. Cal's ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, was a member of the Assassin Brotherhood—a fictional organization inspired by the real-life Order of Assassins—active during the Spanish Inquisition in the late 15th-century, who swore to protect the Apple of Eden, an artifact believed to contain the key to humanity's free will. Cal must accept his Assassin heritage and stop Abstergo, the Templar Order of the modern-day, from finding the Apple and using it to enslave humanity.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Filming began in late August 2015 and concluded in January 2016. "Assassin's Creed" was released by 20th Century Fox on December 21, 2016, in the United States and France. It generally received negative reviews from critics that were primarily aimed towards the plot and writing, though some considered it an improvement over previous video game film adaptations. The film underperformed at the box office, grossing $240 million worldwide against its $125 million budget. A sequel was planned, but due to the film's negative reception, it was cancelled by Disney after its acquisition of 21st Century Fox in 2019.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In 1492 Andalusia, during the Granada War, Aguilar de Nerha is accepted into the Assassin Brotherhood and assigned to protect Prince Ahmed de Granada from the Templar Order. In 1986, adolescent Callum "Cal" Lynch finds his mother killed by his father, Joseph, a modern-day Assassin. Gunmen led by Alan Rikkin, CEO of the Templars' Abstergo Foundation, arrive to capture Joseph, who persuades his son to escape.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In 2016, Cal is sentenced to death for murdering a pimp, but Abstergo fakes his execution and takes him to their research facility in Madrid. He is told the Templars are searching for an Apple of Eden, one of many artifacts built by a long-lost civilization, in order to eliminate violence by using the Apple's code to control humanity's free will. Sofia, Alan's daughter and the head scientist, reveals that Cal is a descendant of Aguilar, the last person confirmed to be in possession of the Apple. She puts Cal in the Animus, a machine which allows him to relive (and the scientists to observe) Aguilar's genetic memories, so that Abstergo can learn the Apple's whereabouts.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In 1492, Aguilar and his partner, Maria, are deployed to rescue Ahmed, who has been kidnapped by the Templar Grand Master Tomas de Torquemada, to coerce Ahmed's father, Sultan Muhammad XII, to surrender the Apple. Aguilar and Maria intercept the Templars, but are overpowered and captured by Torquemada's enforcer, Ojeda. Cal is quickly pulled out of the Animus by Sofia.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Cal encounters other Assassin descendants held captive at the facility, most of whom are suspicious of his motives, with the exceptions of Lin, a descendant of 16th-century Chinese Assassin Shao Jun; and Moussa, a descendant of 18th-century Haitian Assassin Baptiste. Cal begins experiencing hallucinations, dubbed "the Bleeding Effect", of both Aguilar and Joseph. Cal and Sofia build a rapport during their sessions; she confides that her mother was likewise murdered by an Assassin, sharing his hatred of the Brotherhood .


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Back in the Animus, Aguilar and Maria are scheduled for execution at an auto da fe but he manages to free them, leading to a rooftop chase in which they escape through a "Leap of Faith". Cal's mind reacts violently to the session and he is temporarily paralyzed. When Cal learns that Joseph is also at the facility, he confronts him over his mother's death. Joseph informs Cal that the Bleeding Effect will allow him to gain Aguilar's skills. He also reveals that Cal's mother was an Assassin, and she chose to die by Joseph's hand rather than be forced into the Animus. Unconvinced, Cal vows to destroy the Assassins by finding the Apple. Meanwhile, Alan is pressed by a Templar Elder, Ellen Kaye, to shut down the multibillion-dollar Animus Project because they have already "won ... people no longer care about their civil liberties ... they're content to follow", leading Sofia to question her father's true intentions.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Reaffirmed by his encounter with Joseph, Cal willingly enters the Animus. Aguilar and Maria ambush a meeting between Muhammad and Torquemada; they kill Torquemada's men and recover the Apple, but Ojeda captures Maria. She chooses to die to protect the Apple and stabs herself on Ojeda's blade, allowing Aguilar to kill Ojeda and escape through another Leap; the force of which causes the Animus to violently malfunction. Aguilar later gives the Apple to Christopher Columbus, who vows to take it to his grave. When Moussa and the modern Assassin prisoners start a riot in order to escape, Alan orders the facility purged. Abstergo security kills Joseph and most of the other prisoners. Cal stands in the Animus chamber and is met with projections of his ancestors, including Aguilar, Arno Dorian, Joseph and his mother, while Sofia glimpses the projection of an Assassin resembling her. Persuaded by his mother, Cal embraces his Assassin heritage and, having fully assimilated Aguilar's abilities, joins Moussa and Lin in escaping the facility.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Having retrieved the Apple from Columbus' burial vault, the Templars convene at a ceremony in their London sanctuary to celebrate their triumph. Inside the sanctuary, a disillusioned Sofia meets Cal, who has come to take the Apple, and she reluctantly allows him to act. Cal retrieves the Apple, killing Alan in the process. As Sofia vows revenge, the Assassins depart, swearing once again to protect the Apple from the Templars.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In October 2011, Sony Pictures was in final negotiations with Ubisoft Motion Pictures to make a film version of "Assassin's Creed", to be released in 3D. In July 2012, Michael Fassbender was announced to star in the film, as well as co-produce, through his DMC Film banner, with Conor McCaughan. Jean-Julien Baronnet, CEO of Ubisoft Motion Pictures, said Fassbender was the studio's first choice to star in the film. As well, negotiations between Sony Pictures and Ubisoft Motion Pictures were put on hold, with Ubisoft executives planning to develop the film independently in order to maintain greater creative control. Sony was able to still distribute the film, but Ubisoft Motion Pictures would not resume talks until packaging the project with a writer and director. In October 2012, Ubisoft revealed the film would be co-produced with New Regency and distributed by 20th Century Fox. New Regency financed part of the film's production, in order for Ubisoft to not shoulder much financial risk, yet still be able to be involved creatively; RatPac Entertainment and Alpha Pictures also co-financed the film. Baronnet also revealed Ubisoft hoped to release the film along with a new game launch for the series.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In January 2013, Michael Lesslie was hired to write the film. In June 2013, Frank Marshall entered negotiations to produce the film, along with Fassbender and McCaughan, for DMC Film, and Eli Richbourg for Ubisoft. In July, Scott Frank revealed he was rewriting the script. In January 2014, a LinkedIn profile for executive producer Fannie Pailloux stated filming was scheduled to begin in August 2014. In April 2014, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage were hired to rewrite the script. By the end of April, Justin Kurzel was in talks to direct. In June, Olivia Munn expressed interest in appearing in the film.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: The film was originally projected to be the first of several films. On February 12, 2015, Ubisoft's CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that New Regency had begun production on the film. The following day, Marion Cotillard revealed that she had joined the cast. Filming was expected to begin in late 2015. In April 2015, Fassbender revealed that filming was scheduled to begin in September 2015. In May 2015, Alicia Vikander was in talks to star in the film, though in the following month, she took a role in the fifth "Bourne" film, "Jason Bourne", instead, and Ariane Labed was cast in her place. Producers on the film include Baronnet, Patrick Crowley, Fassbender, Marshall, Conor McCaughan, and Arnon Milchan. In July 2015, Michael K. Williams was added to the cast. Initially thought to be cast as recurring protagonist Desmond Miles, Ubisoft clarified in July 2012 that Fassbender would play a different character instead. In late August 2015, Fassbender's role was revealed as Callum Lynch in the present day and Aguilar in 15th-century Spain; filming locations for the film were also announced.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Principal photography on the film began on August 31, 2015, with filming taking place in Malta, London, Spain, and the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Adam Arkapaw serves as cinematographer, while Andy Nicholson was production designer. In October 2015, Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson joined the cast. In December 2015, shooting took place in Spain, and Irons' role was revealed to be Alan Rikkin. Principal filming ended on January 15, 2016, with further filming taking place in Ely Cathedral in July.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In May 2016, it was announced that Jed Kurzel, the brother of director Justin Kurzel, would score the film.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Aymar Azaïzia, head of "Assassin's Creed" content at Ubisoft, stated that the film, which is "a brand new story, [with] new characters set in our universe", had the possibility to feature "some familiar faces", and that the present day element would feature Abstergo. Fassbender said, "We really want to respect the game[s] and the elements to it. But we also wanted to come up with our own thing. And one thing I've sort of learned from doing the franchises like "X-Men" is that audiences, I think, want to be surprised and to see new elements of what they already know, and different takes on it." The Animus, the machine used to experience ancestors' memories, was redesigned for the film, from a chair, to a machine that lifts the user in the air, allowing for a more modern, interactive and dramatic experience. Fassbender also noted the change was made to avoid comparisons to "The Matrix". The Abstergo compound in the film features an artifact room that holds an assortment of weapons from the games beyond the traditional Assassin wrist blades. Fassbender also stated that Ubisoft was "very keen" about elements being created for the film, and were considering incorporating them into future games.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: The film also features the games' signature "Leap of Faith" jump, performed by Fassbender's stunt double, Damien Walters, rather than a digital double, as the production team wanted to make many of the elements in the film as "real" as possible, without the use of visual effects. The freefall was described as "one of the highest freefalls performed by a stuntman in almost 35 years".


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: "Assassin's Creed" was released on December 21, 2016. The film was originally announced in May 2013 to be released on May 22, 2015, a date that was pushed back the following month to June 26, 2015. In November 2013, the film was pushed back once again to a new release date of August 7, 2015. In September 2014, the film was pushed to an unspecified 2016 release date, which was later revealed to be December 21, 2016. The film was released in 2D, 3D and selected IMAX 3D territories.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: "Assassin's Creed" grossed $54.6 million in the United States and Canada and $186.3 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $240.9 million, against a production budget of $125 million. "The Hollywood Reporter" estimated the film lost the studio $75–100 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In North America, "Assassin's Creed" opened alongside "Sing" and "Passengers", and was initially expected to gross $25–35 million from 2,902 theaters over its first six days of release. However, after grossing $1.4 million from Tuesday night previews and $4.6 million on its first day, six-day projections were lowered to $22 million. It went on to gross $10.3 million in its opening weekend (a six-day total of $22.5 million), finishing fifth at the box office. It fell 15% in its second weekend to $8.7 million, finishing in eighth, and over 50% in its third week, grossing $4.2 million and finishing tenth.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "Assassin's Creed" has an approval rating of based on reviews, and an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, ""Assassin's Creed" is arguably better made (and certainly better cast) than most video game adaptations; unfortunately, the CGI-fueled end result is still a joylessly overplotted slog." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 36 out of 100 based on 38 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" wrote, "I bet playing the game is much more exciting. But then getting Fassbender to slap a coat of Dulux on the wall of his hi-tech prison cell and monitoring the progressive moisture-loss would be more exciting." Robbie Collin of "The Daily Telegraph" was equally scathing, saying, "For everyone who thought Dan Brown's conspiracy novels were just lacking a spot of parkour, "Assassin's Creed" might be your favourite film of the year. But for the clinically sane 99.9 percent of the rest of us, it's rather less exciting."


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a B−, and said "declaring this to be the best video game movie ever made is the kind of backhanded compliment that sounds like hyperbole, but the description fits the bill on both counts".


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: "Assassin's Creed" was released onto Blu-ray and DVD on March 21, 2017 and Digital HD from Amazon Video and iTunes on March 10, 2017.


title: Assassin's Creed (film)

text: In 2016, Daphne Yang, CEO of the film's Taiwanese co-financier CatchPlay, stated that Paramount Pictures and New Regency was looking to turn the film into a franchise, since it is based on "successful Ubisoft games and would make ideal sequels". Two additional films were planned, with the first sequel having entered development during the production of the initial film. Kurzel said that he would like to explore the Cold War in the sequel. Due to the film's negative reception, in the wake of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox's assets by Disney, the sequels, together with other film adaptations of video games, were cancelled.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Robert Herjavec (; ; born September 14, 1962) is a Croatian-Canadian businessman, investor, and television personality.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, and sold it to AT&T Canada (now Allstream Inc.) in 2000 for $30.2 million. In 2003, he founded The Herjavec Group, now one of the largest information technology and computer security companies in Canada, with over $200 million in annual revenue. He has been featured on the CBC Television series "Dragons' Den" and ABC's version of the series "Shark Tank", where he is an investor. He has also written books on advancing in business. His net worth is estimated to be $200 million.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec received the 2012 Ernst & Young Ontario Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Technology and the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal by the Governor-General of Canada for Outstanding Service to Canada.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec was born in 1962 in Varaždin, SFR, Yugoslavia (present-day Croatia), and spent his early childhood in Zbjeg. In 1970, when Herjavec was eight, the family left the country, which had previously incarcerated Herjavec's father, Vladimir, for speaking out against the regime. According to Herjavec, "He’d drink a little too much and then say bad things about Communism, and got thrown into jail 22 times for being an anti-Communist." Herjavec's family arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with a single suitcase and only $20. The family eventually settled in Toronto, where they lived in a family friend's home basement for 18 months. For Herjavec, who spoke no English, the transition proved difficult. Having grown up on a farm and raised by his grandmother among neighbors with similar lifestyles, he found himself in a much poorer economic class than his neighbors.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec's father got a job in a factory in Mississauga, making $76 a week. Herjavec cites his father, whom he describes as "a really, really tough guy", as a significant influence in his life. Herjavec has told a seminal memory of his, when he came home one day to complain to his mother that his classmates were making fun of him. His father, who used to walk to work to save money on bus fare, came home, and when he heard what his son described, instructed his son never to complain, which became a guiding principle in Herjavec's life, one which he says sparked his sense of courage. Another influential episode in his youth came when a traveling salesman persuaded Herjavec's mother to buy a vacuum cleaner for $500, which was seven weeks' salary. As a result, Herjavec swore his family would never be taken advantage of again.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In 1984, Herjavec graduated from New College at the University of Toronto with a degree in English literature and political science. To make a living and help support his family, Herjavec took on various minimum wage jobs in the 1980s, such as waiting tables, delivering newspapers, retail salesman, and debt collection.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In the mid-1980s, Herjavec worked in several productions as a third assistant director, including "Cain and Abel" and "The Return of Billy Jack". He was a field producer for Global TV of the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Looking for work between productions, Herjavec applied for a position at Logiquest selling IBM mainframe emulation boards. He was not qualified for the position but convinced the company to give it to him by offering to work for free for six months. To pay the rent during this "free" period, Herjavec waited tables. He eventually rose in the ranks to become General Manager of Logiquest. In 1990, after being fired from Logiquest, he founded BRAK Systems, a Canadian integrator of Internet security software, from the basement of his home. BRAK Systems was sold to AT&T Canada (now Allstream Inc.) in March 2000 for $30.2 million. He then became Vice President of Sales at Ramp Network, which was sold to Nokia for $225 million.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In 2003, Herjavec founded The Herjavec Group, a security solutions integrator, reseller, and managed service provider. Herjavec Group is one of Canada's fastest-growing technology companies and the country's largest information technology security provider. The company has grown from 3 employees with $400,000 in sales in 2003 to $200 million in annual revenue.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In October 2017, Herjavec was phished by "email prankster" James Linton as the company CEO, inviting him to a toga party. Later the fake account was copied into official financial projection documents.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec has appeared as a regular on the Canadian CBC Television series "Dragons' Den" (seasons 1 to 6) and in the United States on ABC's version of the series, "Shark Tank", where business pitches from aspiring entrepreneurs are presented to a panel of potential investors. Herjavec's most successful investment from the show is a $100,000 for a 10% stake in sweater company Tipsy Elves. Herjavec has also invested in an herbal sparkling water company called Aura Bora.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: On February 24, 2015, Herjavec was announced as one of the contestants for season 20 of the American edition of "Dancing with the Stars." His partner was Australian dancer (and eventual wife) Kym (Johnson) Herjavec. On May 5, 2015, during a double-elimination, Herjavec and Johnson were eliminated and finished in 6th place.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec is the author of three books. His first two books were "Driven: How to Succeed in Business and Life" (2010) and "The Will to Win: Leading, Competing, Succeeding" (2013). "Driven" is organized by the work and life principles that made Herjavec wealthy and successful, while "The Will to Win" delivers life lessons that promise to guide readers to greater happiness and success. "The Will to Win" is also the name of public presentations that Herjavec has given, which feature his advice to business people based on his life experiences. On March 29, 2016, his third book, "You Don't Have to Be a Shark: Creating Your Own Success," was released.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec married Dr. Diane Plese (optometrist) in 1990. They separated in July 2014 and divorced in early 2016. He had suicidal ideation after his marriage fell apart. He and his ex-wife have two daughters, Caprice and Skye, and a son named Brendan. In June 2019, a judge ruled that Herjavec must pay his ex-wife additional sums that would bring the total she received from the marriage to $25 million.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In September 2015, Herjavec confirmed his relationship with his former "Dancing with the Stars" partner Kym Johnson. On February 27, 2016, the two became engaged. On July 31, 2016, they were married in Los Angeles, California.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In December 2017, Robert and Kym announced that they were expecting twins. The twins, a boy and a girl, were born on April 23, 2018, named Hudson Robert Herjavec and Haven Mae Herjavec.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In 2017, Herjavec's ex-girlfriend, Danielle Vasinova, whom he dated from 2013 to 2015, sued him for rape after he sued her for attempting to extort him over false claims of sexual assault. Both suits were dismissed in mid-2018. The allegations against Robert were withdrawn without financial settlement, and Vasinova apologized to Robert and his family.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec is a major donor to the Union Gospel Mission homeless shelter in Seattle, Washington, after being turned on to the organization by his pastor, whom he consulted to deal with his depression after his marriage fell apart.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec owns a home in the Bridle Path, Toronto, area. The mansion has been host to Michael Bublé, John Travolta, Mick Jagger, and Bono. Herjavec paid $7.5 million for the mansion, featured on "MTV Cribs," Joan Rivers's TV show "How'd You Get So Rich?", and the "Rolling Stones"' tour video. Herjavec also has several other vacation homes.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: Herjavec is an avid golfer and runner. He has played in the 2010 Canadian charity open sponsored by Royal Bank of Canada at the Royal St George's Golf Club. He has also competed in the 2010 New York City Marathon and the 2009 Miami Marathon. He is certified by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors as a scuba diver and owns several Ducati motorcycles.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: A passion of Herjavec's is car racing. He competes in the Ferrari Challenge. Herjavec competed as #007 for The Herjavec Group Racing team in the North American Ferrari Challenge Series, where he won the Rookie of the Year title in 2011, after winning both races at the season-opener in St. Petersburg, Florida and following up with wins in Laguna Seca Raceway and Lime Rock, Connecticut.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In 2012, Herjavec was selected as the Grand Marshal for the 2012 Honda Indy Toronto. He is also an avid car collector with several rare cars in his collection.


title: Robert Herjavec

text: In 2011, Herjavec was one of the Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Awards recipients presented by Canadian Immigrant Magazine.


title: Lorna Shore

text: Lorna Shore is an American deathcore band formed in New Jersey in 2009. The group currently consists of lead guitarist Adam De Micco, drummer Austin Archey, rhythm guitarist Andrew O'Connor, vocalist Will Ramos, and bassist Michael Yager. The band is most known for their 2021 single "To the Hellfire". They have released four studio albums "Psalms" (2015), "Flesh Coffin" (2017), "Immortal" (2020), and "Pain Remains" (2022). The band has also released four EPs. Since 2017, no original members remain in the band.


title: Lorna Shore

text: Lorna Shore was formed during the first quarter of 2009 in New Jersey. The band's first EP entitled "Triumph", released in 2010, carried a metalcore sound. The band's second EP "Bone Kingdom" was the first to carry a deathcore sound, albeit in a more progressive style. "Maleficium", the band's third EP, was released in December 2013. The music video for the single "Godmaker" became a hit on YouTube.


title: Lorna Shore

text: Lorna Shore followed the release of "Maleficium" by opening Carnifex's Die Without Hope Tour featuring I Declare War, Betraying the Martyrs and Here Comes the Kraken. Since then, before releasing their debut album they have toured with acts such as The Black Dahlia Murder, Within the Ruins, Archspire, Oceano, Fallujah, Fit for an Autopsy, Rivers of Nihil, Cattle Decapitation, Upon a Burning Body, The Last Ten Seconds of Life, and Chelsea Grin. "Psalms", their debut album was released on June 9, 2015 through Density Records. The album was produced by Fit for an Autopsy guitarist Will Putney at The Machine Shop.


title: Lorna Shore

text: On September 21, 2016, Lorna Shore announced that they had signed with Outerloop Records. The band released their second studio album "Flesh Coffin" on February 17, 2017. The album was produced by Carson Slovak and Grant McFarland at Atrium Audio, who are known for working alongside bands such as August Burns Red and From Ashes to New, among others. They released a single entitled "Denounce the Light" on November 17, 2016. The second single "Fvneral Moon" was released on January 13, 2017.


title: Lorna Shore

text: In early 2017, bassist and founding member Gary Herrera announced his departure. "Flesh Coffin" would subsequently be the last release to include the remaining two founding members of the band; Tom Barber on vocals and Gary Herrera on bass.


title: Lorna Shore

text: Longtime vocalist Tom Barber confirmed that he had left Lorna Shore in April 2018 to join Chelsea Grin as their vocalist, replacing Alex Koehler, who departed earlier in the year. Lorna Shore issued a statement, assuring their fanbase that they would continue without Barber. CJ McCreery of Pittsburgh-based deathcore band Signs of the Swarm was subsequently announced as his replacement. After McCreery joined Lorna Shore, the band released two singles, titled "This Is Hell" and "Darkest Spawn". The band joined the Summer Slaughter Tour supporting Cattle Decapitation, Carnifex, The Faceless, and several others. In early October, Lorna Shore announced their signing with Century Media Records along with the announcement of their new album, "Immortal". The band supported Fit for an Autopsy and Rivers of Nihil from October to November.


title: Lorna Shore

text: On December 23, 2019, the band abruptly fired McCreery after a Weinstein effect-style string of allegations involving alleged sexual abuse occurred in his name. The allegations began when an ex-lover of McCreery began posting stories and screenshots of text messages detailing abusive-like behavior that allegedly occurred within a 4-year relationship. Following this some other parties also began to accuse McCreery of similar misconduct. A week and a half later, the band announced the cancellation of an upcoming tour in Asia and that their upcoming "Immortal" album (which was developed with McCreery on vocals) would be delayed. However, these claims were later retracted as it was revealed some time later that the album would be released on the originally planned date of January 31.


title: Lorna Shore

text: Despite the situation, Lorna Shore went on to tour Europe in support of "Immortal", recruiting vocalist Will Ramos (formerly of Monument of a Memory and A Wake in Providence) as a stand-in. All further activity was cut short as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 5, 2021, while on tour, the band released an instrumental edition of "Immortal".


title: Lorna Shore

text: On June 11, 2021, the band returned with a new song titled "To the Hellfire", and announced Ramos as their new permanent vocalist. Ramos was originally a fill-in touring member. They also announced details of their new EP "...And I Return to Nothingness".


title: Lorna Shore

text: "To the Hellfire" became a viral success for the band, peaking at number 4 on the Spotify Viral Chart’s Top 10. It was also voted by the readers of "Revolver" as the "Best Song of 2021 So Far" with writer Eli Enis calling it "one of the most over-the-top heavy deathcore songs in recent memory. It would also go on to overtake "Immortal" as the band's most streamed song on Spotify at over 4 million streams. It was elected by "Loudwire" as the best metal song of 2021.


title: Lorna Shore

text: The EP was released on August 13, 2021, with positive reviews for the title track. Ricky Aarons writing for "Wall of Sound" reviewed the EP and title track stating: "The band continue with the epic vehicle of destruction, but change tact slightly, in a way that's reminiscent of their previous work... The technical detail and speed to the riffs are incredible. Once again Ramos doesn't skip a detail in every lyric he sounds... He considers which lines end in a high or low and these minute details are make-or-break. Instead of the song focusing on breakdown ferocity it's more about stead-fast blast beats and the technical element of this wonderful band."