Press Kit - The Devil and the Death Penalty

The Devil and the Death Penalty
Philip D Gibbons
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A controversial film about California’s Death Penalty
LOS ANGELES, CA, Sunday May 4th, 2014 - For the first time the
viewing public will be able to see “The Devil and the Death Penalty”,
an award winning film that chronicles over forty years of California’s
capital punishment controversy via the case of serial murderer
Lawrence Bittaker, who has been on San Quentin’s Death Row since
1981. In 1979, Bittaker, and his accomplice Roy Norris, raped and
murdered five teen aged girls, shocking crimes that made front-page
news across the country.
At the time, Bittaker was called “worse than Manson” by Stephen Kay,
the LA prosecutor who convicted him after a sensational trial, the first
to ever allow television cameras into a California court room. Bittaker
is one of over seven hundred Death Row inmates at San Quentin, the
largest contingent of condemned prisoners in the US. “The Devil and
the Death Penalty” uses the Bittaker case and subsequent appeals
to illustrate how a small, elite group of judges and bureaucrats have
ignored the rule of law and created a dysfunctional system that virtually
prevents execution in California. Currently, a referendum petition
drive is under way to streamline the capital punishment process in
California, a reaction to the current appellate debacle typified by the
case of Lawrence Bittaker.
“The Devil and the Death Penalty” has already screened at the Manhattan, Chicago and San Francisco United
and LA Indie Film Festivals. It will be available for download via Itunes as of May 6. “The Devil and the Death
Penalty” is a 2012 Las Vegas Film Festival Silver Ace Award Winner and winner of the 2013 San Francisco
United Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary.
Inquiries: For more information regarding the film or the Bittaker case, contact the filmmakers by email at
info@thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
Philip D Gibbons
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
The Devil and the Death Penalty: Now on iTunes, and DVD
“The Devil and the Death Penalty” recounts the crimes, arrest, trial and appeals of Lawrence Bittaker, a convicted
serial murderer and rapist who has lived on San Quentin’s Death Row since 1981. In 1979, Bittaker, and his accomplice Roy Norris, kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered five teenage girls.
Lawrence Bittaker
Lawrence Bittaker: Sent to San Quentin’s Death Row in 1981 following a spectacular
murder trial that was the first ever televised in California. He is still alive four
decades later, chiefly the result of willful dis-ingenuity on the part of state and federal
bureaucrats.
Roy Norris
Roy Norris: Given four years to life after his third rape
conviction, he would be released in 1979 after only four years
of incarceration. Immediately, he met up with Lawrence
Bittaker and began implementation of a plan they had
hatched together in prison.
Victim #1 Cindy Schaefer
On June 26, 1979, less than a year after being released from prison, Lawrence
Bittaker and Roy Norris abducted sixteen year old Cindy Schaefer from a Southern
California street.
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
Philip D Gibbons
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
“Lawrence Bittaker was sentenced to death, plus 199 years in March of 1981.
Over thirty years after committing crimes that Steve Kay, the LA deputy District Attorney who prosecuted both
men, stated made him “Worse than Manson”, Lawrence Bittaker is not even close to execution.”
Bittaker’s Van Murder Mac
While pretending to fix an interior light on this van, Roy Norris
crept up behind Cindy Schaefer, overpowered and dragged
her into this van. While Bittaker sped away, Norris shut the
door, bound and gagged the terrified girl and returned to the
front seat. Both men then relaxed for the hour-long drive to a
preselected spot in a remote area of the Angeles National Forest.
Glendora Ridge Motorway
This is an actual photograph of Lawrence Bittaker at the
entrance to the Glendora Ridge Motorway fire road in April
of 1979. The Polaroid photo, taken by Roy Norris, was sent
to another prison inmate as an indication that their plan to
abduct, rape and murder teenage girls was proceeding on
schedule. On the night of June 26, Bittaker cut the lock off of
this gate and drove his van containing a bound Cindy Schafer
about a half a mile down the deserted, dirt road. At a spot
near a large yellow fire hydrant, Norris and Bittaker repeatedly
raped the sixteen year old, ultimately strangling her. Her body
was tossed into a steep, brush-choked canyon.
Victim #2 Andrea Hall
On July 12, 1979, eighteen-year-old Andrea Hall was
hitchhiking in Hermosa Beach, CA when she was abducted
by Bittaker and Norris, driven to another remote area of
the San Gabriel Mountains, raped and murdered. Bittaker
tossed her body into a desolate ravine.
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
Philip D Gibbons
Victims #3 and #4 Jackie Gilliam and Leah Lamp
On Labor Day Weekend, 1979, fifteen-year-old Jackie Gilliam
and thirteen-year-old Leah Lamp took a bus to the vicinity of
the ocean at Hermosa Beach, California. They intended to
meet up later with friends at the Hermosa Beach pier.
Hermosa Beach Bus Stop
While waiting at this bus bench only blocks away from the
beach, Jackie and Leah were spotted by Bittaker and Norris,
who pulled up and enticed them into their van. Once inside,
the girls were subdued and held captive for two days in the
Angeles National Forest.
Jackie Gilliam Polaroid
For much of the weekend, Jackie Gilliam was repeatedly slapped, raped, sodomized,
and photographed nude, with some of this activity tape-recorded on a small cassette
player. This detail from a larger nude Polaroid shows a welt on Jackie’s face where
Bittaker slapped her.
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
Philip D Gibbons
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
An Isolated Cliff – Angeles National Forest
Because of her youth, Leah Lamp was not raped by either
of the men but ultimately both were murdered, completely
stripped of their clothing and possessions and hurled off of
this isolated cliff.
Victim #5 Lynette Ledford
Lynette Ledford was hitchhiking on Halloween Night, 1979 when Bittaker and Norris
picked her up. Because it was late in the evening, the pair decided to torture, rape
and murder her while driving along a Los Angeles area freeway, also tape recording
this activity on a cassette recorder. Ultimately strangled with a coat hanger, Lynette’s
naked body was dumped on the front lawn of a suburban home.
Roy Norris In Court
When a paroled mutual friend of Norris and Bittaker went to police with details of the
pair’s murders, he was ignored until Hermosa Beach police detective Paul Bynum
took an interest.
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
Philip D Gibbons
Roy Norris Helping Locate The Bodies
Both Norris and Bittaker were arrested for parole violations
and Norris agreed to a plea deal in return for help locating
the bodies and testimony against Bittaker. On the right he
points to the yellow fire hydrant, site of Cindy Schaefer’s rape
and murder.
Jackie Gilliam Nude Polaroid
A detail of a Polaroid of Jackie Gilliam that was seized from the top of Roy Norris’
dresser after his arrest.
Lawrence Bittaker In Court
Bittaker, testifying during the 1981 trial. The audiotape of Lynette Ledford being
tortured was played in open court, sending spectators fleeing and leaving the jury
openly sobbing. Bittaker’s testimony elicited catcalls and derision from courtroom
spectators and cemented a guilty verdict.
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The Devil and the Death Penalty
Philip D Gibbons
www.thedevilandthedeathpenalty.com
Lawrence Bittaker Recent Mugshot
Lawrence Bittaker was sentenced to death, plus 199 years in March of 1981. Over
thirty years after committing crimes that Steve Kay, the LA deputy District Attorney
who prosecuted both men, stated made him “Worse than Manson”, Lawrence Bittaker
is not even close to execution.
Roy Norris Recent Mugshot
Roy Norris got “Life with the Possibility of Parole after 45 years” and had his first
mandatory parole hearing in 2009. Because he did not participate, he was denied
parole and is not scheduled for another hearing until 2019.
Paul Bynum, the
Hermosa Beach police detective chiefly responsible for the arrest of Bittaker and
Norris, committed suicide in 1986, leaving a note stating that he believed that both
men would be released from jail and would pursue him and kill his family.
Terry Hatter Federal District Court Judge
Terry Hatter, the Federal District Court Judge who is in charge of Bittaker’s appeal,
has not moved the case forward in over eight years, effectively stalling any imposition
of a death sentence.
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