[6][7] 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.

[8] 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.

[5]: 136 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.

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.

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.

[12]: 251–252  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.

[15] The employee, Gary Louie, survived the stabbing, and Bittaker was convicted of the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon[16]: 174  and sent to California Men's Colony in San Luis Obispo.

Shortly thereafter, Norris was charged with assault with a deadly weapon; he was committed to five years' imprisonment at Atascadero State Hospital, where he was classified as a mentally disordered sex offender.

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[12]: 254  and dragging her into nearby bushes.

Bittaker's initial impression of Norris upon his arrival at 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.

[24][25]: 231  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.

"[12]: 256 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—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.

[9]: 88  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.

[12]: 258–259 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, 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,[15] briefly knocking her unconscious, before overpowering 15-year-old Gilliam.

[12]: 260 Gilliam and Lamp were driven to the San Gabriel Mountains, where they were held captive for almost two days,[12]: 260  being bound and gagged between repeated instances of sexual and physical abuse.

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[25]: 232  and torturing her with pliers both between and throughout instances when he raped and sodomized her.

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.

[5]: 146  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).

In this filed report, a young woman named Robin Robeck had been sprayed in her face with mace before being dragged into a van and raped by two Caucasian men in their mid-30s, before being released.

Inside Bittaker's van, investigators discovered a sledgehammer, a plastic bag filled with lead weights, a book detailing how to locate police radio frequencies,[27] 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,[37] screaming and repeatedly pleading for mercy while being tortured and sexually abused.

In what Bynum and Kay later described as a "casual, unconcerned manner,"[12]: 266  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,[33] or marijuana.

[12]: 266  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."

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.

[36]: 28 In one of two instances throughout the trial when prosecutor Stephen Kay was reduced to tears,[12]: 267  he walked out of the courtroom during recess following the hearing of the recording of Ledford's rape, abuse, and torture.

"[58] 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.

[73] 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.

[7] 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,[74] which he cited as examples of his being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.

[77] 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.