William Bigby Keene (February 23, 1925 – January 10, 2018)[1] was an American attorney, and a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge from 1965 to 1984.
[2] He also appeared as Judge Herman Keene in the episode "Whistle Stop" in the legal drama L.A. Law.
He later presided over the trial of serial killer William Bonin and sentenced him to death (Bonin was executed in 1996) Keene graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 1952,[1] where he was a member of the first graduating class.
A 1986 People magazine profile of Keene mentioned that during his college years he was friends with Watergate figures H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman.
He was in private practice of law for 11 years and was a deputy district attorney before being appointed to the municipal bench in 1963.