SAN QUENTIN, Calif. — Lawrence Sigmond Bittaker, one of the “Tool Box Killers" who preyed on teenage girls in Southern California 40 years ago, has died of natural causes, state corrections officials said Monday. Bittaker and accomplice Roy Lewis North kidnapped, raped, tortured and murdered five girls in 1979. Their nickname came from the tools like a screwdriver, pliers and an ice pick that they used to torture and kill their victims. Bittaker, 79, died Friday in San Quentin State Prison, the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said in a statement. She was followed by Andrea Joy Hall, 18; Jacqueline Doris Gilliam, 15; Jacqueline Leah Lamp, 13, and Shirley Lynette Ledford, 16.

Source: New York Times December 16, 2019 20:15 UTC