If you thought you'd seen it all, these two will change your mind. Lawrence Bittaker and Roy Norris are among the worst of the worst, and this 40 or so minute documentary about the men known as the Toolbox Killers is about as much as any normal person could take. It includes re-enactments, thankfully without the really gory stuff, but description-wise, nothing is spared.
The greatest tragedy of their killing spree is not that they kidnapped, raped and tortured to death 5 teenage girls but that they are men of well above average intelligence who could have become not simply model citizens but genuine assets to humanity instead of its dregs. Bittaker has possibly the highest IQ of any prisoner ever incarcerated in the United States.
The two men met in prison where Bittaker was serving time for the near murder of a shop worker, and Norris for rape. According to one of the men who dealt with them after their arrest, Norris was probably the first friend Bittaker ever had. They shared their fantasies with each other, and on release, put their terrible plan into action. Their crimes bore a striking and uncanny resemblance to another "killer couple" who operated in the same state, California – where else? - shortly before: Hillside Stranglers Angelo Buono and his cousin Kenneth Bianchi.
Highly intelligent or not, they soon slipped up, and were brought to book. Bittaker is currently on death row, though it remains to be seen if he will be executed before he dies of old age; he is 73. The younger Norris cooperated with the authorities to avoid the death penalty. Theoretically, he could have been paroled in 2010, but in practice the only way he will ever leave gaol is in a wooden box.