Bittaker and Norris hatched a plan to rape and kill local girls and Bittaker bought a 1977 GMC cargo van for the job. It had no side windows in the back and a large passenger-side sliding door, perfect for abducting women. They called their van Murder Mack. Between February and June 1979, they drove along the Pacific Coast Highway, stopped at beaches, talked to girls, and took their pictures. This was practice season. When they were finally arrested, police found nearly 500 photographs among Bittaker's possessions. The plan had been to kill at least one girl of each age between 13 and 19 years. They were going to record all of their exploits on tape and film.
Their first victim was Lucinda "Cindy" Schaeffer, a 16-year-old the pair picked up near Redondo Beach on June 24, 1979. She had just left a youth meeting at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The van pulled alongside her, which she ignored, and then pulled into a driveway to cut her off. Attempting to persuade her again on the sidewalk, she brushed past Norris. He then forced her into the van, then duct taped her mouth and bound her arms and legs. They left one of her shoes behind on the sidewalk as they sped away. Bittaker took the van to a fire road on San Gabriel Mountains, out of sight of the highway. The men smoked some pot and asked her about her family. Then they got tired of small talk and ordered her to strip naked. Both men took a turn raping her. Norris first tried to strangle her, but couldn't do it and left to vomit in the weeds.Bittaker wrapped a straightened wire coat hanger around her neck and then tightened it with vice-grip pliers, strangling her to death. The pair wrapped her body in a plastic shower curtain and dumped it in a nearby canyon.
On July 8, the killers picked up their second victim, Andrea Hall, 18. She was hitch-hiking on the Pacific Coast Highway when she was picked up by a driver in a white convertible. Norris complained about their bad luck, but the men followed behind the convertible and waited for the driver to let his passenger off down the road. When the driver of the other car signalled to get off at an exit ramp, Andrea got out and stuck up her thumb to catch another ride. Bittaker and Norris were ready. She was hitch-hiking when Bittaker talked her into their van. After she had gotten in, Lawrence offered her a drink from the cooler. When she went to retrieve it, Roy Norris jumped her. He bound her arms and legs and then taped her mouth. Bittaker then drove to the fire road where the pair raped her several times. Bittaker dragged her from the van and Norris left to grab some beer. when ROy returned, Andrea was gone and Bittaker was looking at Polaroid shots of her. He had stabbed her in both ears with an ice pick. She didn't die quickly enough for him, though, so he strangled her and then threw her body over a cliff.
On September 3, Jackie Gilliam adn Leah Lamp, 15 and 13, were sitting on a bus stop bench near Hermosa Beach when they accepted a ride from Bittaker and Norris. When Bittaker parked the van near a suburban tennis court, and went for the back door. Norris hit her in the head with a baseball bat. With Bittaker's help, the teens were subdued and then bound. Once again, Bittaker drove to the fire road. They kept the girls alive for two days, raping and torturing them the entire time with a wire hanger and pliers.
They even made an audio recording for posterity. Bittaker stabbed Jackie in both ears with an ice pick and, again, it didn't work, so the men took turns strangling her until she was dead. Bittaker then strangled Leah while Norris hit her in the head with a sledgehammer seven times. They dumped the bodies over a cliff. The ice pick was still embedded in Jacki's skull.
Shirley Sanders was maced and forced into the killers' van on September 30th. Both raped her, but she escaped and couldn't identify the men or give police a license number for the silver van she described.
16-year-old Lynette Ledford was kidnapped on Halloween night. They raped and tortured her with pliers while they drove around Los Angeles. Apparently liking the addition of audio recordings, they taped the whole incident.The recording has Bittaker taunting Lynette to scream. He berates her for not screaming loud enough, then Norris strikes her elbows with a hammer over 25 times. Then the pair strangled her with a wire hanger and pliers and left her body on a random lawn in Hermosa Beach. This was out of a desire to create public reaction to their crimes. The body of Lynette Ledford was found the following day and caused quite a commotion coming only days after the arrest of Angelo Buono, one of the Hillside Stranglers. Hers was the only body recovered by authorities. Her breasts and face had been mutilated, her arms slashed, and her body covered in bruises.