Naman Shrestha
Sundance Now’s ‘Butchers of L.A.’ is a three-part true crime documentary series that revisits some of the most troubling times in Southern California. In the 1960s and 1970s, young gay men were becoming victims of brutal murders, and their remains were found along Southern California’s highways. It turned out that three different serial killers were responsible for the killings, one of them being Patrick Kearney, who was also known as the Trash Bag Killer. Leading a double life, he used to go to work as an intelligent aerospace engineer but also killed hitchhikers and young men in and around the Los Angeles area.
Patrick Kearney Claimed His First Victim in 1962
On September 24, 1939, Patrick Wayne Kearney was born in a middle-class household in Los Angeles, California. Initially, his father was an LAPD officer, but later became a salesman for a travel agency after the family shifted to Wilcox, Arizona. While studying at Wilcox Middle School, Patrick was reportedly subject to bullying from his peers. When he was only 13, he learned how to slaughter pigs by shooting them behind the ear with a pistol, something his father taught him. Not long after, he reportedly started killing pigs on a regular basis. After graduating from high school, he attended El Camino Community College. However, before completing his courses, he joined the Air Force in 1958 and crossed paths with David Hill.
Despite David being married, the two indulged in a love affair. After getting discharged honorably in 1961, Patrick and David moved in together in Long Beach, California. Within a year, their relationship started deteriorating as they would get into arguments every now and then. Thus, David left him to get together with his former wife. Around this time, he spent time cruising gay bars and hooking up with other men in Southern California and Mexico. Patrick was also reportedly married for a short while, after which he moved back to California, where he began working at Hughes Aircraft as an engineer. It was in 1962 when he reportedly killed his first victim, a 19-year-old hitchhiker. After driving him to a secluded area on his motorcycle, he shot him behind the ear and killed him. He then proceeded to indulge in necrophilia.
Patrick Kearney Mainly Targeted Young Gay Men in Southern California
Over the following years, he followed a similar pattern and claimed dozens more victims in Southern California. In 1967, he rekindled his relationship with David, with whom he moved to Redondo Beach, near Los Angeles. Arguments and disagreements persisted between the couple, after which Patrick used to take long drives and claim victims. He either picked up hitchhikers or lured men from gay bars, before killing and sexually assaulting them. He also tortured some of his many victims. Later on, he also disposed of their remains along the freeway, wrapped in trash bags. Thus, earning the nicknames, “the Trash Bag Killer” and “the Freeway Killer.” Patrick Kearney’s killing streak came to an end when the authorities linked John LaMay’s murder to him and his partner, David Hill.
When his remains were found on May 18, 1977, the authorities knocked on Patrick and David’s door since the victim disappeared after visiting their house. At first, the couple co-operated with the authorities, but at the first chance, they went on the run for a few weeks. By then, the detectives had found evidence against the serial killer as his hair samples were linked to the trash bags inside which John’s remains were found. Thus, an arrest warrant was put out for him. On July 1, 1977, he surrendered himself to the police and confessed to killing over 30 victims in the 1960s and 1970s. Besides John LaMay, some of his other victims were Ronald Dean Smith Jr., Larry Gene Walters, Michael Craig McGhee, and Wilfrid Lawrence Faherty. Around the same time, a couple of more serial killers preyed on young men in the same area; they were William Bonin and Randy Kraft.
Patrick Kearney is Currently Incarcerated at a California Prison Facility
In 1978, Patrick Kearney pleaded guilty to twenty-one counts of murder in order to avoid the death penalty. As for the rest of the murders he confessed to, the authorities could not find physical evidence to directly link him to them. The Trash Bag Killer blamed his killings on the bullying he had suffered in his childhood, claiming that the murders were a source of outlet for all the rage inside him. Although the death sentence was off the table, the judge sentenced him to 21 consecutive life sentences in March 1978 for the brutal killings he had committed in Southern California. As of today, 85-year-old Patrick Kearney is serving his multiple life terms at Mule Creek State Prison in Ione, California, with his tentative parole suitability hearing scheduled for January 2027.
