The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise on Sky Crime takes a deep dive into the famous case – including the first ever interview with Sheryl Kellison.
She was the girlfriend of one of The Hillside Stranglers, Kenneth Bianchi.
However, she was totally unaware of her boyfriend’s heinous crimes.
So, who is Sheryl Kellison, what does she reveal in the new documentary, and where is she now?
Here’s everything you need to know…
Who is Sheryl Kellison?
Sheryl Kellison met Kenneth Bianchi, one of The Hillside Stranglers, when she was just 17.
She grew up in Los Angeles, and met the infamous serial killer Ken Bianchi after graduating from high school.
Kenneth – also called Ken – and his friends invited Sheryl and her friend over for drinks, but he paid special attention to Sheryl and asked her out again.
She recalls in the documentary: “I was 17 and he was 24.
“I knew he was too old for me, but it didn’t take much to sweep me off my feet.”
Sheryl lied to her mother and told her that Ken was actually 22 so she would allow the relationship.
Sheryl recalls that he had a charming personality and was always sweet and kind to her.
She reveals that when the strangulations began to happen, she had no idea her own boyfriend was responsible for them.
She said she “didn’t learn about his true colours until it was too late”.
Sheryl recalls that Ken cared for her sick father and looked after him, so she never suspected his murderous behaviour.
The pair were together “off and on” for two years between 1976 and 1978.
The killings began in 1977 and continued through to 1978.
What does Sheryl Kellison reveal about The Hillside Strangler in the new documentary?
Sheryl recalls one time that she drove Ken out to the Forest Lawn area of California for a job interview.
A week later, a body connected to the strangulations was found out in Forest Lawn.
Sheryl also remembers being scared about The Hillside Strangler.
Her and her friends made the decision not to go out after dark as a result of the countless murders in the area.
Ironically, the only time she’d be out after dark was with boyfriend Ken.
Sheryl reveals that Ken never took interest in the news, until the killings started.
But then, all of a sudden, he was obsessed with watching the news.
She remembers one time that she visited his house in Glendale when Ken was watching the news.
When she asked to go somewhere, he told her that he wanted to keep watching the news.
Sheryl recalls him saying” “I’m just so devastated by what is going on right now.
“I need to see if they’ve caught this guy.”
When Sheryl questioned him on why he was so interested in the case, he just said he wanted to know who was doing the killings and why.
One time when Sheryl begged Ken to walk her to her car because she was worried about the murders, he assured he she would be fine and that nobody would hurt her.
She did not know that the reason that she was safe was because one of The Hillside Stranglers was her own boyfriend.
Did Sheryl Kellison know Angelo Buono?
Angelo Buono, Ken Bianchi’s cousin, was also responsible for several murders as The Hillside Strangler.
At first, police believed there was just one man responsible for the spate of murders in LA.
However, there were two men acting out their sick fantasies together.
Cousins Angelo and Ken impersonated off-duty police officers to lure their victims to their deaths, before discarding their bodies in the hillsides around Los Angeles.
Ken and his cousin carried out the rapes and murders of at least 10 women.
Sheryl recalls a time that she visited Ken’s cousin Angelo when the cousins were still living together.
But she remembers him as a cold and abrupt man, and he did not have Ken’s charm.
She also saw that there were lots of young women at Ken’s house.
But, at the time, he explained that it was his daughter’s friends.
Sheryl now looks back at this time differently but, at the time, she said she “was blind to it”.
She often visited Angelo’s home, and thinks that Angelo possibly wanted to kill her – but Ken wouldn’t let him.
The Hillside Strangler: Sheryl Kellison’s mother left a tip about Ken Bianchi…
The documentary reveals that despite Ken’s good relationship with Sheryl Kellison’s parents, her mother left a tip to the police about Ken.
Sheryl’s mother never told her daughter about her suspicions at the time, but she “had a gut feeling” about Ken Bianchi.
When she realised that one of The Hillside Strangler’s victims, Kristina Weckler, lived in the same courtyard as Ken, it was one of several major red flags.
Sheryl’s mother contacted the Glendale Police, the LAPD and the LA County Sheriff’s office all to warn them about Bianchi.
Sheryl said: “Police went and checked him out, and they came back and told her ‘Mrs Kellison, you have nothing to worry about. He checked out just fine’.”
Sheryl believes he probably charmed the officers who checked on him.
Alexa Danner, who directs the documentary The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise on Sky Crime, told People magazine that: “The police may have thought that Sheryl’s mother was an over-reactive woman.
“They didn’t have any clear evidence to tie Ken to the killings other than a handful of suspicions.”
When did Sheryl Kellison and Ken Bianchi break up?
Sheryl said that one night she went to see Ken Bianchi but, when she began to knock on his apartment door, there was no answer.
One of the managers of his building told Sheryl that Ken Bianchi had recently packed up and left.
She found that Ken had “moved up to Washington to follow a girl” who was apparently pregnant.
When Ken was arrested in January 1979 for two strangulations in Washington, police finally made a connection to the Californian strangulations which had suddenly stopped.
Sheryl’s mother had been named as a reference for Ken’s old apartment, so police visited the Kellison family after the arrest.
When the police officers told Sheryl that Ken had been arrested for two killings in Washington, she said: “She couldn’t believe what she was hearing.”
That’s when her mother admitted that she had had her suspicions about Ken.
At first, Sheryl believed that they had the wrong person…
But she later realised that anywhere they had gone together, a body later turned up.
Did Sheryl Kellison testify against The Hillside Strangler?
Sheryl was asked to testify against Ken Bianchi and Angelo Buono, but initially did not want to.
In the Sky documentary, she says: “I was ashamed. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want everyone to know that I was involved with them. But I had no choice.”
Sheryl testified about all the girls she saw in the house.
She also noted how Angelo’s house had no doors, only bead curtains.
She said that she thinks Angelo was the real mastermind behind the killings.
Sheryl believes that Ken probably liked the first killing and therefore continued the murders.
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Where is Sheryl Kellison now?
Sheryl Kellison is retired and still lives in Glendale, California, with her daughter Jessica.
She says she now reflects on the time that she spent with Ken Bianchi and realises “how lucky she is to be alive”.
She added: “I could have been one of those girls. So easily.”
The Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise is available on Sky Crime and NOW from Sunday October 16 2022 at 9pm.
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