Hillside Strangler Anthony D鈥橝mato up for parole in WA this week
Jun 24, 2025, 5:15 PM
Mugshot of Anthony D'Amato鈥攆ormerly Kenneth Bianchi鈥攚hile in police custody. (Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
(Photo courtesy of Getty Images)
One of the Hillside Stranglers is up for parole this week in Washington.
Currently held at the Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla, Anthony D’Amato鈥攆ormerly Kenneth Bianchi鈥攚as convicted of killing two women in Bellingham in 1979 after strangling five people to death in southern California with his cousin, Angelo Buono.
D鈥橝mato pleaded guilty to the killings in Washington state court to escape the death penalty.
D鈥橝mato, 74, changed his name from Kenneth Bianchi in 2023, according to . Buono, his co-conspirator in the California murders, died in prison in 2002.
1979 Bellingham murders
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D鈥橝mato lured two Western Washington University students, Karen Mandic and Diane Wilder, into a home and strangled them to death while he was working as a security guard in Bellingham in January 1979. The young women鈥檚 bodies were found the next day in the backseat of a car in the Edgemoor neighborhood.
While police investigated their murders, detectives were eventually led to D鈥橝mato, connecting him to approximately 10 similar cases in California.
With his release from prison set for 2065, when he would be 114 years old, D鈥橝mato has repeatedly challenged his convictions on numerous grounds. According to The Washington State Standard, he claimed his confession came from hypnosis, maintaining his stance that he鈥檚 innocent.
The state parole board will review his case Wednesday. The hearing will be closed to the general public, and the results will not be posted until July 23.
He鈥檚 been denied parole several times previously. If released here, he鈥檇 still face life sentences in California. He is scheduled for a parole hearing in California next month for five murder charges he previously pleaded guilty to.
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