South Bay Strangler

The South Bay Strangler was the name given to an unknown serial killer active in the southern bay area of Los Angeles from Hawthorne in the north to Rolling Hills Estates in the south. His victims were elderly women who lived alone which he would rape and then strangle. While plenty of DNA and other forensic evidence had been collected, none of it matched samples on file from those convicted of crimes.

When Lt. Colin Ferguson went on vacation to Yellowstone National Park, the Strangler had been active for five years. Ferguson thought that the lack of DNA matches indicated that the killer was otherwise viewed as a "pillar of the community" and above suspicion. Shortly after returning from his vacation, Ferguson investigated the murder of Mildred Szymanski, the Strangler's eighteenth victim. After that, San Atanasio had the nineteenth victim, Maria Peterfalvy.