Ivan Hill

Ivan Jerome Hill (born March 30, 1961) is an American serial killer, responsible for at least 9 murders in different suburbs of Los Angeles from 1986 to 1994. Hill dumped his victims' corpses along the East-West Highway, known as "California State Route 60", earning him the nickname The 60 Freeway Killer. He also committed at least one of the Southside Slayer murders in South Los Angeles, and investigators suspect he's been involved in more. Hill was captured and convicted based on DNA profiling.

Ivan Hill was born on March 30, 1961 in Los Angeles. He was the second in a family of five children. Ivan grew up in a socially disadvantageous environment, his father being aggressive towards his wife and children. Shortly before Christmas in 1968, Hill's father shot his mother in the face with a .22 caliber rifle, and was sent to prison. Despite the serious injury, Hill's mother survived, and later divorced his father. Thereafter, Hill's grandmother began to take part in his upbringing. Due to financial difficulties, Hill's mother had to work two jobs, forcing Ivan to take care of his younger siblings throughout the 1970s.

Hill spent his teens in Pomona, attending Pomona High School. During his school years, Ivan was involved in sports, being elected team captain of the school football team. Most of his acquaintances from those years spoke very positively of him. In 1978, a year before graduation, Hill became addicted to drugs and lost interest in studying. Suffering from financial difficulties, Hill began leading a criminal lifestyle in early 1979, committing several thefts.

In January 1979, Hill, along with accomplices, committed several robberies. On January 23, 17-year-old Hill and his accomplice, 18-year-old Venson Myers, robbed a liquor store in Glendora, during which Myers killed one store employee and seriously wounded another. For this crime, Vernon Myers was sentenced to life imprisonment with no chance of parole. As a minor, Hill was found guilty in complicity to murder, but due to cooperating in the investigation, he received a short sentence.

During his detention, Hill graduated from high school, receiving his high school diploma. He later studied at one of the local colleges, after which he received parole and was released in the mid-1980s. After his release, Hill spent a lot of time in the San Gabriel Valley, constantly changing his place of residence. At various times, he worked as a day laborer, storekeeper, and forklift driver. In the late 1980s, he was rearrested for theft and convicted. Hill was released again in February 1993. Having problems with employment, he was engaged with low-skill labor and soon returned to his criminal lifestyle. During 1993, he committed several additional robberies; he was arrested in early 1994, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Murders

While serving his 1994 sentence, a blood sample was taken from Hill. He was due to be released in February 2004, but in March 2003, Hill's DNA test showed his profile corresponded to that of an unidentified serial killer, who had left DNA evidence during attacks on six women in different suburbs of Los Angeles from November 1993 to January 1994. Based on this, in November 2003, Ivan Hill was charged with the murder of:

• 37-year-old Betty Sue Harris, strangled on November 1, 1993 in Pomona;
• 31-year-old Roxanne Bates, a Pomona resident whose body was found four days later in Chino;
• 36-year-old Helen Ruth Hill (no relation), strangled in Walnut;
• 35-year-old Donna L. Goldsmith found murdered on November 16;
• 34-year-old Cheryl Sayers, found strangled on December 30, 1993 in the vicinity of Pomona
• 33-year-old Debra Brown, whose body was found on January 12, 1994 in Ontario.

The trial of Ivan Hill opened in October 2006. His lawyers tried to get an indulgence for him on the basis that Ivan had been abused as a child, arguing this had ultimately led to mental, emotional and behavioral problems. Hill himself claimed that the murders occurred while he was in an unwell state of mind, characterized by complete confusion and uncontrolled impulsive action. Hill stated this resulted from a depressive disorder that he developed in September 1993, due to a fallout with his girlfriend, his dismissal from work, and his drug addiction. However, the court considered these circumstances insignificant, and found that Hill was sane at the time of the murders. He was convicted of six murders and received the death penalty on March 21, 2007.

In late 2008, on the basis of the results of another DNA test, the investigation connected Hill with two more murders. In May 2009, at a new trial, Ivan Hill was charged with, and plead guilty to, the murder of 35-year-old Lorna Reed, strangled on February 11 in a Los Angeles suburb named San Dimas, and the murder of 23-year-old Rhonda Jackson, killed on February 27, 1987 in Pomona. The court sentenced him to an additional life term without parole. As of November 2019, the 58-year-old Hill is still alive and awaiting execution on San Quention State Prison's death row.