William Suff

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William Lester Suff

Background information
Alias(es):	Bill Lee Suff, Riverside Prostitute Killer, Lake Elsinore Killer
Born:	August 20, 1950
Penalty:	Death
Killings
Number of victims:	12-22
Span of killings:	1974 through 1992
Country:	U.S.
State(s):	California
Date apprehended:	January 9, 1992

William Lester Suff (born August 20, 1950, as Bill Lee Suff), also known as the Riverside Prostitute Killer and the Lake Elsinore Killer, is a Californian serial killer. In 1974, a Texas jury convicted Suff and his then-wife, Teryl, of beating to death their two-month-old daughter. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals later reversed Teryl’s conviction but upheld Suff's in Suff v. State (Tex. 1976) 531 S.W.2d 814, finding insufficient evidence to convict Teryl as either the primary actor or a principal in their baby's murder. Though Suff was sentenced to 70 years in a Texas prison, he served only 10 years before his 1984 release on parole. He subsequently raped, stabbed, strangled, and sometimes mutilated 12 or more prostitutes in Riverside County, beginning in 1986. On January 9, 1992, Suff was arrested after a routine traffic stop.

Described as a mild-mannered loner, Suff worked as a county stock clerk who allegedly delivered supplies to the task force investigating his killing spree. He liked to impersonate police officers and even cooked chili^[1] at office picnics. In fact, it was alleged that he used the breast of one of his victims in his chili^[2], which won the "Riverside County Employee Chili Cookoff." He was also working on a book about wild, lethal dogs. He enjoyed vanity plates and was an avid volunteer in the county's car-pooling program.

On July 19, 1995, a Riverside County jury found Suff guilty of killing 12 women and attempting to kill another, though police suspected him responsible for as many as 22 deaths. During the penalty phase that followed, the prosecutor presented evidence linking Suff to the 1988 murder of a San Bernardino prostitute, as well as evidence that despite his prior Texas prison term for murdering his first daughter, he abused and violently shook his three-month-old daughter by his second wife. On August 17, 1995, after deliberating for only 10 minutes, the jury returned verdicts of death on all 12 murder counts^[3]. On October 26, 1995, the trial court followed the jury's recommendations and ordered Suff condemned to death^[4].