To me, they are as repugnant as each other, but the prosecutor at the trial saw Bittaker as just ever so slightly more culpable than Norris; that's why he cut the plea bargain deal with him where Norris testified against Bittaker and thereby saved himself from the gas chamber (as the method of execution was in California at the time).

The prosecutor, Stephen Kay, has repeatedly stated that Bittaker is the worst criminal he has ever encountered, with Norris a "close second." He also states that Bittaker deserves to be executed more than anyone else in California (an opinion I personally agree with).

Norris was the seasoned sex offender by the time they met, and as psychologists have stated, the overriding factor in his crimes was the domination of the woman; his biggest stimuli was seeing young women in distress and/or fear. Bittaker was a seasoned criminal, indifferent to the laws of society or the feelings of others, who acted on impulse. None of his offenses were of a sexual nature (Bittaker was 20 when he lost his virginity). Much like many other team killers they each fueled the others' psyche and emboldened the other. Of course, much like other cases of team killers, loyalty soon erodes upon arrest and, to this day, Norris (laughably) claims he was afraid of Bittaker and that he participated in the murders solely upon Bittaker's urging. Bittaker himself claims Norris killed the girls and he didn't know until Nov. 79 that they had been killed. He also claims that Lynette Ledford had agreed to imitate the screams found on the cassette in his van, and that she "enjoyed" the treatment he and Norris inflicted upon her...

Bittaker's behaviour prior to his arrest is polarizing, yet fascinating. He earned a very impressive salary as a machinist, working long hours and frequently volunteering to work overtime. He lived alone in a Burbank motel, where he stashed numerous drugs so that teenagers would frequent his motel. He states that he knew he was being taken advantage of, but he was happy to be taken advantage of in order that his place remained a popular hang out destination.

Bittaker regularly helped needy families in his neighborhood when they needed money or clothes, and Norris states that on 3 occasions in the time period they were abducting and murdering girls, Bittaker donated $100 dollar bills to the Salvation Army. On another occasion, as businesses closed for the evening, Bittaker decided that he and Norris should hand out food and milk to the homeless in downtown Los Angeles. Bittaker purchased all the food from two fast food restaurant that they would have otherwise thrown away, then purchased numerous bottles of wine. The pair spent the entire night handing the food and wine to the homeless.

Personally I think that, by 1979, his youth was almost completely behind him, and he knew he'd thrown away much of his youth by being behind bars (although he was and is resistant to acknowledging his own culpability for all the crimes for which he has ever been convicted). Bittaker had no family, few friends who didn't socialize with him as a method of free drink and drugs (in the case of the teenagers), or conveniently seek his company when they were needy (the older acquaintances) and he knew that he'd more than likely not have a young woman in his life, so, he simply took what he desired and what he had had very little experience with in the past. Assuming Bittaker is telling the truth, his fantasy was of a woman screaming in pleasure - not pain, although he had confided to Norris that there would be no live witnesses to their sexual assaults, yet Norris was a close companion from his prison days who was a repeat sexual offender - he wasn't using Bittaker for everyday material things like most others whom he knew. But, together, they would have a young girl in the van and, in his mindset, because she would not willingly be with him, her screams would be in pain rather than pleasure.

Norris more than likely saw Bittaker as intellectually superior than him and, through Bittaker, was emboldened to escalate his sexual fantasies further: in the privacy of the mountains or the van, he could have an attractive teenage girl in acute terror and pain - his ultimate mental and sexual elation.

The victim of choice is obvious: young, attractive teenage girls. They were victims of opportunity: 4 were Caucasian, whereas Lynette was part Hispanic. The first 4 victims were complete strangers to Bittaker and Norris, whereas Lynette knew Bittaker by sight as he frequented the Sunland McDonald's where she worked.