Severely and needlessly damaged his career around 1978 during the hysteria of the Los Angeles Hillside Strangler serial murders. His wife had recently left him, and he was in a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. He inexplicably chose to seek psychological help by falsely confessing to be the Hillside Strangler. His "confession" made headlines and was even carried in the National Enquirer tabloid. Two cousins,
Kenneth Bianchi and
Angelo Buono Jr., were later arrested and convicted of the murders.
