- Convicted for the murder of Variety theatre critic, Addison Verrill, Bateson was known in the New York City tabloid press as "The Trashbag Killer". William Friedkin renewed his acquaintance with Bateson and used his crime as part of his film Cruising (1980). By confessing to multiple murders he did not remember committing, Bateson received a much shorter sentence, and was released from prison in 2004.
- He made an uncredited appearance as himself - he was working as a Radiologist's Assistant at the time - in William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973). Several years later, Friedkin - during production of Cruising (1980) - visited Bateson in prison after he had confessed to several murders, with Bateson serving as an uncredited consultant on the film, which dealt with a serial killer targeting gay men.
- He presumably died in 2012, but definitive proof is yet to be found.
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