NBC News reports that former sanitation worker Lonnie Franklin Jr., 63, was fund guilty in the “Grim Sleeper” serial killings that spanned over two decades in Los Angeles where 9 women and a girl were killed.
A jury found him guilty on 10 first degree murder counts and 1 attempted murder charge after a woman he shot escaped. The murders took place from 1985 to 2007 giving him the name “Grim Sleeper” because of the gaps in which the crimes were committed.
However, after discovering a mass amount of photos from Franklin’s home, police are questioning if he ever stooped. Photos of nearly 200 women were discovered in Franklin’s house after his arrest and some of the women in those photos have never been found.
The crimes occurred mostly during the crack cocaine epidemic where the killer preyed on young black women, some of which were prostitutes. Los Angeles community members complained to the LAPD about the lack of investigation in the crimes because the victims were black and poor.
How was Franklin captured? According to NBC, Franklin’s son was arrested and police discovered that his DNA had “similarities to genetic material left on the bodies of many of the victims”.
Then, an officer went undercover as a busboy at a birthday party Franklin was attending and obtained napkins along with pizza crusts with Franklin’s DNA.
NBC Reports:
It proved a match with material found on the breasts and clothing of many of the women and on the zip tie of a trash bag that held the curled-up body of the final victim, Janecia Peters. She was found Jan. 1, 2007, by someone who was rifling through a trash bin and noticed her red fingernails through a hole in the bag.
Apparently, Franklin would lure women to his car, shoot them, sexually assault them, and leave them for dead. However, 2 women lived to tell their stories.
Enietra Washington, the only known survivor, testified in court that Franklin tried to kill her.
Washington identified a photo of Franklin and she pointed him out in court. She said she was 100 percent sure he was the man who shot her and left her for dead.
In addition, the bullet retrieved from Washington came from the same gun used to shoot or kill seven previous victims, most of whom had Franklin’s DNA on them.
