(AP) - Lonnie Franklin, the convicted serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" who preyed on the women of South Los Angeles for more than two decades, has died in prison. Lab results connected him to some of the bodies and led to his arrest.SAN QUENTIN, Calif.
When a taskforce re-examined the old cases following the 2007 killing, DNA from Franklin's son showed similarities to genetic evidence found on some of the victims.Ī detective posing as a waiter at a pizza restaurant collected utensils and crusts while Franklin was attending a birthday party. Now, though, authorities say they do not think he ever rested and may have committed far more than the 14 killings they outlined in court, which included the four deaths he was not charged with committing. The killer earned his moniker because of the apparent hiatus, which police once theorised was due to being imprisoned or laying low. Most of the women were fatally shot at close range, though two were strangled and two were shot and choked. He was convicted of killing seven women between 19 and the 15-year-old girl and two women between 20. Ms Silverman said they were unsubstantiated allegations and accused Mr Amster of bullying tactics, name-calling and dishonesty.įranklin sat upright and attentive throughout the trial, rarely speaking with his lawyers and showing no emotion as the verdicts were read.
Mr Amster also asked for a new trial because he said Ms Silverman engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by rolling her eyes in a way that mocked the defence in front of the jury and elicited snickers from family members of the victims. "He is a psychopathic, sadistic serial killer who takes joy in inflicting pain on women and killing them."įranklin's lawyers had suggested a mystery man was the real killer and asked jurors to spare the defendant's life.ĭefence lawyer Seymour Amster said in court filings that the death verdict should be set aside because prosecutors introduced evidence that Franklin killed four other women, though he was never charged with those crimes. "This defendant is completely irredeemable," Ms Silverman wrote in her sentencing brief. Nearly three decades after the attack, the survivor, Enietra Washington, pointed out her assailant in court, saying: "That's the person who shot me."ĭeputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said Franklin's motive was "doing evil", and his "degrading, calculated and brutal" crimes had destroyed many lives. A Polaroid photo of her partly nude and bleeding from her wound was found in Franklin's garage after his arrest.
Prosecutors connected him to the crimes through DNA, ballistics, photos and the words of the sole known survivor, who managed to get away after being shot.
The killings occurred over more than two decades during a crack cocaine epidemic, and community members complained that police did not seriously investigate because the victims were black and poor and many were drug users and prostitutes.įranklin, 63, a former bin man and one-time garage attendant for Los Angeles police, denied any role in the killings to investigators but did not utter a word in his defence during his lengthy trial.
"I can't think of anyone I've encountered in all my years in the criminal justice system that has committed the monstrous crimes that you have," Judge Kathleen Kennedy told Franklin.