LONNIE FRANKLIN JR: THE GRIM SLEEPER

This might seem like a tale taken directly from old crime novels; a serial killer prying on young, beautiful women of the same ethnicity as his own, and eventually ending up murdering them. However, this is much more than just a mere series of killings. These are the heinous actions of a murderer who was at large for 23 years, and during this time, managed to take the lives of many women. More importantly, he carried out his actions in the heart of the City of Angels in California. However, unlike conventional serial killers, this one was different.

Even though his active years show up as starting from 1985 and ending at 2007, this murderer went on a hiatus for 14 years, from 1988 to 2002. As a result of this prolonged period of inactivity, he was given the nickname 'Grim Sleeper'. However, despite the name, he was an efficient killer. It took the police almost 25 years to finally apprehend the person behind the nickname, and he turned out to be Lonnie Franklin Jr., somebody who had once been a mechanic for the LAPD as well as a sanitation worker for the City of Los Angeles. Moreover, he was a happily married man, living with his wife of 32 years as well as two children.

The Grim Sleeper had finally been caught, or so it seemed. The trial that followed the events after his capture still continue to this day, and at the time of this writing, the families of his victims are still unable to rest peacefully because he goes unpunished as yet. This is perhaps one of the most gruesome tales of murder and evasion, one that has been recounted to many aspiring detectives that joined the Los Angeles Police Department.

For a very long time, nobody was unable to put a face to the Grim Sleeper. There were many deaths, and according to the police, he is liable for ten counts of murder and will be convicted accordingly. Many thought that a firm judgment would be reached, but nothing has really transpired.

It is said that each of us carries a secret identity, one that only comes to light when we are alone. However, in the case of Lonnie Franklin Jr. the identity seems to be as far fetched as possible. Words fall short of the horrific nature of the crimes that he committed. The police have charged him for the deaths of ten women, while another charge of attempted murder was also placed upon him. A media frenzy ensued upon his capture, and global media coverage was received by his case. Yet, few could have been able to accurately predict the extent to which this man could have gone in order to satisfy his 'killing desire'. What follows is a recount of the murders that he committed, how he was captured, and finally, how he was put to trial.

The Murders

In the mid 1980's, there were a number of different serial killers who were active within California, most of them preying on women. A number of them even stated that they found it 'quite easy to take a stranger home'. However, the case of the Grim Sleeper was slightly different. The women that were found murdered were usually found covered underneath dirty carpets or mattresses, well hidden from plain sight. Their bodies would be stashed deep inside dark alleys that were seldom visited, which made it quite difficult for the police to be able to find those bodies. Often times, the only way that the bodies were found was when the smell of effluvium from the decomposing body became so strong that it alerted passerbys. Some were even stashed deep in trash bags and stowed in dumpsters.

There was a pattern, however, in all of the killings, which ultimately led the police to determine that this was a work of a new killer. First of all, apart from one man, they were all women. Most were young, while others were middle aged. Another clear indicator was the fact that all of these women were black. A significant percentage of the women had been shot primarily at close range with the use of a small caliber hand gun, but there were also some that had actually been strangled to death. A large majority of these women suffered from drug problems, but most importantly, most of them had also been raped before they were killed and their bodies were disposed of.

In those times, the streets of Southern Los Angeles, also known as South Central were primarily forgotten. The people had become tired of the police, mainly because they were largely ignored by them. And worse of all, the crack epidemic was in full flow during those times. A majority of prostitutes were also killed during those times, mainly because they were the ones who had to make most use of the streets. There were approximately 800 murders every year from 1985 to 1989, and these numbers mainly blended in to the average counts. However, it took quite a while for the police to really figure out that they had a serial killer amongst all of this.

The first victim that was reported to be killed was Debora Jackson, who was 29 years old at the time. She was a simple cock tail waitress, and had only just left her friend's apartment and was walking to the bus stop when she was apprehended and killed. Three gun shot wounds were found on her chest. The body was found on August 10, 1985. Then, silence for a year.

Henrietta Wright was the next victim. Her body was found only a few miles away from where Jackson's body was discovered. This time, the body had been victim to sexual assault, and had then been shot in the chest as well. Her body was found on August 12 in 1986. No more than two days had passed when the LAPD uncovered another body, this time of a man. The pattern had been broken. Thomas Steele was 36 years old and was reported to be working as a pimp who was visiting from San Diego, when he was shot and his body was found in the midst of an intersection.

A large number of the victims were out for casual strolls, or were running an errand. After Steele, the next body that was discovered was that of a young 23 year old by the name of Barbara Ware. Her body was found on January 10, 1987. Bernita Sparks was his next victim. She had only just gone out to grab some cigarettes, but unfortunately never returned home again. She was 26 years old. Her body was found on the same day, on April 15, 1987.

The Grim Sleeper was actively hunting young black women, and by this point in time, the police had put up flyers of all sorts in order to make sure that women were made aware of what was going on in the streets. Bernita's body was found stashed in a dumpster on Western Avenue. She had been beaten, strangled and finally shot in the head. It was a brutal attack.The next victim that the Grim Sleeper targeted was Mary Lowe, 26 years old at the time of her death, she had gone out to celebrate Halloween Night at the Love Trap Bar. She was picked up by the killer at some point during her travel to or from the Bar. Her body was found on November 1 in a dark alleyway, again on Western Avenue. Her death was significant however, because a neighbor had seen her getting into a red/ orange- ish Ford Pinto, with a racing stripe on the hood. The neighbor was also able to identify a rough image of the driver, stating that he was male, young and black.

Lachrica Jefferson was the next to fall on this gruesome list. Her death was also significant in the grand scheme of things. Her body was found on January 30, 1988. She was just 22 years old at the time. However, the way her body was displayed showed that the killer was trying to create a medium of communication via his victims; Jefferson's body was also found in an alley, with her face covered with a napkin. The napkin however, had writing on it, with the word 'AIDS'. The police was unable to find any sort of clues as to why or how this might have happened.

Investigations were underway at this point, and the community members had already set up the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders. The main purpose of this organization was to create stricter measures in order to ensure that serial killers were caught and apprehended as soon as possible. This organization began to pressurize the police to create a dedicated task force in order to locate the Grim Sleeper, and they also began handing out thousands of fliers on the streets in order to make people aware of the murderer. The flyers were distributed throughout South Central, and some even went as far as Beverly Hills, raising awareness of what was happening in those areas.

A reward was also established by the city government after the Coalition pressed them to take serious efforts in to apprehending this serial killer. This resulted in the police finding out that several serial killers were at large at killing women. An arrest was even made, as a Sheriff's detective by the name of Ricky Ross was captured. However, the police later released him, stating that a major error had been made in ballistics.

Continuing on, the next murder occurred on the 11th of September in 1988. 18 year old Alice Monique Alexander lost her life to a brutal strangulation and shots to the chest. She had also been raped prior to her death. A major break was made in the case on November 20, 1988, when the only survivor of the Grim Sleeper, managed to live through to tell her tale. Enietra Margette, a pseudonym that was given to avert attention from the media, managed to survive the horrific attack. She was on the way to the store, and was going to a party when a well dressed man in an orange Pinto with white racing stripes on the hood crossed her path. He asked to give her a ride, though she politely refused. However, he said that 'black women think of themselves very highly', after which she eventually relented.

As she sat in the car, she was very impressed. The interior of the car was as neat and clean as could be, and had been maintained to near perfection. She later said that the conversation was getting awkward, and she eventually invited him to the party. Along the way, the man made a stop for ten minutes to meet with someone, and then returned back to the car. An argument ensued, and soon after the man brought out a gun from a pocket located in the driver's side of the car, and shot her point blank in the chest. She also stated that he had chronicled his actions with a Polaroid camera. She blacked out at first, but the flash of the camera opened her eyes.

She begged this handsome black man to let her go, to drop her off at the hospital, but instead, he threw her out of the car while it was still moving. Obviously, he thought that she would not live to see the light of day any longer, but call it a miracle or an act of the divine, Margette managed to get back all the way to her friend's house. As her friends returned from the party, they immediately took her to the emergency room where the was able to survive.

Her testimony was very important. She told the police about the man, which led the police to believing that this man was targeting prostitutes. The ballistics from the bullet matched the prior killings. Perhaps it was this botched incident which spooked the killer but for the next 14 years, the Grim Sleeper slept.

Fast forward to 2002, and all that changes again.

The next three killings occurred in 2002, 2003 and the last occurred in 2007. Young Princess Barthomieux lost her life at the age of 15, whereas Valeria McCorvey was killed at the age of 35. The last victim, Janecia Peters, died at the hands of the Grim Sleeper at the age of 25. However, it was the evidence uncoverd by Barthomieux's murder that led to a break in the case. Yet, it wasn't until 2010 that an arrest was finally made. Janecia Peters was found in a dumpster, tied up in a garbage bag and her body was discovered on New Year's Day. With firm DNA matches made from the murders that had occurred 14 years ago, the police came to the conclusion that the old murderer had finally returned, and now it was time to put a permanent stop to his activities.

The Aftermath and Trial

This was the time when the nickname 'Grim Sleeper' was also introduced. A series of new information was put out to the media, which included updated information regarding the murderer. Familial DNA analysis was carried out, which ultimately tied the murders to the son of Franklin, as it was a partial match to the DNA found on the bodies. Franklin was trailed for quite a while, in an attempt to get his DNA match. However, this was proving to be pretty difficult.

The Los Angeles District Attorney at the time, Steve Cooley, eventually made use of a piece of discarded pizza to find the missing link. Franklin's first mistake was that he went out to buy pizza without noticing that he had a tail. Then, he left the discarded pizza along with the utensils on the table only after eating, which was later used to track his DNA. The waiter at the restaurant where Franklin ate was an undercover waiter.

The arrest of Lonne Franklin Jr. led to global media coverage. Three days later, Lonnie Franklin Jr. was caught in a major arrest that involved more than thirty cops on the scene. An original film was also created of the scene, entitled the 'Grim Sleeper'. However, the case was far from over as yet.

In March of 2011, Lonnie Franklin Jr. was indicted and an initial charge for the murder of Monique Alexander was placed along with that of nine other women that he had killed. This extended to a charge of 11 murders, along with one attempted murder. Later, a map was created of the crime scenes, and it showed that the house of Lonnie Franklin Jr. fell almost right in the middle of the field where the murders were committed. It was expected that the grand jury indictment was going to bring the trial to a speedy end. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Franklin, having been placed in a solitary cell at the Men's Central Jail has created a very robust defense so far. He has even managed to bring in his loyal wife, Sylvia Franklin, who is a school employee at Inglewood in to the life he leads in prison. And, he has also attracted the visits of Victoria Redstall, a pretty blonde actress/ author who often likes to befriend serial killers. Even today, Lonnie Franklin Jr. continues to draw his pension of $1,700 each month which was given to him courtesy of the L.A medical pension program. He has even made disjointed remarks to the families of the deceased, subjecting them to further trauma.

The case has been delayed continuously. When you think about the fact that Lonnie Franklin Jr. was 61 years old when he was apprehended, it goes on to show that he has lived virtually his whole life without any retribution. If this continues, it is likely that he will live the rest of it without any retribution either. Many of the victims' families thought that once Franklin had been captured, the worst was now gone. There was to be no more killing, and they would get deserved justice as Franklin would be put on death row. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Seymour Amster is the defense lead in the case for Lonnie Franklin, and he has created a number of procedural halts and delays in the case. Even though evidence has been available for months, it still remains unclear as to whether the defense team has finished up with their DNA testing. The police have also uncovered further information, and have now made Franklin the prime suspect in the killing of at least six more women, which would mean that the loss of life attributed directly to his actions would be around 18. This number is also expected to grow.

It was also discovered that the number of survivors who have managed to live the attacks by Lonnie Franklin have also grown. Even though the police are refusing to put a final death count on the number of cases linked directly to Franklin, it is expected that this number revolves around the 100 mark. His trial is to begin on July 14, 2014, though it is unlikely that his trial will begin anytime soon this year.

Since being arrested and put in to prison, Franklin has lost more than 40 pounds. He is in a solitary cell, along side another serial killer who has been charged with killing three prostitutes and a hitch hiker. He also awaits a new trial in which the police have accused him of murdering six more people. The case files are spread over a total of 20,000 pages, making it a massive investigation. It remains to be seen as to whether the court of justice and this famed system of law will actually bring justice in this case.