The "Grim Sleeper" Goes on Trial: CBSN Explains the Case Against Lonnie Franklin Jr., 2016

Name: The "Grim Sleeper" Goes on Trial: CBSN Explains the Case Against Lonnie Franklin Jr., 2016
Uploaded: 2016-02-17T00:00:00Z
Duration: 3 min 21 s
Description: A CBSN segment from February 2016, as Lonnie Franklin Jr.'s trial opened: Crimesider reporter Graham Kates on the 14-year gap, the uncharged killings and the photographs found at Franklin's home.

A CBSN segment from February 2016, as Lonnie Franklin Jr.'s trial opened: Crimesider reporter Graham Kates on the 14-year gap, the uncharged killings and the photographs found at Franklin's home.

Subject: Lonnie Franklin
Recorded: about February 16, 2016
Runtime: 3:21

Content warning: Discusses the murders of ten people, crime scene photographs, and photographs found at the defendant's home of women in sexual positions, some apparently unconscious; no graphic detail.

The Interview

This is not an interview with Lonnie Franklin Jr., who is not heard in it. It is a 3:21 segment from CBSN, the CBS News streaming channel, posted on February 17, 2016, in which an anchor questions Graham Kates, a reporter for the CBS News 48 Hours "Crimesider" site, about the case as Franklin's murder trial opened in Los Angeles.

Historical Context

Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was arrested on July 7, 2010, and charged with a series of murders of women in South Los Angeles. The killer became known as the "Grim Sleeper," a name coined by the LA Weekly in 2008 and adopted by police in 2009, because of an apparent gap in the killings between 1988 and 2002. Franklin was charged with ten murders, of nine women and a 15-year-old girl, and the attempted murder of a woman who survived an attack in November 1988. His trial opened on February 16, 2016, more than five years after his arrest.

Circumstances

The segment was recorded in the opening days of the trial. Kates summarizes what was then publicly known: Franklin had not confessed and was pleading not guilty, his lawyers had told the Associated Press there was "more to the story," and crime scene photographs from 1985 to 2002 had been shown in court.

What the Recording Covers

Kates sets out two theories for the 14-year gap: that the killer went on killing with victims not yet identified (police said they had tied Franklin to six murders with which he was not charged), or that he stopped after the 1988 victim survived. He describes the photographs of women found at Franklin's home in 2010, about 180 of which the police released, and says that all but 35 of the women had been identified (his figure). He explains that the pretrial phase lasted half a decade because the defense had to go through 30 years of evidence in discovery.

What Makes the Recording Significant

The segment records the state of public knowledge about the Grim Sleeper case at the moment the trial began, including the question of uncharged killings, which the trial itself did not resolve.

Archival Importance

A short network explainer from CBS News's own channel.

Important Caveats

Franklin does not speak in this video, and no courtroom footage is heard. The anchor is not named. The anchor's "Police coined the nickname" is not accurate: the LA Weekly coined "Grim Sleeper" in 2008, and police adopted it in 2009. Figures such as "about 184" or "180" photographs, "all but 35" identified and "six" of those are the reporter's statements at the time and were not verified; the police released 180 photographs in December 2010. The YouTube description's "murder of 10 people" omits the attempted murder count.

Anchor: New details are emerging in the case of an alleged serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper. Lonnie Franklin Jr. is accused of murdering 10 people between 1985 and 2007. Police coined the nickname because of an apparent 14-year gap in the murders. Crimesider's Graham Kates has been looking into the case. [unclear: "You know" (both sources)], apparent gap: if somebody is a serial killer, surely police suspect there was killing in between. They just don't know who the victims are.

Graham Kates: That's right. So there are two theories to what happened in those 14 years, and that was from 1988 to 2002. One theory is that he kept killing and they had, uh, difficulty identifying victims. Police have said that they think they've tied him to six murders that he's not currently charged with. They haven't really said when those murders occurred, but they said they didn't want to add those on top of this case, because just the pretrial part stretched on for half a decade. But, um, they've also said there's a chance this last incident in 1988, the person actually survived, and they say there's a chance maybe he got scared away by the fact that someone survived, and then that's why there is a 14-year gap there.

Anchor: The fact that he has such a long history and there are 10 victims here, has he ever confessed to the crime?

Graham Kates: No, he hasn't confessed. He's pleading not guilty. His lawyers have told the Associated Press that they say there's more to the story, but we haven't really heard their side just yet.

Anchor: I understand that in court there have been a number of gruesome photographs that have been [unclear: "introduced" (Whisper) / "introd produc" (captions); possibly "introduced, produced"]. Where did they get these photos?

Graham Kates: These were crime scene photos, um, that of course stretch over a 30-year period. They're from 10 murder scenes and, of course, one attempted murder scene, and these are collected, you know, in 1985, in 1988, in 2002.

Anchor: Okay, and what about from Lonnie's home itself? What kind of evidence are they getting that tie him to these crimes?

Graham Kates: One of the most interesting things found at his home about half a decade ago, when they first arrested him, was this cache of about [unclear: "184" (captions) / "180" (Whisper)] photos of women who at the time they weren't able to identify, and they were curious: are these other victims? What's the relationship with them? Police actually released this 180-photo, uh, collection, and all but 35 of the women have been identified. But six of those are the ones that they say could actually be a whole other set of accusations later on.

Anchor: Who, and who were the women? Were they just random women that he came across? Were they friends along the way?

Graham Kates: They haven't, they haven't released too many details about this yet: one, because these are charges that haven't been filed; two, because, uh, some of [unclear: "that" (captions) / "them" (Whisper)], of course, aren't murder victims, uh, but they were women who were shown in, uh, sexual positions. Some of them appeared to be unconscious.

Anchor: Okay, and you talked about this half a decade between starting the trial. What, what has taken so long?

Graham Kates: When you have 10 murders that are being tried, the pretrial process can really be dragged out, because the defense is asking to, uh, go through intense examinations of really an incredible trove of information police had been collecting, uh, evidence about this case, these cases, for 30 years. And so the defense piece by piece had to go through everything in what's called the discovery phase of this.

Anchor: Right. Okay, Graham, thank you so much for bringing us the story. And remember, you can track this investigation and trial and read up on the big crime stories of the day at cbsnews.com/crimesider. ---