Trial begins in 10 'Grim Sleeper' slayings
More than 30 years after the first death in the case, a 63-year-old California man accused of being a serial killer is facing trial.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty if Lonnie David Franklin Jr. is convicted in the Los Angeles case. In addition to 10 murder counts for slayings that occurred between 1985 and 2007, he faces one charge of attempted murder—an alleged surviving victim is expected to be a star witness against him at trial.
Police say he has also been linked to at least six additional killings; however, authorities did not charge him in those cases for fear of further delaying his trial, the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) reports. Franklin has been behind bars since his arrest in July 2010, awaiting trial.
The Associated Press, CNN and Reuters also have stories.
The latest to go to trial of a number of long-cold Southern California serial killing cases revived in recent years by DNA evidence, Franklin’s case resulted from a familial DNA match and collection of DNA evidence by a police officer working as a restaurant busboy.
Others previously sentenced many years after Southern California murders that took place in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, include Michael Hughes, as the Los Angeles Times (sub. req.) reported when he was sentenced in 2012; John Floyd Thomas Jr.; and Chester Dewayne Turner (he got four more death sentences in 2011).
See also:
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “Prisoner Charged in 4 More Murders”
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “Serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr., dubbed the Westside Rapist, is sentenced to life”
LA Weekly: “Silent Wraith: Chester Turner”
Los Angeles Times (sub. req.): “Jury decides death for convicted serial killer Chester Dewayne Turner”
