A former rubbish collector convicted of the “Grim Sleeper” serial murders in Los Angeles has been given the death sentence.
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Last month, 63-year-old Lonnie Franklin was convicted of 10 murders dating back to 1985.
For the death penalty to be imposed, the jury’s recommendation must be upheld by a judge at a sentencing hearing in August.
Lonnie Franklin was given the name The “Grim Sleeper” after a 13 year lapse in killings he was convicted for, although police believe he may have committed up to 25 murders.
Franklin preyed on female prostitutes and drug addicts in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s at the height of a crack cocaine epidemic.
Franklin murdered the women in two sprees between 1985 and 2007 – with a 14-year gap between the two earning him his creepy nickname.
Enietra Washington said that she got a lift from Franklin in his auto before he shot her in the chest while she was in the passenger seat. She testified against him at the trial.
The jury called for the death penalty on all 10 murder counts. A defense lawyer urged jurors to give Franklin life without parole.
All of Franklin’s killings followed a similar pattern as the women were often fatally shot or choked to death and their partially-dressed or sometimes naked bodies were dumped in alleys and trash bins.
An undercover detective posed as a waiter at a pizza restaurant where he was attending a birthday party. Prosecutors built their case on that DNA evidence, including Franklin’s saliva on many of his victims’ bodies, along with ballistic evidence and the testimony of a surviving victim.
Ballistics evidence showed the same gun was used to shoot both women and the weapon was found in Franklin’s garage after his arrest in 2010.
The AP notes that Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman brought forward evidence of four other murders, including one that linked Franklin to a 2000 murder.
As she was losing consciousness, he sexually assaulted her and she remembered seeing the flash from a Polaroid camera. Police found photos of other victims in the home.
The survivor who Franklin was convicted of attempting to murder helped prosecutors establish the killer’s modus operandi.
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