Franklin’s alleged victims were found dumped in alleys and dumpsters in South Los Angeles, all within a few miles of Franklin’s home.
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LOS ANGELES (AP) – By the time police found Alicia Alexander’s naked body under a mattress in an alley in 1988, six other young, black women had died similar deaths in the neighborhood known as South Central Los Angeles. For the most part, the victims were all prostitutes or had cocaine in their system.
(Judge) “We the jury and the above and titled action find that on or about November 20 1988, the defendant Lonnie Franklin David Jr. guilty of the crime of attempted murder of Enitrea Washington”.
“The nickname “Grim Sleeper” first came about because of an apparent gap in the murders”.
“They read it and I said, ‘We got him, ‘” Alexander’s father, Porter Alexander Jr., said outside court.
These photographs were recovered in the possession of the serial murder suspect dubbed in the media as “the Grim Sleeper”.
Franklin, whose attorney sought to raise questions about DNA evidence presented during the trial, was convicted of fatally shooting or strangling seven victims between August 1985 and September 1988, and three others between March 2002 and January 2007.
Facing what the prosecution called DNA and gun evidence, the defense proposed an alternative theory: That the killer is an unnamed and unknown relative who envied the accused man’s way with women, and for that reason, killed them.
Jurors will return to court May 12 to consider whether Franklin should be executed. Franklin was also convicted of attempting to murder her. Beth Silverman reminded jurors of the victims’ humanity.
The only known surviving victim of the attacker, Enietra Washington, was the prosecution’s star witness.
The method linked the murder scene samples partially to the DNA of Franklin’s son, who had been convicted of drug and firearms offences in 2008.
After a day and a half of deliberations, jurors found Franklin guilty of 10 counts of murder in the killings of nine women and a 15-year-old girl. He pushed her out of the moving vehicle, assuming she was dead.
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Washington’s testimony provided the blueprint of how Franklin preyed on women, Silverman said. He said the man was a “nephew” of Franklin’s who was jealous because his uncle had better luck with romance, though he offered no supporting evidence or any name. Police began to connect the victims after the discovery of Peters, whose body was found in a garbage bag inside a dumpster in 2007. And that infamous Polaroid photo Washington told police Franklin took of her as she was losing consciousness was found hidden behind a wall in his garage.
