'Grim Sleeper' serial killer suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr. goes on trial; may have killed 200 - Houston Chronicle
The boards containing 180 photographs of 160 different women are removed following a press conference at the Police Administration Building on December 16, 2010. The LAPD is seeking to idenify the women. During an investigation of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the Grim Sleeper, 100 images were found in his possession. Detectives investigating the Grim Sleeper case are asking for the public's help to put a name to the faces
A man is on trial in Los Angeles accused of a series of murders that captivated that area during a dark period in that city’s history.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 63, stands accused of killing at least 10 women between 1985 and 2007. He earned the nickname “The Grim Sleeper” because of a gap in the killings from 1988 to 2002.
British filmmaker Nick Broomfield has even made a documentary about Franklin, "Tales of the Grim Sleeper."
In addition to the 10 alleged murders, some suggest that Franklin could be responsible for the deaths of another 180 women found in a cache of photographs found among the suspect's possessions.
According to ABC News, prosecutors paint a portrait of a suspect known to haunt the South Los Angeles area during the crack cocaine epidemic in search of victims.
Lonnie Franklin Jr., right, the alleged Grim Sleeper serial killer, accused of murdering 10 women in South Los Angeles listens to one of his attorneys' Louisa Pensanti, left, during a pre trial hearing Monday August 17, 2015.
Opening statements began Tuesday and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty. Franklin has pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
It’s been alleged that Franklin used his female victims’ addiction to crack cocaine as an advantage. Victims were found in dumpsters and trash bins, some in various states of undress. Most tested positive for cocaine during autopsies. Some were shot and or strangled.
Broomfield's documentary alleges that the missing women and dead bodies were largely shrugged off because the victims were nuisances in the community. "Disposable people" is a term that Broomfield used in an interview with the Daily Mail.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s cold case unit has been credited for shedding new light on the killings.
Prosecutors are expected to introduce plenty of physical evidence that they hope will convince a jury to send Franklin to death row. A woman who allegedly escaped Franklin’s clutches, Enietra Washington, will be a star witness in the case. She was sexually-assaulted but survived with a gunshot wound, according to CNN.
Franklin’s lawyer Seymour Amster told reporters that he plans on painting his client as “friendly, helpful and reliable” to neighbors and not the nicknamed serial killer he’s been portrayed as.
“We believe that before it is done, there will be a different story told than what the prosecution is stating,” he told ABC News.
It’s thought that the trial could be nearly four months long
The boards containing 180 photographs of 160 different women are removed following a press conference at the Police Administration Building on December 16, 2010. The LAPD is seeking to idenify the women. During an investigation of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the Grim Sleeper, 100 images were found in his possession. Detectives investigating the Grim Sleeper case are asking for the public's help to put a name to the faces
A man is on trial in Los Angeles accused of a series of murders that captivated that area during a dark period in that city’s history.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 63, stands accused of killing at least 10 women between 1985 and 2007. He earned the nickname “The Grim Sleeper” because of a gap in the killings from 1988 to 2002.
British filmmaker Nick Broomfield has even made a documentary about Franklin, "Tales of the Grim Sleeper."
In addition to the 10 alleged murders, some suggest that Franklin could be responsible for the deaths of another 180 women found in a cache of photographs found among the suspect's possessions.
According to ABC News, prosecutors paint a portrait of a suspect known to haunt the South Los Angeles area during the crack cocaine epidemic in search of victims.
Lonnie Franklin Jr., right, the alleged Grim Sleeper serial killer, accused of murdering 10 women in South Los Angeles listens to one of his attorneys' Louisa Pensanti, left, during a pre trial hearing Monday August 17, 2015.
Opening statements began Tuesday and the prosecution is seeking the death penalty. Franklin has pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
It’s been alleged that Franklin used his female victims’ addiction to crack cocaine as an advantage. Victims were found in dumpsters and trash bins, some in various states of undress. Most tested positive for cocaine during autopsies. Some were shot and or strangled.
Broomfield's documentary alleges that the missing women and dead bodies were largely shrugged off because the victims were nuisances in the community. "Disposable people" is a term that Broomfield used in an interview with the Daily Mail.
The Los Angeles Police Department’s cold case unit has been credited for shedding new light on the killings.
Prosecutors are expected to introduce plenty of physical evidence that they hope will convince a jury to send Franklin to death row. A woman who allegedly escaped Franklin’s clutches, Enietra Washington, will be a star witness in the case. She was sexually-assaulted but survived with a gunshot wound, according to CNN.
Franklin’s lawyer Seymour Amster told reporters that he plans on painting his client as “friendly, helpful and reliable” to neighbors and not the nicknamed serial killer he’s been portrayed as.
“We believe that before it is done, there will be a different story told than what the prosecution is stating,” he told ABC News.
It’s thought that the trial could be nearly four months long
