As I searched for recent serial killers, the vast majority of them were from past decades and centuries ago. Not many were from the recent years although there were few. One that I came across that I found interesting was the ‘Grim Sleeper’. This was an unidentified believed serial killer who was given this particular name because of the period in between the murders they committed. A suspect and who police believe to certainly be the ‘Grim Sleeper’ was just recently arrested in July of this year, 2010. The now 57 year old, Lonnie David Franklin Jr., is suspected of committing 10 murders and one attempted murder. All of the victims were young black women and the attempted murder was the only man involved in this crime spree. The ‘Grim Sleeper’ committed murders from 1985 through most recently 2007. Franklin is currently awaiting his court date where he faces up to life in prison or possible execution for his crimes.
The article posted above, from ABC news, does a fairly good job of blending the profile of the serial killer as well as the crimes that he committed. There is also mention of how Franklin came to be arrested and hypothesis of why it took so long for this man to be captured. The article does not go into much detail about the different murders but does mention the case of the “blue van” that was cited in other articles that I read. All of the killings were actually done around the same area, so as far as statistics, there were few except that they were all young black females within his community. Ages or descriptions of the victims were not given in any articles that I read although some articles, not this one, listed two names. The main law enforcement agency that assisted in the capture of the ‘Grim Sleeper’ was the LAPD who also had some assistance from the California Department of Justice Division of Law Enforcement personnel.
One of the most interesting things that I found about this case is that it took so long for police to apprehend Franklin and he lived within a two-mile radius of all of the killings. This apparently is not uncommon because the “Myth and Murder” article suggest that most serial killers find and kill most of their victims in a small area or one city. The case of the “blue van” that was mentioned in almost all of the news stories about this killer was less than a mile from his home. People in the community say that Franklin is a nice guy, although a “ladies man”, he was always apt to help people whose car was malfunctioning because of his occupation of a mechanic. Franklin came into contact with the law on some occasions but was never asked to produce a DNA sample so that it could be on record. The news article also says that the police were only three doors down from Franklin when they were investigating one of his murders but never came across him as a suspect. Since Franklin was just recently captured there are no further details about the investigation of the crime but during Franklin’s trial some old mysteries may begin to unravel.
You can listen to the 9-1-1 call made to the police at ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7025116
Thank you for tying this into the readings!
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