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Franklin during arraignment, July 8, 2010 (AP Photo/Al Seib, Pool)
Who knew that the suspected Grim Sleeper serial killer and the city of Bell scandal could be somewhat related? They are, but not directly, just anecdotally. City and state worker pensions have been an increasingly controversial topic as government budgets diminish and now Lonnie Franklin's pension from the city of Los Angeles is out there. The L.A. Weekly has found that Franklin, who is charged with murdering 10 women and attempting to kill another, "has been collecting monthly disability pension checks from the L.A. pension system for 19 years, since age 36, after working as a garbage collector for nine years."
The interesting question is if Franklin was really injured on the job, or, if he really is the "Grim Sleeper" -- and police are really positive he is -- did he get hurt while dragging bodies into alleys? He claimed an injury to his right shoulder.
Nonetheless, the city of L.A. does not have a fraud unit for disability claims and even if Franklin goes to death row, his family will continue to collect the money until he dies. Since 1991, he's collected a total of $300,000. Checks began at $900 a month and have inflated to $1,658.54. In 25 years, he will have scored a total of $1 million from the city.
