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Alleged 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer Charged with 10 Murders
Following a lengthy police investigation and killings that spanned more than 20 years, Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was charged today with 10 murders by the District Attorney's office. The 57-year-old so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer was arrested this morning at his home in Manchester Square, a neighborhood in South L.A.
From 1985 to 2007, 11 murders were connected through DNA. The prospect of a serial killer wandering the streets of Los Angeles were not known tot he public until the LA Weekly broke the story in 2008, detailing the saga the police had embarked on.
Franklin stands accused of 10 of those murders and also will face one count of attempted willful, deliberate and premeditated murder. In 1988, Enietra Margette (fake name) became the sole survivor of the Grim Sleeper when he shot and left her in an alley. It is unknown why one murder connected to the case was not charged.
All the victims, save for one man, were black females aged 14 to 36. Most were discovered dumped in alleys, covered with debris, with gunshot wounds to the chest and/or strangled.
Franklin reportedly held jobs as a LAPD mechanic and city sanitation worker.
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