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Man Suspected in 4 Murders Found with 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer Newspaper Article

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The man accused of killing a married Hawthorne couple in a home-invasion robbery has been connected to two more murders, sheriff's deputies said today. John Wesley Ewell is now suspected to be behind the murder of an 80-year-old Hawthorne man and a 53-year-old Los Angeles woman who was his neighbor, according to KPCC. All victims were found in their homes bound and strangled.

When searching Ewell's car, detectives found a newspaper article announcing the arrest of Lonnie Franklin, the alleged "Grim Sleeper" serial killer who was arrested in July for the murder of 10 women over a two decade period. “It was really the only paper we found inside his car,” a detective told the LA Times. “The subject is certainly telling.”

Ewell was charged with killing Leamon Turnage, and his wife, Robyn Turnage on October 26nd, a few days after their homicide. At the time, he was still being investigated for the September 24th death of 80-year-old Hanna Morcos, who lived nearby. Ewell has been convicted of robbery twice, once in 1988 and another time in 2005. In September he was charged with commercial robbery and grand theft.

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