Lonnie David Franklin Jr., one of California’s most prolific serial killers, has officially been brought to justice. The former garbage truck driver was convicted in the murders of ten black women over the course of three decades by The Los Angeles County Superior Court this past Thursday, May 5th. It is being reported that the jurors took less than two days to reach their verdict and Franklin Jr. was silent and void of emotion when they revealed their decision that he was to be found guilty. His court case is not over, with the penalty phase dated to start on May 11th in which it will be decided whether or not he will be sentenced to life in prison or put to death for the murders.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr. murdered ten women, all aged between 15 and 35, between the years of 1988 and 2007. He earned the nickname ‘Grim Sleeper’ due to the 13 year hiatus he took between his sprees. All of the victims were lured away, kidnapped, shot in the chest or strangled and dumped in alleyways. Some of the victims were also raped. An 11th victim was attacked in 1988, but she managed to escape and may testify at his penalty trial on May 11th. Two other would-be victims, from Lonnie’s days in the military in the 1970’s, may also testify on Wednesday about their attempted kidnapping and rapes.
Franklin Jr., now 63 years old, was discovered as a suspect in 2010 when DNA gathering technology was applied to cases such as his in the 1980’s when the technology wasn’t yet available. His saliva and other bodily fluids were found on the victims bodies, though his lawyer tried in vain to convince the jury that the DNA belonged to an unnamed family member.
SOURCE: CNN
