Suspected "Grim Sleeper" Serial Killer Arrested

The Los Angeles Police have arrested a man they believe to be responsible for 10 murders since 1985.  The District Attorney who will prosecute the case said  that the circumstances will make the death penalty a possible punishment.  (But this is California after all.  So even if he gets the death penalty, he will still be much more likely to die of old age than from execution.)

The police, who apparently did an excellent job of tracking this guy down, used a controversial new DNA search, using familial DNA, to identify the suspect.  The District Attorney believes this may be the first time this type of DNA search has been successfully used in California.

Let us hope they have the right guy.  Let us further hope that if he is the right guy, that he receives his due justice.

From the Associated Press report:

A former police mechanic suspected of killing 10 people and stumping detectives for more than two decades was finally arrested Wednesday after police used DNA from his son to track him down.


Lonnie Franklin Jr., 57, was charged with 10 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and special circumstance allegations of multiple murders that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted, District Attorney Steve Cooley said.

"Today is a good day," Donnell Alexander, the brother of victim Monique Alexander, said as he watched police activity outside the South Los Angeles house where the arrest was made earlier in the day.

Detectives have spent years investigating slayings between 1985 and 2007 in which the killer targeted young black women and one man. The attacker was dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" because he apparently took a 14-year hiatus from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002.


The break in the case came after Franklin's son was arrested and swabbed for DNA, said Alexander, who was given a briefing on the case by robbery-homicide detectives.

Using a controversial technique known as a familial DNA search, the sample came back as similar to evidence in the serial killings, leading police to investigate relatives of the man who was arrested.

Detectives later swabbed a cup used by Lonnie Franklin Jr. at a restaurant and confirmed his DNA matched that in the serial killings, Alexander said, citing his briefing by police. Two police officials confirmed Alexander's account.

Cooley believes the "Grim Sleeper" case was the first time a familial DNA search has been used successfully in California.