Closing Arguments Begin In 'Grim Sleeper' Trial
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Closing arguments were presented to jurors Monday in the trial of a 63-year-old man accused in the "Grim Sleeper" killings of nine women and a teenage girl.
According to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office, Lonnie David Franklin Jr. has been charged with murdering Debra Jackson, 29, Henrietta Wright, 34, Barbara Ware, 23, Bernita Sparks, 26, Mary Lowe, 26, Lachrica Jefferson, 22, Alicia Alexander, 18, Princess Berthomieux, 15, Valerie McCorvey, 35, and Janecia Peters, 25.
DA Beth Sullivan told the jurors, "He did it over, and over and over and over and over and over again. None of them deserved to be brutally murdered and dumped like trash."
Franklin was also charged with the attempted murder of Enietra Washington, who survived being shot in the chest and pushed out of a moving vehicle in November 1988.
The former city garage attendant and sanitation worker is accused of dumping the victims' bodies in alleys and trash bins in and around South Los Angeles, Inglewood and Los Angeles County.
Sullivan called Franklin "a serial killer who was basically a serial killer hiding in plain sight. He blended in."
The killings took place between 1985 and 1988, and 2002 and 2007.
Most of the victims were found shot in the chest or strangled. They were all "connected to the same serial killer" either through DNA or firearms evidence.
Franklin was taken into custody in July 2010. He has been dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" because of the apparent 13-year break in the killings.
Detectives are investigating whether he might be connected to the disappearances or deaths of eight other women whose photos were found in his home near 81st Street and Harvard Boulevard.
Closing arguments are expected to carry into Tuesday, the district attorney's office said.
KCAL9's Dave Lopez spoke to Kenneitha Lowe whose sister Mary was found dead in November 1987.
He asked Lowe if it gets any easier listening to the evidence.
"No, no," she replied, "it gets harder because you start back reminiscing."
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