As the prosecution and defense teams maneuver over legal issues, investigators continue to shift through the 1,000-plus pieces of evidence, including hundreds of photos, primarily of African American females that were found on the 81st Street property of suspected “Grim Sleeper” mass murderer Lonnie David Franklin Jr.
The killer got his nickname in reference to the apparent 14-year hiatus that separated the first string of murders (1985 through 1988) from the second (2002 to 2007). Initial homicide inquiries were hampered by a rash of deaths within the same geographical area of South Los Angeles, committed by several different individuals.
During one period in the investigation, the slayings had been dubbed the “Strawberry Murders,” in reference to the slang term for women who provide sexual favors for drugs.
The on-going scrutiny of these confiscated materials has prompted the police to speculate that, contrary to popular belief, the culprit may have continued his grisly pursuits throughout the entire 22-year span in which the killings occurred.
This past Aug. 1, Los Angeles prosecutors announced that they would seek the death penalty for Franklin. The next pretrial hearing will be on Nov. 7. More recently, the district attorney had been seeking to record Franklin’s voice and compare it to a Jan. 10, 1987, 911 emergency call informing police that the body of Barbara Ware, 23, had been dumped in the 1300-block of east 56th Street.
On Sept. 8, Franklin consented to have a recording made in the presence of his attorney, Louisa Pensanti. Results from this comparison have yet to be revealed.
Pensanti also complained about the cavalier manner in which the police shared new information pertinent to the case with the defense. She declared that her defense team has received updates only when they were released to the general public.
Pensanti insists that most of the photos obtained during the search of her client’s property were innocuous images in the category of family snapshots, instead of what was initially described as provocative pictures of females in various states of undress.
The attorney also expressed dissatisfaction with what she called the recent “dumping” of 240 additional cases into the process, in a manner consistent with police protocol in which periodic efforts are made to “clear” unsolved crimes. She concluded as a result of the additional information that an actual start of the trial is nowhere in the foreseeable future.
Aside from the grisly deaths attributed to this serial killer, the case has received notoriety because of the unprecedented use of familial DNA to link the slayings to Franklin.
Franklin had previously been employed as a mechanic and sanitation worker for the city of Los Angeles. During his tenure, he was injured and placed on sick leave, presumably at the same time some of his alleged victims had been murdered and dumped in alleys or garbage bins, police theorize.
While he remains in custody awaiting legal proceedings, the city continues to pay his disability payments at an estimated $1,700 monthly.
