Thaindian News

July 8, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Grim Sleeper was arrested on suspicion this Wednesday in Los Angeles and will be charged in court today. The 57 year old retired police mechanic named Lonnie David Franklin Junior is facing charges of 10 murders and one attempt of murder, informed the Los Angeles police.

The police was investigating this serial killing case since the last 25 years. The multiple murder cases against Lonnie make him eligible for the death penalty. The killings took place in the time period between 1985 and 2007.

As the attacker took a long 14 year of hiatus from his crimes, he has been termed as ‘Grim Sleeper’. The police had the DNA of the killer and a description from one survivor and they offered a huge reward of $500,000. But still, the case got extended for a long time.

A tool named ‘familiar searching’ was used by the investigators, which allows them to search for close DNA matches through the DNA of the relatives of suspects.

According to District Attorney Steve Cooley, the method has been used for the first time successfully in California. The killer used same small caliber weapon to target mainly the black women, some of them were working as prostitutes.

Margaret Prescod, the founder of the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders, has informed that the head of the task force Det. Dennis Kilcoyne has confirmed getting the right man this time. Prescod has worked with the families of the victims in the case.

She added, “It would be a great relief for the families of the victims and also for the entire community, if Franklin turns out to be the real Grim Sleeper.”