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World's Most Evil Killers S05E01 Lonnie Franklin
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00:00In July 2010, detectives in Los Angeles, California
00:05had finally identified a sexual predator
00:08who'd been murdering innocent women over a 25-year period.
00:13The serial killer had claimed at least 10 victims
00:16before discarding their bodies in alleyways and dumpsters.
00:20To him, they're no more than garbage.
00:23They're utterly disposable.
00:25They are absolutely irrelevant.
00:28An LAPD detective posing as a busboy at a pizzeria
00:32was about to collect the evidence
00:34that would finally lead to the capture of Lonnie Franklin Jr.,
00:38the man the press had titled The Grim Sleeper.
00:42Media likes to report they got DNA from the pizza slice,
00:46and yes, they did get DNA from the pizza slice,
00:49but the main part of the DNA was obtained
00:52from the napkins he used to wipe his mouth.
00:54Franklin murdered seven women in the 1980s,
00:58but when one of his victims survived, he suddenly stopped.
01:02It wasn't until 14 years later, in 2002,
01:07that Franklin began to kill again.
01:09He's back from this sleeping period,
01:12and he's just as ruthless as he was before,
01:15and he's learned during that time.
01:17He's become more sadistic.
01:18We've got a serial murderer in Los Angeles.
01:22He's still active, and we need to find him and stop him.
01:26Lonnie Franklin Jr., the Grim Sleeper,
01:30had awoken as one of the world's most evil killers.
01:57When Lonnie Franklin Jr.
02:00was arrested and charged with a murder of 10 women in July 2010,
02:05it brought his three-decade-long murderous career to an end.
02:09The media had dubbed the sexual predator the Grim Sleeper
02:14in relation to the 14 years in which he lay dormant.
02:17Had he not begun killing again,
02:20Franklin may never have been caught.
02:23LAPD homicide detective Cliff Shepard
02:25was part of the investigative team
02:28who finally brought Lonnie Franklin to justice.
02:32November of 2001,
02:34the Los Angeles Police Department
02:35started a cold case unit for unsolved murders.
02:39We had somewhere between 6,000 to 9,000 unsolved murders
02:43between 1960 and the present.
02:45Using DNA analysis,
02:47the task force managed to link a small number of the murders
02:51to the same unknown perpetrator.
02:53Detective Paul Coulter joined the task force in 2007.
02:58When you work old cases like that
03:00and you pull out one old murder
03:03to see what the detectives did back then
03:06is hard enough.
03:08We had 10 cases that we were trying to learn about.
03:12With that many unsolved murders,
03:14he thought we could use the technology from today
03:17and apply it to those unsolved murders
03:20and solve some of them.
03:21And that's what we did.
03:23DNA would be the downfall of Franklin,
03:26who experts believe is responsible
03:28for many more murders than he was convicted of.
03:32Lonnie Franklin and evil.
03:35Can you go out and murder, you know,
03:3815, 20 people and not be?
03:40It's obvious to me that he doesn't care about anybody else.
03:49This killer's story begins in south-central Los Angeles.
03:53Lonnie Franklin Jr. was born on the 30th of August, 1952.
03:59As a child, he often suffered with migraines
04:02and struggled academically.
04:04He wasn't the brightest boy.
04:06For a long time, he could barely read or write.
04:09But he did have certain skills, one of which developed
04:12about the age of seven when his doting father taught him to drive.
04:17It gave Franklin an absolute obsession with cars.
04:22He discovered he was good at fixing cars.
04:25He was good with his hands.
04:27And this was a skill that gave him an occupation, an identity.
04:31But it also brought along a kind of social skill
04:35and a kudos that had value.
04:37As well as an accomplished mechanic,
04:40young Lonnie found he was popular with the opposite sex.
04:43One thing that came out for me was his charm.
04:46He really knew how to work at that.
04:49He knew how to make women feel special.
04:52He flirted with them.
04:53He really endeared himself to them.
04:56And that was a skill that would come in very useful to him.
04:59But Franklin's charm couldn't keep him out of trouble.
05:03Aged just 16, he was taken into custody twice
05:06for grand theft auto and the following year arrested for burglary.
05:12Now, both these events must have greatly distressed
05:14his father, Lonnie Sr.
05:16And so in an attempt to get his son back on the straight and narrow,
05:20he suggests he enlist in the army.
05:24By spring 1974, 21-year-old Franklin
05:27was stationed in Stuttgart, Germany.
05:30The US army recruit worked as a cook,
05:32but his appetite for women and crime
05:35would prove to be a recipe for disaster.
05:38Late at night on April 16th, 1974,
05:42he and two army buddies decide to commit rape.
05:47In the first attempt,
05:49they try and drag a young woman into their car,
05:52but they fail.
05:53But an hour later,
05:55they do capture a 17-year-old and hold her at knife point.
06:00Not surprisingly,
06:02given Lonnie Franklin's obsession with cars,
06:04he's the driver.
06:07The victim built up a rapport with Franklin
06:10in an attempt to bring her attackers to justice.
06:13In the wake of all that horror,
06:16persuades them to drive her home,
06:18and what's more,
06:20she gives Franklin her telephone number
06:22in the hope that he contacts her.
06:26Incredibly, the very next day,
06:28Franklin called the woman,
06:29and when they arranged to meet,
06:31it was the police who were waiting for him.
06:34And indeed, he was convicted of the kidnap,
06:38the rape,
06:38and the attempted kidnap,
06:40and sentenced to three years and four months in prison.
06:43But he didn't serve all that time in Germany.
06:47He was shipped back to the United States.
06:53After being discharged from the army in May 1976,
06:58the 23-year-old headed back to Los Angeles.
07:01It was a chance for Franklin to start anew,
07:04and he soon built up the persona
07:06of a friendly neighborhood family man.
07:10So you had, if you like,
07:12a conventional family.
07:13Father, mother, daughter, son.
07:16In many ways,
07:17extremely conventional,
07:19even ordinary,
07:20except Franklin was most unordinary.
07:24He couldn't settle.
07:26He got all sorts of different jobs,
07:29until eventually,
07:30because of his love of cars,
07:32he became a garage attendant for the LAPD.
07:36But Franklin didn't last long
07:38working on the right side of the law.
07:40In 1982, age 30,
07:43he began a new job,
07:45one which would eventually
07:46help in his life of crime.
07:49He left the police department,
07:50still working for the city,
07:52and went to the sanitation department.
07:55He was a garbage man.
07:57He collected trash from his local area.
07:59It was pretty run down.
08:01But it gave him an extraordinary knowledge
08:04of the Los Angeles alleyways
08:07and the area he lived.
08:09He was intimately familiar
08:10with every inch of it.
08:14By 1992,
08:15the 40-year-old had stopped work
08:17because of an injury to his arm
08:19and was claiming disability benefits.
08:22Living on West 81st Street
08:24with his wife and two children,
08:27Lonnie Franklin was leading
08:28a seemingly normal existence.
08:31His life appeared far removed
08:33from the deadly streets
08:34of 1980s Los Angeles.
08:40The crime rate in the city of L.A.
08:42at that time was high.
08:44We would run 800 to 1,100 murders
08:47in the city of L.A. a year.
08:50We didn't have that many detectives.
08:52Citywide, we have maybe
08:54135 homicide detectives.
08:56So we're overwhelmed.
08:57The city was rife with drugs and gangs.
09:01It was a dangerous place to live
09:02if you were vulnerable.
09:04The major problem was cocaine.
09:06Rock cocaine was rampant.
09:08Kids learned that they could make money
09:10standing on the street selling cocaine
09:11and didn't have to go to school
09:14and work hard.
09:15With that, it also brought the violence.
09:17A lot of people became drug addicts.
09:19Many women became drug addicts
09:21and they were susceptible then
09:23to being murdered.
09:28One of the hundreds of killings
09:30recorded in 1985
09:32was that of 29-year-old cocktail waitress
09:35Deborah Jackson,
09:37who'd been visiting a friend
09:38on an early August evening.
09:40Deborah Jackson was last seen
09:42walking away from the house,
09:44entering a bus on Imperial Highway
09:46and to unknown location.
09:48Her body is found a few days later
09:52around Gage in Vermont
09:53in an alley
09:54underneath some debris.
09:57Evidence collected at the scene
09:59suggested there was a sexual motive
10:01in Deborah's death.
10:03It was also clear that the 29-year-old
10:05had been murdered.
10:07An autopsy confirmed
10:08she'd been shot in the chest
10:10three times.
10:11Looking at the trajectory
10:13of the bullets,
10:14they were shot downwards.
10:15So the killer is above the victim.
10:17He sees himself as superior
10:19and she is subservient.
10:22There was no ID on the victim either.
10:25So he's depersonalized this victim.
10:28The only identity
10:28he wants her to have
10:30is as his victim.
10:33So that's quite chilling
10:34about this case.
10:37In January 1987,
10:40police were alerted
10:41to the discovery
10:42of yet another body
10:43on the streets
10:44of South Central L.A.
11:09Just like Deborah Jackson,
11:1223-year-old Barbara Ware
11:14had been shot
11:15through the chest.
11:17By November 1988,
11:19detectives had found
11:20a total of seven women
11:21who'd been the victim
11:22of a sexually motivated murder,
11:25all of them discarded
11:26in a similar way.
11:28When they started coming up
11:30with bullets of the same caliber
11:31and type,
11:32when they were typing them,
11:33they started comparing them
11:35and finding out
11:35that bullets from this murder
11:37also were fired
11:38from the same gun
11:39in this murder.
11:40And by the second
11:41or third murder,
11:42they were aware
11:43that we had somebody
11:44out there,
11:45apparently a serial murderer,
11:46who was killing these girls.
11:47Somewhere on the streets
11:49of Los Angeles
11:50was a sexual predator
11:51who'd already taken
11:53the lives of seven young women.
11:55But the perpetrator
11:56was about to make a mistake
11:58that would curtail
11:59his relentless killing spree.
12:12In the late 1980s,
12:14police in Los Angeles,
12:15California,
12:16were overrun
12:17with homicide numbers
12:18across the city.
12:20Ballistic evidence
12:21had linked
12:22at least seven murders
12:23to one active serial killer.
12:25on the 19th of November,
12:281988,
12:29the perpetrator
12:30went hunting
12:30for a potential
12:31eighth victim,
12:33a 30-year-old mother
12:34of two named
12:35Enetria Washington.
12:41From her recollection,
12:43she was near,
12:44I believe it was
12:45in Normandy.
12:47When a man approached her
12:48and drove up
12:49in a pinto,
12:50an orange pinto,
12:52she remembers the car.
12:53She said,
12:54it was very nice,
12:54very clean.
12:55And the guy started
12:57talking to her
12:58and asking her
12:59if she needed a ride.
13:01At first,
13:01she said,
13:02no,
13:02you know,
13:03don't bother me.
13:04And the guy continued.
13:06He persisted,
13:07finally got her
13:08to return,
13:09and she was okay.
13:11He seems to be safe enough.
13:13She gets in the vehicle.
13:14And as she's riding,
13:16he pulls down
13:1881st Street
13:19and pulls over
13:20to the curb
13:21and tells her,
13:21I have to go
13:22get some money.
13:23The mysterious driver
13:25disappeared into her house.
13:27When he returned,
13:28the journey continued.
13:29But the stranger
13:30wasn't planning
13:31on letting
13:32Enetria Washington
13:33reach her final destination.
13:36He pulls up his hand
13:38and she hears a gunshot
13:40and then feels pain
13:41to her chest.
13:42She never saw the gun.
13:44She saw the flash
13:45and she realizes,
13:47he shot me.
13:50She's in and out
13:51of consciousness.
13:53She requests him
13:54to take her
13:55to a hospital.
13:56He drives around.
13:58He parks.
13:58She believes
14:00he had a camera
14:01with him
14:02like a Polaroid
14:03and took a picture
14:04of her
14:06and probably
14:07sexually assaulted her.
14:09Unlike his other victims,
14:11the killer didn't take
14:12Enetria to a dumpster
14:13all the back alley.
14:15He actually shoves her
14:16out of the car
14:17as if she's dead.
14:18Dead is another exercise
14:20of garbage disposal.
14:22Throw her out of the car.
14:24A little just dumper.
14:25But Enetria wasn't dead.
14:28Clinging to life,
14:29she managed to clamber
14:30to the home
14:31of a friend
14:32who lived nearby.
14:33She was rushed
14:34to the Harbor UCLA
14:35Medical Center
14:36in Torrance.
14:39Her description
14:40of what happened
14:41was like the framework
14:42of what happened
14:43to all these other victims.
14:45All of these other victims
14:47are all shot
14:48in the left side
14:49of the chest.
14:50The trajectories
14:52are all left to right.
14:54They're all front to back.
14:56They are all
14:57slightly downward.
14:58Just like Enetria
15:00gave you the blueprint
15:01of what happened
15:03to these other young ladies.
15:06Remarkably,
15:06surgeons managed
15:07to save Enetria's life.
15:09She'd lost 20%
15:11of the blood in her body.
15:12The bullet
15:13that was removed
15:14from Enetria
15:15was the same caliber
15:16as the other seven victims
15:18of the killer.
15:19Enetria should have died.
15:21How she survived,
15:22I don't know.
15:23You know,
15:23God was looking out for her.
15:25She actually gave the police
15:27a remarkably accurate
15:28description of the man,
15:30but it was generic.
15:32A black man in his 30s,
15:34average height.
15:35It could have fitted
15:36lots and lots of people
15:38in South Central Los Angeles.
15:41News of Enetria's survival
15:43stopped the killer
15:45in his tracks.
15:48I think it would have been
15:49quite a shock
15:50when he realized
15:51that she'd survived
15:52the attack.
15:53He has a victim
15:54who is alive,
15:56who has spent time with him.
15:57She would have noticed things
15:59about his demeanor,
16:00his personality,
16:01his vehicle.
16:02She could potentially
16:03identify him.
16:05So this, I think,
16:06has shaken him up
16:06quite a lot.
16:07And that is when he decides
16:09he's going to lay low
16:10for a while.
16:13He stops killing.
16:15He fades back
16:16into the community,
16:18back to being
16:19a good neighbor,
16:20back to being
16:21a father,
16:22back to being
16:22a husband.
16:24He's hiding
16:25in plain sight.
16:26He's gone.
16:28The police
16:29hadn't found
16:30the perpetrator.
16:31He'd seemingly
16:32got away
16:33with seven murders
16:34and the attempted
16:36killing
16:36of Enetria Washington.
16:4213 years later,
16:44in late 2001,
16:46a 15-year-old girl
16:48named Princess Bertha Mew
16:49went missing
16:50in South Central Los Angeles.
16:52After a horrific
16:54start to life,
16:55Princess had grown up
16:56in foster care
16:57with Samara Herard.
16:59I am Princess's sister.
17:01I don't like to say
17:01foster sister.
17:02I like to say sister.
17:04Princess became
17:05a part of our family
17:06when she was entered
17:07into the foster system.
17:08In fact,
17:09she was one of
17:10LA's worst cases
17:12of child abuse
17:12at that time.
17:13She had been
17:15horribly,
17:16horribly just brutalized
17:17in the worst way
17:19as possible.
17:19She had spent months
17:20in the hospital
17:21recuperating.
17:22She was about
17:23two and a half
17:23when she came
17:24into our home
17:26and she had just,
17:27you know,
17:28she had to learn
17:29how to talk
17:30and walk
17:31and everything.
17:31It was,
17:32she was just
17:33so badly neglected
17:34and so badly mistreated.
17:36After the death
17:37of Samara's mother,
17:3810-year-old Princess
17:39had to move on
17:41from an affluent foster home
17:42in Claremont, California.
17:44She was separated
17:45from her sister
17:46and re-homed
17:47in South Central LA.
17:49There was nothing
17:50we could do about it,
17:51so we tried to make
17:52it a good situation.
17:55We told her,
17:56we're here for you
17:56and she went to,
17:58they put her in LA,
17:59I guess the only home
18:00that was available
18:01or whatever the case was.
18:04Despite the separation,
18:05the two girls
18:06kept in touch.
18:07Princess had
18:08a troubled time
18:09and tried unsuccessfully
18:11to run away
18:12from her new home.
18:14Samara feared
18:15for her younger
18:15sister's well-being.
18:17I told her,
18:18I said,
18:18listen,
18:18just keep your head
18:20on straight,
18:21do what you need to do,
18:22be focused,
18:24just be,
18:24be a smart girl.
18:26When you turn 18,
18:27you can do whatever you want,
18:28you'll always have
18:29a place with me.
18:30Just keep your head
18:31on straight,
18:32please,
18:33don't start doing
18:34anything crazy.
18:35She's like,
18:35okay, okay.
18:38It was,
18:39probably around
18:40late October or November
18:41when I spoke to her last.
18:41She ran away again
18:42in December
18:44and they found
18:44her body in March.
18:48The life
18:49of 15-year-old
18:50Princess Bertha Mew
18:51had been cut
18:52tragically short.
18:55Sometimes runaways
18:56get lucky
18:56and find a life
18:58but at this point
18:59in Los Angeles,
19:00they are
19:01more than likely
19:02to run into men
19:03who do not have
19:04their best interests
19:05at heart
19:06and this is certainly
19:07the case
19:08with Princess.
19:12This is a little girl
19:13who used to
19:15give my sons
19:17piggyback rides
19:18and ride them
19:19on the floor
19:20and they'd be like
19:21again and again,
19:22okay, okay
19:23and she was,
19:25she was a good girl.
19:28I'm so sorry.
19:29But she didn't
19:30deserve that.
19:32She didn't deserve it.
19:34She deserved
19:36so much more.
19:38Over a year
19:39after the discovery
19:40of the 15-year-old's body,
19:42DNA found on
19:44another murder victim
19:45in July 2003
19:47would be linked
19:48to the death
19:49of Princess.
19:50Valerie McCorvey
19:52was found
19:52in the roadway
19:53adjacent to an alley
19:54near a school.
19:56She was found
19:56by a crossing guard
19:57early in the morning.
19:58Again,
20:00she is found
20:00fully clothed
20:01with her breasts
20:03exposed
20:03and her cause
20:05of death
20:05was ligature
20:06strangulation
20:07and it appeared
20:08she was just
20:09dumped there
20:09in the roadway.
20:11Unlike their
20:121980s counterparts,
20:14investigators
20:14were able
20:15to utilize
20:16modern technology
20:17when examining
20:18evidence
20:19from the past
20:20and the murder
20:21of 35-year-old
20:22Valerie McCorvey
20:23led to a shocking
20:25revelation
20:25for detectives
20:27on the LAPD's
20:28cold case team.
20:30DNA had tied
20:31Valerie McCorvey's
20:33murder
20:33with the other
20:34murders
20:34from the mid-80s.
20:35That made us aware
20:37that the murderer
20:37was still out there
20:38and we had no clue
20:39who he was
20:40or where to find him
20:41or anything else.
20:42After a 14-year
20:44hiatus,
20:45the killer was back.
20:46The murders
20:47of Valerie McCorvey
20:49and Princess Berthamue
20:50took his tally
20:51of victims
20:52to nine.
20:53So what happened
20:54to Princess
20:54was she had
20:57apparently been
20:57picked up by him
20:58and I don't like
20:59to say his name.
21:00He had had sex
21:02with her
21:03and then he
21:04had strangled her.
21:05The killer
21:06had a new
21:07method of murder.
21:08After shooting
21:09all of his victims
21:10in the 1980s,
21:11he'd moved on
21:12to taking life
21:13with his own
21:14bare hands.
21:15It changed
21:16with Princess Berthamue
21:18where it becomes
21:18more intimate
21:20strangulation.
21:21That's a manual
21:22strangulation.
21:24Her body
21:24is found nude.
21:25So to us,
21:27it tells us,
21:27okay,
21:28this isn't somebody
21:28that was in a car.
21:30This is something
21:30more intimate.
21:31When the story
21:33broke that the LAPD
21:34were hunting
21:35for a sexual predator
21:36who'd taken
21:37a 14-year break
21:39between murders,
21:40he was given
21:40the macabre moniker
21:42of the Grim Sleeper.
21:44By the end
21:45of 2006,
21:47cold case
21:48detective
21:48Cliff Shepard
21:49had been desperately
21:50trying to identify
21:51the killer
21:52for over three years.
21:54A new year
21:55would bring
21:55new information,
21:56but it all started
21:57with yet another murder.
21:59January 1st
22:01of 2007,
22:03a woman
22:03by the name
22:05of Janisha Peters
22:06was found murdered
22:07in the alley
22:09near the location
22:10where Bernita Sparks
22:11was found murdered
22:12almost 20 years earlier.
22:15But we weren't notified
22:16until April
22:17that there was
22:18a DNA match
22:19from her murder
22:20to our other murders.
22:22Janisha Peters
22:23had been shot
22:24in the lower back
22:25and placed
22:26into a trash bag.
22:27She'd become
22:28victim number 10
22:29of the Grim Sleeper.
22:3222 years
22:33after the death
22:34of Deborah Jackson
22:35in August 1985,
22:38the police
22:38were still
22:39no closer
22:40to catching
22:41the elusive killer.
22:43He's just as ruthless
22:44as he was before,
22:45but he's older
22:46and he's wiser now.
22:48And if we look
22:48at the way he's killing,
22:50he's much more sadistic.
22:52We've got a serial
22:53murder in Los Angeles.
22:55He's still active.
22:56We don't have
22:57a clue who he is.
22:58We have a vague
22:59description
23:00and we need
23:01to find him
23:02and stop him.
23:04Investigators
23:04had little
23:05to work with
23:06apart from
23:06a police sketch
23:07given to them
23:08by survivor
23:09Enetria Washington
23:10over two decades
23:12earlier.
23:12But the recording
23:14of a 911 call
23:15from 1987
23:16would convince them
23:18they had unearthed
23:19the voice
23:19of a killer.
23:21Yeah,
23:21I'd like to put
23:22a murder
23:23or a dead body
23:24or something.
23:36In 2007,
23:38LAPD detectives
23:40were hunting
23:40for a serial killer
23:41known as
23:42the Grim Sleeper
23:43who was responsible
23:45for the murder
23:46of at least
23:46ten women.
23:48Investigators believed
23:49they already knew
23:50what the killer
23:51sounded like
23:52from an emergency
23:53call made
23:54just after the murder
23:55of his third victim
23:57Barbara Ware
23:58in January 1987.
24:02Yeah,
24:03I'd like to put
24:04a murder
24:05or a dead body
24:06or something.
24:07Correct.
24:08The address
24:08is 1346 East
24:1156th Street
24:12in the alley.
24:15We pulled
24:15the 911 tape
24:17at that time
24:17and the caller
24:19is talking
24:20to a 911 dispatcher.
24:22He says,
24:23there's a blue
24:24and white van
24:25in the alley.
24:26A man pulled
24:28a body out of it
24:29and put some
24:31debris on it
24:32and he provided
24:34the license plate
24:35of the van.
24:36When asked
24:37for the description
24:38of the driver,
24:39he says,
24:40I didn't see him.
24:42You know,
24:42he like,
24:43he threw her out.
24:44The only thing
24:45is hanging out
24:45of this,
24:46like he threw
24:46a gas tank
24:47on top of her
24:48and the only thing
24:50you can see out
24:51is her feet.
24:53If a person
24:54saw what he claims
24:55that he saw,
24:56he'd have to be
24:57right there.
24:58That didn't make sense.
24:59So,
25:00is this the murderer?
25:01I mean,
25:02all we have
25:02is a voice,
25:03so we didn't have
25:04a location
25:05for where the call
25:05was placed.
25:07At that time,
25:08pay phones
25:08were still around.
25:09I think the closest
25:10pay phone
25:11that we found
25:12was about
25:12a block away.
25:14Okay,
25:14what's your name?
25:16Huh?
25:16What's your name?
25:18Oh,
25:18I don't stand
25:18to knock on this.
25:20I know too many people.
25:21Okay then,
25:22bye-bye.
25:22All right.
25:23He's like an arsonist.
25:25He kills these ladies
25:27or dumps them.
25:28He calls the 911
25:30and then he sits back
25:32and he just watches
25:33the police activity
25:34or the response
25:36to the scene
25:37and the chaos
25:38that he just created.
25:40And he's probably
25:41learning police procedures
25:42by doing that.
25:43It's the act
25:45of the man
25:45with the most
25:46extraordinary vanity.
25:48You've just
25:50taken the life
25:51of an entirely
25:52innocent young woman
25:53for your own
25:54sexual gratification
25:55and then you have
25:56the brass neck
25:58to call the police
25:59and tell them
26:00where the body is.
26:06Over 30 years later,
26:09the killer
26:09had murdered
26:1010 women
26:11and despite placing
26:12an unprecedented
26:13$500,000 reward
26:16on his head,
26:17investigators were
26:18no closer
26:19to apprehending him.
26:20But police scientists
26:22had a new ace
26:23up their sleeves
26:24which they hoped
26:25would identify
26:26the grim sleeper
26:27once and for all.
26:29Familial DNA
26:30is a really useful tool
26:32that's developed
26:32in recent years.
26:34So the police
26:35can run a profile
26:36through their databases
26:37and it doesn't
26:39necessarily have
26:39to exactly match
26:41with somebody in there.
26:42It could be
26:43that someone in there
26:44is a family member
26:45of the person
26:46that they're trying
26:47to get hold of.
26:48And that connection
26:49can be made that way.
26:51Investigators began
26:52to search the database
26:53of convicted felons
26:55for a male relative match.
26:57All males
26:58have a Y chromosome.
27:01I have the male profile
27:03from my father,
27:05from my grandfather,
27:06all the way back.
27:08My brothers have
27:08this same profile.
27:10So they separate
27:11this Y chromosome,
27:13the male chromosome,
27:15from the suspect
27:17DNA profile.
27:19In July 2010,
27:22detectives finally got
27:23a familial DNA match
27:25with a man named
27:26Christopher Franklin,
27:27who'd been arrested
27:29in 2009
27:30on a weapons
27:31possession charge.
27:33He pled guilty
27:34to a felony,
27:35the gun charge,
27:37therefore making him
27:38a convicted felon.
27:39And he had to be swabbed,
27:42and his sample
27:43got uploaded
27:44into the convicted felon
27:46data bank.
27:47It was a startling
27:49breakthrough in the case.
27:51The DNA match proved
27:52that a male relative
27:53of Christopher's
27:54was the notorious
27:56Grim Sleeper.
27:57Detectives soon
27:58honed in on his father,
28:00Lonnie Franklin Jr.,
28:02who lived on West 81st Street,
28:04the road that
28:05Anitria Washington
28:06had mentioned
28:07in her statement
28:0822 years ago.
28:10When we looked
28:11at his father's address,
28:13it's him.
28:14His father lived
28:15right there on 81st Street.
28:17Anitria Washington
28:18told us she was taken
28:19to 81st Street.
28:20The guy got out
28:21of the car
28:21to get something.
28:22He went to his house
28:23where most of the victims
28:25are found
28:25up and down Western.
28:27This guy that lives
28:28right there,
28:29he's probably
28:30going to be our murderer.
28:31If you put pins
28:33in a map,
28:34anybody would say,
28:35look at that footprint.
28:38He must live there.
28:40And he must know
28:41all the alleyways
28:43and trash dumpsters
28:44extremely well.
28:46Of course he did.
28:48He knew them intimately.
28:50Former garbage man
28:52Lonnie Franklin
28:53had been living
28:54a double life
28:55for 25 years.
28:56The 57-year-old
28:58was responsible
28:59for the murder
29:00of at least
29:0010 young women.
29:02But on the surface,
29:03he was a friendly neighbor
29:04and a family man.
29:06He was known
29:07in the neighborhood
29:08as really being
29:09a nice guy.
29:10If you had a problem
29:10with your car,
29:11bring your car to him
29:12and he'd work on it.
29:14Franklin is quite
29:15a nice,
29:16approachable guy
29:17on the outside.
29:18He's somebody
29:19that doesn't appear
29:20to stand out.
29:21He doesn't draw
29:21attention to himself.
29:22And that's very important
29:24if you're a serial killer.
29:25You need to be a comedian.
29:27You need to blend in.
29:29Franklin's former profession
29:30had given him
29:31an insight
29:32into some of the more
29:33hidden areas
29:35of Los Angeles.
29:37Working for the
29:37sanitation department,
29:39Franklin really did get
29:40to know areas of the city
29:42that people didn't know about.
29:44He knew how busy
29:45or quiet particular areas are
29:47when the trash
29:48trash was collected.
29:50He got to know
29:50the patterns
29:51and the rhythms
29:52of the city.
29:53And he was able
29:54to use this
29:55for his advantage.
29:56It would buy him time.
29:58He would also have known
29:59where particular
30:01refuse trucks
30:01would go
30:02in terms of the areas
30:04of landfill sites,
30:05how deep some
30:06of the waste
30:07would be buried.
30:08All of this knowledge
30:10is very, very useful
30:11for the disposal
30:12of bodies.
30:18Detectives immediately
30:19placed Franklin
30:20under surveillance.
30:21He was seen
30:23getting into his car
30:24and driving up
30:25and down Western
30:26one night,
30:27which presented
30:28a problem to us
30:29because he was talking
30:30to women
30:31and the surveillance team
30:32said,
30:33what do you want us to do?
30:34We can't let him
30:35take another woman
30:36into a car
30:37and drive off with her.
30:38Well, fortunately,
30:39a patrol vehicle
30:40drove past
30:41and shined their light
30:43on him
30:43and told him to move on
30:44and he did.
30:45So he didn't get
30:46a victim that night.
30:47But with that,
30:48it put us in a bigger panic
30:50because that we can't
30:51have him murder somebody
30:52right under our nose.
30:54Detectives needed
30:54to secretly recover
30:56a DNA sample
30:57from Franklin
30:58so they could prove
30:59he was undoubtedly
31:00the killer.
31:01When the 57-year-old
31:03went to a pizza restaurant
31:04on the 5th of July,
31:062010,
31:07the police pounced
31:08on the opportunity.
31:09One of the surveillance
31:11team members
31:11acted as if he was
31:13working at that store,
31:15cleaned up the plate
31:16and some of the
31:17discarded pizza,
31:18brought it back with him,
31:19separated from all
31:20the other items,
31:21took it to our lab.
31:22We had it analyzed
31:24and it took
31:25about three days.
31:26And the media
31:27likes to report
31:28they got DNA
31:29from the pizza slice
31:30and yes,
31:31they did get DNA
31:32from the pizza slice.
31:34But the main part
31:35of the DNA
31:35was obtained
31:37from the napkins
31:38he used to wipe
31:38his mouth.
31:40But with that,
31:41we had him.
31:41The DNA matched
31:43perfectly
31:43and that's what
31:44we needed.
31:45Now we know
31:45Lonnie Franklin
31:47is our man.
31:51After decades
31:52spent terrorizing
31:53South Central LA,
31:55the Grim Sleeper
31:56was about to get
31:58an unexpected
31:59wake-up call.
32:00He'd been murdering
32:01women for about
32:0220 years
32:03and they got
32:04away with it.
32:05He's placing
32:06the phone calls
32:07to the police
32:07and then laughing
32:08about it.
32:09I think the whole
32:10time he's taunting
32:11us, knowing that
32:13he believes he's
32:14smarter than we are.
32:15So he's out
32:16just another day
32:18in Los Angeles
32:19and he's watering
32:20his lawn
32:21and police
32:22approach him.
32:23We went over,
32:25we introduced
32:25ourselves to him,
32:27said we have a
32:28warrant for your
32:29arrest.
32:29He was very
32:30calm, okay,
32:32so these detectives
32:34are going to
32:34take you downtown,
32:35will meet with
32:36you and tell
32:37you what's going
32:38on in a little
32:39bit.
32:40Lonnie Franklin
32:41Jr., the Grim
32:43Sleeper, was
32:44finally in police
32:45custody.
32:46A great deal
32:47of relief to
32:49vindicate us
32:49that we were
32:50doing our job,
32:51we were trying
32:52very hard, but
32:53we were not
32:53being successful.
32:54Hadn't it been
32:55for the advent of
32:56the technology,
32:57of the DNA, I
32:59don't know if we'd
33:00ever have caught
33:00this guy.
33:02DNA linked
33:03Franklin to the
33:04bodies of the
33:05women, but
33:06detectives needed
33:07to directly link
33:08him to their
33:09deaths.
33:10Investigators knew
33:11they had to prove
33:12beyond doubt
33:13that Franklin was
33:14responsible for
33:15the murders,
33:16so they could put
33:17the Grim Sleeper
33:18case to bed
33:19once and for all.
33:32in July 2010,
33:35Lonnie Franklin Jr.,
33:37the killer known
33:37as the Grim Sleeper,
33:39had been arrested.
33:40Now began the hunt
33:42for clues at his
33:43West 81st Street home.
33:48I don't know if it was
33:49one of the biggest
33:50searches in LAPD
33:52history.
33:52It certainly was
33:53in my career.
33:55One of the biggest
33:56searches I'd ever
33:57been involved in.
33:59It lasted over
34:00three days.
34:01Franklin's garage had
34:03over 800 items of
34:05evidence in it.
34:05The police had to
34:06erect a tent on his
34:08front lawn to sort
34:09through all of it.
34:10There were cameras,
34:12phones, photographs,
34:13cash, underwear.
34:15This was a real
34:16challenge for the
34:17investigation, to record
34:19and document all of
34:20this evidence.
34:22Investigators were
34:23searching for a
34:24specific piece of
34:25evidence that a woman
34:26who survived being
34:28shot by Franklin in
34:291988 had told them
34:31about.
34:32Anitra Washington
34:33said that the suspect,
34:35or Franklin in this
34:36case, after sexually
34:38assaulting her, took
34:39Polaroid photos of her.
34:42And we thought, who's
34:44going to take a
34:44Polaroid photograph of
34:46somebody they just
34:47sexually assaulted and
34:48shot?
34:49One of the photos that
34:50was recovered was a
34:51Polaroid photo of
34:53Anitra Washington after
34:55she had been shot.
34:58This was really
34:59significant because this
35:01was a piece of evidence
35:02that Franklin had been
35:03with her.
35:04In a mini-fridge in the
35:06garage was a photograph
35:07of Genesia Peters smiling
35:09with one of her breasts
35:10exposed.
35:11So this links the suspect
35:13to the victim.
35:14And Franklin took these
35:16pictures for his own
35:17gratification to relive the
35:19things that he'd done.
35:20But they would come back
35:21to haunt him and they'd be
35:22really vital in securing
35:24his conviction.
35:25The search of Franklin's
35:27garage unearthed hundreds
35:29of other Polaroid pictures
35:31of women.
35:32We don't have a clue where
35:33they are.
35:34We've never recovered their
35:36bodies.
35:36They've never reappeared and
35:38contacted their family.
35:40I'm certain they're murder
35:41victims, but what did he do
35:43with them?
35:46As the search continued,
35:48Lonnie Franklin was in police
35:50custody.
35:52Detective Paul Coulter was
35:53tasked with interviewing the
35:5557-year-old former garbage
35:57man.
35:57When you're doing your
35:58interview, even though you
36:00know this guy is a monster,
36:03you still have to do that
36:05professional demeanor with
36:06them.
36:06You can't let your emotions
36:09take you.
36:09But Lonnie Franklin refused to
36:12admit to anything.
36:13I'm going to ask you, show
36:15you a photograph of this
36:16young lady and see if you
36:17recognize her.
36:29You've never seen that girl
36:30before.
36:31No, I haven't.
36:33He denied knowing, because I
36:35took each 8x10 photograph, put
36:37in front of him.
36:38He denied knowing any of those
36:40victims.
36:42I say, okay, your DNA on this
36:44one, it's a coincidence, this
36:46one, I don't know.
36:48But then as you go on, he just
36:50denied knowing all of them.
36:52I mean, do you have anything to
36:54say?
36:54No, I don't.
36:55I don't know the people.
36:56I'm sorry.
36:57I mean, how would your DNA get
36:59there?
36:59What logical reason?
37:01I don't, I have no clue.
37:03No clue.
37:04I mean, I have no clue how my
37:06DNA would get there.
37:08I don't know these women.
37:09I've never seen them before.
37:10It was just a flat right
37:12denial.
37:12And this was a very well
37:14rehearsed line for him.
37:15This was the type of thing that
37:17he'd used with police in the
37:18past.
37:19So this must have been
37:20incredibly frustrating for
37:22anybody investigating these
37:23crimes.
37:24Despite his unwillingness to
37:26confess, in July 2010, Lonnie
37:29Franklin Jr.
37:30was charged with a murder of
37:3110 women and the attempted
37:33murder of Anitria Washington.
37:35After numerous lengthy delays,
37:37the trial finally began in
37:39February 2016 at the Clara
37:42Shortridge Fault's Criminal
37:43Justice Center.
37:44Franklin pleaded not guilty on
37:46all counts.
37:48Samara Herar, the sister of
37:5015-year-old victim Princess
37:51Bertha Mew, was in attendance.
37:53I was going to be there for
37:55her.
37:56Because someone had to be
37:57there for her.
37:58No one else was there for her.
37:59But I wanted them to know she
38:01had value.
38:01And she was a beautiful spirit
38:03and a beautiful child who did
38:05not deserve it.
38:10The prosecution was armed
38:12with a wealth of evidence,
38:13including ballistic data and
38:15Franklin's DNA recovered from
38:17the bodies and the bin bags that
38:19proved beyond doubt that he was
38:21the killer.
38:22The strongest evidence in the
38:24trial to me is that Polaroid
38:26photo of Anitra Washington that
38:28we found in that garage.
38:31There's no way to explain that
38:32away.
38:33The photos of Janisha Peters that
38:36we found in that garage is
38:39pretty powerful stuff.
38:41The prosecution called over 40
38:44witnesses during the three-month
38:46trial.
38:46The evidence against the 63-year-old
38:49was overwhelming.
38:51In May 2016, the jury found Lonnie
38:55Franklin guilty on all counts.
38:58At the sentencing hearing the
38:59following August, the victim's
39:01family members were given the
39:03opportunity to confront Franklin
39:05face-to-face in the courtroom.
39:07And indeed, each and every one of
39:10them tells Franklin what they
39:12think of him.
39:13One calls him truly a piece of
39:16evil, and that's who he is.
39:19He didn't look remorseful.
39:20He looked like, I'm being
39:22inconvenienced by all of you.
39:24And I just, I was like, he is so
39:28full of the devil.
39:29He is so messed up right now.
39:31He doesn't even understand the
39:33gravity of what he's done.
39:34The people you're scowling at,
39:36you've destroyed their lives.
39:38You've hurt them in ways that
39:41can't be explained in the depths of
39:44their core.
39:45And you're looking at us like, what?
39:49In an act of defiance, Anitria
39:52Washington also spoke out.
39:54The woman who'd survived being shot
39:56by Lonnie Franklin Jr. almost 30
39:59years previously finally got to face
40:01her attacker once more.
40:03But this time, she held all the
40:06power.
40:07When Anitria Washington took to the
40:09stand, this must have been really
40:10traumatic for her.
40:11This was an event that was likely to
40:13have had an impact on how she went
40:15about her daily life, her
40:17relationships with men, what she
40:19thought of men, how much she trusted
40:20other people.
40:22So to take the stand and to directly
40:24confront Franklin and to say, I know
40:27it's you, you harassed me, you
40:29assaulted me, really was an incredibly
40:32brave thing to do.
40:33So this wasn't just about presenting
40:35evidence.
40:36This was about actually showing him up
40:38for the misogynist that he was.
40:41After damning testimonies from all the
40:44people affected by the murders of
40:46Lonnie Franklin Jr., it was time to put
40:49the memory of the grim sleeper to rest.
40:53Finally, in August 2016, Judge Kathleen
40:57Kennedy pronounces 10 death sentences.
41:01She remarks to Franklin, there can be no
41:04justification for what you've done
41:06because what you've done is not
41:08justifiable under the laws of God or the
41:10laws of man.
41:12That is an admirable judgment.
41:16Justice is a weird name.
41:18I mean, maybe to some family members, it
41:21gives them closure.
41:22I don't know.
41:23It's not going to bring their loved ones
41:25back.
41:25So as far as justice to the family
41:29members, that's probably something you
41:30would have to ask them.
41:34It's still hard.
41:36You know, they say closure.
41:37Yeah, closure in some aspects.
41:40In a sense of saying, okay, they've
41:42apprehended her killer.
41:43He is paying the penalty of his actions.
41:46Great.
41:47But I'm not going to get her back.
41:50Every August on her birthday, I've got to
41:53remember that she will be there.
41:58Never see her get married, graduate from
42:01high school, college, live her life.
42:06All taken away from her.
42:09And it's, it's just, there's nothing I
42:12can do about it.
42:14The only one that blamed for her death
42:16was him, period.
42:17He's the only one who literally held her
42:19life in his hands and decided to end it.
42:22He's the only one who is to blame in this
42:26whole situation.
42:28Lonnie Franklin Jr. was on death row in
42:31San Quentin prison for just three and a
42:33half years.
42:34The 67-year-old killer was found dead in
42:37his cell on the 28th of March, 2020.
42:41He took any further secrets with him to
42:44the grave.
42:45For the LAPD to think that, oh, we've
42:48identified every case that Franklin was
42:51involved in would be pretty arrogant on our
42:54part.
42:54There's probably cases we know nothing about.
42:58He worked for the sanitation department.
43:00He knew the roots.
43:02He knew where the dumpsters were that would
43:03be picked up.
43:05In the search of his residence, we found
43:07photos, IDs of young ladies that we have no
43:11idea they are off the face of the earth.
43:14And their families have not heard from them.
43:19And I'm sure there's other ones.
43:22Although it's likely he was responsible for many
43:26more deaths, Franklin was at least brought to
43:29justice for 10 murders.
43:31Had the grim sleeper not awoken in 2002,
43:35he may never have been caught.
43:37There has to be a chance that if he hadn't
43:39gone back to killing again after that hiatus of
43:43almost 14 years, he might never have come to
43:47justice at all.
43:48He would simply have disappeared off the radar,
43:51a serial killer who got away with it.
43:58Franklin was a serial sexual predator who killed
44:02for his own selfish gratification.
44:04He preyed on vulnerable women who he thought were as
44:07disposable as the trash he threw into dumpsters across
44:11South Central LA.
44:12There is some poetic justice in the fact it was the DNA
44:16recovered from his own trashed napkin that led to the
44:20downfall of Lonnie Franklin Jr., one of the world's
44:23most evil killers.
44:25Hopefully, we'll see you in the Ariel, The
44:25reasonably Geges good news, and the
44:26so you will see you in the《 STEPHANIE
44:27there and take a RMIC kilometer
44:27and give us the final order.'m
44:27there."