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Man dubbed 'Grim Sleeper' found guilty of 10 killings in US

A man dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" has been found guilty of killing 10 women over two decades. Lonni...
Newstalk
Newstalk

09.20 6 May 2016


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Man dubbed 'Grim Sleep...

Man dubbed 'Grim Sleeper' found guilty of 10 killings in US

Newstalk
Newstalk

09.20 6 May 2016


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A man dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" has been found guilty of killing 10 women over two decades.

Lonnie Franklin Jr was convicted by a Los Angeles jury on Thursday following a two-month trial.

The 63-year-old, who could face the death penalty, was also found guilty on one count of attempted murder.

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The former trash collector was accused of fatally shooting or strangling nine women and a 15-year-old girl between 1985 and 2007.

All of the victims were found dumped in alleys and rubbish bins in South Los Angeles.

An 11th victim survived after being shot, raped, pushed out of a car and left for dead in 1988.

The killings came in two spurts that were 14 years apart, earning the killer the nickname the Grim Sleeper.

However, police said that since his indictment in March 2011, Franklin has been linked to six more deaths.

Franklin was arrested and charged in July 2010 after DNA collected from pizza crusts and napkins at a birthday party linked him to more than a dozen crime scenes.

Prosecutors said he went after vulnerable young black women during LA's crack cocaine epidemic.

Some of the victims were prostitutes and most had traces of cocaine in their systems, authorities said.

Franklin's defence claimed a "mystery man" committed the killings, but the prosecution dismissed the theory as a fabrication.


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