You’ve probably heard the name "Grim Sleeper" and thought it sounded like something out of a bad horror movie. But for the people living in South Los Angeles between 1985 and 2007, the reality was much worse. Lonnie David Franklin Jr. wasn't just some character; he was a neighbor, a backyard mechanic, and a former city sanitation worker. He was also a serial killer who spent decades hiding in plain sight.
The nickname came from a supposed 14-year "sleep" he took between his killing sprees. Most people think he just stopped. Honestly, though, investigators and prosecutors like Beth Silverman eventually argued that he probably never stopped at all. He just got better at hiding the bodies.
Who was Lonnie David Franklin Jr.?
Lonnie David Franklin Jr. lived a life that, on the surface, looked incredibly mundane. He was born in 1952 and spent much of his life in South Central LA. He was a husband. He was a father of two. Neighbors actually liked him. They’d see him tinkering with cars in his driveway or helping out with neighborhood repairs.
But there was a darkness that went back decades.
Long before the "Grim Sleeper" moniker existed, Franklin was in the U.S. Army. In 1974, while stationed in Stuttgart, West Germany, he was involved in the gang rape of a 17-year-old girl. He was convicted by a West German court and given a dishonorable discharge. That’s a detail that often gets glossed over, but it’s crucial. It shows that his pattern of violence against women wasn't a mid-life crisis; it was a lifelong pathology.
When he returned to Los Angeles, he worked as a garage attendant for the LAPD and later as a sanitation worker. Think about that for a second. A man who was actively murdering women in the community was working for the very department tasked with stopping him.
The Victims and the "Sleeper" Myth
The official count is ten murders and one attempted murder. Most of his victims were young, Black women who were struggling with drug addiction or working as prostitutes during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic. Because they were "vulnerable," the police—and the media—largely ignored the mounting body count for years.
Here are the women whose names should be remembered more than his:
- Debra Jackson (1985): The first known victim, found in an alley with three gunshots to the chest.
- Henrietta Wright (1986): Found under a mattress, gagged and shot.
- Barbara Ware (1987): Dumped under a pile of garbage.
- Bernita Sparks (1987): Found in a trash bin.
- Mary Lowe (1987): Left behind a large shrub in an alley.
- Lachrica Jefferson (1988): Found with a napkin over her face with the word "AIDS" written on it.
- Alicia Alexander (1988): Naked under a foam mattress.
- Princess Berthomieux (2002): Just 15 years old. She was strangled, not shot, showing a shift in his methods.
- Valerie McCorvey (2003): Also strangled.
- Janecia Peters (2007): Found in a sealed trash bag in a dumpster.
Then there’s Enietra Washington. She is the only known survivor. In 1988, Franklin offered her a ride, shot her in the chest, sexually assaulted her, and took a Polaroid of her as she drifted out of consciousness. He pushed her out of his moving car and left her for dead. She didn't die. Her testimony decades later was what eventually sealed his fate.
The "gap" between 1988 and 2002 is why he's called the Grim Sleeper. But when police finally searched his house, they found over 180 photos of women and girls. Many have never been identified. It’s highly likely the death toll is much, much higher than ten.
How DNA and a Pizza Crust Ended It All
For 25 years, the trail was cold. The LAPD had DNA from the 80s and DNA from the 2000s, and they knew it was the same guy. But the killer’s DNA wasn’t in any database. Lonnie David Franklin Jr. had been arrested for things like possession of stolen property, but back then, that didn't require a DNA sample in California.
The breakthrough came via "familial DNA."
In 2009, Franklin’s son, Christopher, was arrested on a weapons charge. His DNA was swabbed and entered into the state database. It wasn't a match for the killer, but it was a "partial match"—meaning the killer was a close relative. Investigators narrowed it down to Lonnie.
They needed his actual DNA to prove it. Undercover officers followed him to a Buona Gente Pizza restaurant in 2010. They watched him eat. When he left, an officer posing as a busboy swooped in and grabbed his discarded pizza crust, a napkin, and a plastic fork.
That was it. The pizza crust DNA matched the crime scenes perfectly.
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The Trial and the End of the Road
The trial didn't even start until 2016. It was a massive, emotional undertaking. The defense tried to argue that "another man’s" DNA was found at some scenes, but the evidence was overwhelming. Ballistics linked the same .25-caliber handgun to several victims.
On May 5, 2016, a jury found him guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to death.
He never made it to the execution chamber. On March 28, 2020, Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was found unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State Prison. He was 67. The cause was natural causes—specifically heart issues and high blood pressure. He died without ever explaining why he did what he did.
What This Case Teaches Us Now
The Grim Sleeper case isn't just a story about a monster; it’s a story about a failure in the system. For decades, the families of these women begged for help, and for decades, they were told their loved ones weren't a priority.
If you want to understand the full scope of this case, here are the three things you should look into next:
- Watch "Tales of the Grim Sleeper": This documentary by Nick Broomfield is haunting. It shows how the community knew there was a killer among them while the police remained silent.
- Read "The Grim Sleeper: The Lost Women of South Central": Journalist Christine Pelisek was the one who actually broke the story of the serial killer's existence in 2008. Her book goes deep into the lives of the victims.
- Research DNA privacy laws: The use of familial DNA in this case was a pioneer move that sparked huge debates. It’s worth looking into how these laws have changed in your own state since 2010 to see how balance is struck between catching killers and protecting genetic privacy.
The story of Lonnie David Franklin Jr. is finished, but the conversation about how we protect the most vulnerable people in our society is still very much ongoing.