153-565: Lonnie David Franklin Jr. (August 30, 1952 – March 28, 2020), better known by the nickname Grim Sleeper , was an American serial killer who was responsible for at least ten murders and one attempted murder in Los Angeles , California from 1984 to 2007. He was also convicted for rape and sexual violence . Franklin earned his nickname when he appeared to have taken a 14-year break from his crimes, from 1988 to 2002. In July 2010, Franklin
306-606: A Serienmörder ('serial-murderer') in his article " Die Düsseldorfer Sexualverbrechen " (1930). In his book, Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters (2004), criminal justice historian Peter Vronsky notes that while Ressler might have coined the English term "serial homicide" within the law in 1974, the terms serial murder and serial murderer appear in John Brophy 's book The Meaning of Murder (1966). The Washington, D.C., newspaper Evening Star , in
459-561: A "cooling-off period." Cases of extended bouts of sequential killings over periods of weeks or months with no apparent "cooling off period" or "return to normality" have caused some experts to suggest a hybrid category of "spree-serial killer". In Controversial Issues in Criminology , Fuller and Hickey write that "[t]he element of time involved between murderous acts is primary in the differentiation of serial, mass, and spree murderers", later elaborating that spree killers "will engage in
612-501: A 168-page magazine about the opening of the sports arena. The magazine's editors and writers were not informed of the agreement, which breached the Chinese wall that traditionally has separated advertising from journalistic functions at American newspapers. Publisher Mark Willes also had not prevented advertisers from pressuring reporters in other sections of the newspaper to write stories favorable to their point of view. Michael Kinsley
765-747: A 1967 review of the book: There is the mass murderer, or what he [Brophy] calls the "serial" killer, who may be actuated by greed, such as insurance, or retention or growth of power, like the Medicis of Renaissance Italy, or Landru , the " bluebeard " of the World War I period, who murdered numerous wives after taking their money. Vronsky states that the term serial killing first entered into broader American popular usage when published in The New York Times in early 1981, to describe Atlanta serial killer Wayne Williams . Subsequently, throughout
918-543: A 9 mm pistol in late 1988, were also investigated by the Southside Slayer Task Force. Sheriff's Detective Rickey Ross was arrested for the murders after being found with drugs and a sex worker in a vehicle that had a rusted 9 mm Beretta semi-automatic pistol in the trunk. Ross was charged with the murders after his gun was forensically linked by the LAPD to the bullets from the murders. He
1071-788: A Democratic newspaper, were both afternoon competitors. By the mid-1940s, the Times was the leading newspaper in terms of circulation in the Greater Los Angeles . In 1948, it launched the Los Angeles Mirror , an afternoon tabloid, to compete with both the Daily News and the merged Herald-Express . In 1954, the Mirror absorbed the Daily News . The combined paper, the Mirror-News , ceased publication in 1962, when
1224-534: A May 2007, mostly voluntary, reduction in force , characterized the decrease in circulation as an "industry-wide problem" which the paper had to counter by "growing rapidly on-line", "break[ing] news on the Web and explain[ing] and analyz[ing] it in our newspaper." The Times closed its San Fernando Valley printing plant in early 2006, leaving press operations to the Olympic plant and to Orange County . Also that year
1377-747: A case of a serial murderer in the 1870s, a Frenchman named Eusebius Pieydagnelle who had a sexual obsession with blood and confessed to murdering six people. The unidentified killer Jack the Ripper , who has been called the first modern serial killer, killed at least five women , and possibly more, in London in 1888. He was the subject of a massive manhunt and investigation by the Metropolitan Police , during which many modern criminal investigation techniques were pioneered. A large team of policemen conducted house-to-house inquiries, forensic material
1530-645: A community group called the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders and in March 1986 pressured the Los Angeles City Council to increase the reward money they were offering for information on the killings from $ 10,000 to $ 25,000. By late-1986, conflicting modus operandi and suspect descriptions caused the investigators to doubt their original theory of a single killer being responsible for all of
1683-465: A crime reporter, was a career journalist who was caught after a series of articles he wrote gave clues that he had murdered people. Russell Williams was a successful and respected career Royal Canadian Air Force Colonel who was convicted of murdering two women, along with fetish burglaries and rapes. Many serial killers have faced similar problems in their childhood development. Hickey's Trauma Control Model explains how early childhood trauma can set
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#17327918223221836-685: A day and a half of jury deliberation, Franklin was convicted of all counts. His sentencing hearing began a week later, on May 12, 2016. At the hearing, prosecutors presented evidence relating to four other victims they believed had been killed by Franklin. The four victims were not among the original set identified by DNA and ballistic evidence as Grim Sleeper victims, and had only been identified as such after his arrest. Three victims, Sharon Alicia Dismuke, Inez Warren, and Georgia Mae Thompson, were identified as likely Grim Sleeper victims by task force officers investigating unsolved missing persons and homicide reports dating back to 1976. The fourth, Rolenia Morris,
1989-637: A facility in El Segundo, near the Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. Since 2020, the newspaper's coverage has evolved away from national and international news and toward coverage of California and especially Southern California news. In January 2024, the paper underwent its largest percentage reduction in headcount—amounting to a layoff of over 20%, including senior staff editorial positions—in an effort to stem
2142-461: A group, serial killers suffer from a variety of personality disorders . Most are often not adjudicated as insane under the law. Although a serial killer is a distinct classification that differs from that of a mass murderer , spree killer , or contract killer , there are overlaps between them. The English term and concept of serial killer are commonly attributed to former Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Robert Ressler , who used
2295-486: A health-care facility, or at different locations within the same city or state. A notable exception to the typical characteristics of female serial killers is Aileen Wuornos , who killed outdoors instead of at home, used a gun instead of poison, and killed strangers instead of friends or family. One "analysis of 86 female serial killers from the United States found that the victims tended to be spouses, children or
2448-552: A high degree of control over the crime scene and usually have a solid knowledge of forensic science that enables them to cover their tracks, such as burying the body or weighing it down and sinking it in a river. They follow their crimes in the news media carefully and often take pride in their actions as if it were all a grand project. Often, organized killers have social and other interpersonal skills sufficient to enable them to develop both personal and romantic relationships, friends and lovers and sometimes even attract and maintain
2601-432: A hoax, as originally concluded by psychiatrist David Abrahamsen. Mission-oriented killers typically justify their acts as "ridding the world" of certain types of people perceived as undesirable, such as the homeless , ex-cons , homosexuals , drug users , prostitutes, or people of different ethnicity or religion; however, they are generally not psychotic. Some see themselves as attempting to change society, often to cure
2754-476: A local Metromix site targeting live entertainment for young adults. A free weekly tabloid print edition of Metromix Los Angeles followed in February 2008; the publication was the newspaper's first stand-alone print weekly. In 2009, the Times shut down Metromix and replaced it with Brand X , a blog site and free weekly tabloid targeting young, social networking readers. Brand X launched in March 2009;
2907-472: A lower mean IQ than organized serial killers, at 89.4. Mixed serial killers, with both organized and disorganized traits, have an average IQ of 100.9, but a low sample size. Some people with a pathological interest in the power of life and death tend to be attracted to medical professions or acquiring such a job. These kinds of killers are sometimes referred to as "angels of death" or angels of mercy. Medical professionals will kill their patients for money, for
3060-609: A murderer from South America, killed a minimum of 110 young girls between 1969 and 1980. However, he claims that the number is over 300. He was released from a mental facility in 1998 and his whereabouts are still unknown. He is commonly nicknamed the "Monster of the Andes". An additional non-American serial killer is Luis Garavito from Colombia. Garavito would kill and torture boys using various disguises. He murdered around 140 boys ranging in ages from 8 to 16. He would dump his victims' bodies in mass graves. The serial killing phenomenon in
3213-538: A number of major publications and writers, including The New York Times , Boston Globe critic Ty Burr , Washington Post blogger Alyssa Rosenberg, and the websites The A.V. Club and Flavorwire , announced that they would boycott press screenings of future Disney films. The National Society of Film Critics , Los Angeles Film Critics Association , New York Film Critics Circle , and Boston Society of Film Critics jointly announced that Disney's films would be ineligible for their respective year-end awards unless
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#17327918223223366-509: A parent has a drug or alcohol problem, the attention in the household is on the parents rather than the child. This neglect of the child leads to the lowering of their self-esteem and helps develop a fantasy world in which they are in control. Hickey's Trauma Control Model supports how parental neglect can facilitate deviant behavior, especially if the child sees substance abuse in action. This then leads to disposition (the inability to attach), which can further lead to homicidal behavior, unless
3519-455: A problem that afflicts the whole society." Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Gangster (2001), explains how potential criminals are labeled by society , which can then lead to their offspring also developing in the same way through the cycle of violence . The ability for serial killers to appreciate the mental life of others is severely compromised, presumably leading to their dehumanization of others. This process may be considered an expression of
3672-404: A random weapon available at the time, and usually do not attempt to hide the body. They are likely to be unemployed, a loner, or both, with very few friends. They often turn out to have a history of mental illness, and their modus operandi (M.O.) or lack thereof is often marked by excessive violence and sometimes necrophilia or sexual violence. Disorganized serial killers have been found to have
3825-557: A result of this apparent dormancy, he was nicknamed the "Grim Sleeper". Investigators have stated they believe it is likely that there were other as-yet-unidentified victims during that time frame. The last confirmed murder was in January 2007. All but one of his victims were black women. One of his suspected victims was a black man. Many of his victims were sex workers, and Franklin was known to have had frequent contact with sex workers. All of his victims were found outdoors, often in alleys
3978-559: A sense of sadistic pleasure, for a belief that they are "easing" the patient's pain, or simply "because they can". Perhaps the most prolific of these was the British doctor Harold Shipman . Another such killer was nurse Jane Toppan , who admitted during her murder trial that she was sexually aroused by death . She would administer a drug mixture to patients she chose as her victims, lie in bed with them and hold them close to her body as they died. Another medical professional serial killer
4131-489: A short distance from downtown Los Angeles. He shot all of his victims with a .25 caliber gun. Franklin took many photographs of nude women and kept the records in his garage. It has been suggested by law enforcement that Franklin could be a possible suspect for the abduction, rape and murder of five girls in Belize City between 1998 and 2000. Franklin had connections to the country via his marriage to Sylvia Castillo, who
4284-473: A societal ill. Los Angeles Times The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles , California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles area city of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper in the nation and the largest in the Western United States with a print circulation of 118,760. It has 500,000 online subscribers,
4437-526: A spouse and sustain a family including children. Among serial killers, those of this type are in the event of their capture most likely to be described by acquaintances as kind and unlikely to hurt anyone. Ted Bundy and John Wayne Gacy are examples of organized serial killers. In general, the IQs of organized serial killers tend to be normal range, with a mean of 98.7. Disorganized serial killers are usually far more impulsive, often committing their murders with
4590-473: A team of Times reporters delivered management with a critique of the paper's online news efforts known as the Spring Street Project. The report, which condemned the Times as a "web-stupid" organization, was followed by a shakeup in management of the paper's website, and a rebuke of print staffers who were described as treating "change as a threat." On July 10, 2007, the Times launched
4743-482: A van connected with the now-closed Cosmopolitan Church. In March 2009, Pelisek conducted an extensive interview with Enietra Washington, the sole survivor of Franklin's attacks. Washington described him as "a black man in his early 30s [ . . . ] He looked neat. Tidy. Kind of geeky. He wore a black polo shirt tucked into khaki trousers." She also described the interior and exterior of his vehicle. Law enforcement missed an opportunity to catch Franklin because his DNA
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4896-457: A variety of fields and specialties with the goal of identifying the commonalities of knowledge regarding serial murder. The group also settled on a definition of serial murder which FBI investigators widely accept as their standard: "The unlawful killing of two or more victims by the same offender(s) in separate events". Serial homicide researcher Enzo Yaksic found that the FBI was justified in lowering
5049-682: Is Genene Jones . It is believed she killed 11 to 46 infants and children while working at Bexar County Medical Center Hospital in San Antonio, Texas, United States. She is currently serving a 99-year sentence for the murder of Chelsea McClellan and the attempted murder of Rolando Santos, and became eligible for parole in 2017 due to a law in Texas at the time of her sentencing to reduce prison overcrowding . A similar case occurred in Britain in 1991, where nurse Beverley Allitt killed four children at
5202-508: Is akin to a male serial killer's collecting of totems (souvenirs) from the victim as a way of exerting continued control over the victim and reliving it. By contrast, Hickey states that although popular perception sees "black widow" female serial killers as something of the Victorian past, in his statistical study of female serial killer cases reported in the United States since 1826, approximately 75% occurred since 1950. Elizabeth Báthory
5355-457: Is instigated to seek approval from parents, sexual partners, or others." This need for approval is what influences children to attempt to develop social relationships with their family and peers. "The quality of their attachments to parents and other members of the family is critical to how these children relate to and value other members of society." Wilson and Seaman (1990) conducted a study on incarcerated serial killers, and what they concluded
5508-461: Is retarded because the child's emotional and social development occurs within his self-centered fantasies. A person can do no wrong in his own world and the pain of others is of no consequence when the purpose of the fantasy world is to satisfy the needs of one person" (Garrison, 1996). Boundaries between fantasy and reality are lost and fantasies turn to dominance, control, sexual conquest, and violence, eventually leading to murder. Fantasy can lead to
5661-479: Is sometimes cited as the most prolific female serial killer in all of history. Formally countess Elizabeth Báthory de Ecsed (Báthory Erzsébet in Hungarian , August 7, 1560 – August 21, 1614), she was a countess from the renowned Báthory family . Before her husband's death, Elizabeth took great pleasure in torturing the staff, by jamming pins under the servant's fingernails or stripping servants and throwing them into
5814-480: Is the motivation for the killings, and many serial murders involve sexual contact with the victims at different points during the murder process. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that the motives of serial killers can include anger, thrill-seeking , financial gain, and attention seeking , and killings may be executed as such . The victims tend to have things in common, such as demographic profile , appearance, gender, or race . As
5967-565: The Brand X tabloid ceased publication in June 2011 and the website was shut down the following month. In May 2018, the Times blocked access to its online edition from most of Europe because of the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation . In 1999, it was revealed that a revenue-sharing arrangement was in place between the Times and Staples Center in the preparation of
6120-615: The Chicago Cubs baseball club. He put up for sale the company's 25 percent interest in Comcast SportsNet Chicago. Until shareholder approval was received, Los Angeles billionaires Ron Burkle and Eli Broad had the right to submit a higher bid, in which case Zell would have received a $ 25 million buyout fee. In December 2008, the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection . The bankruptcy
6273-580: The Democratic presidential candidate, rejected this alternative to endorsement, and after Donald Trump , the Republican candidate, alluded to the newspaper not having endorsed Harris, Mariel Garza, the editor of the opinion section, resigned in protest, as did two other members of the editorial board, Robert Greene and Karin Klein. Two hundred Times staff signed a letter condemning the way in which
Grim Sleeper - Misplaced Pages Continue
6426-458: The Fox program America's Most Wanted . On February 25, 2009, Bratton addressed the press for the first time regarding the case, at which time the police formally gave the killer the "Grim Sleeper" nickname chosen by LA Weekly . Bratton also released a 9-1-1 call from the 1980s in which a man reported seeing a body being dumped by Franklin, giving a detailed description and license plate number of
6579-529: The Han Emperor Jing , was made Prince of Jidong in the sixth year of the middle period of Jing's reign (144 BC). According to the Chinese historian Sima Qian , he would "go out on marauding expeditions with 20 or 30 slaves or with young men who were in hiding from the law, murdering people and seizing their belongings for sheer sport". Although many of his subjects knew about these murders, it
6732-487: The Hungarian aristocrat Elizabeth Báthory , born into one of the wealthiest families in Transylvania , allegedly tortured and killed as many as 650 girls and young women before her arrest in 1610. Between 1564 and 1589, German farmer Peter Stumpp killed 14 children, including his own son. He also murdered two pregnant women and had an incestuous relationship with his daughter. Stumpp claimed to have been granted
6885-593: The Los Angeles Times under the Chandler family. The paper's early history and subsequent transformation was chronicled in an unauthorized history, Thinking Big (1977, ISBN 0-399-11766-0 ), and was one of four organizations profiled by David Halberstam in The Powers That Be (1979, ISBN 0-394-50381-3 ; 2000 reprint ISBN 0-252-06941-2 ). Between the 1960s and
7038-512: The NHS ). He was considered a pillar of the local community; he even won a professional award for a children's asthma clinic and was interviewed by Granada Television 's World in Action on ITV . Dennis Nilsen was an ex-soldier turned civil servant and trade unionist who had no previous criminal record when arrested. Neither was known to have exhibited many of the tell-tale signs. Vlado Taneski ,
7191-594: The Poynter Institute reported that " ' At least 50' editorial positions will be culled from the Los Angeles Times " through a buyout. Nancy Cleeland, who took O'Shea's buyout offer, did so because of "frustration with the paper's coverage of working people and organized labor" (the beat that earned her Pulitzer). She speculated that the paper's revenue shortfall could be reversed by expanding coverage of economic justice topics, which she believed were increasingly relevant to Southern California; she cited
7344-538: The Times drew fire for a last-minute story before the California recall election alleging that gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger groped scores of women during his movie career. Columnist Jill Stewart wrote on the American Reporter website that the Times did not do a story on allegations that former Governor Gray Davis had verbally and physically abused women in his office, and that
7497-470: The Times to fight local unions led to the bombing of its headquarters on October 1, 1910, killing 21 people. Two of the union leaders, James and Joseph McNamara , were charged. The American Federation of Labor hired noted trial attorney Clarence Darrow to represent the brothers, who eventually pleaded guilty. Otis fastened a bronze eagle on top of a high frieze of the new Times headquarters building designed by Gordon Kaufmann , proclaiming anew
7650-639: The Vietnam War were preventing California from experiencing the Big One . As the war wound down, Mullin claimed his father instructed him via telepathy to raise the number of "human sacrifices to nature" to delay a catastrophic earthquake that would plunge California into the ocean. David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam") may also be an example of a visionary serial killer, having claimed a demon transmitted orders through his neighbor's dog and instructed him to commit murder. Berkowitz later described those claims as
7803-448: The intersubjectivity associated with a cognitive deficit regarding the capability to make sharp distinctions between other people and inanimate objects. For these individuals, objects can appear to possess animistic or humanistic power while people are perceived as objects. Before he was executed, serial killer Ted Bundy stated media violence and pornography had stimulated and increased his need to commit homicide, although this statement
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#17327918223227956-459: The power to control the mistreatment they suffer sometimes create a new reality to which they can escape. This new reality becomes their fantasy that they have total control of and becomes part of their daily existence. In this fantasy world, their emotional development is guided and maintained. According to Garrison (1996), "the child becomes sociopathic because the normal development of the concepts of right and wrong and empathy towards others
8109-532: The 105 Freeway near Garfield Avenue in Paramount, California . Hereford had been pushed from a speeding car moving east on the 105 Freeway . Her body was discovered within an hour of being thrown from the vehicle. She had been killed by severe blunt-force trauma. Hereford was last seen at Snappy's Liquor near Imperial Highway and Normandie Avenue in Westmont, California , placing her in the same general area where
8262-554: The 1960s under publisher Otis Chandler , who adopted a more national focus. As with other regional newspapers in California and the United States, the paper's readership has declined since 2010. It has also been beset by a series of ownership changes, staff reductions, and other controversies. In January 2018, the paper's staff voted to unionize and finalized their first union contract on October 16, 2019. The paper moved out of its historic headquarters in downtown Los Angeles to
8415-662: The 1965 Watts Riots and the 1992 Los Angeles riots . In the 19th century, the chief competition to the Times was the Los Angeles Examiner followed by the smaller Los Angeles Tribune . In December 1903, newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst began publishing the Los Angeles Examiner as a direct morning competitor to the Times. In the 20th century, the Los Angeles Express , Manchester Boddy 's Los Angeles Daily News ,
8568-446: The 1980s, the term was used again in the pages of The New York Times , one of the major national news publications of the United States, on 233 occasions. By the end of the 1990s, the use of the term had increased to 2,514 instances in the paper. When defining serial killers, researchers generally use "three or more murders" as the baseline, considering it sufficient to provide a pattern without being overly restrictive. Independent of
8721-400: The 1990s include increased incarceration in the United States , the end of the crack epidemic in the United States , and decreased lead exposure in early childhood. Some commonly found characteristics of serial killers include the following: There are exceptions to these criteria, however. For example, Harold Shipman was a successful professional (a General Practitioner working for
8874-675: The Hearst afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Los Angeles Examiner merged to become the Herald-Examiner . The Herald-Examiner published its last number in 1989. In 2014, the Los Angeles Register , published by Freedom Communications, then-parent company of the Orange County Register , was launched as a daily newspaper to compete with the Times . By late September of that year, however,
9027-559: The Islamic Calendar), "a strangler from Baghdad was apprehended. He had murdered a number of women and buried them in the house where he was living." The majority of documented serial killers were active in the United States. In one study of serial homicide in South Africa, many patterns were similar to established patterns in the U.S., with some exceptions: no offenders were female, offenders were lower educated than in
9180-403: The LAPD of indifference to the deaths of women who were poor, Black, drug users, and sex workers, which the LAPD denied. By January 1986, 15 murders had been linked to the case. More detectives were added to the joint LAPD- LASD investigation, which had become known as the Southside Slayer Task Force, but by 1986 the case was still under investigation. Prescod formalized her group of activists as
9333-571: The LAPD's headquarters in an effort to pressure the department into forming a task force to investigate the murders. Prescod contrasted the apparent lack of police interest in the South Central murders with the significant attention given to the investigation of Richard Ramirez , the serial killer dubbed the Night Stalker who targeted women in upscale areas of Los Angeles and San Francisco between June 1984 and August 1985. Prescod accused
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#17327918223229486-517: The Schwarzenegger story relied on a number of anonymous sources. Further, she said, four of the six alleged victims were not named. She also said that in the case of the Davis allegations, the Times decided against printing the Davis story because of its reliance on anonymous sources. The American Society of Newspaper Editors said that the Times lost more than 10,000 subscribers because of
9639-571: The Sunday edition. Garfield was dropped altogether shortly thereafter. Following the Republican Party 's defeat in the 2006 mid-term elections , an Opinion piece by Joshua Muravchik , a leading neoconservative and a resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute , published on November 19, 2006, was titled 'Bomb Iran'. The article shocked some readers, with its hawkish comments in support of more unilateral action by
9792-486: The U.S., and both victims and offenders were predominantly black. In the 15th century, one of the wealthiest men in Europe and a former companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc , Gilles de Rais , was alleged to have sexually assaulted and killed peasant children, mainly boys, whom he had abducted from the surrounding villages and had taken to his castle. It is estimated that his victims numbered between 140 and 800. Similarly,
9945-475: The United States since that time. The decline in serial killers has no known single cause but is attributed to a number of factors. Mike Aamodt , emeritus professor at Radford University in Virginia, attributes the decline in number of serial killings to less frequent use of parole , improved forensic technology , and people behaving more cautiously. Causes for the general reduction in violent crime following
10098-480: The United States between 1800 and 2004 (64 females from a total of 416 known offenders), or that around 15% of U.S. serial killers have been women, with a collective number of victims between 427 and 612. The authors of Lethal Ladies , Amanda L. Farrell, Robert D. Keppel, and Victoria B. Titterington, state that "the Justice Department indicated 36 female serial killers have been active over the course of
10251-517: The United States indicated that sexual activity was one of several motives in 10% of the cases, enjoyment in 11% and control in 14% and that 51% of all U.S. female serial killers murdered at least one woman and 31% murdered at least one child. In other cases, women have been involved as an accomplice with a male serial killer as a part of a serial killing team. A 2015 study published in The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology found that
10404-434: The United States was especially prominent from 1970 to 2000, which has been described as the "golden age of serial murder". The cause of the spike in serial killings has been attributed to urbanization , which put people in close proximity and offered anonymity. The number of active serial killers in the United States peaked in 1989 and has been steadily trending downward since, coinciding with an overall decrease in crime in
10557-410: The United States, this time against Iran. On March 22, 2007, editorial page editor Andrés Martinez resigned following an alleged scandal centering on his girlfriend's professional relationship with a Hollywood producer who had been asked to guest-edit a section in the newspaper. In an open letter written upon leaving the paper, Martinez criticized the publication for allowing the Chinese wall between
10710-426: The United States. According to a 2016 study, since the year 2000, African Americans accounted for roughly 60% of all serial killers in the United States. Anthony Walsh found that the prevalence of non-white serial killers has typically been drastically underestimated in both professional research literature and the mass media. Black males were over-represented among serial killers by a factor of 2. Walsh argues that
10863-700: The ability to turn into a werewolf by the Devil. As punishment for his crimes, Stumpp was put on a torture wheel and executed. His head was later severed and put on a pole next to the figure of a wolf to scare other people away from claiming themselves werewolves too. Members of the Thuggee cult in India may have murdered a million people between 1740 and 1840. Thug Behram , a member of the cult, may have murdered as many as 931 victims. In his 1886 book, Psychopathia Sexualis , psychiatrist Richard von Krafft-Ebing noted
11016-529: The assumption of $ 90 million in pension liabilities, closed on June 16, 2018. In 2000, John Carroll , former editor of the Baltimore Sun , was brought in to restore the luster of the newspaper. During his reign at the Times , he eliminated more than 200 jobs, but despite an operating profit margin of 20 percent, the Tribune executives were unsatisfied with returns, and by 2005 Carroll had left
11169-540: The behavior. While juvenile serial killers are rare, the youngest felon on death row is a juvenile serial killer named Harvey Miguel Robinson who was 17 at the time of his crimes and 18 at the time of his arrest. There is a myth that most serial killers are white males. However, according to the FBI, based on percentages of the U.S. population, white males are not more likely than other races to be serial killers. White males are actually greatly under-represented among serial killers in proportion to their overall numbers in
11322-420: The bodies of his alleged victims were discovered and all were involved in drug use and prostitution. Serial killer Note: Varies by jurisdiction Note: Varies by jurisdiction A serial killer (also called a serial murderer ) is a person who murders three or more people, with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separate events. Their psychological gratification
11475-432: The case of psychological decompensation or overconfidence due to having evaded capture. Organized serial killers often plan their crimes methodically, usually abducting victims, killing them in one place and disposing of them in another. They often lure the victims with ploys appealing to their sense of sympathy. Others specifically target prostitutes, who are likely to go voluntarily with a stranger. These killers maintain
11628-399: The categories of the black widow or team killer. Although motivations for female serial killers can include attention seeking, addiction, or the result of psychopathological behavioral factors, female serial killers are commonly categorized as murdering men for material gain, usually being emotionally close to their victims, and generally needing to have a relationship with the victim, hence
11781-448: The child finds a way to develop substantial relationships and fight the label they receive. If a child receives no support from anyone, then they are unlikely to recover from the traumatic event in a positive way. As stated by E. E. Maccoby, "the family has continued to be seen as a major—perhaps the major—arena for socialization". There have been studies looking into the possibility that an abnormality with one's chromosomes could be
11934-426: The child up for deviant behavior in adulthood; the child's environment (either their parents or society) is the dominant factor determining whether or not the child's behavior escalates into homicidal activity. Family, or lack thereof, is the most prominent part of a child's development because it is what the child can identify with on a regular basis. "The serial killer is no different from any other individual who
12087-430: The city of Los Angeles, which spanned well over two decades, culminating with almost a dozen murder victims, certainly needs to be investigated further," said Police Chief Charlie Beck . In all, investigators found over 1,000 photos and several hundred hours of video in his home. The images show mainly Black women of a wide age range, from teenagers to middle-aged and older, often nude. Police believe Franklin took many of
12240-524: The credo written by his wife, Eliza: "Stand Fast, Stand Firm, Stand Sure, Stand True". After Otis' death in 1917, his son-in-law and the paper's business manager, Harry Chandler , took control as publisher of the Times . Chandler was succeeded in 1944 by his son, Norman Chandler , who ran the paper during the rapid growth in Los Angeles following the end of World War II . Norman's wife, Dorothy Buffum Chandler , became active in civic affairs and led
12393-403: The crime scenes and any of the profiles in California's DNA profile database, so they searched the database for stored profiles that demonstrated sufficient similarity to allow police to infer a familial relationship. They found similar DNA belonging to Franklin's son, Christopher, who had been convicted of a felony weapons charge in 2008. Christopher was too young to have committed the murders, but
12546-443: The decision was reversed, condemning the decision as being "antithetical to the principles of a free press and [setting] a dangerous precedent in a time of already heightened hostility towards journalists". On November 7, 2017, Disney reversed its decision, stating that the company "had productive discussions with the newly installed leadership at the Los Angeles Times regarding our specific concerns". In October 2024, Soon-Shiong,
12699-543: The demands of the Tribune Group—as was publisher Jeffrey Johnson—and was replaced by James O'Shea of the Chicago Tribune . O'Shea himself left in January 2008 after a budget dispute with publisher David Hiller . The paper reported on July 3, 2008, that it planned to cut 250 jobs by Labor Day and reduce the number of published pages by 15 percent. That included about 17 percent of the news staff, as part of
12852-665: The early 1890s. The case was one of the first involving a serial murderer that gained widespread notoriety and publicity through sensationalized accounts in William Randolph Hearst 's newspapers. However, at the same time of the Holmes case, in France, Joseph Vacher became known as "The French Ripper" after killing and mutilating 11 women and children. He was executed in 1898 after confessing to his crimes. Another notable non-American serial killer is Pedro Lopez ,
13005-780: The effort to build the Los Angeles Music Center , whose main concert hall was named the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in her honor. Family members are buried at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery near Paramount Studios . The site also includes a memorial to the Times Building bombing victims. In 1935, the newspaper moved to a new, landmark Art Deco building, the Los Angeles Times Building , to which
13158-640: The elderly". Other studies indicate that since 1975, increasingly strangers are marginally the most preferred victim of female serial killers, or that only 26% of female serial killers kill for material gain only. Sources state that each killer will have her own proclivities, needs and triggers. A review of the published literature on female serial murder stated that "sexual or sadistic motives are believed to be extremely rare in female serial murderers, and psychopathic traits and histories of childhood abuse have been consistently reported in these women." A study by Eric W. Hickey (2010) of 64 female serial killers in
13311-474: The familial DNA match led investigators to look at his father, Lonnie, as the likely perpetrator. One undercover police officer pretended to be a waiter at a restaurant where Franklin ate, collecting dishes, silverware, glasses, and pizza crusts to obtain DNA. According to Cooley, detectives then used a piece of discarded pizza, along with saliva found on the victims, to establish a DNA match. On July 7, 2010, Franklin
13464-405: The families grew larger, the later generations found that only one or two branches got the power, and everyone else got a share of the money. Eventually the coupon-clipping branches realized that they could make more money investing in something other than newspapers. Under their pressure the companies went public, or split apart, or disappeared. That's the pattern followed over more than a century by
13617-400: The fifth-largest among U.S. newspapers. Owned by Patrick Soon-Shiong and published by California Times, the paper has won over 40 Pulitzer Prizes since its founding. In the 19th century, the paper developed a reputation for civic boosterism and opposition to labor unions , the latter of which led to the bombing of its headquarters in 1910. The paper's profile grew substantially in
13770-542: The first of which occurred in 1985. That same year, in secrecy, the LAPD formed the "800 Task Force," composed of six detectives and overseen by the Robbery-Homicide Unit. After a four-month investigation, LA Weekly investigative reporter Christine Pelisek broke the news of the task force's existence, the link between Peters' killing and the earlier murders, and the silence of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Police Chief William Joseph Bratton regarding
13923-418: The first step in the process of a dissociative state, which, in the words of Stephen Giannangelo, "allows the serial killer to leave the stream of consciousness for what is, to him, a better place". Criminologist Jose Sanchez reports, "The young criminal you see today is more detached from his victim, more ready to hurt or kill. The lack of empathy for their victims among young criminals is just one symptom of
14076-483: The following years, it was found that serial killer Louis Craine committed at least two of the so-called "Southside Slayer" murders, and serial killers Michael Hughes , Daniel Lee Siebert , Chester Turner , and Ivan Hill committed at least one each. In addition, some of the murders may have been committed individually by the women's pimps or clients, unrelated to any serial killer. The murders of Judith Simpson, Cynthia Walker, and Latanya Johnson, all committed with
14229-591: The former president of General Mills , was criticized for his lack of understanding of the newspaper business, and was derisively referred to by reporters and editors as The Cereal Killer . Subsequently, the Orange County plant closed in 2010. The Times ' s reported daily circulation in October 2010 was 600,449, down from a peak of 1,225,189 daily and 1,514,096 Sunday in April 1990. In December 2006,
14382-547: The hospital where she worked, attempted to kill three more, and injured a further six over the course of two months. A 21st-century example is Canadian nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer , who murdered elderly patients in the nursing homes where she worked. William George Davis is another hospital nurse who was sentenced to death in Texas for the murder of four patients. Female serial killers are rare compared to their male counterparts. Sources suggest that female serial killers represented less than one in every six known serial murderers in
14535-412: The killer's existence. Villaraigosa and Bratton neither issued a press release nor warned the community. In some cases, LA Weekly was the first to inform the families that their daughters had long been confirmed as victims of a serial killer. In early-September 2008, Los Angeles officials announced that they were offering a $ 500,000 reward to help catch the killer. On November 1, the case was featured on
14688-399: The killing acts for days or weeks" while the "methods of murder and types of victims vary". Andrew Cunanan is given as an example of spree killing, while Charles Whitman is mentioned in connection with mass murder, and Jeffrey Dahmer with serial killing. In 2005, the FBI hosted a multi-disciplinary symposium in San Antonio, Texas, which brought together 135 experts on serial murder from
14841-505: The last century." According to The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology , there is evidence that 16% of all serial killers are women. Michael D. Kelleher and C. L. Kelleher created several categories to describe female serial killers. They used the classifications of black widow , angel of death , sexual predator , revenge , profit or crime , team killer , question of sanity , unexplained , and unsolved . In using these categories, they observed that most women fell into
14994-402: The mid-2000s it was also the whole or partial subject of nearly thirty dissertations in communications and social science. The Los Angeles Times has occupied five physical sites beginning in 1881. The Los Angeles Times was beset in the first decade of the 21st century by changes in ownership, a bankruptcy , a rapid succession of editors, reductions in staff, decreases in paid circulation,
15147-422: The midst of the wealth of London focused the media's attention on the plight of the urban poor and gained coverage worldwide. Jack the Ripper has also been called the most infamous serial killer of all time, and his legend has spawned hundreds of theories on his real identity and many works of fiction . H. H. Holmes was a serial killer in the United States, responsible for the death of at least nine victims in
15300-835: The misconceptions concerning female criminality. In the article, Perri and Lichtenwald analyze the current research regarding female psychopathy, including case studies of female psychopathic killers featuring Munchausen syndrome by proxy , cesarean section homicide, fraud detection homicide, female kill teams, and a female serial killer. Juvenile serial killers are rare. There are three main categories that juvenile serial killers can fit into: primary, maturing, and secondary killers. There have been studies done to compare and contrast these three groups and to discover similarities and differences between them. Although these types of serial killers are less common, oftentimes adult serial killers may make their debut at an early age and it can be an opportunity for researchers to study what factors brought about
15453-545: The most common motive for female serial killers was for financial gain and almost 40% of them had experienced some sort of mental illness. Peter Vronsky in Female Serial Killers (2007) maintains that female serial killers today often kill for the same reason males do: as a means of expressing rage and control. He suggests that sometimes the theft of the victims' property by the female "black widow" type serial killer appears to be for material gain, but really
15606-508: The motives of any given killer may display considerable overlap among these categories. Visionary serial killers suffer from psychotic breaks with reality, sometimes believing they are another person or are compelled to murder by entities such as the Devil or God. The two most common subgroups are "demon mandated" and "God mandated". Herbert Mullin believed the American casualties in
15759-494: The murders were colloquially known as the "Strawberry Murders" ("strawberry" being slang for a woman who exchanges sex for drugs). In September 1985, the LAPD described the case at a press conference and asked for tips from the public. Following the press conference, the LAPD was heavily criticized for their failure to alert the South Central community to the possibility of a serial killer earlier. Activist Margaret Prescod and other community activists held weekly protests outside of
15912-604: The murders. Evidence suggested that several serial killers – possibly four or more – were murdering women in South Los Angeles. The Southside Slayer Task Force began downsizing in 1987 due to the lack of results relative to the expense and manpower being used. Task-force commander Lt. John Zorn told the Los Angeles Times in December 1987 that "the flow of clues is almost non-existent at this point." Over
16065-476: The need to increase its Web presence, and a series of controversies. In January 2024, the newsroom announced a roughly 20 percent reduction in staff, due to anemic subscription growth and other financial struggles. The newspaper moved to a new headquarters building in El Segundo , near Los Angeles International Airport , in July 2018. In 2000, Times Mirror Company , publisher of the Los Angeles Times ,
16218-497: The negative publicity surrounding the Schwarzenegger article. On November 12, 2005, new op-ed editor Andrés Martinez announced the dismissal of liberal op-ed columnist Robert Scheer and conservative editorial cartoonist Michael Ramirez . The Times also came under controversy for its decision to drop the weekday edition of the Garfield comic strip in 2005, in favor of a hipper comic strip Brevity , while retaining it in
16371-423: The new executive editor. Merida was then a senior vice president at ESPN and headed The Undefeated , a site focused on sports, race, and culture; he had previously been the first Black managing editor at The Washington Post . The Los Angeles Times Olympic Boulevard printing press was not purchased by Soon-Shiong and was kept by Tribune; in 2016 it was sold to developers who planned to build sound stages on
16524-503: The newly private media company's mandate to reduce costs. Hiller himself resigned on July 14. In January 2009, the Times eliminated the separate California/Metro section, folding it into the front section of the newspaper, and also announced seventy job cuts in news and editorial or a 10 percent cut in payroll. In September 2015, Austin Beutner , the publisher and chief executive, was replaced by Timothy E. Ryan . On October 5, 2015,
16677-492: The news and editorial departments to be weakened, accusing news staffers of lobbying the opinion desk. In November 2017, Walt Disney Studios blacklisted the Times from attending press screenings of its films, in retaliation for September 2017 reportage by the paper on Disney 's political influence in the Anaheim area. The company considered the coverage to be "biased and inaccurate". As a sign of condemnation and solidarity,
16830-429: The newspaper announced a layoff that would affect at least 115 employees. It named Terry Tang its next executive editor on April 8, 2024. The Times has suffered continued decline in distribution. Reasons offered for the circulation drop included a price increase and a rise in the proportion of readers preferring to read the online version instead of the print version. Editor Jim O'Shea, in an internal memo announcing
16983-677: The newspaper would add other facilities until taking up the entire city block between Spring, Broadway, First and Second streets, which came to be known as Times Mirror Square and would house the paper until 2018. Harry Chandler , then the president and general manager of Times-Mirror Co. , declared the Los Angeles Times Building a "monument to the progress of our city and Southern California". The fourth generation of family publishers, Otis Chandler , held that position from 1960 till 1980. Otis Chandler sought legitimacy and recognition for his family's paper, often forgotten in
17136-416: The newspaper. His successor, Dean Baquet , refused to impose the additional cutbacks mandated by the Tribune Company. Baquet was the first African-American to hold this type of editorial position at a top-tier daily. During Baquet and Carroll's time at the paper, it won 13 Pulitzer Prizes , more than any other paper except The New York Times . However, Baquet was removed from the editorship for not meeting
17289-430: The non-endorsement was handled, and thousands of subscribers cancelled their subscriptions. Soon-Shiong had previously blocked an endorsement by the editorial board in 2020, when he overruled their decision to endorse Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries . As of 2014, the Times has won 41 Pulitzer Prizes , including four in editorial cartooning, and one each in spot news reporting for
17442-406: The number of murders, they need to have been committed at different times, and are usually committed in different places. The lack of a cooling-off period (a significant break between the murders) marks the difference between a spree killer and a serial killer. The category has, however, been found to be of no real value to law enforcement, because of definitional problems relating to the concept of
17595-470: The other Grim Sleeper killings took place. Asked if Hereford's case could be connected to the Grim Sleeper murders, the lead investigator in her case said that they have not yet “ruled it in or out.” Hereford's homicide remains unsolved. Four missing women are thought to have been among Franklin's victims, according to their relatives. The four women frequented the area close to Franklin's house where
17748-563: The owner of the Times , told executive editor Terry Tang that the newspaper must not endorse a candidate in the 2024 United States presidential election , but should instead print "a factual analysis of all the POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE policies by EACH candidate during their tenures at the White House, and how these policies affected the nation". The Times editorial board, which had been preparing to endorse Kamala Harris ,
17901-493: The paper announced its circulation had fallen to 851,532, down 5.4 percent from 2005. The Times ' s loss of circulation was the largest of the top ten newspapers in the U.S. Some observers believed that the drop was due to the retirement of circulation director Bert Tiffany. Others thought the decline was a side effect of a succession of short-lived editors who were appointed by publisher Mark Willes after publisher Otis Chandler relinquished day-to-day control in 1995. Willes,
18054-773: The paper joined with The Washington Post to form the Los Angeles Times–Washington Post News Service to syndicate articles from both papers for other news organizations. He also toned down the unyielding conservatism that had characterized the paper over the years, adopting a much more centrist editorial stance. During the 1960s, the paper won four Pulitzer Prizes , more than its previous nine decades combined. In 2013, Times reporter Michael Hiltzik wrote that: The first generations bought or founded their local paper for profits and also social and political influence (which often brought more profits). Their children enjoyed both profits and influence, but as
18207-508: The paper's attempted hiring of a "celebrity justice reporter" as an example of the wrong approach. On August 21, 2017, Ross Levinsohn , then aged 54, was named publisher and CEO, replacing Davan Maharaj , who had been both publisher and editor. On June 16, 2018, the same day the sale to Patrick Soon-Shiong closed, Norman Pearlstine was named executive editor. On May 3, 2021, the newspaper announced that it had selected Kevin Merida to be
18360-492: The pictures, which show both conscious and unconscious individuals, dating back thirty years. The photos were released to the public in an effort to identify the women. On November 3, 2011, Reuters reported that the police were considering Franklin as a suspect in six more slayings. The police were investigating two of the six as potential victims killed during a 14-year lapse between an initial spate of Grim Sleeper murders that ended in 1988 and several more that began in 2002. Of
18513-418: The popular media ignores black serial killers because of a fear of allegations of racism, and that this may enable black serial killers to operate more effectively, as their crimes do not get the same media attention as the crimes of non-black serial killers. The motives of serial killers are generally placed into four categories: visionary , mission-oriented , hedonistic , and power or control ; however,
18666-517: The power centers of the Northeastern United States due to its geographic and cultural distance. He sought to remake the paper in the model of the nation's most respected newspapers, such as The New York Times and The Washington Post . Believing that the newsroom was "the heartbeat of the business", Otis Chandler increased the size and pay of the reporting staff and expanded its national and international reporting. In 1962,
18819-569: The printing bill, Cole and Gardiner turned the paper over to the Mirror Company. In the meantime, S. J. Mathes had joined the firm, and it was at his insistence that the Times continued publication. In July 1882, Harrison Gray Otis moved from Santa Barbara, California to become the paper's editor. At the same time he also purchased a 1/4 stake in the paper for $ 6,000 mostly secured on a bank loan. Historian Kevin Starr wrote that Otis
18972-490: The printing plant closure and with a refocusing of sports coverage for editorial reasons, daily game coverage and box scores were eliminated on July 9, 2023. The sports section now features less time-sensitive articles, billed as similar to a magazine. The change caused some consternation in the Los Angeles Jewish community , for many of whom reading box scores was a morning Shabbat ritual. On January 23, 2024,
19125-422: The remaining four victims, two bodies were discovered in the 1980s and two were reported missing in 2005 but the remains of the other two were never found, police said. Detectives said they linked Franklin to the six additional killings after reviewing hundreds of old case files and seeking the public's help in identifying a collection of 180 photographs of women and girls that were found in his possession. Franklin
19278-549: The site. It had opened in 1990 and could print 70,000 96-page newspapers an hour. The last issue of the Times printed at Olympic Boulevard was the March 11, 2024, edition. Printing moved to Riverside , at the Southern California News Group 's Press-Enterprise printer, which also prints Southern California editions of the New York Times and Wall Street Journal . In preparation for
19431-561: The snow. After her husband's death, she and four collaborators were accused of torturing and killing hundreds of girls and young women, with one witness attributing to them over 600 victims, though the number for which they were convicted was 80. Elizabeth herself was neither tried nor convicted. In 1610, however, she was imprisoned in the Csejte Castle, where she remained bricked in a set of rooms until her death four years later. A 2010 article by Perri and Lichtenwald addressed some of
19584-465: The teen and offered her a ride home. When she accepted, they put a knife to her throat, drove to a field, and repeatedly raped her. She was able to feign interest in Franklin and asked for his phone number, by which police identified him. During the gang rape , photographs were taken by the rapists — as Franklin would also later do with the women he raped and murdered. In 1989, Franklin
19737-703: The term serial homicide in 1974 in a lecture at Police Staff College, in Bramshill , Hampshire , England. Author Ann Rule postulates in her 2004 book Kiss Me, Kill Me , that the English-language credit for coining the term goes to Los Angeles Police Department detective Pierce Brooks, who created the Violent Criminal Apprehension Program (ViCAP) system in 1985. The German term and concept were coined by criminologist Ernst Gennat , who described Peter Kürten as
19890-541: The tide of financial losses and maintain enough cash to be viably operational through the end of the year in a struggle for survival and relevance as a regional newspaper of diminished status. The Times was first published on December 4, 1881, as the Los Angeles Daily Times , under the direction of Nathan Cole Jr. and Thomas Gardiner . It was first printed at the Mirror printing plant, owned by Jesse Yarnell and T. J. Caystile . Unable to pay
20043-403: The traditional cultural image of the "black widow". The methods that female serial killers use for murder are frequently covert or low-profile, such as murder by poison (the preferred choice for killing). Other methods used by female serial killers include shootings (used by 20%), suffocation (16%), stabbing (11%), and drowning (5%). They commit killings in specific places, such as their home or
20196-610: The trigger for serial killers. Two serial killers, Bobby Joe Long and Richard Speck , came to attention for reported chromosomal abnormalities. Long had an extra X chromosome . Speck was erroneously reported to have an extra Y chromosome ; in fact, his karyotype was performed twice and was normal each time. While attempts have been made to link the XYY karyotype to violence, including serial murder, research has consistently found little or no association between violent criminal behaviour and an extra Y chromosome. Children who do not have
20349-439: The victim threshold from three to two victims given that serial murderers from these groups share similar pathologies. Historical criminologists suggest that there have been serial killers throughout history. Some sources suggest that legends such as werewolves and vampires were inspired by medieval serial killers. In Africa, there have been periodic outbreaks of murder by leopard men . Liu Pengli of China, nephew of
20502-418: Was a businessman "capable of manipulating the entire apparatus of politics and public opinion for his own enrichment". Otis's editorial policy was based on civic boosterism , extolling the virtues of Los Angeles and promoting its growth. Toward those ends, the paper supported efforts to expand the city's water supply by acquiring the rights to the water supply of the distant Owens Valley . The efforts of
20655-501: Was a result of declining advertising revenue and a debt load of $ 12.9 billion, much of it incurred when the paper was taken private by Zell. On February 7, 2018, Tribune Publishing , formerly Tronc Inc., agreed to sell the Los Angeles Times and its two other Southern California newspapers, The San Diego Union-Tribune and Hoy , to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong . The sale to Soon-Shiong through his Nant Capital investment fund, for $ 500 million plus
20808-612: Was arrested as a suspect, and, after many delays, his trial began in February 2016. On May 5, 2016, the jury convicted him of killing nine women and one teenage girl. On June 6, 2016, the jury recommended the death penalty , and on August 10, 2016, the Los Angeles Superior Court sentenced him to death for each of the ten victims named in the verdict. On March 28, 2020, Franklin was found dead in his cell at San Quentin State Prison . Lonnie David Franklin Jr.
20961-501: Was arrested. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office charged him with 10 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder, and special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. On December 16, 2010, the LAPD released 180 photos of women found in Franklin's home after unsuccessful attempts to identify the individuals, who were possibly additional victims. "These people are not suspects, we don't even know if they are victims, but we do know this: Lonnie Franklin's reign of terror in
21114-671: Was born on August 30, 1952, and grew up in South Central Los Angeles . He married and had two children. He was given a dishonorable discharge from the United States Army in July 1975, after being released from prison for his conviction of gang-raping a 17-year-old girl in Stuttgart , West Germany , in April 1974. Franklin and two other servicemen stationed in Stuttgart stopped to ask directions from
21267-437: Was charged with ten murders and one attempted murder and held without bail . He was never charged in the death of a suspected eleventh victim, a black man, a crime for which DNA evidence was not found. After a lengthy pretrial discovery and several delays, the trial opened on February 16, 2016. Closing arguments began May 2, 2016 and the jury began deliberating May 4, 2016. On May 5, 2016, after nearly three months of trial and
21420-427: Was collected and suspects were identified and traced. Police surgeon Thomas Bond assembled one of the earliest character profiles of the offender . The Ripper murders also marked an important watershed in the treatment of crime by journalists. While not the first serial killer in history, Jack the Ripper's case was the first to create a worldwide media frenzy. The dramatic murders of financially destitute women in
21573-586: Was convicted of two charges of theft, one charge of misdemeanor assault, and one charge of battery . He only served time for one of the theft charges. In the mid-1980s, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) became aware of an apparent serial killer targeting Black women who were chronic drug users and street sex workers . The killer, dubbed the "Southside Slayer," was believed to be responsible for stabbing and strangling at least 13 sex workers between 1983 and late-1985. At one point,
21726-540: Was found dead in his cell. There were no signs of trauma on his body. His cause of death and the results of the autopsy have not been publicly released. Prosecutors suspect that Lonnie Franklin's first victim was Sharon Alicia Dismuke, who was killed on January 15, 1984. His first confirmed victim was Debra Jackson, whose murder occurred in August 1985. Franklin apparently took a 14-year hiatus after his last known crime in 1988, and his next confirmed murder occurred in 2002. As
21879-466: Was from Belize . In addition, Franklin's 14-year-old break matched the murder spree, one of the victim's aunts allegedly saw him in Belize City at the time, and the van used in one of his proven killings was later found in Belize. All served as potential circumstantial evidence of his involvement; however, he was never charged with the killings. Edwinta Hereford , 19, was found dead on May 16, 2010, on
22032-546: Was hired as the Opinion and Editorial ( op-ed ) Editor in April 2004 to help improve the quality of the opinion pieces. His role was controversial, for he forced writers to take a more decisive stance on issues. In 2005, he created a Wikitorial , the first Wiki by a major news organization. Although it failed, readers could combine forces to produce their own editorial pieces. It was shut down after being besieged with inappropriate material. He resigned later that year. In 2003,
22185-467: Was identified from evidence found at Franklin's garage after his arrest. Her body has never been found. Prosecutors did not charge Franklin with these murders for fear of delaying the trial even further. On June 6, 2016, a Los Angeles County jury sentenced Franklin to death. On August 10 the Superior Court sentenced Franklin on each count, naming the individual victims. On March 28, 2020, Franklin
22338-480: Was linked to the August 1986 murder of Henrietta Wright by forensic firearm examination . By 1987, there were seven victims linked to the same gun, all of whom had been shot in the chest at close range. Two decades later, the perpetrator of these crimes was dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" due to the long period of apparent inactivity between murders. In May 2007, the slaying of Janecia Peters, 25, was linked through DNA analysis to at least 11 unsolved murders in Los Angeles,
22491-553: Was made during last-ditch efforts to appeal his death sentence. In the 1970s and 1980s, FBI profilers instigated a simple division of serial killers into "organized" and "disorganized"; that is, those who plan their crimes, and those who act on impulse. The FBI's Crime Classification Manual now places serial killers into three categories: organized , disorganized , and mixed (i.e., offenders who exhibit organized and disorganized characteristics). Some killers descend from organized to disorganized as their killings continue, as in
22644-407: Was not previously collected. In 2003, Franklin was convicted of a felony and was serving three years of supervised probation . In 2004, voters passed Proposition 69 , which requires that DNA must be collected from all felons and everyone arrested on certain specified charges. It also requires the expansion of the DNA database. Authorities collected and sorted through thousands of DNA samples. While he
22797-399: Was not until the 29th year of his reign that the son of one of his victims finally sent a report to the emperor. Eventually, it was discovered that he had murdered at least 100 people. The officials of the court requested that Liu Pengli be executed; however, the emperor could not bear to have his own nephew killed, so Liu Pengli was made a commoner and banished. In the 9th century (year 257 of
22950-454: Was on probation, Franklin's DNA was supposed to have been entered into the database. It wasn't entered because between November 2004 and August 2005 probation officers did not collect samples from people who were on unsupervised probation. The probation department did not have the resources to collect samples until August 2005. Franklin was identified at least in part on familial DNA analysis . Police had found no exact match between DNA found at
23103-548: Was purchased by the Tribune Company of Chicago , Illinois, placing the paper in co-ownership with the then WB-affiliated (now CW -affiliated) KTLA , which Tribune acquired in 1985. On April 2, 2007, the Tribune Company announced its acceptance of real estate entrepreneur Sam Zell 's offer to buy the Chicago Tribune , the Los Angeles Times , and all other company assets. Zell announced that he would sell
23256-431: Was released after independent forensic analysis found it unlikely that Ross' gun was the murder weapon. All three of those murders remain unsolved. One particular group of killings, which were linked by common elements including the use of a .25 caliber firearm, remained unsolved and unaccounted for by any other known serial killer. The first known murder in this series was the murder of Debra Jackson in August 1985, which
23409-446: Was the most influential factor that contributed to their homicidal activity. Almost all of the serial killers in the study had experienced some sort of environmental problems during their childhood, such as a broken home caused by divorce, or a lack of a parental figure to discipline the child. Nearly half of the serial killers had experienced some type of physical or sexual abuse, and more of them had experienced emotional neglect. When
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