LAPD Releases 180 Photos from Home of Serial Killer

As part of the continuing investigation into the crimes allegedly committed by Lonnie David Franklin, Jr., better known as the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, the Los Angeles Police Department released 180 photos of women last week. All of the photos were recovered during a search of Franklin's home and span several decades. The police were interested in learning if the women were alive and well, or perhaps were additional victims. As of Monday, twenty-nine women had been tentatively identified following thousands of hits on the department's Website.

Franklin earned his nickname because he is accused of murdering several women between 1985 and 1988 but then took a fourteen-year break from his crimes before there were additional murders linked to the same killer. He was discovered and arrested in July after the DNA of his son, who was arrested on completely separate charges last year, was linked to DNA evidence at the scene of the crimes. Franklin pleaded not guilty to ten counts of murder and one count of attempted murder during a court appearance in August and remains in custody awaiting his trial.

While the communication sparked by the release of the women's photos is proving that each of the photographs does not signify another victim, there is still the question of what Franklin was doing with images of all of these women. Some of them were smiling, while others appeared to be unconscious. And, these images are only a portion of the more than 1000 photos that were discovered at Franklin's home. Perhaps there is some psychological need to enjoy physical evidence of his conquests.

I certainly share in the sentiments of the LAPD in their hope that each and every one of these women is positively identified and we learn that no harm came to them.