"Grim Sleeper" Suspect Arrested at Least 15 Times

LOS ANGELES -- The man charged with 10 murders in the "Grim Sleeper" case was arrested at least 15 times over four decades, and was in police custody many times after the killings began, probation and jail records show.

Lonnie Franklin Jr., 57, was arrested for crimes including burglary, car theft and assault.

They weren't considered serious enough to send him to state prison or enter him into the state's DNA database, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.


A law requiring that DNA be taken from every convicted felony wasn't passed until 2004. That was a year after Franklin's last conviction.

Now, investigators say they've linked Franklin to 10 murders, and are trying to tie him to dozens more.

Detectives are taking a fresh look at more than 30 cold case files dating back to 1984 in the wake of Franklin's arrest, according to Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck.

"Now that we know who he is, where he lives, the cars he drove, have people to interview... we will go over all those cold cases and look for connections," Beck said Friday.

Investigators will upload Franklin's DNA profile into a national database to see if it matches other samples where the DNA had degraded and scientists were only able to get a partial sample.

Police scoured Franklin's South Los Angeles home, collecting photo albums, documents, business cards and other records.

They recovered firearms from the home, and planned to test the weapons to see if there is a match to the ballistics evidence from the crime scenes, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Franklin made a brief court appearance Thursday and was ordered held without bail.

His arraignment on 10 counts of murder was postponed until Aug. 9.

Franklin was arrested at 9:20 a.m. Wednesday morning in front of his home on 81st street in South Los Angeles, ending a 25 year investigation into the deaths of 11 people dating back to 1985.

He has been charged with 10 counts of murder, one count of attempted murder and special circumstance allegations of multiple murders that could make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted.

See the 'Grim Sleeper' Victims

Police say Franklin was linked to the crimes using a relatively new and controversial forensic technique known as 'Familial' DNA searching.

"Familial" searching allows investigators to look for close DNA matches in relatives when the suspect's DNA profile is not in the state database.

According to police, a DNA sample taken from his son in an unrelated case was found to bear a close resemblance to DNA found on the victims.

Cooley said detectives then used a discarded cup with Franklin's DNA to make the link.