Victims
The known killings began in 1985 in South Los Angeles, California. The Grim Sleeper took a 14 year hiatus after his last murder in 1988 but began murdering again in 2002. His last confirmed murder was in January 2007. All of his victims were found outdoors, a few miles from downtown Los Angeles.
All but one of his victims were black females. One of his suspected victims was a black man. Many of his victims were prostitutes. One witness recalls that Franklin would frequently bring prostitutes into his home. The Grim Sleeper would have sexual contact with victims before strangling or shooting them. He would shoot all of his victims with a .25 caliber gun. Franklin took several photographs of nude prostitutes and kept them in his garage.
These are the Grim Sleeper's known victims in chronological order of attack:
| Number | Name | Sex | Age | Body found |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jackson, DebraDebra Jackson | F | 29 | 01985-08-10August 10, 1985 |
| 2 | Wright, HenriettaHenrietta Wright | F | 34 | 01986-08-12August 12, 1986 |
| 3 | Steele, ThomasThomas Steele ‡ | M | 36 | 01986-08-14August 14, 1986 |
| 4 | Ware, BarbaraBarbara Ware | F | 23 | 01987-01-10January 10, 1987 |
| 5 | Sparks, BernitaBernita Sparks | F | 26 | 01987-04-15April 15, 1987 |
| 6 | Lowe, MaryMary Lowe | F | 26 | 01987-11-01November 1, 1987 |
| 7 | Jefferson, LachricaLachrica Jefferson | F | 22 | 01988-01-30January 30, 1988 |
| 8 | Alexander, Alice MoniqueAlice Monique Alexander | F | 18 | 01988-09-11September 11, 1988 |
| 9 | Washington, Enietra "Margette"Enietra "Margette" Washington‡‡ | F | 30 | Survived |
| 10 | Berthomieux, PrincessPrincess Berthomieux | F | 15 | 02002-03-19March 19, 2002 |
| 11 | McCorvey, ValeriaValeria McCorvey | F | 35 | 02003-07-11July 11, 2003 |
| 12 | Peters, JaneciaJanecia Peters | F | 25 | 02007-01-01January 1, 2007 |
‡ One of the Grim Sleeper's suspected victims, though there is no DNA evidence to support this claim. Being the only suspected male victim, it is believed that Steele either knew about Grim Sleeper's history of murders, or that he was friends with one of the victims.
‡‡ Enietra "Margette" was told to use her middle name as her last name for her protection, but has since come forward as Enietra Margette Washington. Attacked on November 20, 1988, she is the only known survivor.
Read more about this topic: Grim Sleeper
Famous quotes containing the word victims:
“Alas! regardless of their doom,
The little victims play!
No sense have they of ills to come
Nor care beyond today.”
—Thomas Gray (1716–1771)
“At the crash of economic collapse of which the rumblings can already be heard, the sleeping soldiers of the proletariat will awake as at the fanfare of the Last Judgment and the corpses of the victims of the struggle will arise and demand an accounting from those who are loaded down with curses.”
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“In all sincerity, we offer to the loved ones of all innocent victims over the past 25 years, abject and true remorse. No words of ours will compensate for the intolerable suffering they have undergone during the conflict.”
—Combined Loyalist Military Command. New York Times, p. A12 (October 14, l994)