Lonnie David Franklin

A Los Angeles judge postponed arraignment Monday for a South Los Angeles man accused of being the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer because a new defense attorney is taking over the case. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who will be arraigned Aug. 23, was previously represented by public defenders. But he appeared in court Monday with attorney Louisa Pensanti, who said she was taking the case pro bono . She did not give a reason for working on the high-profile case for free. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hilleri G. Merritt said she did not want to interfere with the attorney-client relationship but noted that Pensanti would be taking on a case the court described as a "tremendous endeavor" that could take two to three years to wind its way through court.

L.A. County prosecutors Monday said they would seek the death penalty against the man accused of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer and took the unusual step of seeking a voice sample of the suspect. Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was charged last year in the deaths of 10 women in South L.A. in the 1980s and 1990s, but police have long suspected that he is responsible for more killings. Prosecutors requested permission to allow police to take a voice sample from Franklin for comparison to an anonymous male who called 911 operators in connection with at least two Grim Sleeper killings.

The case against Lonnie David Franklin Jr., accused of being "The Grim Sleeper" serial killer, was put on an accelerated track toward trial Thursday, when he was arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging him with killing 10 women. Franklin, 58, was arrested in July, and prosecutors filed charges accusing him of killing the 10 women over two decades, beginning in the 1980s. Typically, the next step in the legal proceedings would have been for prosecutors to present evidence against Franklin at a preliminary hearing to convince a judge that there was sufficient reason to order Franklin to stand trial.

Civil libertarians have a natural — and healthy — impulse to question scientific advancements in crime control. But concerns about so-called familial searching are exaggerated. As The Times reported recently, California is a leader in making use of familial searching: the tracing of a criminal suspect through a relative's DNA. The best-known example of its use was the apprehension of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the alleged "Grim Sleeper" serial killer. Franklin was identified because DNA he left at a crime scene partially matched that of his son, a convicted criminal whose DNA was stored in a state database.

The South Los Angeles man whom authorities allege is the " Grim Sleeper" serial killer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of killing 10 women and attempting to kill one other. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, was apprehended in July after police said they matched his DNA to evidence left at several crime scenes over the last 2 1/2 decades. All of the former city sanitation worker's alleged victims were young African American women, many of whom were sexually assaulted before being killed.

L.A. County prosecutors Monday said they would seek the death penalty against the man accused of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer and took the unusual step of seeking a voice sample of the suspect. Lonnie David Franklin Jr. was charged last year in the deaths of 10 women in South L.A. in the 1980s and 1990s, but police have long suspected that he is responsible for more killings. Prosecutors requested permission to allow police to take a voice sample from Franklin for comparison to an anonymous male who called 911 operators in connection with at least two Grim Sleeper killings.

Civil libertarians have a natural — and healthy — impulse to question scientific advancements in crime control. But concerns about so-called familial searching are exaggerated. As The Times reported recently, California is a leader in making use of familial searching: the tracing of a criminal suspect through a relative's DNA. The best-known example of its use was the apprehension of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the alleged "Grim Sleeper" serial killer. Franklin was identified because DNA he left at a crime scene partially matched that of his son, a convicted criminal whose DNA was stored in a state database.

In a bold effort to determine whether there are additional " Grim Sleeper" victims, the Los Angeles Police Department is releasing photos of scores of women found in the possession of a man charged in 10 South Los Angeles killings. Police hope the photo display will generate new tips from the public. Since the July arrest of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the LAPD has received 75 calls from the family and friends of missing women wanting to know the fate of their loved ones. After comparing information in those calls with evidence gathered in the Franklin investigation, detectives were soon able to discount most of the cases, said veteran homicide Det. Dennis Kilcoyne, head of the task force that tracked down the former city sanitation worker and police garage attendant.

Los Angeles police detectives are reexamining at least 30 unsolved killings of women in South Los Angeles, seeing if they can link any of the homicides to the man accused of being the Grim Sleeper serial killer. Sources with the Los Angeles Police Department told The Times that the 30 cases share similarities to the slayings linked to Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who appeared briefly in court Thursday, where he was charged with 10 counts of murder involving women killed over three decades in South L.A. Some — but not all — of the victims in the unsolved cases lived on the margins of society, including drug users, prostitutes and those suffering from mental illness.

My years as a reporter have taught me that there are two things you can count on when an ordinary Joe goes to jail for a sensational crime. The neighbors will invariably say: "He seemed like such a nice guy." And anyone who ever came within spitting distance of his home will angle for celebrity by claiming to have known him. And so it goes with Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the neighborhood mechanic now accused of being one of the most prolific serial killers in Los Angeles' history.

The case against Lonnie David Franklin Jr., accused of being "The Grim Sleeper" serial killer, was put on an accelerated track toward trial Thursday, when he was arraigned on a grand jury indictment charging him with killing 10 women. Franklin, 58, was arrested in July, and prosecutors filed charges accusing him of killing the 10 women over two decades, beginning in the 1980s. Typically, the next step in the legal proceedings would have been for prosecutors to present evidence against Franklin at a preliminary hearing to convince a judge that there was sufficient reason to order Franklin to stand trial.

In a bold effort to determine whether there are additional " Grim Sleeper" victims, the Los Angeles Police Department is releasing photos of scores of women found in the possession of a man charged in 10 South Los Angeles killings. Police hope the photo display will generate new tips from the public. Since the July arrest of Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the LAPD has received 75 calls from the family and friends of missing women wanting to know the fate of their loved ones. After comparing information in those calls with evidence gathered in the Franklin investigation, detectives were soon able to discount most of the cases, said veteran homicide Det. Dennis Kilcoyne, head of the task force that tracked down the former city sanitation worker and police garage attendant.

The South Los Angeles man whom authorities allege is the " Grim Sleeper" serial killer pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of killing 10 women and attempting to kill one other. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, was apprehended in July after police said they matched his DNA to evidence left at several crime scenes over the last 2 1/2 decades. All of the former city sanitation worker's alleged victims were young African American women, many of whom were sexually assaulted before being killed.

A Los Angeles judge postponed arraignment Monday for a South Los Angeles man accused of being the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer because a new defense attorney is taking over the case. Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who will be arraigned Aug. 23, was previously represented by public defenders. But he appeared in court Monday with attorney Louisa Pensanti, who said she was taking the case pro bono . She did not give a reason for working on the high-profile case for free. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Hilleri G. Merritt said she did not want to interfere with the attorney-client relationship but noted that Pensanti would be taking on a case the court described as a "tremendous endeavor" that could take two to three years to wind its way through court.

Los Angeles police confiscated hundreds of items from the suspected Grim Sleeper serial killer's South L.A. house and vehicles after his arrest last week, including firearms and ammunition, car seats possibly stained with bodily fluids, and pornographic photos and videos, according to court records. Police said Thursday they are continuing to build a case against Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, who has been charged with 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. "We still have a lot of work to do," said Det. Paul Coulter, one of the leading investigators on the case.

Authorities missed an opportunity years ago to catch the suspected Grim Sleeper serial killer before a final victim was slain, because his DNA was never collected as required under a 2004 law, according to interviews and records reviewed by The Times. Lonnie David Franklin Jr.'s genetic profile was supposed to be added to the state's DNA databank of offenders because he was on probation for a felony when voters approved Proposition 69, a sweeping expansion of the state's DNA collection.

For well over two decades, the killer had eluded police. His victims, most of them prostitutes in South Los Angeles, had lived on the margins of society, and their deaths left few useful clues aside from the DNA of the man who had sexually assaulted them in the moments before their deaths. A sweep of state prisons in 2008 failed to come up with the killer or anyone related to him. Then, last Wednesday, startling news came to the LAPD: A second "familial search" of prisons had come up with a convict whose DNA indicated that he was a close relative of the serial killer suspected of killing at least 10 women.

A backyard mechanic identified by police this week as the Grim Sleeper serial killer had a lengthy criminal history stretching over four decades but was never sent to prison despite calls by law enforcement officials for tough sentences, according to Los Angeles County court records released Friday. Probation reports show that Lonnie David Franklin Jr. repeatedly cycled through the county's justice system years before he was charged this week with killing 10 women in South Los Angeles.

A backyard mechanic identified by police this week as the Grim Sleeper serial killer had a lengthy criminal history stretching over four decades but was never sent to prison despite calls by law enforcement officials for tough sentences, according to Los Angeles County court records released Friday. Probation reports show that Lonnie David Franklin Jr. repeatedly cycled through the county's justice system years before he was charged this week with killing 10 women in South Los Angeles.

My years as a reporter have taught me that there are two things you can count on when an ordinary Joe goes to jail for a sensational crime. The neighbors will invariably say: "He seemed like such a nice guy." And anyone who ever came within spitting distance of his home will angle for celebrity by claiming to have known him. And so it goes with Lonnie David Franklin Jr., the neighborhood mechanic now accused of being one of the most prolific serial killers in Los Angeles' history.