Southside Serial Killer Task Force

The slaying of a woman in South-Central Los Angeles is not connected with a string of attacks once believed to be the work of a serial killer, police said. Detectives from the Southside Serial Killer Task Force looked into the latest death and ruled out any connection with the 17 killings they are investigating, Cmdr. William Booth said. The body of the unidentified woman was found in an alley in the 300 block of East 104th Street.

Members of the Southside Serial Killer Task Force examined the remains of two women whose bodies were found in the South-Central area, but said the deaths do not appear to be related to a string of 17 earlier killings. Detectives said neither victim was immediately identified. One body, a woman who appeared to be in her early 20s, was found in a carport at an apartment complex in the 700 block of West Imperial Highway.

Half of the 16 Los Angeles Sheriff's Department investigators assigned to the Southside Serial Killer Task Force have been taken off the case and the Los Angeles Police Department is evaluating the work of the 49 detectives investigating the string of 17 murders, spokesmen said Friday. Police spokesman Cmdr. Bill Booth said the evaluation is a routine managerial matter. "We've done this (on the Southside case) several times before, and each time we have expanded the task force," he said.

Half of the 16 Los Angeles Sheriff's Department investigators assigned to the Southside Serial Killer Task Force have been taken off the case and the Los Angeles Police Department is evaluating the work of the 49 detectives investigating the string of 17 murders, spokesmen said Friday. Police spokesman Cmdr. Bill Booth said the evaluation is a routine managerial matter. "We've done this (on the Southside case) several times before, and each time we have expanded the task force," he said.

The body of 36-year-old Yvonne Anita Bridges was found in an industrial area of South Los Angeles and, although the Southside Serial Killer Task Force was called to the scene, a police spokesman said Newton Division homicide detectives have been assigned to the case. The slaying did not appear to be linked to the 17 murders under investigation by the special team, officers said. Lt. Dan Cooke said Bridges, a Los Angeles resident, apparently had been stabbed in the upper chest.

After a preliminary investigation, the Southside Serial Killer Task Force did not link the death of an unidentified woman whose body was found in an industrial area of Torrance to the serial killer who has slain as many as 17 women, most of them black prostitutes, since September, 1983, Torrance Police Lt. Harv Siegel said. "They came out to view the body, but chose not to continue an investigation," Siegel said. "Torrance police will continue an independent investigation."