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Nearly two months after his arrest, a South Los Angeles
man accused of being the so-called Grim Sleeper serial killer is expected to enter a plea this morning.
Lonnie David Franklin Jr., 57, faces charges of killing 10 women over more than two decades. He has been held without bail since his July 7 arrest, which came after undercover officers surreptitiously collected a sample of his DNA that authorities say matched evidence found at several crime scenes.
The former city sanitation worker and Los Angeles Police Department garage attendant allegedly killed seven young African American women between 1985 and 1988 in South Los Angeles.
He got a new attorney earlier this month, postponing the plea once again. He was previously represented by public defenders. But he appeared in court earlier this month with attorney Louisa Pensanti, who said she was taking the case pro bono.
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.
-- Andrew Blankstein
Photo: Lonnie David Franklin Jr. and his new attorney, Louisa Pensanti. Credit: Al Seib / Los Angeles Times
