LESTER HOLT, anchor:
Los Angeles police
tonight are providing new information about what is being called the case of the "Grim Sleeper."
That's what
they've nicknamed a notorious
serial killer
suspect who was able to elude
police
for more than two decades. Now they think they've finally got him. And as
NBC
's
George Lewis
explains, a piece of pizza ended their manhunt.
GEORGE LEWIS reporting:
People who know him say it's hard to believe that
Lonnie Franklin
is the guy
police
suspect of being the
Grim Sleeper
serial killer
.
Unidentified Woman:
Talkative, he's sweet, he was funny.
LEWIS:
He was the man who made a living fixing cars for people in the neighborhood.
Mr. DONNELL ALEXANDER (Victim's Brother):
My sister was killed in
1988
by this alleged -- the guy here. And just one day she said she was going to the store, walked away, and we hadn't seen her since.
LEWIS:
Now
Franklin
has been charged with murdering 10 women, and
police
are trying to connect him to as many as 30 other killings. So how did he elude
police
for so long, and how did he get caught?
Mr. STEVE COOLEY (Los Angeles District Attorney):
This case was solved because of what was done over the last several years in this unique arena of forensic science, and specifically
DNA
.
LEWIS:
At first
police
couldn't match
DNA
at the murder scenes to any suspects.
Franklin
had been arrested 15 times in 40 years, but his crimes were never considered serious enough to send him to state prison, where he would have had to give
DNA
samples.
Detective DENNIS KILCOYNE (Los Angeles Police Department):
We tried different avenues. We're trying to
think outside the box
because he's outsmarted us for 24 years.
LEWIS:
And one of those other avenues turned out to be a brand-new technology called familial
DNA
. While there was no
DNA
sample for
Franklin
in any
police
database, when his son was recently arrested powerful computers said the son's
DNA
was related to the
DNA
at the
Grim Sleeper
crime scenes.
Police
began tailing
Franklin
and obtained his
DNA
from a partially eaten pizza.
Chief CHARLIE BECK (Los Angeles Police Department):
This is a
landmark case
. This will change the way policing is done in the
United States
.
LEWIS:
Franklin
has not yet entered a plea. He'll be arraigned
August 9th
.
George Lewis
, NBC News,
Los Angeles
.
“ ”