Son's DNA leads police to the 'Grim Sleeper'

A retired police mechanic has been charged with the 'Grim Sleeper' serial killings - a series of murders that took place in Los Angeles between 1985 and 2007.

Lonnie Franklin Jr was arrested after police used a DNA technique called familial searching to link him to the crimes, after his son provided a sample that was a close match to that of the killer.

The murderer became known as the 'Grim Sleeper' (pictured in an artist's impression based on witness statements above) because of a 14-year gap between his crimes.

In all he is thought to have killed 11 people in the Los Angeles area. His first eight victims, seven young black women and a man, were killed between August 1985 and September 1988. His victims were shot, strangled or both, and usually after some kind of sexual contact. Several of them were prostitutes.

The initial murders took place during a time of escalating violence in LA as crack cocaine addiction rose and gang warfare erupted in some parts of the city. The killings stopped after his ninth victim survived an attack. And although she was able to give police a description of the suspect the dozens of detectives on the case could not make a breakthrough.

Fourteen years later, in March 2002, the body of his ninth victim was discovered, she had gone missing three months earlier. Police identified the murder as the work of the serial killer of the 1980s, and he was linked with two subsequent murders in 2003 and 2007.

LA police only revealed that they were dealing with a serial killer after the most recent murder in 2007. But despite offering a $500,000 reward they still could not find their man.

The police were also frustrated by the fact that they were unable to find a match between DNA found at the crime scenes and any of the profiles in California's DNA database. However, when they took a swab from Franklin Jr's son, who is currently in jail, they discovered that he was likely to be a close relative of the killer.

The prisoner's father then emerged as a suspect and it is reported that police got a sample of his DNA before arresting him by swabbing a cup he had used at a restaurant. The police said it was the first time 'familial searching' had been used in the state.

Franklin Jr has been charged with 10 counts of murder and one of attempted murder. He also faces a charge described as "special circumstance allegations of multiple murders", which could make him eligible for the death penalty.. ·