A convicted serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" was discovered unresponsive in his cell at San Quentin State Prison over the weekend, a release from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said.
Lonnie Franklin, 67, was declared dead Saturday evening after prison officials discovered him at around 7:20 p.m. Officials say Franklin's cause of death is still pending the results of an autopsy, but they indicated that there were "no signs of trauma" on his body, in the release.
Franklin, a former city trash collector who also worked as a garage attendant for the LAPD, was convicted in 2016 for 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder after a killing spree that lasted some three decades. Police didn't catch Franklin until they matched DNA taken from one of the crime scenes while cross-referencing a state databank of convicted felons' DNA. Investigators got a hit when one of the DNA samples matched Franklin's son.
Police began surveilling Franklin and working to get a sample of his DNA. One undercover officer posing as a waiter was able to collect a pizza crust Franklin had left behind. The DNA found on the crust matched DNA taken from several crime scenes where the 'Grim Sleeper' struck.
When officers arrested Franklin in July, 2010, investigators discovered a cache of photos and videos of 180 women, most of whom were identified and located by police. However, questions still remain about 30 of the women found in Franklin's stash.
Franklin was sentenced to death on August 10, 2016, in Los Angeles County, the release states.
After California reinstated capital punishment in 1978, 82 condemned inmates have died from natural causes, 27 have committed suicide, 13 were executed in California, one was executed in Missouri, one was executed in Virginia. Another 14 have died from other causes and eight – including Franklin – are pending a cause of death.
Currently, 727 people are on California’s death row.
Photo: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.