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Dago is 43 00:02:00.400 --> 00:02:03.079 a waiting no purchase necessary board were prohibited by Law 44 00:02:03.159 --> 00:02:05.480 eight team plus Terms and conditions of playing see website 45 00:02:05.480 --> 00:02:07.120 for details. 46 00:02:16.000 --> 00:02:19.439 You are now listening to True Murder the most shocking 47 00:02:19.520 --> 00:02:22.560 killers in true crime history and the authors that have 48 00:02:22.639 --> 00:02:29.919 written about them. Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker, BTK Every 49 00:02:29.960 --> 00:02:33.639 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 50 00:02:33.719 --> 00:02:37.919 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your 51 00:02:37.960 --> 00:02:41.719 host journalist and author Dan Zupanski. 52 00:02:52.319 --> 00:02:56.879 Good Evening. In two thousand and six, Christine Pelisek broke 53 00:02:56.919 --> 00:02:59.919 the story of a terrifying serial killer who went on 54 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:04.639 checked in Los Angeles for decades. Two years later, in 55 00:03:04.680 --> 00:03:08.719 a cover article for La Weekly, Pelisek dubbed him the 56 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:13.319 Grim Sleeper for his long break between murders. The killer 57 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:17.039 preyed on a community devastated by crime and drugs, and 58 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:20.400 left behind a trail of bodies, all women of color, 59 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:23.879 all murdered in a similar fashion, and all discarded in 60 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:27.159 the alleys of Los Angeles. The case of the Grim 61 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:30.800 Sleeper is unforgettably singular, but also tells a wider story 62 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:35.000 about homicide investigations in areas beset by poverty, gang violence, 63 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:37.960 and despair about how a serial killer could continue his 64 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:41.280 grizzly work for two decades, in part due to society's 65 00:03:41.360 --> 00:03:44.439 lack of concern for his chosen victims, and about the 66 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:47.759 power and tenacity of those women's families and the detectives 67 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:51.599 who refused to let the case go cold. No one 68 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:54.680 knows this story better than Pelisek, the reporter who followed 69 00:03:54.680 --> 00:03:58.879 it for more than ten years, based on extensive interviews, reportage, 70 00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:01.599 and information never really at least to the public. The 71 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:05.879 Grim Sleeper captures the long bumpy road to justice in 72 00:04:05.919 --> 00:04:09.000 one of the most startling true crime stories of our generation. 73 00:04:09.879 --> 00:04:11.759 The book that we're featuring this seating is The Grim 74 00:04:11.800 --> 00:04:16.399 Sleeper The Lost Women of South Central with my special guest, 75 00:04:16.759 --> 00:04:20.639 journalist and author Christine Pelisek. Welcome to the program, and 76 00:04:20.680 --> 00:04:24.480 thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. Christine Pelisek, 77 00:04:26.920 --> 00:04:30.639 well play here. Thank you very much for joining me. 78 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:35.519 This is congratulations on as we mentioned in the introduction, 79 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:41.639 ten years of some incredible journalism. Congratulations. Let's start to 80 00:04:41.920 --> 00:04:46.439 write in this because this is an incredible involved tale 81 00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:50.519 and of course we as we mentioned, covering twenty years. 82 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.199 So let's start as you do in your book when 83 00:04:55.279 --> 00:05:00.480 you're speaking with coroner Assistant Chief Winter and you were 84 00:05:00.519 --> 00:05:03.720 a crime reporter for the LA Weekly and Alternative newspaper, 85 00:05:04.360 --> 00:05:07.439 tell us a little bit about your relationship with Chief 86 00:05:07.480 --> 00:05:11.000 Winter and what you were doing there in January two 87 00:05:11.000 --> 00:05:15.360 thousand and six, and you're a very very interesting conversation. 88 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:21.720 Sure, I had gone to I was actually regular I 89 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:24.839 regularly went to see him, you know, maybe once twice 90 00:05:24.839 --> 00:05:28.199 a week because I was a crime reporter at the 91 00:05:28.360 --> 00:05:31.480 La Weekly at the time, and I was always looking 92 00:05:31.480 --> 00:05:35.639 for stories to cover, and so I had been you know, 93 00:05:35.720 --> 00:05:39.040 dropping by his office, you know, once twice a week 94 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:42.959 for you know, a year or two. And on that 95 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:48.480 particular occasion when I went, he told me that his 96 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:52.519 office was looking into a series of body dumps of 97 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:56.800 women that were found in La County. And it was 98 00:05:56.839 --> 00:06:00.399 between the years two thousand and two and two thousand 99 00:06:00.439 --> 00:06:05.439 and six, and the women were found in alley's dumpsters 100 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:08.240 all over LA County and there were thirty eight women 101 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:11.199 and they were you know, mixture of white women, African 102 00:06:11.240 --> 00:06:17.639 American women, Hispanic women, and their corners investigators had gone 103 00:06:17.720 --> 00:06:20.759 to the death scenes and had noticed, you know, there 104 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:22.800 were so many of these women. So they decided to 105 00:06:22.800 --> 00:06:26.199 put this task force together to look into it. But 106 00:06:27.000 --> 00:06:30.319 he told me that, you know, there were so many 107 00:06:30.319 --> 00:06:32.800 cases the corner's office, so they couldn't spend all their 108 00:06:32.839 --> 00:06:35.680 time doing it, so they only dedicated, you know, whenever 109 00:06:35.720 --> 00:06:38.399 they had a free moment to look into the cases 110 00:06:38.399 --> 00:06:41.360 to see if any of the cases were linked. And 111 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.560 so he told me that, and I asked him at 112 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:46.600 the time whether I could get the list and look 113 00:06:46.639 --> 00:06:49.519 into it, and he said no, And so it went 114 00:06:49.560 --> 00:06:51.800 on for months and months and months before he finally 115 00:06:51.879 --> 00:06:55.680 actually gave me this list, and so I ended up 116 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:57.720 started I started looking into it to see if I 117 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:00.480 could see any connections. And one of the things for 118 00:07:00.600 --> 00:07:02.519 him is that he tried to they tried to reach 119 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:06.160 out to the law enforcement agencies, you know, La County 120 00:07:06.199 --> 00:07:09.839 Sheriff and you know, all the law enforcement agencies around 121 00:07:10.000 --> 00:07:13.519 La LAPD, et cetera. And you know, they didn't really 122 00:07:13.560 --> 00:07:15.800 want to pay attention to the corner, you know, because 123 00:07:15.839 --> 00:07:19.079 it's really the corners there too, you know, figure out 124 00:07:19.079 --> 00:07:21.879 the cause of death, whereas the LAPD detectives and the 125 00:07:21.920 --> 00:07:24.839 Lake County Sheriff they actually try to solve the cases, 126 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:27.600 and so they didn't really want the corner involved in 127 00:07:27.680 --> 00:07:30.720 their you know, in their cases. So he ended up 128 00:07:30.759 --> 00:07:33.560 giving me this list and from there I ended up 129 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:37.600 contacting all the different law enforcement agencies that were involved. 130 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:41.600 There was a number of them, and I found that 131 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:45.439 some of the cases weren't actually even homicides. Other ones, 132 00:07:45.959 --> 00:07:47.600 the case that had been solved it was like a 133 00:07:47.639 --> 00:07:50.920 guy that killed his girl friend, or you know, it 134 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.800 was a girl who you know, was a drug overdose 135 00:07:53.920 --> 00:07:57.240 or something along those lines. But there were a lot 136 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:00.120 of murders, and the bulk of them were murders of 137 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:04.920 African American women in South Los Angeles. And so as 138 00:08:04.959 --> 00:08:09.199 I was going through and investigating, I came across a case. 139 00:08:09.240 --> 00:08:12.399 It was like this thirty seventh case on the list, 140 00:08:12.480 --> 00:08:14.560 and it was a girl named Princess Berth and you 141 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.959 she was a fifteen year old runaway out of Inglewood, 142 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:20.560 which is a city sort of just next to Los 143 00:08:20.600 --> 00:08:26.000 Angeles and near the La Airport. And so I ended 144 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:28.240 up talking to the detective there. He took me a 145 00:08:28.279 --> 00:08:29.920 while before I actually was able to get a hold 146 00:08:29.959 --> 00:08:32.360 of them, and when I did, he actually told me 147 00:08:32.440 --> 00:08:37.639 that Princess's case was linked through DNA to a case 148 00:08:37.759 --> 00:08:41.360 in Princess's case, by the way, was two thousand and two, 149 00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:45.240 and her case was linked to a woman by the 150 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.480 name of Valerie McCorvey. Who was killed in South Los 151 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:50.519 Angeles in two thousand and three. She was thirty five 152 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:54.000 year old mother of two and she was found dead 153 00:08:54.039 --> 00:08:56.720 in an alleyway. And he had told me that those 154 00:08:56.759 --> 00:09:00.840 two cases were linked to a series of murders that 155 00:09:01.000 --> 00:09:04.600 happened in South Los Angeles back in the eighties, and 156 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:08.960 the killer had shot his victims with a twenty five 157 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:12.519 caliber done to the chest, and so all the cases 158 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:15.919 were linked. Well, the eighties cases were linked through ballistics 159 00:09:15.960 --> 00:09:20.080 to a twenty five caliber, and those cases in the eighties, 160 00:09:20.159 --> 00:09:24.720 there was seven of them, were linked through DNA to 161 00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:28.360 Princess's case and Valerie McCorvey's case, and so that's how 162 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:29.799 I ended up finding out about it. 163 00:09:32.039 --> 00:09:34.840 You talk about the one survivor that you knew at 164 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.840 that time, and her name was Anetro Washington, and she 165 00:09:39.039 --> 00:09:43.840 was shot, raped and left for dead. Tell us a 166 00:09:43.879 --> 00:09:47.039 little bit more about this South Side Slayer task Force, 167 00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:51.279 and we can't get into all the missteps or won't 168 00:09:51.440 --> 00:09:58.120 say missteps, but false leads and all the other people 169 00:09:58.159 --> 00:10:01.399 that were looked at and investigated in in terms of 170 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:03.919 no avail. So let's talk about a little bit about 171 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:05.879 that South Side Slayer Task Force. 172 00:10:07.120 --> 00:10:09.480 Okay, well, back in the eighties, there was a lot 173 00:10:09.559 --> 00:10:12.639 of women getting murdered. I mean, at the time, there 174 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:16.000 was a huge crack of the epidemic all over the US, 175 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:19.200 you know, mostly in the big cities, and La was 176 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:22.120 one of the cities that was just you know, destroyed 177 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:25.480 by the crack epidemic as well as like gang warfare, 178 00:10:25.679 --> 00:10:28.200 and you know, there was just a lot of drug 179 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:30.440 dealing et cetera going on back in the eighties, and 180 00:10:30.480 --> 00:10:32.840 there was a lot of women getting murdered. You know, 181 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:36.519 over that decade, there was hundreds of African American women 182 00:10:36.559 --> 00:10:40.399 that were found dead. And at the time, the police 183 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:44.799 they started looking into the murders back in nineteen eighty four, 184 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:49.000 and they actually thought it was the work of one killer, 185 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:51.919 and so they actually dubbed this. They started a task 186 00:10:51.960 --> 00:10:54.600 force and they called it the South Side Slayer task Force, 187 00:10:54.600 --> 00:10:57.840 and they called the alleged killer the suicide Slayer, and 188 00:10:57.879 --> 00:11:01.120 they thought that it was one person and responsible for 189 00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:04.240 all these murders of women in South Lost Angelis. But 190 00:11:04.240 --> 00:11:08.120 it turned out that it was more than one killer. 191 00:11:08.159 --> 00:11:11.919 There was actually six serial killers operating at the same 192 00:11:12.000 --> 00:11:15.559 time in South Los Angeles and so but at first 193 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:18.440 you know, they thought it was this one guy, even 194 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.200 though like the ways that the women died were different, 195 00:11:21.279 --> 00:11:25.039 like some like the Grim Sleeper killer, he you know, 196 00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:27.159 shot the women in the chest, whereas some of the 197 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:31.679 other women were strangled, other ones were stabbed. So why 198 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.559 they thought that the cases were lengthd I'm not I 199 00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.080 don't know, I'm thinking because they didn't really know a 200 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:40.399 lot about serial killers at the time, even though there 201 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:45.000 were in Richard Ramirez was you know, active in nineteen 202 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.759 eighty five. You know, so there were some serial killers, 203 00:11:47.799 --> 00:11:52.080 the Hillside strangler and things along those lines. But you know, 204 00:11:52.159 --> 00:11:53.799 so for whatever reason, they thought it was one But 205 00:11:53.879 --> 00:11:56.720 as they got this task force together and they had 206 00:11:56.759 --> 00:11:59.279 like forty or fifty detectives, you know, working from La 207 00:11:59.320 --> 00:12:03.600 County sheriff ONLYPD, and they realized that there was actually 208 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:05.600 more than one killer, and they actually did. They were 209 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:08.799 able to catch two, you know, back in the eighties, 210 00:12:09.200 --> 00:12:12.480 and the other ones weren't caught until the LAPD started 211 00:12:12.519 --> 00:12:17.240 its cold case unit in the early two thousands, and 212 00:12:17.279 --> 00:12:19.720 then you know, a few other serial killers were unearthed 213 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:23.559 because of it, including Lonnie Franklin Junior, the Grim Sleeper. 214 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:27.600 You talk about in the book and I think this 215 00:12:27.679 --> 00:12:31.120 is very important to why you were so persistent and 216 00:12:31.159 --> 00:12:35.039 why you were so important to this investigation in this 217 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.600 in this story, and hence the book tell us a 218 00:12:38.639 --> 00:12:40.519 little bit, as you do in the book, about your 219 00:12:40.559 --> 00:12:46.080 background living in Ottawa, Canada, and your reaction when you 220 00:12:46.120 --> 00:12:48.480 came to Los Angeles and some of the things that 221 00:12:48.519 --> 00:12:53.559 you saw. What was your overall reaction and impression. 222 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:57.120 Well, I mean I came from Outawa, which you know, 223 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:01.720 there's not exactly there's not very many you know, in Ottawa. 224 00:13:01.879 --> 00:13:04.000 So when I moved to Los Angeles, I you know, 225 00:13:04.039 --> 00:13:07.600 I was kind of surprised just how many murders there 226 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:12.240 were and just how little you know, the media and 227 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:14.879 people knew about them. I mean, in Ottawa, if you 228 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:16.600 had a murder, i mean, everybody knew, it was on 229 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.440 the front page of the newspapers. Whereas here, you know, 230 00:13:20.679 --> 00:13:24.480 so many people were getting killed and really no one 231 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:28.480 knew about them. And I just found that like extremely tragic. 232 00:13:28.559 --> 00:13:32.440 And in this case with the women, I mean, there 233 00:13:32.519 --> 00:13:34.960 was barely you know, except for the families, like they 234 00:13:34.960 --> 00:13:37.879 were really the only ones that seemed to care at 235 00:13:37.879 --> 00:13:39.879 the fact that these women were killed. I mean, back 236 00:13:39.919 --> 00:13:42.639 in the age I mean there was coverage, for sure 237 00:13:43.399 --> 00:13:45.799 of it, but I mean we didn't know who these 238 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.480 women were. And you know, when you compare it to 239 00:13:48.759 --> 00:13:50.480 some of the cases out there, you know, when you 240 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.039 had like Natalie Holloway, I mean, everybody knows who Natalie 241 00:13:54.039 --> 00:13:57.440 Holloway is and what happened to Natalie Holloway. But you know, 242 00:13:57.480 --> 00:14:01.399 with these women, no one knew about them, and so 243 00:14:01.600 --> 00:14:04.840 I really wanted to find out more about the case. 244 00:14:04.919 --> 00:14:06.840 Number one. I wanted to you know, I was hoping 245 00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.799 that the case would be solved, but I also wanted 246 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.639 to give the women a voice and let people know 247 00:14:11.679 --> 00:14:15.519 who they were. And they weren't just you know, discarded, 248 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.919 like you know, Lonnie discarded as victims like trash, and 249 00:14:19.159 --> 00:14:21.159 you know, I wanted people to know who they were. 250 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:23.600 So that's kind of, you know, part of the reason 251 00:14:23.639 --> 00:14:26.120 why I, you know, got involved with it. 252 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:32.399 You also talk about the really the main focus of 253 00:14:32.440 --> 00:14:35.320 this is self Central, and you talk about the incredible 254 00:14:35.320 --> 00:14:38.120 amount of murders in Los Angeles, but you say over 255 00:14:38.200 --> 00:14:41.639 half of those occur in this much much smaller area 256 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:45.320 comparatively self central. So tell us a little bit about 257 00:14:45.559 --> 00:14:49.039 self Central and the characteristics of it. For those people 258 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:52.360 that don't know before we talk about Deborah Jackson. 259 00:14:54.039 --> 00:14:58.440 Sure, South Los Angeles is a community sort of just 260 00:14:58.679 --> 00:15:01.000 not too far away from down to Los Angeles, and 261 00:15:01.000 --> 00:15:05.240 it was back in the eighties. It was predominantly African American, 262 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:10.000 you know, middle middle, lower class, you know, income, lower 263 00:15:10.000 --> 00:15:13.919 income families. And at the time when these serial killers 264 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:16.480 were actually working in Los Angeles, like they were working 265 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:20.679 within like a fifty one square mile area and they 266 00:15:20.679 --> 00:15:24.559 were sort of all hunting the same spot. And this place, 267 00:15:24.720 --> 00:15:26.519 you know, in the eighties, I mean, it was just 268 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:31.440 ravaged by crack cocaine, drive by shootings. It was the 269 00:15:31.480 --> 00:15:34.720 start of gangs. So a lot of the gangs, like 270 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.320 the Bloods and the crips and all of them were 271 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:42.360 you know beginning, you know, around that time, and you know, 272 00:15:42.679 --> 00:15:46.159 causing you know, huge disturbances and killing people. You know, 273 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.960 So at the time it was like a very very 274 00:15:48.159 --> 00:15:52.360 like violent place, and you know, so it made it 275 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.639 sort of easy for a serial killer to work and 276 00:15:55.759 --> 00:15:59.440 not get caught because the police were so focused on 277 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:03.320 you know, you stop, like the gangs and you know, 278 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:06.480 the drive by shootings and the drug war that they 279 00:16:06.519 --> 00:16:10.399 weren't really paying attention to these serial killers that were 280 00:16:10.480 --> 00:16:16.480 killing women and dumping their bodies in these alleys. 281 00:16:16.600 --> 00:16:21.200 Now you talk about Deborah Jackson, and she has three children, 282 00:16:21.360 --> 00:16:24.559 and she had her first child at fourteen, and so 283 00:16:24.600 --> 00:16:28.480 you talk about this tragic life, but you get to 284 00:16:28.519 --> 00:16:31.080 know everybody here and you get the incredible access to 285 00:16:31.879 --> 00:16:34.480 these people, so you not only put a face on it, 286 00:16:34.519 --> 00:16:38.080 but really an incredible story behind from the information you gather. 287 00:16:39.039 --> 00:16:41.320 Tell us a little bit about Deborah Jackson. 288 00:16:43.320 --> 00:16:48.480 Well, Deborah was the first known victim of the Grim Sleeper. 289 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:53.600 She was a cocktail waitress and lived with her girlfriend 290 00:16:53.919 --> 00:16:57.559 in Lost in South Los Angeles. And you know, she 291 00:16:57.639 --> 00:17:00.720 had three kids when she was quite young and had 292 00:17:00.759 --> 00:17:04.880 moved out to Los Angeles because of her grandmother was 293 00:17:04.960 --> 00:17:08.279 living out here, and so she moved out and she 294 00:17:08.359 --> 00:17:12.279 actually worked in me She was actually like a hairdresser 295 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:14.559 and she did braids and things like that. And then 296 00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.880 she ended up getting a job at a nightclub in Inglewood, 297 00:17:19.319 --> 00:17:22.160 and so you know, she worked, you know, nights, and 298 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:27.799 she had lost her kids for I guess she had 299 00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:30.200 lost them for a few years. She had issues with 300 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:33.839 drugs and so the kids were in foster care. But 301 00:17:33.920 --> 00:17:36.440 at the time of her death. She was actually trying 302 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.559 to get her kids back and was like within days 303 00:17:39.720 --> 00:17:43.279 of reuniting with her children when she was murdered, and 304 00:17:43.480 --> 00:17:45.799 she was kind of she was last seen she was 305 00:17:45.839 --> 00:17:48.480 at a friend's house and then she left to go 306 00:17:48.599 --> 00:17:50.960 back to her place. Her and her girlfriend at the 307 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:55.000 time got into a fight, and so she ended up 308 00:17:55.039 --> 00:17:58.319 staying the night over at a really good friend's house, 309 00:17:58.440 --> 00:18:01.400 and then she was going back up to her old 310 00:18:01.400 --> 00:18:04.759 apartment to a neighbor's house to give this woman twenty 311 00:18:04.839 --> 00:18:08.160 dollars that she owed her and she never made it back, 312 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:11.680 and so the police suspect that she was probably hitch hiking, 313 00:18:12.359 --> 00:18:16.039 and then she was picked up by Lonnie Franklin and 314 00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:18.720 then he killed her and then you know, tossed her 315 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:19.839 body in an alleyway. 316 00:18:23.160 --> 00:18:25.799 Now it's interesting too that the police, of course follow 317 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.319 up every lead, but very early on, and not to 318 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:31.359 beat up on police or anything, but it's just the 319 00:18:31.480 --> 00:18:35.279 story of what happens with her friend, Beatrice, and how 320 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:39.319 they treat her with this death, this former really good friend. 321 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:42.559 Well, yeah, I mean they thought Beatrice was the killer, 322 00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.119 you know what I mean, Because I mean in cases 323 00:18:44.119 --> 00:18:47.119 where you have you know, they always look for murders. 324 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:48.839 You know, you always look at the person you know 325 00:18:48.880 --> 00:18:51.440 that you know, like whoever they're dating or you know, 326 00:18:51.599 --> 00:18:55.319 husband to wife. And so she was suspect, you know, 327 00:18:55.400 --> 00:18:57.720 she was suspect number one, and I mean they thought 328 00:18:57.720 --> 00:19:01.160 it was her up until the time that Henrietta Wright 329 00:19:01.279 --> 00:19:03.799 was killed like a year later. I mean, you know, 330 00:19:03.880 --> 00:19:06.720 they looked at you know, Beatrice and you know, figured 331 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:08.480 it with her, and I mean, you know, they they 332 00:19:08.519 --> 00:19:10.759 grilled her and all this other stuff and thought she 333 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:14.279 was lying and the whole nine yards and so they 334 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:16.759 were fixated on it, you know, and looked for the gun. 335 00:19:16.799 --> 00:19:18.480 You know, they knew she was killed by a twenty 336 00:19:18.480 --> 00:19:20.880 five caliber. They weren't able to find a gun, but 337 00:19:20.960 --> 00:19:23.759 she was like the prime suspects. And it really wasn't 338 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.920 until Henrietta was killed that they thought, oh, geez, maybe 339 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:30.000 it wasn't you know, maybe it's not her, and so 340 00:19:30.079 --> 00:19:32.640 they moved on. And then at that point, when Henrietta 341 00:19:32.680 --> 00:19:36.359 Wright was murdered, a woman came out of the woodwork 342 00:19:36.440 --> 00:19:40.680 and basically said that it was her boyfriend who was responsible. 343 00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.279 And so then they completely focused on on. 344 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:45.640 That, you know. 345 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:47.799 So I mean there was a lot I was talking 346 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:50.079 to a detective and he was telling me that I 347 00:19:50.160 --> 00:19:51.799 told you a couple of detectives, but this one guy 348 00:19:51.839 --> 00:19:54.599 in particular had said that, you know, back you know, 349 00:19:54.599 --> 00:19:56.880 when they were working, like it was seventy seventh Division 350 00:19:57.319 --> 00:20:00.319 LAPD station that was handling you know, the bok of 351 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.279 these murders, and I mean there was like eight detectives 352 00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:06.079 handling like one hundred and thirty hundred and forty cases. 353 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:08.119 And you know, on the weekend, they'd have two detectives 354 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.559 working you know, four, five, six, seven, you know, sometimes 355 00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:14.559 eight cases. So they'd work on something for twenty four 356 00:20:14.559 --> 00:20:17.640 hours if they were lucky, and then they'd get another 357 00:20:17.720 --> 00:20:19.839 case that they'd have to work on. So they never 358 00:20:19.960 --> 00:20:22.359 had time, like, they hardly had time to follow up. 359 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:24.359 And when they did have time to follow up, it 360 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.680 could be like weeks later, you know, when everything had 361 00:20:27.720 --> 00:20:28.400 gone cold. 362 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:29.119 You know. 363 00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:30.799 So they were having a hard time, and then they 364 00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:33.319 were saying that the Parker Center, which was kind of 365 00:20:33.319 --> 00:20:36.839 police headquarters, they weren't getting a lot of support from them, 366 00:20:37.359 --> 00:20:38.880 you know, so they were kind of doing it on 367 00:20:38.920 --> 00:20:42.519 their own. And you know, they worked, you know, twenty 368 00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:45.519 four hours a day sometimes, but it just wasn't enough 369 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:48.559 and the money you know, that Parker Center like headquarters 370 00:20:48.599 --> 00:20:53.279 was getting, was not going to South Los Angeles, you know. 371 00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:55.440 So it was a huge issue, you know, and it 372 00:20:55.480 --> 00:20:58.960 didn't matter if the homicide detectors actually wanted to solve 373 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:02.000 the cases. They just weren't there, weren't the resources. And 374 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:04.480 one detective told me he was like half the time 375 00:21:04.480 --> 00:21:06.559 he didn't even have like would rush around and he'd 376 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:10.200 make these little notes. But they do these investigative reports. 377 00:21:10.240 --> 00:21:12.680 You're supposed to have, like, you know, when there's a homicide, 378 00:21:12.680 --> 00:21:15.279 you're supposed to have these investigative reports and put everything 379 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:19.079 in like everybody you interviewed and whatever. You're supposed to 380 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.960 do it in a timely manner, so you know, so 381 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:24.400 the next person who looks at the case will have 382 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:26.839 the notes and whatever. And some of these detectives were 383 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:29.640 telling me that sometimes it would take weeks before they'd 384 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:32.880 actually write these investigative reports, you know, and they'd have 385 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.599 to do it for memory and they'd forget details, and 386 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:39.200 you know, it was a real mess and it made it, 387 00:21:39.400 --> 00:21:42.279 you know, solving these cases really hard. And I think 388 00:21:42.319 --> 00:21:45.359 that when somebody would turn around and say, hey, so 389 00:21:45.480 --> 00:21:47.440 and so did it, I think they jumped on it, 390 00:21:48.920 --> 00:21:52.319 you know, and that's what they did in some of 391 00:21:52.359 --> 00:21:55.480 the cases unfortunately, you know, So you know, there was 392 00:21:55.519 --> 00:21:58.200 people that were arrested when they had nothing to do 393 00:21:58.279 --> 00:22:00.519 with it. And you know, as you know, there was 394 00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.119 one case there was an LA County sheriff they believed 395 00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:05.799 was responsible, you know, because they found a nine millimeter 396 00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.799 in his car, not a twenty five caliber, but a 397 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.480 nine millimeter and you know, he was charged and it 398 00:22:10.519 --> 00:22:16.160 wasn't until ballistics you know, basically exonerated him that you know, 399 00:22:16.200 --> 00:22:19.160 but even you know, years later, people still believe that 400 00:22:19.200 --> 00:22:20.920 he had something to do with it, you know. And 401 00:22:20.960 --> 00:22:23.480