Reward Set for 'Grim Sleeper' Serial Killer

Los Angeles detectives hope a $500,000 reward set by the city council last week will produce some new leads in the case of a serial killer they believe is responsible for 11 deaths over a two decade period. All of the victims, 10 women and a man, were black and were found near South Los Angeles.

Because the killer stopped killing from 1988 until 2002 the LA Weekly newspaper dubbed him the "Grim Sleeper."

Investigators said seven women and a man were killed with the same handgun between August 1985 and September 1988. All of the women had been sexually assaulted and most of their bodies were dumped in the same alley in South Los Angeles.

Then the killings stopped for 13 years.

"What accounted for that gap, we still don't know," police Capt. Denis Cremins said at a news conference. "We try not to engage in conjecture."

Murders Resumed in March 2002

In March 2002, police found the body of 14-year-old Princess Berthomieux was found in an alley in Inglewood. She had been beaten and strangled, but DNA evidence linked her murder to the earlier serial killings.

There was another murder linked to the same killer in 2003 and the latest murder in the series was that of 25-year-old Jenecia Peters who was found shot and covered in a garbage bag in January 2007.

Investigators are comparing prison records with the 13-year gap in the murders to see if violent criminals were locked up during that exact period. They are also searching DNA databases for possible matches. See Also:
$500,000 Reward as Cops Hunt L.A. Serial Killer

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