SAN QUENTIN – Lonnie D. Franklin Jr., on death row for the murders of nine women and one teenage girl committed between 1985 and 2007, died on Saturday, March 28, at San Quentin State Prison. He was 67 years old.
Franklin was found unresponsive in his single cell on March 28 at about 7:20 p.m. Medical assistance was rendered and an ambulance was summoned. Franklin was pronounced deceased at 7:43 p.m. His cause of death is pending the results of an autopsy; however, there were no signs of trauma.
Franklin, a serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper,” was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on Aug. 10, 2016, for 10 counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder. He arrived onto death row on Aug. 17, 2016.
Since 1978, when California reinstated capital punishment, 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, 14 have died from other causes and eight – including Franklin – are pending a cause of death. There are 727 people on California’s death row.
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March 29, 2020 Contact: Terry.thornton@cdcr.ca.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE