How a Determined L.A. Reporter Helped Expose the Alleged Grim Sleeper Killer

In the mid-1980s, the crack cocaine epidemic raged in South Los Angeles. Deadly gang warfare bloodied the streets. But these murders were different: young black women, killed in the same manner and dumped on the streets. By 1988, the murders appeared to stop. Around 15 years later, they resumed, inspiring L.A. Weekly reporter Christine Pelisek to nickname the killer the Grim Sleeper. Pelisek also broke the story behind the investigation that eventually led police to a retired sanitation worker named Lonnie Franklin Jr. He's now accused of murdering at least nine women and a teenage girl in South L.A. between 1985 and 2007. We talked to Pelisek outside the L.A. Criminal Courts building, where she’s covering the trial for People Magazine. She says the victims seemed to have a lot in common. A warning; some listeners might find portions of this interview disturbing.