The Grim Sleeper Investigation

Here is the LAPD’s latest community Alert featuring the three new composite images and summery:

PDF of Community Alert with composites

And here they are:

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The Grim Sleeper Official Aged composite

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I’m not altogether convinced that the two aged images actually resemble how the younger man would look 20 years later. The middle image bears no real resemblance to the young guy and the two older men in this trio look to be two different men entirely - instead of being two representations of the same guy. Even if I do say so myself… I prefer our attempt.

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comments and opinion please

A quick post to mention that we’ve had a bit of info to say the LAPD will be holding a press conference and releasing an official aged composite of the Grim Sleeper on Thursday (17th December).  I’m eager to see their interpretation and compare it to our aged image.

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More soon…

Following the removal of our aged composite of the Grim Sleeper, we contacted LAPD for a reaction and to ask if they had any objections to it being published it on this website.

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So far we haven’t received a reply which is not surprising. We also contacted Margaret Prescod via Black Coalition. We received a quick reply asking only for the reasons for our interest in the case and for some ‘backgrouind’ on the website. We pointed them in the direction of an LAWeekly article about this website in the hope that it would answer their queries. Alas they have not made further contact with us so we’re guessing that The Grim Sleeper website  is perhaps not serious enough to warrant a response.

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It is not altogether surprising although we had hoped that Ms. Prescod would be appreciative of even the tiniest attempt to help catch this killer and look favorably on our efforts. Perhaps the email didn’t actually reach Margaret or maybe she has yet to send a reply. We’ll continue waiting.

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We’ve contacted LAWeekly’s Christine Pelisek who has been most helpful in the past and we hope to receive a reply from her soon.

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We want to put the aged composite back on the website but are reluctant to do so it until we get some further advice.

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Watch this space (or the one above!)

We’ve had a go at preparing a mock-up of a souped up Pinto in an effort to produce a ‘composite’ of the killer’s car based on witness’ accounts in 1988.  The model shown below is a 1970’s orange pinto with alloy wheels and the white stripe. We want opinions and suggestions so we can tweak the image to arrive at an ideal interpretation of the car.

Grim Sleeper's Pinto?

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ADDITION:

A question often asked about the orange Pinto identified by several witnesses is whether it actually WAS a Pinto or something similar.  Could the make of car be something other than a Pinto? It seems that this car was spotted on at least two separate occasions so the killer either owned the car or had regular access to it.  As has already been mentioned, the car was clearly souped up and the owner was obviously proud to show it off (again we reiterate why would a killer garner attention in this manner?). This clue (the car) is a big one - it’s not a nondescript vehicle that’s hard to spot, it’s a red light of a clue that should be easily traceable by police. Given that the Blue Van, the links to the Cosmopolitan Church, the ideally place witness  and the souped up orange Pinto are such huge clues, why has this killer been so lucky in evading capture?

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comments please…

You’ve probably noted the missing image in the post below. We’ve decided to remove our aged composite because we’ve had a rethink on the implications of publishing an unofficial image.  An updated composite should come from LAPD once they have decided how to approach the task. They have the responsibility and expertise to do this whereas we (armchair detectives) can only make educated guesses that are at best ’shots the the dark’.

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Our image, while maintaining elements of the original might be way off the mark and as such could be a detriment to the case. We do not want this. If in a few months the LAPD fails to offer up an alternative aged image then perhaps we can think again but  for now we should make do with the 1988 version.

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No one has approached us with a demand to remove the image, we’ve made this decision alone. We like the result of our effort. It certainly looks like the younger man in middle age - the resemblance between the two is obvious and the aging looks natural and how one would expect the younger man to look on hitting 50+.

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A couple of news websites have shown our image. Alas one news site has shown the original (1988) version with the erroneous report that it is the aged version!

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WHEN this killer is caught we can at least see how near (or far of) the mark we were!

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We urge LAPD to release a good quality updated version of the composite as quickly as possible so that the public can help find this man before he kills again.

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Let us know what you think about our decision  and sorry for backtracking.

Using the recently released composite sketch of the Grim Sleeper, we’ve attempted to manipulate the image to reflect how the killer might look today.

Here is the LAPD’s  OFFICIAL 1988 composite sketch…

LAPD OFFICIAL 1988 Composite

and below is  thegrimsleeper.com’s UNOFFICIAL ‘updated version’…

UNOFFICIAL AGED Composite

We think the result gives a good interpretation of how the younger man in the original composite would have aged over the last 21 years. The older man now has a duller, worn look around his eyes, his hairline has receded and the skin on his face has dropped. The face is fuller and the glabella is lower over the eyes. He now has deeper set nasiolabial lines and darker skin tones.

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Discuss…

21 years ago to the day that the only known survivor of the Grim Sleeper gave a description of her attacker to police, the LAPD has finally re-released a composite sketch of the killer. Is is part of a renewed effort to jog the collective memory of the south LA community who up until this week had not been aware that such a sketch existed.

Grim Sleeper in 1988?

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The sketch was created after the survivor ‘Enietra’ Margette was able to provide a description of her assailant following the attack on November 20 1988  - exactly 21 years ago - almost to the day that the sketch was re-issued.

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Below is MyFoxLA’s news report update on the newly released sketch…

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Newsweek has a new write-up on The Grim Sleeper investigation which is now gathering pace thanks to the ‘dogged’ efforts of Christine Pelisek of LA Weekly. The article poses an interesting question - Should the police be circumspect while investigating cases like this or should the public be kept in the loop? Does public awareness aid the investigation or can it hinder chances of catching the killer?

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It’s a hard question to answer and both options have benefits and drawbacks. In any investigation it is vital to create leads and collect fresh information and the best way to do this is by asking the community for help. People living, working and travelling through the area have expert knowledge that can crack a case wide open but they have no idea they possess this valuable knowledge until they are made aware of its importance. However, as soon as the investigation is in the public domain a huge advantage is given to the killer. S/he will be able to follow the story, track progress, cover tracks and generate false leads, create alibis, scupper potential leads, change MO, change location and generally do anything possible to thwart capture.

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Opening the investigation to the public also poses problems created by the shear number of leads generated. The public likes to help but too much help is sometimes more damaging than no help at all. The investigators have extra work (and wasted man hours) sifting through the information, picking the useful stuff out from the pile - the tiny amount of wheat in a huge pile of chaff! Conversely an investigation that is conducted behind-the-scenes attracts less new information but the quality of any new leads is possibly higher and ultimately more useful. Isn’t it? it’s a tough call.

This is a reply to one of our previous Grim Sleeper blog entries. We’ve pasted it below as it is quite a thought (and hopefully discussion ) provoking comment:

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A comment from a Grim Sleeper blog reader ‘Jack’

Some personal gut feelings:

The Grim-Sleeper doesn’t live in the South Central area. Not anymore. He spent his youth there, teens, maybe twenties. Has a few associates, knows his way around, but that world is not one he frequents.

My guess is, he’s from the NW Inglewood area. More affluent, better educated. I’m thinking Ladera Heights, Fox Hills, maybe more southern…Lennox, Hawthorne. When he wants to play he goes back to his old stomping ground. That’s why most people don’t remember his car.

Think about it….A car like that? In South Central? Late 80’s.

Crack-Heads would’a stripped it dry before his key left the lock.

Also, he wasn’t in jail. He screwed the pooch on that last diddy and he’s thinking, “FUCK! She’s alive. She saw my face. Did she get my license? Does she remember where we stopped?”

And so he goes quiet, ’cause he fucked up really bad and he’s not dumb. He stays away from Western and ditches his .25 pea-shooter.

The 14 year-old, Princess, is interesting. She resurrects him. Where did she go to school? Who was her case-worker? Who picked up the phone when the foster parents call and say, “She ran away again”. Did he fancy her photo from some file? Did he ever interview her? Keep tabs on her?

Who did she roll with on the street? Someone had her back……until they didn’t…

Maybe he gets word she’s hit the streets, and goddamn it if she ain’t runnin’ around his old neighborhood. He goes out, catches word of where she’s hangin’, thinks if anybody asks I’m just pickin’ her up and returning her to foster care.

He gets her in the car…..Says we’re gonna have a little talk….drives somewhere quiet…and the beast is back.

Pretty fuckin’ thin….

Other random thoughts:

The 911 Caller - Was it him? Guy sounds articulate. Cool. Calm. He has all that information - exact address, license plate, make, model, color, calls it a murder, male suspect……but HE DIDN’T SEE THE GUY? I mean, Jesus Christ, that’s a PERFECT description….except for the guy.

Was he trying to throw the cops off? Or I could be wrong. If the cops pulled some evidence from the van—like a print—and matched it to a later crime scene, then the caller was probably legit.

Also, the last three victims were all killed ON or within a WEEK of a major holiday. Christmas time-Princess…..Post July 4th-McCorvey…..New Years Eve-Peters.

You kill this Janecia on New Years Eve and your family doesn’t know you’re missing? Is this guy a loner? What’s a 50 year-old doing hanging out with a 25 year-old stranger on New Years. And he obviously had her at a quiet place ’cause she was found naked, in a black trash bag….so the crime scene is….elsewhere.

And this Orange Pinto. Are we sure it was a Ford Pinto? Or was it a Datsun? Or something similiar. One thing’s for sure, he drove it for atleast a year. A neighbor spotted Mary Lowe getting into it in Oct.1987 and then his surviving victim described it in Nov.1988.

And it was his baby. His flare for some color and flash. Finding that car would be a huge break. But maybe he ditched it after the botched murder…

…all I know is I saw an Old-Ass but well-kept orange Datsun at 6231 S. Halm Avenue…License Plate 288-NDW or NOW or NQW.

…I was too much of a pussy to go in the guy’s driveway. Also, there are multiple old, well-kept cars, small and covered on Shenandoah Avenue, nearby. I wanted to take a peak under their covers because come of them look like the same size/shape of a Pinto.

I’ll keep my eyes peeled….YOU should TOO.

Lastly, this guy has balls. I drove down Western today, around some of the murder sights, and let me tell you, my pasty white Irish-ass hasn’t gotten that many double-takes since living in Mexico. It is black. And it is hard.

-And I’ve been to some pretty hairy place in my life. But this neighborhood is tough and it will be hard to crack. This guy definitely at one time, lived there.

Good luck, everyone.

Keep your ears and eyes open. Somewhere, some guy has an old Polaroid of a serial-killer standing next to his eye-sore Orange Pinto, waving, wearing a big shit-eating grin……And that holds the key…

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Discuss