8a ‘Enietra’ Margette
‘Enietra’ Margette was attacked on November 20, 1988 by a black man aged around 30 driving an orange Ford Pinto. The attack occurred in South Los Angeles.
The attacker shot her in the chest with the same .25 caliber gun, sexually assaulted her and “left her for dead. She survived and is the only known eyewitness of the Grim Sleeper.
She described her attacker as a 30-ish smart ‘preppy’ black man driving a rust, red or orange Ford Pinto. The bullet removed from her chest was matched to the gun used to kill the first eight victims.
…
- Junction of South Western Ave & West 81st street LA
33 Responses to “8a ‘Enietra’ Margette”
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:53 pm
this is so creppy knowing you could be next…..
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:53 pm
I just watched this episode about the grim sleeper on AMW and was really terrified at how unprovoked attacks on both men and women has been unsolved for the past twenty years or so. It very disheartening that this maniac is still loose riding the streets.
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:54 pm
I live in Los Angeles and I have never heard of this maniac. I am wondering why it took the LAPD until now to notify the public. If I were hunting this serial killer I would focus on the surviving witness. She had to have seen something… maybe hypnonsis.
For $500,000 his own mothers is going to turn him in….
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:54 pm
Last night I just watched the AMW, I wonder if he still is alive and if he is where is he?
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:54 pm
Is anyone else curious why they’re willing to release a photograph of her but not her name? It seems rather counterproductive.
As well, the man who attacked her already knows her face so from there it’s a question of whether she was an impulse murder or if he’d been observing her and for how long, or there was another reason he chose to attack her.
And again, what do we know about her background? Criminal history? Relationship history? Does she have any connection to any of the other sleeper victims?
Perhaps an address near them? It would be interesting if we could contact her and get first person information from the survivor.
February 26th, 2009 at: 4:51 am
Western ave. is a major street……….didn’t they have cameras at the interesections in 2007 the time of the last killing ………..Jan. 2007……..can’t they review the tape from that time in whatever area they found the last victim…………to narrow it down to cars in the vacinity fitting the descrption of the last car the killer was known to drive……………He probably has a different car by now………….can’t they narrow it down to Pinto owners through the DMV………..ya know……..this is sick……….quess we still don’t make a difference as a people…….least this is how it seems…………..wonder how many people know someone who has a car or had a car like this………..ya know it don’t take a mad scientist to catch this creep……..the police need to just sit down and look and the whole picture………and fine tune this thing………wonder if he lives near Western……and what if the police beefed up undercover cops in that area……might be able to catch this animal red handed……….hope they catch him soon…..these people were all someones loved one……May the now have peace……..RDB
Comment by rdb — February 26, 2009 @ 4:35 am
February 26th, 2009 at: 1:53 pm
2nd Mention of an Orange/Rust Pinto. Not familiar with this case but did they do a DMV check on the Pintos in that area?
Black Serial Killers are very rare….I too am amazed that this is the first time I have heard about these crimes. I found this link thru an article in Yahoo News today.
February 28th, 2009 at: 2:09 am
how many rust,red,orange pintos can be rolling around in that area? Wouldn’t commen sense tell the police to run a list of registered pintos that match the description to come up with a list of possible suspects? Then, “grim” took quite a lengthy break which makes me think possible prison sentence. Have any of the registered owners of matching pintos been released from prison within 0-12 months before the murders started occuring again? Or relatives of owners? I bet they find him through that.
February 28th, 2009 at: 2:12 am
Also, there was only 1 male victim. My $$$ is on the fact that the male victim knew the suspect and was either an accomplace or had knowledge of the crimes which is why he was murdered.
February 28th, 2009 at: 2:31 am
That is amazing that she survived. I hope the man gets caught. Nobody deserves to be murdered the way he has murdered these people.
March 1st, 2009 at: 1:32 pm
I enjoy doing criminal profiling and I also enjoy doing astrology research and zodiac research, I have many interests however I’ve always been able to watch a perp and tell whether he is guilty or not and know what his defense is going to be. I just “feel” stuff, I am the type of character that observes people and then studies their astrological makeup. I have taken many notes and researched each serial killer and the majority of serial killers have a dual nature: meaning -two personalities at a minimum. The number one serial killer astrology type is not one but two different ones: Gemini and Pisces - they have the good and bad side ticking at all times and it is difficult to suppress the killer inside/the con artist/the manipulator. We’ve all seen the cartoons where the good angel is on one side of the characters shoulder and the devil is on the other shoulder?? Well, this is the same for the said Gemini and Pisces - it is a constant battle and the devil usually wins and then you have the perfect recipe for disatrous events. Well, I could go on and on… however the bottom line is from the blogs and research I’ve done on the said perp. When you read this, yes I’m talking to you aka “The GRIM SLEEPER”, I can tell you the following is true about you: You know who you are and you know what you’ve done is something you enjoy with a passion - it’s the control factor for you. You are doing this because you have isolated yourself from the society that you crave - tranquility, love, and social acceptance. You are handsome yet you are not understanding why you never could get the woman of your dreams. You know you are a gentleman in the public’s eye, yet when you go home you turn into a different person because you are alone and your thoughts devour your sense of self. You need help. However at this point you are going to be arrested and you want to be arrested however you are scared of “people” the public knowing who you are because they will all come at you and they will want to speak to you and they will want to “see you”. I understand that life is hard and full of socially inadequate ways, and even though you are adept at being analytically capable of solving problems -the fact that women choose to be with a man for their money, the sex, the self satisfying conundrum, the fact that the majority of women choose the wrong man for them, the ganster type, the abusers, the alcoholics - all the while you waited and waited to find the right one and they kept doing you “wrong” and once you hit your 20’s and you couldn’t understand why women kept avoiding ltrs with you and then when you hit your 29th or 30th bday and realized that man I’m all alone and want a woman to be with but they hate me because I’m nice? You took it upon yourself to find “love” in the wrong place. You went to a prostitute and even she didn’t want you, she wanted ur money. You hate women that want your money because you make good money and you are smart and you want them to want you for you, for your personality. It is your character that is suffering… I know you are a VIRGO or a LEO, however the way you have chosen to kill your victims tells me you may be on the cusp on the VIRGO/LEO line… The women you raped, you enjoyed raping them, you enjoy sex and that is not okay… I know what your deepest fantasy is…. and now it is too late, you are bound to get the lethal injection. You will cry, scream and kick and yell on the way to the gurney… they will force you to be strapped down, you will fight. They will sedate you and it will be over for you and you will have to go the man himself, the judge GOD, He is going to ask you why you did this, and the answer you have for him He will understand, however if you don’t make peace with HIM before they get you, the outcome will be you going to HELL to face your worst fear… the “trash” the prostitutes will laugh at you and mock you and use you and not give you sex because you are insecure with yourself because you just want to be normal and yet you know you are no longer able to get to the normal self you were at 14… it is never too late. You may email me if you like and I will talk to you and we can work out a resolve for you: I’m at texaslaw7@hotmail.com - The nice clothes you were is not going to make people like you. I am sorry your mom was so mean to you and that your dad was not around…. however even though your mom is no longer with us, she knows what is going on and she is not happy with what you have done, she is not coming back and if you don’t get right with GOD, you will never feel her embrace again. Sooooo, let me help you and in the meantime you can help me collect the $500,000.00 reward and make up for the fact that you hate women to take your money? yet give me the money I would enjoy knowing the resolve had been met and I will talk to you and help you understand why you did this. You can give me your story and I will take it to the news and while they prepare your case - you prepare yours and make a list of what you want to avoid and what you want to have done - and we can have everyone leave you alone and you can be the superstar you want to be without anyone harrassing you. You can be an instant celebrity…
March 7th, 2009 at: 5:03 am
Just wondering, but why didnt they check the DMV for that color/model car. Could you do that back in the mid 80’s.
March 13th, 2009 at: 9:10 am
In my opinion, you must put yourself in the killers perspective. I would want to throw everyone off guard. He probably did drive a yellow pinto at one time, but not anymore. When he shot the male victim behind the ear, it certaily threw us off didnt it? im sure theres more to this than we know. they gave the surviving witness a john doe name. shes the key to solving this obviously. anything she saw if she was in that car, anything on the floor, in back, assuming she should see, would prove to be crucial.
March 13th, 2009 at: 3:23 pm
The police do make mistakes. However, not checking DMV records on a car seen in a murder case is probably not one of them.
March 13th, 2009 at: 8:06 pm
Bluck- 1. What a crock of shit. 2. You’re a sick bastard for trying to profit off this. Get help.
March 14th, 2009 at: 3:48 am
Ok, i live in Los Angeles and im wondering why i’ve NEVER heard of this killer? I am amazed at the fact that it has taken this long for the police to notify the public about this, i saw this link on my msn home page. ALSO, What the HELL is wrong with this Bluck person?! The entire time it seems like he’s trying to reach the killer and then his REAL reason comes out at the end, “help me collect the $500,000.00″ ??? Man you are just one sick bastard trying to profit out of something this horrible and you are a selfish prick.
March 15th, 2009 at: 10:23 am
What caliber gun was used in Janecia Peters killing? It seems like he went dormant after the failed killing and when he resurfaced in early 2000 he didn’t have a gun, resorting to strangulation on a weaker and more vulnerable person (14 year old). By reading all the given facts it’s my guess he was recently released from prison (or in and out of prison) keep in mind the 13 year gap. He was not sentenced in L.A. county. He fled the L.A. area (he felt he failed and ‘Jackie’ would identify him) and was probably arrested in another jurisdiction/county for a violent crime (back then in the 80s, there was no DNA database). Upon his release, he had to have paroled to the only place he knew, HOME. Look for continuing parole violations involving drugs and the parolee eventually in and out of prison so much they finally said time served. This guy is a drug addict/ex-drug addict, he is involved in church and uses that clean cut persona to charm his victims, has trouble interacting sexually with women brought on by insecurities and rejection. He is the quite and smooth type. He obviously feels very confertable in the L.A. area, dumping these women within the dark alleys that he so often rode his bike through when he was a child. He isn’t as slick as everyone thinks and does not go on the prowl but acts more on instinct and urge after a drug induced frenzy. He doesn’t crave the attention but is rather annoyed that he’s on the radar. He will and has changed his MO a bit but he will always slip up due to is instinctive impulses (saliva on breast, semen. etc…). I really would like to know ALOT more about Thomas Steele’s murder. I believe that is the link!!!!!
March 18th, 2009 at: 11:54 pm
Curious to see what the survivor has to say about the callers voice on that 911 tape.
March 20th, 2009 at: 4:51 am
Bless her soul — I hope Enietra gets proper protection just in case he tries to strike again.
April 1st, 2009 at: 8:15 pm
If u know who it is why dont u go to the cops… unless ur apart of all this….
April 5th, 2009 at: 12:02 am
For those of you who wonder why it took the police “this long” to reveal the killers presence in the City of Los Angeles, consider this:
They stood a better chance of finding him if the killer didn’t know they had his finger prints and his DNA and that a victim had survived and given his description. Now that the media has destroyed the advantage the police had, the killer will likely change his MO and his location and probably get away for good.
The fact that you didn’t know of the serial killer didn’t increase your chances of being killed. You can’t just get into a car with a stranger and think your not at risk of violence. If you do that as part of your life, then you’re going to find trouble without even considering the GS. If you do illegal drugs, you’re going to find trouble anyway. If you’re involved in prostitution, you’re going to find trouble.
April 6th, 2009 at: 12:59 am
Questions for the group:
1. When did the Cosmopolitan Church shut down? Does anyone have an address?
2. If Thomas Steele was shot behind the right ear, he could not have been a passenger in the car from which he was dumped. Either he was already dead, or he was the driver? Was he or his sister affiliated with the church? What was Thomas Steele arrested for?
3. Does anyone know if 1356 E. 56th Street a single-family house or apartment? The 9-11 caller rattled that address off pretty quick, which tells me he might have been a resident, not a homeless person.
4. Did the church have a drug re-hab program?
April 6th, 2009 at: 1:23 am
Ok heres the Pinto again. I guess it is important.
In hindsight it would have been a good idea to warn the public earlier. News of a serial killer would have spread quickly. Maybe this victim doesnt get into an orange pinto.
April 6th, 2009 at: 3:43 am
There is something the survivor is leaving out of her story or that the public doesn’t know. Was she or wasn’t she a prostitute? The killer definatly got scared and stopped killing for a while(at least that we know of). Who knows, he could have kept it up and dumped more victims in dumpsters (never be found again).
April 6th, 2009 at: 4:28 am
Ok, folks, the GS is NOT driving the rust colored Ford Pinto these days. it was last seen 21 years ago, for one thing, and was probably not a new car when the lone survivor saw it. That thing was sent to the wrecking yard a long time ago. It would be worthwhile to check DMV records for registered owners of orange Pintos in that area in the late 80s though.
April 6th, 2009 at: 2:13 pm
Jay - I tend to agree with you - you seem the most clued up. He is most likely on drugs / ex-druggie - however he will def. be plagued with some form of psychological disorder. For someone who is dressed “preppy” isn’t it odd that he would be driving a pinto? This may just be a method to coerce the victims into the vehicle. How does he get the victims into the car? Gunpoint? Verbal manipulation? This would be important. Did he talk to the victim that survived - did he say anything of significance to her? There must be a deep rooted childhood problem. Prostitutes are common victims as they are vulnerable and not easily missed - however it is generally more to it than just that - he must have come from a family childhood where either:
a) Physically abusive father and religious mother (religiously abusive mother - humiliating/demeaning/punishing methods used)
b) Promiscuous mother who was abusive / absent father figure.
He has a definite hate for women and view them as “whores” - dumps their body in trash and covers them because that is how he views them. He shows no remorse.
I am also sure that during his 13 years of silence he continued committing crimes in another area. However he may have been on some sort of medication to stop the urges during this time - he was laying low as not to get caught - the victim survived. His first victim 13 years later took 3 months to find. Did he dump the body 3 months after killing her or did he have her “kidnapped” for that period of time?
He may/ may not be involved in the church. Often people suffering from paranoid schitzophrenia have an obsession with religion - involving themselves in the church or similar - acting very holy and judgemental - believing they can rid the world of evil in some twisted way. More often than not that which they regard as “evil” would be something / someone that effected them in their youth. They believe God wants them to do these things - however the fact that they never come forward or do it hidden means they know its for their own gain.
I am guessing he is often rejected by women. He may be dressed “preppy” to attract women. He may also have come from a very poor background and has created this persona to detach himself. He generally killed at least every 4 months. This is done on urge. He doesnt necessarily want to kill. Killing provides him with a sense of relief. Relief of perhaps voices, desires, anger, hatred - a build up of something intense that he has no control over and that effects his daily life. He most likely had a criminal record - petty crimes - going way back to when he was much younger.
I am sure he grew up in the area - he knows the alleys - he probably grew up a lot on the streets as a youngster. Poor family, parents seldom present, very abused youngster. He works in the area at the moment. Will most likely be between 55 and 60 considering most ppl with a psychological disorder start acting on it in their late twenties to early thirties.
His victims get younger as he gets older. His first victim was 29 - his second victim 35. Someone close to his own age - he was at the height of his physical/mental strength at that time so he could select a stronger victim - someone more in line with what he truly hated. I believe his mother was most likely young when she gave birth to him.
As he gets older and weaker his victims get younger too. This indicates he is probably not a very powerful man. Probably not very big or strong physically.
The fact that a man was killed is interesting but not uncommon. He may have witnessed something, said something, been at the wrong place at the wrong time - serial killers do not always have reasons to kill - they sometimes simply do it out of anger and hatred from the past. They are acting out a fantasy. They KNOW their victim is not the real person/concept they hate - but acting it out and following through with it releases some form of “tension” - it lasts a short while and then it starts to build up all over again.
The dodge that was spotted - surely if only a handful of persons had access to this vehicle they should be aware who the designated driver was. What confuses me is - if you can see a license plate number surely you can see the man? Did he stay inside the car when dumping the body? You need to be in a reasonably close proximity to witness the license plate number - why was he able to see the license plate number but the killer wasnt able to see him? I dont think that the guy who made the phone call is involved - i think he was just a merchant or a petty criminal who didnt want to give up his details to cover up for himself. He said he dumped a gas tank on the body ? Why a gas tank? Was this verified to be true?
April 7th, 2009 at: 11:04 am
Here is the shortened testimony provided by the survivor to LA Weekly:
The night she was shot, Margette was still smarting from a breakup with her husband, her Inglewood High School sweetheart. She had just returned from a trip to Louisiana to visit cousins, and was helping out an elderly man in her neighborhood whose wife had recently passed away. As evening approached, she got ready to go to a party with her best friend, Lynda Lewis.
Around dusk, she walked toward her friend’s house, dressed in her favorite blue-and-cream peasant blouse and tight cream-colored Calvin Klein denim mini. She was passing D & S Market in South L.A. when she noticed an orange Ford Pinto with a white racing stripe on the hood. She remembers the parked car because “it looked like a Hot Wheels car,” she says, pointing to the run-down market on West 91st Street and Normandie Avenue where the car sat that day.
From inside, the driver, a black man in his early 30s, asked her if she wanted a ride. He looked neat. Tidy. Kind of geeky. He wore a black polo shirt tucked into khaki trousers. She declined the offer. He kept asking her. She refused again, thinking, “I like chocolate milk, but he wasn’t my type.”
“He told me, ‘That is what is wrong with you black women. You think you are all that,” she says. The two traded friendly barbs back and forth. But his comment, which she took as a playful diss, prompted her to change her mind. Just 30, she enjoyed hitchhiking in those days, and accepted his offer of a ride for a few blocks to her friend’s house. Despite the drug violence raging in neighborhoods around her, it wasn’t neat-looking strangers who had her concerned. “It wasn’t a worry,” she recalls.
Once inside, Margette was impressed by the car’s interior. The gear-shift handle was memorable, pimped out with a ping-pong-sized marble ball. The inside was all-white, with white diamond-patterned upholstery. She liked what she saw, and when he invited himself to the party, she said he was welcome to come.
He merely needed to make a quick stop at his uncle’s house to pick up some money, or so he said.
They wound through residential roads in his sporty car, ending up on a street whose name she did not take note of. The polite stranger parked outside a mustard-colored house partly obscured by hedges, got out, walked up to the house, briefly talked to someone inside, and returned about 10 minutes later.
*
Orly Olivier
A “preppy black man”: That’s how Enietra Margette remembers the Grim Sleeper outside this market.
A “preppy black man”: That’s how Enietra Margette remembers the Grim Sleeper outside this market.
*
Orly Olivier
Detective Dennis Kilcoyne (left) and Chief William Bratton seek the public’s help. Below, an old headline points to the wrongly accused Deputy Rickey Ross.
Detective Dennis Kilcoyne (left) and Chief William Bratton seek the public’s help. Below, an old headline points to the wrongly accused Deputy Rickey Ross.
But now, she says, he was entirely different. He drove off, started to say something, turned a corner — then went quiet. “He asked me, ‘Why did you dog me out?’” she recalls. She had no idea what he was talking about. He called her by the name of a well-known local prostitute who walked the streets around Normandie Avenue and looked like Margette, except the streetwalker wore an auburn wig while Margette’s black hair was cropped short like a boy’s.
Margette remembers thinking that his weird use of the streetwalker’s nickname was an odd coincidence, because a few days earlier somebody else mistook her for the auburn-wigged woman. But Margette, a tough young woman who’d been involved in a few scraps, wasn’t scared. She was much bigger-boned than her thin, spindly-looking companion, and she was irritated by his hostile tone — something she heard often from the malingering drug dealers and gangsters in her area.
“Who do you think you are talking to?” she responded, showing him some attitude. He suddenly pulled a small handgun out of a pocket on the driver’s side of the Pinto, and shot her in the chest as he drove along the residential streets.
Incredibly, Margette did not lose consciousness, panic or flee. More than anything, she remembers being utterly baffled as blood began dripping down her blue-and-white peasant shirt. “That was something that stuck in my head,” she says. She demanded to know: Why had he shot her? And who would take care of her kids if she died? She felt blood trickle down her face, and her blouse grew wet with it.
She blacked out, but was startled awake by the bright flash of a Polaroid camera. The creep had taken her picture and sexually assaulted her. She remembers grabbing at him, and the two struggled. She pleaded to be taken to a hospital. He refused. Despite her half-conscious condition, she’s almost certain he told her he couldn’t take her to a hospital because he didn’t want to get caught.
The gunman peeled off through the night, Margette bleeding beside him. He finally pulled over, beat her senseless with his gun, opened her door and pushed her onto the darkened street.
But police say the Grim Sleeper had never met a victim quite like Enietra Margette. She picked herself up, and, in what is assumed to have been a state of shock, walked the many blocks to her best friend’s house, leaving a bloody meandering trail along the street and smeared on parked cars.
April 14th, 2009 at: 5:08 pm
GatorALLin
Member
I think it would be cool if this website would allow donations through PayPal or other sources that then could be used to catch the killer faster. Maybe a top 3 list of things that could be done with the money could help direct spending it wisely. Top 3 list sample: #1 Hire a private investigator on the ground in LA to track down clues proposed by this website and then post. #2 hire a photoshop expert to work with the surviving victim to make a sketch of the killer’s face and orange “pimped out” pinto to circulate online or by fliers/billboards/other. #3 hire a press expert to find ways to keep the case active and in the public eye so this case never gets lost in the background again. Money coming in and out would need to be clearly shown (not for profit website). Donations could be as little as $1 and be made anonymously. There are tons of arm chair detectives at home who love watching every TV show on how to catch a killer…everyone has their own clever ideas, or even I find myself saying how did the cops miss that chance to catch them then….”I would have done ___ differently”. Now in a small way we could all participate. Yes the $500K reward money will shake things up, but none of that money gets spent ahead of time to help catch him faster. What if we could all make a difference? I spend money on a lottery ticket I know has no real chance to win, but is exciting just to think about it and be involved. Consider this along the same lines… Just my 2 cents… How do you feel? (1 part crime TV, one part internet, one part reality TV, one part activist= online crimeactivist) or coin your own term for it…I bet you can make up a term that is even better…
April 29th, 2009 at: 1:17 am
The most important details are the car’s lures:
The survivor said “An orange Ford Pinto with a white racing stripe on the hood.
The gear-shift handle was MEMORABLE, pimped out with a ping-pong-sized marble ball. The inside was all-white, with white diamond-patterned upholstery”
For more detail of the gear-shift handle : http://www.wholesale-glass-dealer.com/products/GearShiftKnob/GearShiftKnob.htm
- There were not many Ford Pinto with WHITE interior color.
Do many of us know someone who had a car: a Ford + all white inside + gear-shift handle like marble ball? That would have been “ MEMORABLE” (She said). Someone must REMEMBER!
May 25th, 2009 at: 6:27 am
Did this woman get a call from police to confirm the verbal disprition of the Grim Sleeper or did the LAPD at the time offer to get a forenzic sketch artist to may the profile detail feature of the Grim Sleeper?
I think she needs to see the photos of that guy ” John F Thomas” before we all get carried away. She might have the answer, and not realize it.
May 30th, 2009 at: 3:28 am
Jay (comment #24): no, Ms. Margette was NOT a prostitute but TGS confused her with a prostitute from the neighborhood. What does not (in my opinion) add up here is that she accepted a ride from a total stranger AND told him he could invite himself to the party she was going to. Regardless of how well-dressed or good-looking he may have been it just doesn’t make sense that a normal-thinking person would give a total stranger such confidence. In any case, the police should not have kept the sole surviving witness “in the dark” about her attacker’s being a suspected serial killer–what’s tragic about this is that her description of TGS as he was back in 1988 is probably useless today as time has passed and he (almost certainly) looks very different today. I do tend to agree, however, with those who say that the Pinto’s interior decorating had to have been done at a custom decorating place.
July 13th, 2009 at: 7:23 pm
Just curious if anyone had seen that there was a serial killer working on dirt roads in NC. Apparently one of the few survivors was able to give details about the suspected killer (no proof yet this is the killer), but noticed a hand painted lettering on the truck. I thought it was odd at least that he was a thin black guy…and made a big leap that it was our Grim Sleeper (with the assumption that there are few thin, black, & active serial killers in the USA). See what you think…?
http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/13/searching-for-a-serial-killer/
August 10th, 2009 at: 10:22 am
HERE IS OUR GUY. THIS IS WHERE HE WENT TO “HIDE OUT”!!!!
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D989KSR00&show_article=1
Leave a Reply