Grim Sleeper Trial: Graphic Photos, Opening Statements Begin Trial of Accused Serial Killer

Lonnie Franklin Jr., who has been charged with 10 counts of murder in what have been dubbed the "Grim Sleeper" serial killings that spanned two decades, arrives for a court hearing in Los Angeles on Friday, Feb. 6, 2015. Franklin is scheduled to go on trial at the end of June after anguished family members of the victims told a judge Friday they were tired of years of delay. The 62-year-old is accused of shooting eight of the victims and strangling two of them from 1985 to 2007, the brunt of the crimes during a period when crack cocaine plagued parts of Los Angeles. Police arrested Franklin in July 2010 after his DNA was connected to more than a dozen crime scenes. At left, is attorney, Louisa Pensanti. AP Photo/Nick Ut

LOS ANGELES—Their bodies were dumped in alleys and garbage bins in south Los Angeles, some naked, some covered with mattresses and trash. Most had been fatally shot in the chest after some type of sexual contact, others strangled.

As prosecutor Beth Silverman showed photo after photo of the 10 victims to a packed courtroom on Tuesday, family members of the dead young women shook as they wept. Some covered their faces, others had to walk out.

It was an emotional beginning to the long-awaited “Grim Sleeper” trial, which comes more than 30 years since the first victim’s death.

Lonnie Franklin Jr. has pleaded not guilty to killing nine women and a 15-year-old girl between 1985 and 2007 in one of the city’s most notorious serial killer cases. The “Grim Sleeper” nickname was coined because of an apparent 14-year gap in the murders between 1988 and 2002.

In this Feb. 8, 2016 photo, Porter Alexander holds a photo of his daughter, an alleged victim of the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer, at his home in Los Angeles. AP Photo/Nick Ut