Pictures of John Wesley Ewell and his car were released in October.
Police don't know why he saved a July newspaper story on “Grim Sleeper” case. |
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Suspect in multiple slayings had newspaper article about 'Grim Sleeper' in his car
Deputies don't know why John Wesley Ewell, accused of killing four, kept an account of Lonnie Franklin's arrest in July.
by Richard Winton
Los Angeles Times
November 6, 2010
Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies found a copy of a newspaper announcing the arrest of the "Grim Sleeper" serial killer suspect in the car of a Harbor Gateway handyman charged with killing four people during three home-invasion robberies.
The newspaper is one of the clues detectives are studying in the case of John Wesley Ewell.
"It was really the only paper we found inside his car," Det. Peter Hecht said. "The subject is certainly telling." |
Lonnie Franklin, accused of being the Grim Sleeper, was arrested July 7 on suspicion of at least 10 murders since 1985 across South L.A.
The killings with which Ewell is charged began Sept. 24 with the death of an 80-year-old man and include the death of a woman who lives on the same block as Ewell and the strangulation of a couple inside their Hawthorne home.
Detectives are not investigating Ewell, who faces capital murder charges, in connection with any other killings, said Sheriff's Lt. Dave Coleman.
Other than the newspaper, there are few clues to Ewell's possible motive after a life as a career criminal. "We don't [know] what caused him to snap," Coleman said. "He was brazen. He used the ATM card from the couple several times. He didn't make an effort to hide his face from the camera."
Detectives said Ewell also tried to make it appear that a killer was still on the loose. A man who had contact with Ewell in jail later used a victim's debit card, according to investigators. Coleman said that man is now cooperating with detectives.
Sheriff Lee Baca said detectives are still seeking evidence that connects Ewell to the "terrifying spree of murders." He said that detectives seized items from Ewell's home connecting him to the victims but that they believe Ewell may have pawned, sold or given away some items.
Authorities allege that Ewell cased neighborhoods in Hawthorne and Harbor Gateway, pretending to be a utility worker to gain entry to homes. Surveillance tape shows a man carrying a briefcase entering one of the homes.
Although Ewell's neighbors on 12600 block of Hoover Street describe him as a popular and likable local handyman, investigators characterized him as a career criminal with two strikes and convictions for forgery, robbery and burglary dating to the 1980s.
Before the slayings, Ewell was charged in September with burglarizing a Hawthorne Home Depot store.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-home-slayings-20101106,0,4180507.story?track=rss |
