Chester Dwayne Turner, California U.S.A (1 Viewer)
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Classification: Serial killer
Characteristics: Rape
Number of victims: 13
Date of murders: 1987 - 1998
Date of birth: November 5, 1966
Victims profile: Paula Vance, 24; Brenda Bries, 39; Diane Johnson, 21; Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Tammie Christmas; Debra Williams, 32; Mary Edwards, 42
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on July 10, 2007
Characteristics: Rape
Number of victims: 13
Date of murders: 1987 - 1998
Date of birth: November 5, 1966
Victims profile: Paula Vance, 24; Brenda Bries, 39; Diane Johnson, 21; Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Tammie Christmas; Debra Williams, 32; Mary Edwards, 42
Method of murder: Strangulation
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Status: Sentenced to death on July 10, 2007
Chester Dewayne Turner (born November 5, 1966 in Warren, Arkansas) is a convicted serial killer. He was charged with the murders of 10 women in Los Angeles; on April 30, 2007, he was convicted for all 10 murders, and was also found guilty in the death of one of his victim's unborn child, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in the city’s history. On July 10, 2007, Turner was sentenced to death.
Early life
Turner moved to Los Angeles with his mother when he was five years old, after his parents separated. He attended public schools in Los Angeles but dropped out of high school. Working for Domino's Pizza as a cook and delivery person as a young man, he lived with his mother until she moved to Utah. After that, he moved around to different homeless shelters and missions. Turner was jailed seven times from 1995 to 2002, six for nonviolent offenses and one assault charge on an officer on April 9, 1997.
Murders
Turner has been connected, through DNA, to 13 murders that occurred in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998. Eleven of these murders took place in a four-block-wide corridor that ran on either side of Figueroa Street between Gage Avenue and 108th Street.
The two murders outside of this corridor occurred Los Angeles County:
Paula Vance, 24, found in the business, Olympia Tool, in Azusa.
Brenda Bries, 39, found strangled in a portable toilet near Little Tokyo.
The Vance murder was witnessed from a bystander at a neighboring trailer park. There was DNA recovered from the Vance crime scene.
At that time, Turner was serving an eight-year sentence at a California state prison for sexually assaulting a 47-year-old woman in March 2002. Turner assaulted the victim for approximately two hours and threatened to kill her if she told the police. Upon his conviction, Turner was required to give a DNA sample to California’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). In September 2003, based on that sample, Turner was identified as a match for DNA recovered from Vance and Beasley.
Detectives then began a careful examination of Turner’s background. Nine of the 11 unsolved murders were matched to Turner using DNA evidence:
Diane Johnson, 21, found partially nude and strangled in March 1987 in a roadway construction area west of the Harbor Freeway.
Annette Ernest, 26, found lying on a shoulder of a road in October 1987, partially nude and strangled.
Anita Fishman, 31, strangled and left partially nude outside a garage in an alley off Figueroa Street in January 1989.
Regina Washington, 27, also found partially nude and strangled inside a garage off Figueroa Street in September 1989. Washington was six months pregnant. The death of the fetus was attributed to the strangulation of the mother, and it was ruled a homicide.
Andrea Tripplett, 29, strangled, found partially nude behind a vacant building on Figueroa Street in April 1993.
Desarae Jones, 29, found strangled next to a vacant residence in May 1993.
Natalie Price, 31, found partially nude and strangled next to a vacant residence in February 1995.
Mildred Beasley, 45, found partially nude and strangled; she was left amongst the bushes alongside the 110 Fwy in November 1996.
Wrong man convicted
During the investigation of these cases, detectives also reviewed similar solved cases. In doing so, the detectives found that David Allen Jones, 28, had been convicted of three murders that occurred in the same area where Turner was known to be operating:
Tammie Christmas, found strangled in September 1992 at the 97th Street Elementary School.
Debra Williams, 32, found lying at the bottom of a stairwell that led to a campus boiler room in November 1992.
Mary Edwards, 42, found inside a carport next to the 97th Street Elementary School in December 1992.
Jones, a mentally disabled part-time janitor who was barely literate, was questioned without an attorney and admitted using drugs with the victims in the areas where their bodies were found.
Rather than using these convictions as a basis for excluding Turner, the detectives revisited these “solved” murders and re-evaluated the physical evidence. The detectives found that Jones’ 1995 trial had relied upon other evidence, including Jones’ coerced statements to police, instead of DNA technology. At the detectives’ request, the LAPD Crime Laboratory processed the available evidence using the latest DNA applications.
Conviction
It was discovered that Turner was responsible for two of the murders for which Jones had been convicted — those of Williams and Edwards. Although DNA analysis could not be used to reinvestigate the Christmas murder, prosecutors and police are confident that Jones is innocent of the Christmas murder and that Turner is the likely culprit.
During his trial, Jones had also been convicted of a rape unrelated to the murders. He had served out his sentence for the 2000 rape conviction. The new investigation revealed that the blood-typing evidence did not match the blood types found at the crimes for which he spent 11 years in prison, and he was exonerated as a murderer.
Jones was released from prison in March 2004, and has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. Jones was awarded $720,000 in compensation.
Early life
Turner moved to Los Angeles with his mother when he was five years old, after his parents separated. He attended public schools in Los Angeles but dropped out of high school. Working for Domino's Pizza as a cook and delivery person as a young man, he lived with his mother until she moved to Utah. After that, he moved around to different homeless shelters and missions. Turner was jailed seven times from 1995 to 2002, six for nonviolent offenses and one assault charge on an officer on April 9, 1997.
Murders
Turner has been connected, through DNA, to 13 murders that occurred in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998. Eleven of these murders took place in a four-block-wide corridor that ran on either side of Figueroa Street between Gage Avenue and 108th Street.
The two murders outside of this corridor occurred Los Angeles County:
Paula Vance, 24, found in the business, Olympia Tool, in Azusa.
Brenda Bries, 39, found strangled in a portable toilet near Little Tokyo.
The Vance murder was witnessed from a bystander at a neighboring trailer park. There was DNA recovered from the Vance crime scene.
At that time, Turner was serving an eight-year sentence at a California state prison for sexually assaulting a 47-year-old woman in March 2002. Turner assaulted the victim for approximately two hours and threatened to kill her if she told the police. Upon his conviction, Turner was required to give a DNA sample to California’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS). In September 2003, based on that sample, Turner was identified as a match for DNA recovered from Vance and Beasley.
Detectives then began a careful examination of Turner’s background. Nine of the 11 unsolved murders were matched to Turner using DNA evidence:
Diane Johnson, 21, found partially nude and strangled in March 1987 in a roadway construction area west of the Harbor Freeway.
Annette Ernest, 26, found lying on a shoulder of a road in October 1987, partially nude and strangled.
Anita Fishman, 31, strangled and left partially nude outside a garage in an alley off Figueroa Street in January 1989.
Regina Washington, 27, also found partially nude and strangled inside a garage off Figueroa Street in September 1989. Washington was six months pregnant. The death of the fetus was attributed to the strangulation of the mother, and it was ruled a homicide.
Andrea Tripplett, 29, strangled, found partially nude behind a vacant building on Figueroa Street in April 1993.
Desarae Jones, 29, found strangled next to a vacant residence in May 1993.
Natalie Price, 31, found partially nude and strangled next to a vacant residence in February 1995.
Mildred Beasley, 45, found partially nude and strangled; she was left amongst the bushes alongside the 110 Fwy in November 1996.
Wrong man convicted
During the investigation of these cases, detectives also reviewed similar solved cases. In doing so, the detectives found that David Allen Jones, 28, had been convicted of three murders that occurred in the same area where Turner was known to be operating:
Tammie Christmas, found strangled in September 1992 at the 97th Street Elementary School.
Debra Williams, 32, found lying at the bottom of a stairwell that led to a campus boiler room in November 1992.
Mary Edwards, 42, found inside a carport next to the 97th Street Elementary School in December 1992.
Jones, a mentally disabled part-time janitor who was barely literate, was questioned without an attorney and admitted using drugs with the victims in the areas where their bodies were found.
Rather than using these convictions as a basis for excluding Turner, the detectives revisited these “solved” murders and re-evaluated the physical evidence. The detectives found that Jones’ 1995 trial had relied upon other evidence, including Jones’ coerced statements to police, instead of DNA technology. At the detectives’ request, the LAPD Crime Laboratory processed the available evidence using the latest DNA applications.
Conviction
It was discovered that Turner was responsible for two of the murders for which Jones had been convicted — those of Williams and Edwards. Although DNA analysis could not be used to reinvestigate the Christmas murder, prosecutors and police are confident that Jones is innocent of the Christmas murder and that Turner is the likely culprit.
During his trial, Jones had also been convicted of a rape unrelated to the murders. He had served out his sentence for the 2000 rape conviction. The new investigation revealed that the blood-typing evidence did not match the blood types found at the crimes for which he spent 11 years in prison, and he was exonerated as a murderer.
Jones was released from prison in March 2004, and has filed a lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles. Jones was awarded $720,000 in compensation.
Accused serial killer to stand trial
November 02, 2005
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A former pizza deliveryman accused of being one of the city's most prolific serial killers was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges of murdering 10 women, two of whom were pregnant.
Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders ruled during a preliminary hearing that there was sufficient cause to believe Chester D. Turner committed the slayings that occurred from 1987 to 1998.
Turner, 38, is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence in an unrelated rape case. Pounders set a November 15 arraignment date.
Turner's DNA was matched to evidence from the bodies of all the victims, said Carl Matthies of the police department's scientific investigations division. The likelihood of the genetic profile belonging to someone other than Turner was one in one-quintillion, Matthies said.
Defense attorney John Tyre said outside court that DNA does not prove murder. "If it is his DNA it indicates he had sex with these women some time prior to them dying," Tyre said.
Deputy medical examiner Lisa Scheinin testified that all 10 women were strangled, nine had cocaine in their systems, one was more than six months pregnant and one was between four and five months pregnant.
Prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty if Turner is convicted. In addition to 10 counts of murder, Turner is accused of the special circumstances of multiple murder and murder committed during a rape.
The slayings remained unsolved until a cold case homicide unit began looking into them. In 2002, Turner agreed to submit a DNA sample as part of a no-contest plea to the unrelated rape charge. A detective allegedly found that it matched evidence found in two murders and began looking for more.
November 02, 2005
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- A former pizza deliveryman accused of being one of the city's most prolific serial killers was ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges of murdering 10 women, two of whom were pregnant.
Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders ruled during a preliminary hearing that there was sufficient cause to believe Chester D. Turner committed the slayings that occurred from 1987 to 1998.
Turner, 38, is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence in an unrelated rape case. Pounders set a November 15 arraignment date.
Turner's DNA was matched to evidence from the bodies of all the victims, said Carl Matthies of the police department's scientific investigations division. The likelihood of the genetic profile belonging to someone other than Turner was one in one-quintillion, Matthies said.
Defense attorney John Tyre said outside court that DNA does not prove murder. "If it is his DNA it indicates he had sex with these women some time prior to them dying," Tyre said.
Deputy medical examiner Lisa Scheinin testified that all 10 women were strangled, nine had cocaine in their systems, one was more than six months pregnant and one was between four and five months pregnant.
Prosecutors have not said whether they would seek the death penalty if Turner is convicted. In addition to 10 counts of murder, Turner is accused of the special circumstances of multiple murder and murder committed during a rape.
The slayings remained unsolved until a cold case homicide unit began looking into them. In 2002, Turner agreed to submit a DNA sample as part of a no-contest plea to the unrelated rape charge. A detective allegedly found that it matched evidence found in two murders and began looking for more.
October 31, 2005
A detective this morning recounted how he found a security camera that shot the only known footage of one of Los Angeles' worst serial killers.
The grainy, chilling video shows a "husky muscular man" forcing a woman onto the ground, raping and strangling her, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Mark Pampano testified in court today.
Pampano was one of four police officers to testify today during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court about finding some of the dozen victims allegedly killed in South Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998 by Chester D. Turner.
Turner, 38, was in state prison for a rape conviction when he pleaded not guilty to charges in 10 of the 12 strangulation killings. Prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Turner is accused of killing Paula Vance, 31, whose body Pampano described; Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and, one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
Police said he may have been involved in as many as 20 homicides, but there is no DNA evidence to link him to that many.
Vance died of asphyxiation in 1998, when investigators did not realize they were looking for a serial killer. One man was wrongly convicted of three of the murders now attributed by DNA evidence to Turner, and released last year.
The killings occurred over 11 years, when Turner moved often, bouncing between prison, skid row missions, girlfriends' apartments and the home of his mother and grandfather. He was in and out of prison for years on various convictions, including theft and drug possession.
For more than a decade, Turner escaped notice amid the largest crime wave in city history, when killings, concentrated primarily in South Los Angeles, sometimes topped 1,000 a year.
The crimes Turner is accused of took place mostly in a 30-block stretch of motels and apartments along the Figueroa corridor next to the Harbor Freeway, an area still notorious for prostitution, drug crime and violence. Police have said they believe there were several other serial killers operating in the South L.A. area frequented by Turner.
If convicted, Turner would rival some of the worst killers in the city's history. "Skid Row Slayer" Michael Player was convicted of killing 10 transients in downtown Los Angeles in 1986. Douglas Clark, called the "Sunset Strip Killer," is suspected of killing 25; he was convicted of six 1980 killings.
Turner's defense is expected to focus on the difficulties of properly maintaining the evidence used for DNA testing that implicated Turner.
A detective this morning recounted how he found a security camera that shot the only known footage of one of Los Angeles' worst serial killers.
The grainy, chilling video shows a "husky muscular man" forcing a woman onto the ground, raping and strangling her, Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Mark Pampano testified in court today.
Pampano was one of four police officers to testify today during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court about finding some of the dozen victims allegedly killed in South Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998 by Chester D. Turner.
Turner, 38, was in state prison for a rape conviction when he pleaded not guilty to charges in 10 of the 12 strangulation killings. Prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Turner is accused of killing Paula Vance, 31, whose body Pampano described; Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and, one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
Police said he may have been involved in as many as 20 homicides, but there is no DNA evidence to link him to that many.
Vance died of asphyxiation in 1998, when investigators did not realize they were looking for a serial killer. One man was wrongly convicted of three of the murders now attributed by DNA evidence to Turner, and released last year.
The killings occurred over 11 years, when Turner moved often, bouncing between prison, skid row missions, girlfriends' apartments and the home of his mother and grandfather. He was in and out of prison for years on various convictions, including theft and drug possession.
For more than a decade, Turner escaped notice amid the largest crime wave in city history, when killings, concentrated primarily in South Los Angeles, sometimes topped 1,000 a year.
The crimes Turner is accused of took place mostly in a 30-block stretch of motels and apartments along the Figueroa corridor next to the Harbor Freeway, an area still notorious for prostitution, drug crime and violence. Police have said they believe there were several other serial killers operating in the South L.A. area frequented by Turner.
If convicted, Turner would rival some of the worst killers in the city's history. "Skid Row Slayer" Michael Player was convicted of killing 10 transients in downtown Los Angeles in 1986. Douglas Clark, called the "Sunset Strip Killer," is suspected of killing 25; he was convicted of six 1980 killings.
Turner's defense is expected to focus on the difficulties of properly maintaining the evidence used for DNA testing that implicated Turner.
October 31, 2005
When the first DNA hits began rolling in on a string of South Los Angeles strangulation murders, investigators imagined their killer as a Jack the Ripper type with a rap sheet to match.
But as detectives pursued the suspect, now believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history, they were surprised to find evidence pointing to Chester D. Turner, a quiet man with a criminal record primarily of minor drug offenses and a single rape.
Had it not been for genetic links to the rape and killing of a dozen women between 1987 and 1998, Los Angeles Police Det. Cliff Shepard said, the former pizza delivery man and father of four would not have made it "onto our radar screen."
Turner, 38, was in state prison for a 2002 rape conviction when he pleaded not guilty to charges in 10 of the 12 strangulation killings. Turner faces a preliminary hearing in Los Angles Superior Court today on the charges. Prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
He is accused of killing Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Paula Vance, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
Police said he may have been involved in as many as 20 homicides, but there is no specific DNA evidence to link him to that many.
"Skid Row Slayer" Michael Player was convicted of killing 10 transients in downtown Los Angeles in 1986. Douglas Clark, called the "Sunset Strip Killer," is suspected of killing 25; he was convicted of six 1980 killings.
Although science is expected to take center stage at the hearing, detectives have said that reconstructing Turner's life — in search of a clear motive — has been perhaps the hardest part of their investigation.
Irwindale-based defense attorney John D. Tyre said Friday he continues to delve into Turner's psychological and family history. But whatever he finds, Tyre said, he believes the case rises and falls on the DNA evidence.
"There also are no witnesses to tie him to the murders," Tyre said. "Their case is based on 20-year-old DNA, and there's going to be issues about whether it's been properly stored and analyzed."
The defense also could be aided by the case of David Allen Jones, wrongly convicted in 1995 of three murders, according to police and court records.
Jones, 45, who has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, served nearly nine years in prison before he was released in March 2004 after DNA tests run in 2003 by Shepard's cold-case unit exonerated him in two of the cases and appeared to implicate Turner. Prosecutors, however, declined to charge Turner with those deaths.
Jones was convicted largely because he confessed, but his lawyers and a psychologist said he was easily led in questioning; they disputed the truth of his confession.
Born in Arkansas, Turner moved with his mother to a small home in the 600 block of Century Boulevard during the 1970s, police said.
She worked two jobs, and Turner was described as a latch-key kid who stuck close to home.
"He didn't have a regular childhood. He didn't go nowhere," said a relative who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He didn't go to the park, the gym. He couldn't, because his mother would not let him. He was always at home helping her."
Turner eventually dropped out of high school and began hanging out with neighborhood kids, portraying himself as a gang member, police said.
Around 1992, Turner began a rocky relationship with a woman named Felicia Collier, police said. The couple had a child but fought constantly.
During one violent confrontation, a relative of Collier intervened and shot Turner.
Shepard said he believes that Turner's anger and frustration at home were channeled into the outbursts of violence that claimed his victims.
"I think he wasn't targeting any particular person," Shepard said. "But if someone crossed his path at the wrong time, he would vent on them."
Turner worked odd jobs as a cook and pizza delivery man. But police say the pull of drugs and the street was never far away.
During the 11 years when the slayings occurred, Turner moved often, bouncing between prison, skid row missions, girlfriends' apartments and the home of his mother and grandfather. During that time, he fathered three more children, police said.
He was in and out of prison for years on various convictions, including theft and drug possession.
For more than a decade, Turner escaped notice amid the largest crime wave in city history, when killings, concentrated primarily in South Los Angeles, sometimes topped 1,000 a year.
The crimes Turner is accused of took place mostly in a 30-block stretch of motels and apartments along the Figueroa corridor next to the Harbor Freeway, an area still notorious for prostitution, drug crime and violence. Police have said they believe there were several other serial killers operating in the South L.A. area frequented by Turner.
Despite a task force of Los Angeles police, county sheriff's deputies and suburban police officers set up in January 1986 to find the Southside Serial Killer, police had no description to work with and no eyewitnesses. Blood-typing technology, a precursor to DNA sampling, was evolving but not precise enough to narrow a large field of potential suspects.
Because victims in the strangulation cases included homeless women, drug users and prostitutes, their deaths did not always get much attention. But in some of the cases, rape kits and other evidence proved useful later. That, police say, is what ultimately led them to Turner.
When the first DNA hits began rolling in on a string of South Los Angeles strangulation murders, investigators imagined their killer as a Jack the Ripper type with a rap sheet to match.
But as detectives pursued the suspect, now believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history, they were surprised to find evidence pointing to Chester D. Turner, a quiet man with a criminal record primarily of minor drug offenses and a single rape.
Had it not been for genetic links to the rape and killing of a dozen women between 1987 and 1998, Los Angeles Police Det. Cliff Shepard said, the former pizza delivery man and father of four would not have made it "onto our radar screen."
Turner, 38, was in state prison for a 2002 rape conviction when he pleaded not guilty to charges in 10 of the 12 strangulation killings. Turner faces a preliminary hearing in Los Angles Superior Court today on the charges. Prosecutors say they have not decided whether to seek the death penalty.
He is accused of killing Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Regina Washington, 27; Paula Vance, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
Police said he may have been involved in as many as 20 homicides, but there is no specific DNA evidence to link him to that many.
"Skid Row Slayer" Michael Player was convicted of killing 10 transients in downtown Los Angeles in 1986. Douglas Clark, called the "Sunset Strip Killer," is suspected of killing 25; he was convicted of six 1980 killings.
Although science is expected to take center stage at the hearing, detectives have said that reconstructing Turner's life — in search of a clear motive — has been perhaps the hardest part of their investigation.
Irwindale-based defense attorney John D. Tyre said Friday he continues to delve into Turner's psychological and family history. But whatever he finds, Tyre said, he believes the case rises and falls on the DNA evidence.
"There also are no witnesses to tie him to the murders," Tyre said. "Their case is based on 20-year-old DNA, and there's going to be issues about whether it's been properly stored and analyzed."
The defense also could be aided by the case of David Allen Jones, wrongly convicted in 1995 of three murders, according to police and court records.
Jones, 45, who has the mental capacity of an 8-year-old, served nearly nine years in prison before he was released in March 2004 after DNA tests run in 2003 by Shepard's cold-case unit exonerated him in two of the cases and appeared to implicate Turner. Prosecutors, however, declined to charge Turner with those deaths.
Jones was convicted largely because he confessed, but his lawyers and a psychologist said he was easily led in questioning; they disputed the truth of his confession.
Born in Arkansas, Turner moved with his mother to a small home in the 600 block of Century Boulevard during the 1970s, police said.
She worked two jobs, and Turner was described as a latch-key kid who stuck close to home.
"He didn't have a regular childhood. He didn't go nowhere," said a relative who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "He didn't go to the park, the gym. He couldn't, because his mother would not let him. He was always at home helping her."
Turner eventually dropped out of high school and began hanging out with neighborhood kids, portraying himself as a gang member, police said.
Around 1992, Turner began a rocky relationship with a woman named Felicia Collier, police said. The couple had a child but fought constantly.
During one violent confrontation, a relative of Collier intervened and shot Turner.
Shepard said he believes that Turner's anger and frustration at home were channeled into the outbursts of violence that claimed his victims.
"I think he wasn't targeting any particular person," Shepard said. "But if someone crossed his path at the wrong time, he would vent on them."
Turner worked odd jobs as a cook and pizza delivery man. But police say the pull of drugs and the street was never far away.
During the 11 years when the slayings occurred, Turner moved often, bouncing between prison, skid row missions, girlfriends' apartments and the home of his mother and grandfather. During that time, he fathered three more children, police said.
He was in and out of prison for years on various convictions, including theft and drug possession.
For more than a decade, Turner escaped notice amid the largest crime wave in city history, when killings, concentrated primarily in South Los Angeles, sometimes topped 1,000 a year.
The crimes Turner is accused of took place mostly in a 30-block stretch of motels and apartments along the Figueroa corridor next to the Harbor Freeway, an area still notorious for prostitution, drug crime and violence. Police have said they believe there were several other serial killers operating in the South L.A. area frequented by Turner.
Despite a task force of Los Angeles police, county sheriff's deputies and suburban police officers set up in January 1986 to find the Southside Serial Killer, police had no description to work with and no eyewitnesses. Blood-typing technology, a precursor to DNA sampling, was evolving but not precise enough to narrow a large field of potential suspects.
Because victims in the strangulation cases included homeless women, drug users and prostitutes, their deaths did not always get much attention. But in some of the cases, rape kits and other evidence proved useful later. That, police say, is what ultimately led them to Turner.
Man Pleads Not Guilty in Series of 11 Killings
November 16, 2005
Suspected serial killer Chester D. Turner pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he murdered 10 Los Angeles women and a victim's fetus during an 11-year rampage that began in 1987.
Turner, 39, a convicted rapist whom authorities have termed Los Angeles' most prolific serial killer, entered the plea after prosecutors added an extra murder charge for the death of the fetus of Regina Washington, who was killed in September 1989.
The charges were amended based on a physician's testimony at Turner's preliminary hearing earlier this month that Washington's 6 1/2 -month fetus was viable at the time of her death.
Prosecutors at the two-day hearing also presented DNA evidence and a shadowy, grainy 1998 videotape of a man killing a woman in a downtown parking structure. At the proceeding's conclusion, Turner was ordered to stand trial, and a pretrial conference was set for March 20, with the trial to begin within 60 days.
Turner is serving an eight-year prison sentence in a rape case. Genetic testing conducted after that conviction tied him to sperm cell matter found on the bodies of the 10 women, according to an analyst with the LAPD's Scientific Investigations Division.
Turner's DNA was also allegedly linked to two other slayings, wrongly blamed on David Allen Jones, who was released from prison in March because of the wrongful convictions. Turner has not been charged in those killings.
With an eye to possibly challenging the DNA evidence, Turner's attorneys are seeking a discovery hearing next month on the chain of custody of the sperm samples collected from the 10 women's bodies.
Turner is accused of killing Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Washington, 27; Paula Vance, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
November 16, 2005
Suspected serial killer Chester D. Turner pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he murdered 10 Los Angeles women and a victim's fetus during an 11-year rampage that began in 1987.
Turner, 39, a convicted rapist whom authorities have termed Los Angeles' most prolific serial killer, entered the plea after prosecutors added an extra murder charge for the death of the fetus of Regina Washington, who was killed in September 1989.
The charges were amended based on a physician's testimony at Turner's preliminary hearing earlier this month that Washington's 6 1/2 -month fetus was viable at the time of her death.
Prosecutors at the two-day hearing also presented DNA evidence and a shadowy, grainy 1998 videotape of a man killing a woman in a downtown parking structure. At the proceeding's conclusion, Turner was ordered to stand trial, and a pretrial conference was set for March 20, with the trial to begin within 60 days.
Turner is serving an eight-year prison sentence in a rape case. Genetic testing conducted after that conviction tied him to sperm cell matter found on the bodies of the 10 women, according to an analyst with the LAPD's Scientific Investigations Division.
Turner's DNA was also allegedly linked to two other slayings, wrongly blamed on David Allen Jones, who was released from prison in March because of the wrongful convictions. Turner has not been charged in those killings.
With an eye to possibly challenging the DNA evidence, Turner's attorneys are seeking a discovery hearing next month on the chain of custody of the sperm samples collected from the 10 women's bodies.
Turner is accused of killing Annette Ernest, 26; Anita Fishman, 31; Washington, 27; Paula Vance, 31; Mildred Beasley, 45; Andrea Tripplett, 29; Desarae Jones, 29; Natalie Price, 31; Brenda Bries, 31; and one unidentified woman who appeared to be in her 20s.
I have always thought the name Chester was A funny one! And we share the same last name, NO relation!! I cannot believe that his 1st murder was witnessed and the person did NOT call the police or try to help or anything!! That's chicken shit!
Los Angeles, UNITED STATES: Chester Dewayne Turner listens as the jury hands down a death sentence on murder charges in Superior Court 15 May 2007 in Los Angeles. Turner, 40, was convicted 30 April by the same jury of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s.
AFP PHOTO/Francine ORR/Pool (Photo credit should read FRANCINE ORR/AFP/Getty Images)
Los Angeles, UNITED STATES: Chester Dewayne Turner (R) and attorney John Tyre talk after a jury handed down a death sentence to Turner on murder charges in Superior Court 15 May 2007 in Los Angeles. Turner, 40, was convicted 30 April by the same jury of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s.
AFP PHOTO/Francine ORR/Pool (Photo credit should read FRANCINE ORR/AFP/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - MAY 15: Chester Dewayne Turner (R) and attorney John Tyre listen as a jury hands down a death sentence to Turner on murder charges in Superior Court May 15, 2007 in Los Angeles, California. Turner, 40, was convicted April 30 by the same jury of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s.
(Photo by Francine Orr-Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - JULY 10: Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies escort Chester D. Turner out of court after he was sentenced to death in the Criminal Courts building on July 10, 2007 in downtown Los Angeles, California. Turner, 40, was convicted April 30 of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s.
(Photo by Genaro Molina-Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - JULY 10: Chester D. Turner, a convicted rapist found guilty of murder, listens to the judge sentence him to death in Department 101 in the Criminal Courts building on July 10, 2007 in downtown Los Angeles, California. Turner, 40, was convicted April 30 of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s. (Photo by Genaro Molina-Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - JULY 10: Elgedine Rudolph cries while making her statement directed at convicted rapist and murderer Chester D. Turner during sentencing proceedings in Department 101 in the Criminal Courts building on July 10, 2007 in downtown Los Angeles, California. Rudolph's sister, Regina Washington, was one of Turner's victims. Turner, 40, was convicted April 30 of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s.
(Photo by Genaro Molina-Pool/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES - JULY 10: Chester D. Turner, a convicted rapist found guilty of murder, listens to the judge sentence him to death in Department 101 in the Criminal Courts building on July 10, 2007 in downtown Los Angeles, California. Turner, 40, was convicted April 30 of the murders of 11 people over more than a decade. Police say Turner raped, strangled and murdered his victims, mostly street prostitutes in the 1980s and 1990s. (Photo by Genaro Molina-Pool/Getty Images)
Chester Dewayne Turner
Chester Dewayne Turner
Chester Dewayne Turner
Chester Dewayne Turner
Chester Dewayne Turner
Chester Dewayne Turner
