Police Say Prostitutes’ Killer Tortures Them First

A killer who police say stalks prostitutes in South-Central Los Angeles, where he has already killed 10, tortures his victims with superficial slash wounds before he kills them by strangulation or stabbing, authorities said Tuesday.

The suspect has been systematically stalking and killing prostitutes since Jan. 1, 1984, picking them up, stabbing or strangling them and then dumping their nude or partially clad bodies.

Most of the victims were both stabbed and strangled in what one police officer called “overkill.” All but two were black, police said.

Detective Jerry Hudgeons of the Gardena Police Department said it is the similarity of the slash wounds on the bodies of the victims that has led police to suspect that the murders are linked.

Hudgeons said the distinctive wounds were evident on the body of Gayle Marie Rousell, found Nov. 6 in the carport of a Gardena apartment building in the 14500 block of Halldale Avenue.

“It was like torture,” he said. “It was just cutting. It could have been done with a screwdriver or a beer opener. . . . It doesn’t look like a knife.”

After slicing Rousell on the face, upper body and back, the killer fatally stabbed her in the back with a large hunting knife, Hudgeons said.

Seven of the bodies have been found in Los Angeles, two in Inglewood and one in Gardena, Detective John St. John of the Los Angeles Police Department said. All of the women, he said, had prostitution arrest records.

Los Angeles police released a composite drawing of the suspect Monday and asked for the public’s help in identifying the killer. He is described as black, with a dark complexion, 30 to 35 years old and 5 feet, 10 inches to 6 feet tall. He is said to have black hair, brown eyes, smooth skin, a medium build, muscular arms and chest, and a small mustache.

In at least one assault, the attacker was wearing a baseball cap bearing the name FILA, a clothing manufacturer, police said. He was driving a 1984 or 1985 dark-colored Buick Regal with a baby seat on the rear seat.

A second vehicle was described as a 1960 to 1969 Ford pickup truck with gray primer paint.

St. John said three victims survived. A 26-year-old prostitute who was attacked several months ago remains in a coma after the suspect throttled and stabbed her and left her for dead. Two other victims escaped the killer, St. John said. One prostitute, who escaped after being picked up Aug. 6 at 39th Street and Vermont Avenue, identified the car and helped police make the composite drawing. Another prostitute, picked up in May at 47th and Flower streets, escaped from the suspect after being attacked and later gave police the description of the pickup truck.

Lt. Ed Henderson, acting commanding officer of the Los Angeles police Robbery-Homicide Division, said police began to suspect in April that a serial killer was at work. By then, the killer had claimed seven victims. The first was Patricia Coleman, found dead New Year’s Day, 1984, in Darby Park in Inglewood. The last known victim was Gail Ficklin, whose body was found Aug. 15 in the 9800 block of Grandee Avenue--the same block where the first known victim in Los Angeles, Sheila Burris, was dumped Nov. 18.

The body of Frankie Bell was found New Year’s Day, 1985, in the 10400 block of South Olive Street. The body of Patricia Dennis was found Feb. 11 in the 3500 block of 8th Avenue. The body of Shelly Wilson was found March 20 in Centinella Park in Inglewood, and three days later the body of Lillian Stoval was found in the 22000 block of 6th Avenue.

Other victims were Patsy Webb, found April 15 in the 4700 block of South Broadway; Cathy Gustaveson, found July 28 in the 1600 block of Slauson Avenue. The women ranged in age from 22 to 34. Except for Webb, Wilson and Rousell, all the victims died of strangulation, authorities said.

Most of the women had been picked up in an area bordered on the north by 51st Street, on the south by 57th Street, Main Street on the east and Western Avenue on the west, St. John said. Police in those areas said prostitution traffic has not slowed there since the announcement.

On Tuesday, a smattering of prostitutes, what police said was the normal number, stood on the corners on Figueroa Street between Manchester Boulevard and Vernon Avenue.

On Broadway near 48th Street, a block south of where the body of one victim was found five months ago, Terri, 26, held down her regular spot.

She said she knew about the killer. Police had given her a description of the suspect and told her to look out for him, she said. But Terri, mother of an 8-year-old girl, continued to work.

“Sure I’m scared,” she said, “but I’ve gotta work. How am I gonna eat? How am I gonna pay the rent if I don’t work?”

Another prostitute, called Peaches, 22, working on Broadway, swears that she was almost picked up by the suspect recently, although neither her description of the vehicle nor the man in the truck matches those the police are using.

“We all know about it,” she said. “We’re all on the lookout, but we’re all working. Some of the girls got a pimp, some of them are on drugs, some of them got families to support. So you gotta work.”