Coalition Will Ask U.S. to Enter Serial Killer Probe

A coalition dissatisfied with police efforts to capture a serial killer in South-Central Los Angeles said Thursday they will ask federal authorities to enter the investigation next week.

“If these murders had happened in Beverly Hills, we would have seen much more progress,” said Margaret Prescod, coordinator for the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders. “If police are having difficulty . . . it is past time to bring in other agencies.”

A police-sheriff task force was organized in January to find the man they believe responsible for killing 15 prostitutes since September, 1983.

Prescod spoke to 30 people gathered for a candlelight vigil at Main and 64th streets to memorialize the victims. They carried signs reading: “Enough,” “Women’s Lives Aren’t Cheap,” “Stop the Serial Killings,” “Women’s Safety First.”

A woman who identified herself only as Sandra said she survived an attack by the killer, during which he told her: “My mother was a whore and I hate all whores.” She said a police composite of the killer is “definitely the man. It is a good drawing.”

Speakers accused the task force of “foot-dragging” and the media of indifference because all but two of the killer’s victims were black, and they were all prostitutes. They said media coverage does not begin to approach the coverage of the so-called “Wilshire rapist” and the “Night Stalker.”

“We must get the word to the LAPD and the media that it does not matter to us that these women were prostitutes,” Prescod said. “Human lives were taken.”

When Prescod noticed that Lt. John Zorn, head of the task force, was across the street talking to television reporters, vigil participants crossed the street to bombard Zorn with complaints about the investigation. Zorn told them he was present “measuring the level of community support and interest in this case, because the community has to be part of this investigation.”