Serial Killer Task Force Cut

Half of the 16 Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department investigators assigned to the Southside Serial Killer Task Force have been taken off the case and the Los Angeles Police Department is evaluating the work of the 49 detectives investigating the string of 17 murders, spokesmen said Friday.

Police spokesman Cmdr. Bill Booth said the evaluation is a routine managerial matter. “We’ve done this (on the Southside case) several times before, and each time we have expanded the task force,” he said. “I don’t think this one is going to mean an expansion, but it is not about to be disbanded.” In fact, he said, the evaluation does not necessarily mean it will be reduced in number.

He said a report on the evaluation probably will go to Police Chief Daryl F. Gates sometime next week.

Sheriff’s Deputy Dave Tellez said Capt. Bob Grimm, commander of the sheriff’s homicide bureau, had reassigned eight of the investigators on the task force because the number of “active” clues being checked out has been reduced to about 100.

The task force was established just over a year ago. The first of the murders occurred Sept. 9, 1983, but it was not until August, 1985, that it became clear that a serial killer--or possibly more than one--was at large, preying mostly on black women street walkers, stabbing and strangling them, and dumping them in South-Central Los Angeles and surrounding cities. The last known victim was found last July 26.