Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - "The Southland Strangler" John Floyd Thomas Jr.

Episode Date: October 13, 2022

In the late 1950s, a Los Angeles native started a crime spree that would stretch into the ‘80s. John Floyd Thomas Jr. spent those decades terrorizing his hometown, targeting women aged 50 and older who lived alone, and occasionally even going to jail for his assaults. But it’s not until the early aughts, and the creation of the Cold Case Homicide Unit, that that LAPD is able to pin him with multiple rapes and murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of gun violence, murder, and sexual assault. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. February 18, 1976, was a cool brisk night in Westchester, a neighborhood set in southwest Los Angeles. Outside an apartment complex, fog rolled in from the Pacific, and street lights flickered on. All the while, 39-year-old John Floyd Thomas, Jimenez. lurked in the shadows. He watched as his prey,

67-year-old Elizabeth McEwen pulled into the parking lot. She was a retired school administrator, unmarried and lived alone, which made her the perfect target for John. Elizabeth parked her 65 Chevel and turned off the engine, perhaps thinking about the wonderful ballet she'd just seen. With no knowledge of who was watching her, she likely walked from her car to her apartment door.

apartment door, pulled out her key. And John seized his opportunity. With Elizabeth's guard down and door ajar, he reportedly attacked and pulled her inside. This was the start of a series of killings that haunted Los Angeles and detectives for years to come. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're delving into the crimes of John Floyd Thomas Jr., also known as the Westside

Rapist and The Southland Strangler. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. In the first part of this episode, we'll explore John's early life in Los Angeles, the rocky circumstances of his childhood, his first attempt at assault, and how that led to a string of murders against the elderly. Later, we'll delve into John's second wave of murders, this time east of Los Angeles,

and how new DNA technology help detectives nab one of the most deadly Los Angeles serial killers of all time. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any thing, kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State

Killer, the Unit Bomber. It's tedious work to find what you're looking for. So if you're hiring, I've got news for you. You can skip the lengthy investigation and the tiresome process of sorting through hundreds of resumes. Just use ZipRecruiter. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. Because not only does ZipRecruiter have the technology to match you with potential candidates quickly. It also just added a new feature that pushes candidates who are qualified and interested in your role to the top of the list. They can even tell you why they're interested, making it easier for you to get a sense of who they are. Cut through the standard and get to the standouts with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality

candidate within the first day. And now you can try it for free. At ZipRecruiter, dot com slash killers. That's ziprecruiter.com slash killers. Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Shopify. Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels.

But you don't need to break any laws to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything. Website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today

with the best partner, Shopify, and get that. Sign up for your $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers. That's Shopify.com slash killers. Every outfit starts with a choice. What am I wearing underneath? Something comfortable?

And let's be honest. Something that keeps everything looking smooth. That's where Vanity Fair lingerie comes in. Their new smoothing wireless bra has four-way stretch fabric for all over smoothing, soft lightly lined cups for a natural shape and no wire comfort that lasts all day. All over smooth, all day comfort, vanity fair lingerie.

Find yours at Target today. The year is 1936 and the film Mutiny on the Bounty has one best picture. It's a true story of sailors overthrowing their older barbaric captain. Bucking against elders' authority is a tale as old as time. Sometimes, like in the film, it can yield positive results. But what happens when the aggression isn't toward evil captains, but innocent elders, and wielded by a rebel without a clear cause? This was the case with serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr., born on July 26, 1936 in Los Angeles.

We found no record of his father, and his mother died when he was 12. The death of his mother, at such a young age, likely played a large role in shaping his psyche. Vanessa is going to take over on the psychology. here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or psychiatrist, but we have done a lot of research for this show. Thanks, Greg. A 2019 article in the journal Psychological Medicine reported that those who experienced a parent's death before age 14 were at a higher risk for violent criminality. And while this might not be surprising, the article went one step further. It didn't matter which parent had died, nor the gender relationship of a parent to

child. But if both parents had died, the risk goes up significantly. And while we can't say what happened to his father, John was alone just as he entered his teenage years. This likely impacted him in a large way, especially if he lacked formal help, which is probable given the time period. He was sent to live with both an aunt and a godmother. We're not sure in which order or for how long he stayed with either woman, only that he was relocated between the two. From there, we know he attended Manual Arts Senior High School, located near the USC campus in South Los Angeles. We don't have a great sense of what it was like there for him, but we can guess based on the historical context of the time period. During World War II, roughly 200,000 black Americans moved to

Los Angeles. Many settled south of downtown, drawn to jobs and housing that would allow black families. But this led to a quick backlash from white families. In nearby Compton, for example, gangs of white kids went to great lengths to keep the black kids out, and schools in California were already desegregated, which meant John, a black teen, might have encountered the same hostility at school. Combined the racial tension with the death of his mother, and John likely suffered tremendously in his adolescent years. In 1956, at the age of 20, John joined the U.S. Air Force. He was stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, but it didn't seem to go very well. A superior described him as perpetually late and messy.

And less than a year later, he received a dishonorable discharge. Unfortunately, we don't know the exact reason for John's dismissal. But we do know dishonorable is the harshest of all discharges, given for only the most disgraceful conduct. It could have been desertion, sexual assault, or even murder, suggesting that John's descent into darkness might have coincided with his time in the military. For a brief time after returning to Los Angeles, he seemed to mellow out. First, he married, though to whom we don't know. Then he found work as a

county file clerk, a steady job for likely decent pay. Perhaps after the trauma of his childhood and his issues with the military, he was trying to live a normal life. But that normal life was about to change, and not for the better. On an evening in June 1957, John broke into a South Los Angeles home, one belonging to an elderly woman. He crept into her bed and climbed on top of her, demanding she stay quiet. We can't say for certain, but it's likely he wanted to rape her. Thankfully, the disturbance quickly woke her son-in-law. He burst into the room with a gun, and John leapt up and made his way to the door,

but as he ran, the son-in-law fired. The bullet hit John on his way out, and he returned to his apartment and wife with a wound. Again, we don't know too many details. We can assume John tried to come up with some sort of excuse, and it doesn't seem like his wife pressed much further, because next thing we know, he was out the hospital. Of course, his injury grabbed the attention of the doctors, and the police were soon brought in.

The cops must have been made aware of the break-in and shooting because soon they put two and two together and arrested John for the attempted rape. At the same time, police weren't sure this was his first. They were trying to solve another South Los Angeles attempted rape and rape. But though they tried to link John to the other two incidents, they were unsuccessful. At the trial, John reached a kind of plea deal with the prosecutors. He was only convicted of burglary and not the attempted rape.

This meant his sentence was relatively short for the crime, only six years. His time in jail, from what we can tell, was unremarkable. At some point in the early 60s, he was released. But he didn't stay out of trouble for long. John committed two unspecified parole violations and went back to prison until 1966. It's likely during this second stint that his first wife divorced him. Because nothing could be done from jail, he might have felt a lack of control about the situation, or as researchers Laura Richmond and Mark Leary call it, threatened belonging.

In their 2009 manuscript published in the psychological review, Richmond and Leary speak about reactions to discrimination, ostracism, and rejecting, including in the romantic sphere. They note, quote, people who are rejected often feel angry and sometimes act on their aggressive urges. These aggressive impulses can in turn become what experts call anger retaliatory, which is one segment of rapist typology. They abuse their victims physically and blame them for any inequality they may feel in life. And to do that, John might have gone back to finish what he'd started nearly 10 years prior. In 1972, around Thanksgiving, John went to the Mid-Wilshire area in the heart of Los Angeles, about a 20-minute drive from where he'd grown up.

There, he broke into the home of 68-year-old Ethel Sokolov. It's unclear why he chose her, or if they'd had any sort of prior relationship. All we know is that she lived alone, which probably made her an easy target. He beat her, sexually assaulted her, and choked her until she was no longer breathing. It was his first known kill. And the first of many that would shock the entire area. Starting in late 1974, several elderly women, ranging in age from 50s to 90s, were beaten and raped in a 20-square-mile radius around the Midwilshire area.

Like Ethel Sokolov, all the victims were older and lived alone. They were attacked at night, and among the victims that were, also murdered, they were found with either a pillow, blanket, or clothing covering their faces. The women's ages challenged the assumption that sexual assault is exclusively due to arousal, usually directed at younger, more promiscuous seeming women like sex workers. Instead, researcher N. L. Pollock suggests that when rapists target elderly women, the assault is likely brought on by rage or sadistic tendencies. It's the thrill of attacking society's most vulnerable. And this terrified residents in the neighborhoods where victims lived.

The crimes were so rampant, police formed a special task force and dubbed the criminal the West Side Rapist. We can't say for certain that all these were done by John, only that they were eerily similar to the Ethel Sokolov case. John's next confirmed activity didn't occur again until the early hours of September 20th, 1975. That night, John went out again, this time to the west side of Los Angeles. Somewhere there, he spotted 79-year-old Cora Perry.

Cora was a long-widoed woman who'd lived alone in a small bungalow, described as looking 20 years her junior, she was healthy and active in the community. Again, it's hard to tell if John had been watching her for some time or picked her on the spot. Regardless, that night, he removed a window screen and climbed inside her home. There, he beat, raped, and strangled her to death. Then fled. Coming up, John Spree hits a snag as he attacks a victim with a very observant neighbor. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptitide may be able to help.

Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity. Or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5. 5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains terseptide and should not be used with other terseptide containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump

or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia if you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepound with a sulfonal urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor.

Call 1-800-545-99-9 or visit zepbounds.lily.com. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice. Off-campus, L, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow Burns, Second Chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime.

Now back to the story. On the morning of September 20th, 1975, 79-year-old Cora Perry's landlords, the lockers, looked out their window and noticed that Cora had not collected her morning paper. In the 30-plus years that they had been her neighbors, they could not remember a time the paper was out past 9 a.m. By 10 a.m., they knocked on Cora's door. There was no answer and no sounds coming from within. They hoped that Cora was just sick, but knew they needed to check. Using their master key, they unlocked the door and pushed it open. Making their way into her bedroom, Mr. Lockyer found Cora.

She was lying on the bed, covered with clothes and pillows. Only her feet were sticking out. When they removed the linens covering her head, they found a shower cap laid over her face. Horrified, they immediately called the police. An hour later, the cops took one look at Cora Perry's beaten, strangled, and covered body, and concluded, this had to be the work of the Westside Rapist. By the close of 1975, police had accused the Westside rapist of sexually assaulting at least 33 elderly women, possibly killing 10 of them.

A 2002 paper in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, points out that females are more likely to live alone in late life. They typically live longer than men and are more likely to be widowed. They're also likely to be fairly weak, unable to run or flee in case of an attack. This all puts them in an especially vulnerable position. For a victim seeker like John, elderly women are an easy target. Still, if this was all John, it's hard to imagine what might have caused such a killing spree. Even if it was pure rage or anger, we don't.

know enough about his life to pin down the central question. Why? Worse still, it wasn't over. January 1st, 1976 rang in America's bicentennial. The year ahead was fresh with the promise of parades, fireworks, and parties. But for the older single women of Los Angeles, it was a different story. There was a predator, or two, hiding in the shadows. A little over a month into 1976 on the evening of February 18th, when 67-year-old Elizabeth McEwen was ambushed by John Floyd Thomas Jr. Just outside her apartment building, he reportedly pulled her inside and dragged her across the floor, terrorizing her.

It was a method he was now well-versed in. He had two confirmed kills and possibly 30-something more. He beat, sexually assaulted her, and strangled her to death. When he was done, he put her body into the trunk of her Chevelle and sped off into the cold February night. Sometime that evening, he abandoned the car with her body still in the trunk.

A short time later, the police found the car not too far from her apartment. One of those police was LAPD Detective Larry Manchester. Detective Manchester had recently read an article about the science behind human DNA and new technology to identify it. At the time, detectives were still using fingerprint scans, which only worked if you could find a print

and blood type identification, which didn't narrow the suspect list down by much. But this new technology meant that with any fragment of the human body, a hair, a toenail, even saliva, you could figure out exactly who your suspect was. So the detective instructed the autopsy technicians to collect any trace evidence they could find. Then they ran it through their own database for known sex offenders or rapists in the area,

hoping for some sort of DNA match. Problem was, John's name never appeared. If you remember from earlier, he struck a plea deal after being arrested for his first known attempted rape in 1957 and was never formally charged. And since the cops had not come looking for him, he was most likely feeling untouchable, able to commit his crimes right under the cop's noses. So in April of 1976, he went to Englewood to find another victim. That evening, he chose the home of 80-year-old Maybel Hudson.

He waited while she pulled her car into her garage. And then he attacked. John Floyd beat, raped, and strangled 80-year-old Maybel Hudson. Two months later, in June, he returned to Englewood and did the same to 65-year-old Miriam McKin. Like many of the other Westside rapist attacks, he covered her face when he finished. That last part of his M.O., the covering of his victims with pillows or blankets, became a key characteristic that would later allow investigators to connect the killings.

It's unclear what the psychology behind this action was. It could have been somewhat incidental, as many victims were killed in their beds. He may have used the pillows to help suffocate his victims. Or perhaps some part of him didn't want to look upon the faces. of his victims, out of shame or fear or disgust. The Journal of Forensic Sciences has noted that only about 1.3% of murder victims are in an unusual position, so it seems much more likely that the coverings were incidental or instinctual as opposed to a significant part of John's killing ritual.

Regardless, he took a brief break that summer. But in October, he killed 56-year-old Evelyn Bunner with the same MO. And yet, the LAPD had not come knocking. So with several successful attacks under his belt, John might have felt invincible, capable of quenching an appetite for murder. Not much is known about John's whereabouts in 1977, only that at some point he found work as a hospital employee.

It's possible this is where he identified as future victims, an easy place to find older women. At the same time, the police had their hands full with a new batch of serial killers. Los Angeles alone had the freeway killer and the hillside strangler in the mix. Then there was the Golden State killer who terrorized the entire state. Because of these other cases and the lack of leads, the Westside Rapist Task Force was disbanded. And perhaps a little too soon, because in February 1978, John reemerged, this time at the Pasadena apartment of a 77-year-old retired social worker known as Mrs. Stellarn.

That evening, John put on gloves, broke into her house, and waited for her. Around 10.15 p.m. when Mrs. Stellern entered her home, John attacked. He beat and raped her, and in the process broke her ankle. Then he strangled her to death, or so he thought. Somehow Mrs. Stellarn survived. It's likely she was only knocked out and unconscious. Awake, she scrambled to get herself up and called her son, Gary, pleading for help. help. Gary raced to his mother's apartment. Once there, he found her sitting on the floor in a state of shock.

He dialed 911, trying to figure out what happened and how to help her. But when the police arrived, all she could tell them was that her assailant had, quote, very strong hands. The next day, however, a neighbor reported having seen a man casing the area around Mrs. Stellarn's apartment. When they saw him get into a blue Ford Mustang, they wrote down his license plate number. which the police had traced directly to John. According to the registration, his residence was close to Mrs. Stellarn's apartment. So they went and saw the blue car. They arrested John and charged him with Mrs. Stellarn's rape,

but not for any of the other rapes or murders he had committed. It's unclear if the police even thought to connect this murder attempt to the Westside rapist. But like we said before, that task force had been disbanded. On August 17, 1978, John Floyd Thomas Jr. was convicted by a jury of rape, burglary, and mayhem. Mayhem in California law refers to violent crimes that are particularly brutal, where the victim is maimed. This can refer to any number of injuries, but mainly those that cause permanent disfigurement or even prolonged disability, things like blinding, brain injury, damage to the tongue. In this case, it was because John broke Mrs. Stellarn's ankle.

It's possible she wasn't able to walk well again, leading to the mayhem charge. This was the first time he was officially charged with rape. And while John sat in prison, the Westside rapist's crime stopped. John rang in the 80s from his prison cell. In 1983, five years after his arrest, he was released from prison. And on May 17, 1983, John reported to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Office, where his name and location were placed on the registry of sex offenders.

California requires that any person convicted of a sexual offense register with local law enforcement. This was new for John, as he hadn't previously been charged with a sexual crime. But from what we can tell, they didn't take his DNA. However, now that he was in the database, law enforcement could better track him. They knew, for example, that shortly after his release, he moved to Chino, California, a town about 35 miles east of Los Angeles. There, John managed to get a job as a peer counselor in a hospital.

It's an odd job for a registered sex offender. It's possible he'd taken counseling courses while in prison, something offered as part of California's rehabilitative programs. John seemed to be moving on the right path. But in August of 1983, police found the body of 85-year-old Isabel Askew in very nearby Ontario. The body's exposure to heat made it impossible to determine the cause. of death, but they were able to determine she'd been raped. We can't say for sure it was John. Police didn't question him at the time, as again he'd never been charged with murder.

They were also busy back in Los Angeles, investigating someone they called the Southside Slayer. That killer was believed to have murdered at least 18 sex workers, many strangled in South Los Angeles. It was the same MO as John and the West Side rapist, just different victims. And so, with the police focused on Los Angeles proper, John likely continued on. In March of 1986, about three years after Isabel Askew's murder, an 83-year-old living in the same apartment building was raped and robbed. A month after that, a 78-year-old resident was attacked a few blocks from the complex. And in June 1986, John returned to the very scene of both crimes. Coming up, an old file cabinet, saliva swabs, and a new group for cold cases.

Transport your senses with Saltisanado's limited edition perfume mist collection. At Sephora, spritz on lush notes of rainforest orchid and crisp sea breeze with hafresco paraizo. Embrace a floral and fruity scent inspired by Rio's nude beach with chiqui bikini or capture sun-kissed bliss with limonada gelada, where zesty Brazilian lemonade accord meets coconut milk and golden brown sugar. Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection, only at Sephora. Own it all.

Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot Machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th.

Don't pass go and own it all. Yamava celebrating its 40th anniversary. U-N. Details at Yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Now back to the story. In June of 1986, John Floyd Thomas stalked 56-year-old,

developmentally disabled Adrian Askew, daughter of one of his victims. Once he gained entry into her apartment, he sexually assaulted, strangled, and covered her with bedding. Through 1989, police and... investigated a total of five murders of elderly women in Claremont. Again, it's hard to imagine who would do something like this and why. In contrast to our earlier analysis that it's rooted in sheer rage, a 2019 study in the Journal of Forensic Sciences found anger was only one component of motivation for murdering the elderly. Some elderly killers were sexually motivated and others opportunistic. Their victims were often alone and weak, though in those cases

there was often no sexual assault. But there was a fourth kind of motivation, experimental, that is, offenders are seeking a certain kind of sexual experience and choose the vulnerable. In this scenario, the killers are often also previously acquainted with their victims. In John's case, for example, it's possible he returned to the same apartment complex, time and time again, becoming familiar with Adrian Askew before he killed her. Yet somehow John remained employed at the Pomona Hospital and even continued dating. And in March 1987, as he was approaching his 51st birthday, his life took an unexpected turn. His girlfriend gave birth to a baby boy.

Perhaps fatherhood caused him to rethink his life decisions. Two years later, married to the mother of his son, John took a job in the mailroom of the State Compensation Insurance Fund in Glendale, where a coworker said he was pleasant, personable, and religious. He was known for emailing his fellow employees, biblical passages, and messages of inspiration. An ex-co-worker Earl Hutchinson said, quote, the biblical passage was tied in with something for the day, like stay positive, or if you're having a challenging time, read a passage from Cornelius. It's feasible the family man was trying to repent for past sins.

From what we know, the killings near Chino stopped, as did similar ones in Los Angeles. And while John wasn't entirely steering clear of the law, in 1993 at the age of 57, he was arrested for likely being involved with a sex worker. It seemed he really had turned over a new leaf. But can serial killers just stop? According to the FBI, they can.

In a paper published by the Behavioral Analysis Unit in 2005, writers for the Bureau dispel the myth that serial killers go on killing indefinitely. They write, quote, there are events or circumstances in offenders' lives that inhibit them from pursuing more victims. These can include increased participation in family activities, sexual substitution, and other diversions. Essentially, when serial killers engage more in their public lives, they might stop killing. In John's case, involvement with his family life, work, and spiritual pursuits certainly applies.

But the past always comes back to haunt you. In 2001, the LAPD gained access to state and federal DNA databases. And with this new resource, they created the Cold Case Homicide Unit, focused on reopening cold cases with biological evidence. And in 2002, Detective Richard Bankston was assigned the unsolved cases from 1976. Digging around in a storage room at the Los Angeles County Department. Department of Coroners, he found a file cabinet. Inside was a gold mine of evidence. Slides filled with everything from semen, saliva, and blood, dating from 1972 to 1978.

In June of 2002, he submitted the evidence from both the Ethel Sokolov and Elizabeth McEwen cases and waited for DNA matches. But unlike an episode of CSI, where DNA is matched and the killer is caught all within the hour. DNA processing in Los Angeles takes time, months. He wasn't notified of any results until October of that same year, and it wasn't names, just general profiles. It took almost another year until September 2004 for the system to recognize these were the same man. But from there, things picked up. That same DNA profile was linked to an unsolved murder in Inglewood from 1976 and another from 1986, likely Adrian Askews. Even more luckily, in November 2004, California voters passed Proposition 69.

This allowed the state to order any convicted felons to come into police stations to provide their DNA via cheek swab. No warrant or arrest needed. Here's where the story takes another big turn. If you recall earlier, we mentioned in the mid-80s detectives weren't so focused on John, because they were paying attention to the Southside Slayer. Well, by the first decade of the 2000s, the Slayer had woken up. There was a series of murder assaults in the area, so police were now calling him the grim sleeper.

From descriptions, detectives on these cases knew the sleeper was now a black, middle-aged male or older. They just needed a DNA match to those crimes. So in the fall of 2008, they went through the database of known sex offenders in the Los Angeles area. Of the over 5,000 registered, 1,500 fit the description. Of those, 92 had never had their cheek swab for DNA. They called all 92 to the station, hoping for the grim sleeper. What they got was John Floyd Thomas. He reported on October 22nd, 2008.

To the cops, he was any other potential guy. A long shot. To Thomas, it was just an ordinary routine check-in, something due to mistakes made long ago. Secrets he'd never let out in the open. He was cordial and polite. The visit was, for lack of a better term, drama-free. But five months later, on March 27, 2009,

police were alerted the labs had found a match. But it wasn't for the grim sleeper. It was for some of the old cold cases of the Westside rapist, John Floyd Thomas Jr. And his updated 2009 address just happened to place him in South Los Angeles, just blocks from his 1957 attacks. The next day, March 28, 2009, undercover cops put 72-year-old John under surveillance. Only a few days later, police made their move, hid his house, and arrested him. He went to the station without incident, no fight, no anger, no seeming guilt.

He was calm as he waited to be interrogated. and shook the detective's hands, doing so with a firm grip. They interrogated him for four hours. We don't know the details, but it likely didn't matter much what he said. The evidence was stacked against him. On April 2, 2009, John Floyd Thomas Jr. was charged with the 1972 murder of Ethel Sokoloff and the 1976 murder of Elizabeth McEwen. And on September 23rd, 2009, armed with further DNA,

evidence, police charged John with the 1975 murder of Cora Perry and the 1976 murders of Maybelle Hudson, Mary McKinley, and Evelyn Bunner. Finally, they added the June 1986 murder of Adrian Askew, bringing the total to seven. Due to the geographic area of his crimes, the police referred to him as the Southland Strangler. Ultimately, they believed he'd killed at least 30 women and raped many more, but were unable to prove it. Regardless, two years after the arrest on April 1st, 2011, John Floyd Thomas Jr. pleaded guilty to all seven counts of murder. At age 74, John Floyd Thomas Jr. was sentenced to seven life sentences, one without the opportunity for parole. The man who had Detective

Bankston called, quote, Los Angeles's most prolific serial killer was guaranteed to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Our research couldn't find any statements or reasons from John on why he committed such heinous crimes. With psychology, we can make some educated guesses, a personality disorder, aggressive anger, rage he took out on older, vulnerable women, out of a desire to try it, or more likely, because it was easy. Currently, John is 86 and incarcerated at a Stockton California facility, elderly and alone. Just like the victims, he terrorized.

Thanks again for tuning in to serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. For more information on John Floyd Thomas Jr., amongst the many sources we used, we found Christine Pellasek's coverage in L.A. Weekly extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time. Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast.

Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound design by Jaron Cohen, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Nick Johnson, Trent Williamson, and Carly Madden. This episode of Serial was written by Laura Jean Laal, edited by Stacey Nemick and Greg Castro, fact-checked by Amelia Millars, researched by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood,

and produced by Bruce Kitovich. Serial killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcast this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

Do you want to hear something spooky? Some Monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I had lost eight whole hours.

Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.