Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - “The Southside Slayer” Chester D. Turner Pt. 1

Episode Date: September 27, 2021

When Chester D. Turner moved to the City of Angels, it wasn’t by choice. In fact, Turner pretty much had no say in anything during his adolescence. He had a strict upbringing and was often a victim ...of bullying. That all changed in the late 1980s, when he started leaving behind a trail of dead bodies all around South L.A. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and child abuse that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In the winter of 1992, Felicia Collier's heart was full. She just celebrated Christmas at her aunt's house, along with her longtime boyfriend, Chester D. Turner and her daughter from a previous relationship. As the trio made their way back to her South L.A. home, Felicia couldn't help but feel thankful.
Starting point is 00:00:39 Not only had she and Chester overcome a lot of their relationship hurdles, they were looking forward to having a child of their own. Even still, Felicia could sense something was off. Chester was particularly quiet and cold behind the wheel, almost as though he was mad at her. Of course, Felicia knew this side of Chester well. He'd often have fits of rage. But with a baby on the way, he'd promised to manage his emotions.
Starting point is 00:01:08 He'd promised to change. However, as Chester turned onto another street, that once familiar look came over him, he'd turned towards Felicia and told her that he'd heard a rumor about her. He'd heard that she'd slept with another man. To Felicia, the accusation was laughable. She denied the allegation and told her boyfriend not to believe everything he heard. Gossip was just gossip. Unfortunately, the gossip was all too much for Chester.
Starting point is 00:01:36 He couldn't stand the thought of Felicia being with anyone else. Rumor or not, he wasn't going to let this go. She had to pay. Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parkast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're exploring the killing spree of Chester D. Turner, one of the most prolific serial killers Los Angeles has ever known.
Starting point is 00:02:12 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. Today, we'll discuss Turner's isolated childhood and his spiral into murder. We'll also explore how one of the largest violent crime waves in Los Angeles history overwhelmed the police during the 1980s. Next time, we'll explore Turner's years-long murder spree and the wrongful conviction that allowed him to remain at large for more than a dead. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter.
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Starting point is 00:05:19 Could seeing a news report about a murder or even a fictional portrayal of one really inspire a person to kill? Research suggests that the answer is yes. Many serial killers through the years are said to have modeled themselves on other murderers. Sometimes their reasoning is simple. If that guy can get away with it, why can't I? Other times, these murderous mimics may feel competitive with the established killer and want to steal his glory. And sometimes, the Copycats' crimes are so similar to the first that it confuses investigators. Today's story features that exact scenario.
Starting point is 00:05:56 Chester D. Turner was just one of several murderers who operated in his South L.A. neighborhood during the worst violent crime wave in the city's history. But whether or not he was inspired by an earlier string of murders is hard to say. However, Turner was undoubtedly shaped by the city of angels, but that's not where his story begins. Born in 1966, Turner spent the first few years of his life in a small Arkansas town called Warren. It was a safe, sleepy enclave in the middle of acres and acres of farmland. But when Turner was five, things fell apart. His parents separated and his mother Audrey decided she and her son were in need of a fresh start.
Starting point is 00:06:37 They moved as far west as they could get, settling in Los Angeles, California. L.A. was almost 2,000 miles from Warren, but spiritually it might as well have been another planet. Turner and his mom rented a bungalow in South L.A., a 16-mile urban sprawl that sits at the intersection of two freeways. After Turner's rural upbringing, life in the city was a shock to the system. Warren had a population of just a few thousand. by contrast was one of the most densely populated areas of the U.S. And despite being suddenly surrounded by other kids, and despite enrolling at a local elementary school, Turner's new life was an isolated one.
Starting point is 00:07:24 Unlike other boys' age, he wasn't allowed to spend any time outside of the house. According to a relative, he couldn't because his mother would not let him. He was always at home helping her. Of course, Audrey had her reasons. She worked two jobs to support their family, and needed a little help around the house. Unfortunately, the level of social isolation Turner experienced seemed excessive
Starting point is 00:07:48 and may have had a profound effect on his developing mind. 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. In a 2013 study, researchers examined the long-term impact of a lack of social interaction
Starting point is 00:08:10 in childhood. They found that socially withdrawn children are at risk for several negative outcomes, including anxiety, depression, academic difficulties, and rejection from peers later in life. The study also makes a distinction between social withdrawal, where a child voluntarily isolates themselves from their peers, and active isolation when they're isolated or rejected by their peers. The causes of active isolation are varied, but can include a aggressive behavior and social immaturity, as well as having interests that don't line up with most of their peers. Social withdrawal, on the other hand, can be caused by internal factors, like anxiety and low self-esteem. It's hard to know for sure whether Turner was inherently a withdrawn child, or whether his mother's strict rules made him unusually isolated.
Starting point is 00:09:03 Whatever the driving force behind it, that isolation paled in comparison to what he experienced when he visited his father, who had remarried and had. more children. According to Turner, his stepmother used to hit him while his half-siblings taunted him. Crucially, it's reported that he wasn't allowed to fight back during these altercations. This repeated trauma could have put Turner at a state of learned helplessness. According to the American Psychological Association, learned helplessness occurs when someone repeatedly faces uncontrollable, stressful situations, and doesn't exercise control over the situation even when it's available. The term was first developed following a
Starting point is 00:09:44 1967 study where dogs were exposed to a series of electric shocks. Some of the dogs were able to control the shocks using levers, while others were not. The group that had no control developed anxiety and depression, where the other group didn't. Later on in the study, the dogs that had lacked control over the shocks were given access to an escape route, but they didn't take it.
Starting point is 00:10:08 To the researchers it appeared that they'd learned that they were helpless and no longer tried to avoid the shocks. As far as we can tell, Turner learned to follow similar rules. When his step-siblings were bullying him, it seemed he accepted his helplessness and didn't fight back. But as he grew older, that feeling likely provoked a deep anger. With so much turmoil at home, Turner's rage began to spill out in his school life. By the time he was in middle school, he developed an unsavory reputation among his fellow students and a nickname to match.
Starting point is 00:10:42 You see, Turner had a habit of grabbing and groping female students. For this, he was dubbed Chester the molester. Having been made to feel helpless at home, it appears he channeled his aggression towards those he considered weaker than him, namely girls. But there was one girl Chester respected and maybe even loved. Her name was Felicia Collier, and she lived across the street from Turner and his mom.
Starting point is 00:11:09 The two had known each other since the sixth grade. Unlike Turner, Felicia was a bookworm who loved to learn. Hoping to shore up her son's dismal grades, Turner's mother even arranged for Felicia to tutor him. Eventually, the pair grew close and became friends, but Turner wanted more. Unfortunately, Felicia didn't feel the same way. She already had a boyfriend, and in high school,
Starting point is 00:11:34 that boyfriend got her pregnant. Furious, Felicia's mother kicked her out of the house. house. To make matters worse, her relationship was also on the rocks. But there was one person Felicia knew she could turn to. When she told Turner what had happened, he told her to come live with him and his mom. According to Felicia, what followed was a happy period. She, Turner and Audrey were like a little family. When Felicia gave birth, Turner even stepped up to be a de facto co-parent. He doted on Felicia's daughter as if she were his own child, taking care of her when Felicia was out at work or school. It was this dedication that made Felicia fall for him.
Starting point is 00:12:14 Finally, when both were still in high school, Turner and Felicia started dating. But even with Felicia's positive influence, Turner couldn't find the motivation to focus on his studies. In 1983, when Turner was 17, he dropped out of school. And the loss of that structure marked the beginning of a long, slow spiral into chaos. With nothing to occupy his days, Turner Turner started hanging around with local kids in his neighborhood and portrayed himself as a gang member. South Los Angeles was rife with gang activity during this period. But as far as we know, Turner was never actually affiliated with any gang. Meanwhile, Felicia's life was on an upswing.
Starting point is 00:12:56 Despite juggling a job and a young daughter, she graduated from high school and moved into her own apartment. Sensing that his girlfriend might be outgrowing him, Turner became jealous and possessive. He accused Felicia of cheating on him, though he had no evidence to back up his claim. At first, Felicia tried to laugh off his jealousy. It certainly helped that he always found a way to make amends after his outbursts. But Turner's paranoia about Felicia was just the tip of the iceberg. His life outside of his relationship was becoming increasingly chaotic. And when he started abusing alcohol and drugs, it was the last straw for his mother.
Starting point is 00:13:35 When Audrey discovered the drug use, She kicked Turner out of her house, and from then on, he lived mostly at motels and missions. Turner felt directionless and hopeless, but he was far from alone. During the 1980s, historically black neighborhoods like South Central LA were hit hard by economic restructuring under the Ronald Reagan administration. According to historian Josh Sides, the mid-1980s represented, quote, the nadir of South Central's already tumultuous history, fueled primarily by, the wave of plant closures, black unemployment and poverty rates rose throughout the decade. The sharpest decline in employment was among low-skilled and semi-skilled workers.
Starting point is 00:14:19 As a young black man without a high school diploma, Turner had an uphill battle to fight, and he knew it. Worried that his younger brother Anthony would follow in his footsteps, Turner told him, quote, not to be like him. Turner saw himself as a cautionary tale. As far as he was concerned he was a lost cause. That meant he had nothing to lose. And with nothing to lose, there was no reason to hold back the darkness that had been brewing inside of him for years. Up next, Chester Turner commits his first murder. Robbing trains, rustling cattle. Pop culture usually depicts the Old West as an uncharted land with no rules. But how? How do you? It's a lot of much of that is true.
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Starting point is 00:15:51 free and only on Spotify. Now back to the story. By 1987, 21-year-old Chester D. Turner was full of regrets. He was a high school dropout with no qualifications. He'd also been kicked out of his mom's house and was convinced that his girlfriend Felicia Collier was cheating on him. One day, as he and Felicia were driving from her aunt's house for dinner, Turner snapped out of nowhere. He told her he'd heard that she was sleeping with the most handsome guy on the block. Felicia denied it, trying to keep things light. But Turner couldn't be placated. With no warning, he spun around and punched her in the jaw. Then he screamed, I'll drive this car off the cliff.
Starting point is 00:16:44 Felicia was terrified, but Turner did as he always had done. He apologized for his actions and promised it would never happen again. Felicia gave him another chance. Though it might seem counterintuitive, it's incredibly common for a victim of domestic violence to stay with their abusive partner. The reasons for this are complex. According to psychologist Craig Malkin, many victims of abuse stay in part because they believe that their abusive,
Starting point is 00:17:10 partner is capable of getting better and that the abuse will therefore stop. Many abuse survivors also cling to the positive traits in their partners. In fact, one 2010 study showed that more than 50% of people in abusive relationships described their partners as highly dependable. This is the kind of thinking that could have played a role in Felicia's decision to stay with Turner. After all, when she became pregnant as a teenager and was kicked out of her own home, Turner was her rock. He took her in and helped her take care of her daughter. Setting aside his increasingly violent streak, Turner had always been dependable, and Felicia needed that.
Starting point is 00:17:54 Especially since the city of Los Angeles was experiencing a turbulent period of its own. Violent crime and gang violence surged in L.A. during the 1980s, as did crack cocaine and PCP use. South Central L.A., where Turner lived, was one of the epicenters of a nationwide crack cocaine epidemic. A number of serial murderers, including Richard Ramirez, were also active in the city during this time. Starting in 1983, the bodies of several black women had been found within the same 30-block radius, close to the 110 Freeway. This area, known as the Figueroa Corridor, was a hotspot for drug use and sex work, but now it was becoming a notorious dumping ground for the bodies of young women who were found in parks, in alleyways,
Starting point is 00:18:42 and once in a school yard. The LAPD began to suspect that a serial killer was operating in South L.A. But the Southeast Division was overwhelmed and understaffed. In the LA Weekly article, Silent Wraith, one detective revealed just how busy the division was at the time. Two investigators had to handle between 25 and 30 murders each year, so it's hardly surprising that the deaths of these women were barely investigated. But the community demanded action,
Starting point is 00:19:12 and in 1986, residents formed an organization known as the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders. The hope was that if they could generate enough momentum, they could pressure the police to finally investigate. Noting the lack of media coverage and lackluster police investigation, the organization called this an example of, quote, women's lives not counting, and black women counting least of all. According to Dr. Jeff Victoroff, associate professor of clinical neurology and psychiatry at the University of Southern California, social reactions to violence are highly influenced by how relatable the victims are considered to be. He said, quote, society tends to focus on dramatic explosions of violence against people with whom they identify.
Starting point is 00:20:01 As a result, the deaths of people who are drug users, sex workers, or otherwise marginalized, quote, fails to stimulate much public outrage. There might even be, in some people's minds, some kind of moral difference drawn. In other words, it's theorized that if a murder victim is someone who is seen as living outside the confines of the law or of acceptable moral standards, they're less likely to draw concern from the general public.
Starting point is 00:20:29 Needless to say, the long-standing distrust between the LAPD and the black community was another compounding factor. residents of South L.A. had little reason to believe that the cops would make any real effort to find the killer stalking their streets. In response to the outcry, the LAPD formed the Southside Slayer Task Force, named after the unidentified murderer, but they weren't the only ones who were paying attention. Turner, who lived in the neighborhood for his entire life, was plugged into what was happening. He was watching everything. And when he heard about a string of women being murdered
Starting point is 00:21:03 with no consequences. He was inspired. The term copycat criminal dates back to the 1960s, when it was used by sociologist David Dressler in a New York Times article about patterns of crime. Dressler argued that when a series of similar crimes take place within a given period, it's highly likely that imitation is involved. One criminal begins the patterns, and another carries it on. Of course, most people who hear about a murder on the news won't be inspired to go out and commit a murder themselves, but research suggests that for a certain type of person, this actually can happen. According to Jacqueline Helfgott, a professor of criminal justice at Seattle University,
Starting point is 00:21:49 the subset of people most susceptible to this are known as edge sitters, because they're on the brink between ordinary behavior and criminal behavior. If an edge sitter is exposed to a crime via news coverage, it could be the final push that tips them over the edge into committing crime themselves. With his gang aspirations and abusive outburst, Turner had been teetering on the edge of violent crime for some time, and on the night of March 9, 1987, he finally tipped over the edge. As he drove through the streets of his neighborhood of Vermont Vista, Turner's eye fell on Diane Johnson, a 21-year-old. He lured Diane into a roadway construction area next to the freeway.
Starting point is 00:22:35 Once they were out of sight, he sexually assaulted Diane, then strangled her to death with his bare hands. Afterward, he left her partially clothed body where it lay. A few days later, she was found by two passing drivers. The LAPD assumed that this latest murder was also the work of the Southside Slayer, who they'd been pursuing for years. Of course, they had no idea that a brand new killer was now on the loose. Meanwhile, Turner was elated, just as he'd hoped getting away with murder had been effortless,
Starting point is 00:23:09 and despite his brushes with violence in the past, he was a fixture in the community, and nobody suspected him. So, after only a few months, he struck again. In June of 1987, Turner returned to his stocking ground along the Figueroa corridor. That night, he crossed paths with Elandra Bun, a 33-3rd. three-year-old single mother. Once Turner had Lurda Lander out of sight, he attacked her, viciously beating her around the face and torso.
Starting point is 00:23:42 Then he raped her and strangled her to death. Turner left Elandra's nude body amidst a pile of trash in an alley, not caring who would find her or when. It's important to note that the details of Turner's murders are fuzzy. Some of his victims were sex workers and others lived with drug dependency. Both of these factors made them vulnerable to Turner's manipulation, because he often offered them money, drugs, or both, in order to get close to them. Felicia, too, was being manipulated by Turner. At some point, the couple moved in together,
Starting point is 00:24:16 which is when she started to notice strange behavior. He often came home in the early hours of the morning, claiming that he'd been working late. This seemed plausible enough. Turner had found a job as a pizza delivery driver and often worked odd hours. But Felicia couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. One night, Turner came home with his face and hands covered in scratches. When Felicia asked what had happened, he claimed he'd been in a minor car accident. Felicia didn't push the subject. She knew Turner was hiding something, but she could never have imagined the truth. Her boyfriend was a cold-blooded killer, and he had no intention of slowing down.
Starting point is 00:24:58 That October, Turner claimed to be a child. claimed his next victim. He lured 26-year-old Annette Ernest to a dirt shoulder just west of the freeway. There he raped her and strangled her, and when he abandoned her body, she became just another victim in the growing list. But as more and more bodies were found, the Southside Slayer Task Force was no closer to closing in on a lead suspect. It wasn't for a lack of trying. During 1986 and 1987, almost 50, detectives were assigned to the task force. They investigated numerous suspects. All of those leads came to nothing. The only clear fact that the police were able to establish
Starting point is 00:25:42 was that the Southside Slayer was likely a black man. That's probably because most of the victims were black women. According to FBI reports, serial killers don't typically kill outside of their race. In fact, in roughly 90% of homicides, the murderer and victim are from the same race. There are logistical reasons for this. Many serial killers operate by hiding in plain sight within their community. But if a killer lives within a multiracial community, then their victims are perhaps more likely to reflect that diversity. Of course, during an investigation, it can be difficult to know exactly what you're looking for, so educated guesses are your best bet. In the fall of 1987, police made an arrest that fit their projected profile of the killer.
Starting point is 00:26:31 31-year-old Louis Crane, an unemployed construction worker, was charged and later convicted of raping and murdering, at least three women long believed to have been victims of the Southside Slayer. But of course, this was only a drop in the ocean. Crane couldn't be tied to many of the other murders that had been attributed to the Southside Slayer, so after his arrest, the murders kept happening. Soon enough, detectives on the task force began to suspect that they were on a wild goose chase. Maybe they thought there was no Southside Slayer.
Starting point is 00:27:04 That's because there were multiple serial killers operating in the area at the same time, all of them muddying the water of the LAPD's investigation. As a result, the Southside Slayer Task Force was dissolved in 1988. The reported reason for this was that detectives were frustrated by a lack of clues. They were also exhausted by trying to untangle so many interwoven killing sprees. The LAPD, it seemed, was. was giving up, but Turner was only just getting started. Coming up, Turner re-escalates, and an innocent man pays the price.
Starting point is 00:27:45 Now back to the story. In 1988, 22-year-old Chester D. Turner was well on his way to becoming the most prolific serial killer in Los Angeles history. And with the Southside Slayer Task Force disbanded, the police were further than ever from stopping the murders. By the start of the next year, Turner returned to the Figueroa Corridor and attacked 31-year-old Anita Fishman in an alley. According to relatives, Anita had reportedly struggled with crack cocaine addiction
Starting point is 00:28:18 and homelessness for years. As such, it's believed that Turner lured her away from the busy street by offering her drugs. Once he got her alone, Turner strangled Anita to death and hit her body behind a mattress. Two weeks later, a group of elementary school kids found Anita's corpse, and the horrific discovery made it all too clear that the Southside Slayers, however many there were, were still very much at large. Turner seemed to get off on this. As he got away with more and more murders, he grew Boulder,
Starting point is 00:28:56 and his MO became more elaborate and cruel. Later that fall, he attacked a pregnant 2017. year old Regina Nadine Washington. He lured her to a garage inside a vacant home just off Figueroa Street and raped her. Afterwards, he fastened an electric cord around Regina's neck and suspended her from the garage roof. She and her unborn baby both died. According to forensic psychologist Helena Hockinen, strangulation is strongly associated with sexually motivated sadistic murders. That is murders where the killer gets sexual gratification from the pain he inflicts. Statistically, it's the cause of death in almost 70% of sexual murders.
Starting point is 00:29:41 One study in 2002 found that ligature strangulation, or strangulation with a cord or rope, is particularly associated with deliberate and cruel crime scene behavior. Needless to say, the discovery of Regina's body was another blow to the community, but the police still had no meaningful leads. and they certainly had no reason to look twice at Turner. At this point, he'd never even been considered as a suspect. But soon, Turner's sexually deviant streak became public. In late 1991, he was arrested for lewd conduct.
Starting point is 00:30:19 He spent time in jail for this offense. Then, just after his release in the fall of 1992, he was arrested again for indecent exposure. It's unclear what Felicia's perspective was on this situation, Considering everything, she might have been having second thoughts about her boyfriend, but around this time, she became pregnant with Turner's baby. When 25-year-old Turner learned he was going to become a father, it didn't do anything to curb his murderous appetite.
Starting point is 00:30:48 All he could think about was killing again. So that's what he did. In September of 1992, he attacked a woman named Tammy Christmas and strangled her to death. He dumped her body next to the portable classroom at the local 97th Street Elementary School. Six weeks later, in November, he murdered 28-year-old Deborah Williams and left her body on a stairwell at the same elementary school. The discovery of two bodies on school grounds was harrowing, and even amidst the crime wave, it stood out. Police were on high alert. But Turner couldn't care less. Just a month later, he murdered 42-year-old.
Starting point is 00:31:33 old Mary Edwards and left her body in a carport next to the school. The police knew that a serial killer had to be responsible for the spray, but unlike most of the Southside killings, there was a clear common denominator between the murders, the 97th Street Elementary School. Naturally they focused their investigation on those with a clear link to the school. Soon they honed in on a chief suspect, 32-year-old David Allen Jones, a part-time janitor. Jones had recently been charged with attempting to rape a sex worker near the school and was described as having a mental disability. Despite this, he was interrogated by police
Starting point is 00:32:17 three times over the course of two days without a lawyer present. At first, Jones denied any involvement in the murders, but after extensive questioning, he admitted to interacting with the victims in one way or another. Throughout the interviews, the detectives reportedly asked him several leading questions and steered his statements so that they were more aligned with the evidence. It might seem counterintuitive for someone to confess to a crime they didn't commit, but false confessions and coerced confessions happen with alarming regularity. According to Saul Casson, psychology professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice and Williams College, people may make false confessions because they're under the pressure
Starting point is 00:33:00 of interrogation. He called this a highly aggressive form of social, influence. During an interrogation, a suspect can become so stressed and psychologically broken down that, quote, they come to believe in a rational way a confession is in their best interest. Cassin added that a major contributing factor to false confessions is the fact that American police are permitted to lie about evidence in order to obtain a confession. This means that authorities can tell a suspect that they have DNA or prints or footage, prove that they committed the crime, even if this is completely untrue. This is particularly dangerous
Starting point is 00:33:41 when it's applied to a subject with limited intellectual capacity. To quote Casson, in some cases, people accused of crimes, particularly kids and others who are limited intellectually, become so confused by the lies that they actually come to believe they have committed this crime they did not commit. This is known as an internalized false confession. Given David Allen Jones's low IQ, he was clearly vulnerable to the pressures of an interrogation. As such, it's possible he believed he did some of the things he was accused of. And as far as the police were concerned, they had their man. His coerced confession was good enough to file murder charges against him.
Starting point is 00:34:25 Meanwhile, Turner was free as a bird. It's likely that he heard about Jones' arrest through the neighborhood grapevine and felt more unstoppable than ever. But behind closed doors, his behavior was becoming more erratic. When Felicia gave birth to their son sometime in 1993, Turner seemed unengaged. He spent hours alone in the bathroom of their house watching porn and refusing to come to bed. When Felicia called him out on this, Turner told her he wouldn't need to watch porn if she'd have sex with him. At this point, she was less than six weeks out from giving birth. Felicia could overlook watching porn, but there were other red flags that were harder to ignore.
Starting point is 00:35:08 One night, Turner came home with a huge bandage across his face and blood all over his jacket. He told her that he'd been mugged. Felicia didn't ask him any more questions. She knew they lived in a rough neighborhood, and she assumed he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even if deep down Felicia sensed that Turner was lying to her, she had a good reason to take him at his word. Now that they had a newborn baby, she was more dependent on Turner than ever, not just emotionally, but possibly even financially. According to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence,
Starting point is 00:35:43 economic dependence is a major reason why some people stay in an abusive relationship. They're aware of the challenges of single parenting and the reduced financial circumstances that would come with leaving their partner. So Felicia stayed and tried to believe Turner when he told her she could trust him. Meanwhile, after waiting for the dust to settle around his school spree, Turner returned to his old hunting ground, the Figueroa Corridor. In April of 1993, he crossed paths with 29-year-old Andrea Triplett, who was five months pregnant and mothered to two children. She reportedly was also struggling with a cocaine addiction. She was last seen getting into Turner's car near Figueroa Street. Turner drove Andrea to a vacant building nearby.
Starting point is 00:36:31 Once they were there, he raped her and strangled her to death. The next morning, a construction worker found Andrea's body in the yard of a vacant house. Days later, Andrea's devastated mother, Jerry Johnson, attended a funeral for both her daughter and her unborn granddaughter. After the service and burial, Andrea held a dinner at her home in South L.A., family and friends poured into her backyard, offering their condolences. The area was close-knit, and many of Andrea's neighbors attended. Among them was Chester Turner. Turner nonchalantly fixed himself a plate of food and mingled with other mourners. Nobody thought anything of his presence.
Starting point is 00:37:18 He was a familiar figure in the neighborhood, often hanging out by the local liquor store drinking wine coolers. They never imagined that Andrea's killer was among them. It's widely known that serial killers sometimes returned to the serial killers, sometimes return to the scene of their own crimes. Criminologists believe that different types of murderers do this for different reasons. Some return in order to insert themselves into the investigation, while others do so to further mutilate their victim's body,
Starting point is 00:37:47 or simply to relive the thrill of the murder. By attending his victim's funeral, Turner wasn't technically returning to the scene of the crime, but he was doing something equally sinister, inserting himself into the lives of his victim's family, witnessing their pain, perhaps even enjoying it. It seems Turner relished hiding in plain sight. Walking into Jerry Johnson's house that day,
Starting point is 00:38:12 eating her food, pretending to mourn her daughter, made him feel powerful. Nothing else came close to that feeling. That is, nothing else but murder, and there was plenty more of that in his future. Thanks again for tuning into serial killers. We'll be back soon with Part 2, where we'll explore the rest of Turner's murder spree,
Starting point is 00:38:45 a wrongful conviction, and how one woman's testimony finally brought Turner down. For more information on Chester D. Turner, amongst the many sources we used, we found Christine Pellisex coverage in the LA Weekly extremely helpful in our research. You can find more episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast
Starting point is 00:39:04 for free on Spotify. 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 Juan Borda, with production assistance by Ron Shapiro, Trent Williamson, Carly Madden,
Starting point is 00:39:26 Joshua Kern and Aaron Larson. This episode of serial killers was written by Emma Dibdin, with writing assistance by Jane O. and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Cheyenne Lopez, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial killers stars Greg Poulson and Vanessa Richardson. Hey, partners, it's Carter from Parcast. You've probably heard stories about outlawed Jesse James,
Starting point is 00:39:58 sharpshooter Annie Oakley, in the horrors of the Donner Party. But how much of what you've heard is actually true? Find out on my new series Wild Wild West, where I head out on the frontier to find the first, facts, learn the lore, and tackle the tallest of tales. Follow the Spotify original from Parcast, Wild Wild West, every Thursday, free, and only on Spotify. I hear something spooky. Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot.
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Starting point is 00:40:59 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. 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.

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