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News

May 1, 2007

Chester Turner Convicted of Serial Murders of 10 Women, One Fetus

LOS ANGELES – Chester Dewayne Turner, a convicted rapist, was found guilty by a jury today of the serial murders of 10 women and an unborn child, all killed in South and Downtown Los Angeles over a 10-year period starting in 1987.

The jury found true the special circumstances of rape murder and multiple murder. Deputy District Attorneys Bobby Grace and Truc Do are seeking the death penalty against the 40-year-old defendant.

“The jury has reached an accurate and appropriate verdict during the guilt phase,” said District Attorney Steve Cooley. “We will await the jury’s verdict after the penalty phase.”

The penalty phase of the trial starts on Wednesday morning before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William R. Pounders. The six men and six women who deliberated over three days to reach murder verdicts have only two recommendations available to them – death or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The jury found the defendant guilty of 10 counts of first-degree murder for the killings of 10 women. The jury convicted him of one count of second-degree murder in the death of the fetus.

Turner was identified as a suspect in the murders after he underwent a mandatory DNA testing following a 2002 conviction for rape. He originally was charged in October 2004 with murdering the 10 women. The murder of the fetus was charged in an amended complaint filed a year later.

The murders started in 1987 and continued through 1998. All victims, except the fetus, were strangled.

The assault of one of the last victims – 38-year-old Paula Vance – near the rear loading area of an office building at 630 W. Sixth St. was captured on video tape. The investigating officer on the Feb. 2, 1998 murder was unable to identify a suspect. He took the Vance case with him when he was assigned to the LAPD’s Cold Case Homicide Unit in 2001.

In September 2003, the detective received a “cold hit” notified from CODIS, the statewide DNA database. Turner, whose DNA sample went into the database after he was convicted of rape in 2002, was linked to the Vance murder and another killing in 1996.

Los Angeles police took a closer look at Turner’s whereabouts over the past few years before he was convicted of rape. They also examined unsolved murders similar to that of Vance. Eight additional unsolved murders were linked to Turner, as well as two with another man who was convicted in 1995.

Further DNA testing excluded the other man – David Allen Jones – of the murders. The District Attorney’s office asked the court to set aside those convictions. Jones was freed from prison in 2004.

Besides Vance and the fetus, Turner was convicted of murdering:

• * Diane Johnson, 21, March 9, 1987
• * Annette Ernest, 26, Oct. 29, 1987
• * Anita Fishman, 31, Jan. 20. 1989
• * Regina Washington, 27, Sept. 23, 1989
• * Andrea Tripplett, 29, April 2, 1993
• * Desarae Jones, 29, May 16, 1993
• * Natalie Price, 31, Feb. 12, 1995
• * Mildred Beasley, 45, Nov. 6, 1996
• * Brenda Bries, 37, April 6, 1998

Turner was returned to Los Angeles from state prison after the charges were filed in 2004. He has remained in custody since that time.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.