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{{short description|Convicted American serial killer}}
{{pp-move}}
{{Infobox serial killer
{{Infobox serial killer
| name=John Floyd Thomas Jr.
| name=John Floyd Thomas Jr.
| image=
| image= John Floyd Thomas Jr.png
| caption= 1964 Mugshot
| caption= 1982 [[California State Prison]] mugshot
⚫
| alias=The Westside Rapist<br>The Southland Strangler<br>Willie Eugene Wilson<ref name="meganslaw">{{cite web |url=http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/cgi/prosoma.dll?searchby=offender&id=1869408304683 |title=California Registered Sex Offender Profile - John Floyd Thomas |publisher=Megan's Law - California Sex Offender Registry |accessdate=July 25, 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130409222816/http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/cgi/prosoma.dll?searchby=offender&id=1869408304683 |archivedate=April 9, 2013 }}</ref>
| birthname=John Floyd Thomas Jr.
⚫
| alias=The Westside Rapist<br>The Southland Strangler<br>Willie Eugene Wilson<ref name="meganslaw">{{cite web |url=http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/cgi/prosoma.dll?searchby=offender&id=1869408304683 |title=California Registered Sex Offender Profile - John Floyd Thomas |publisher=Megan's Law - California Sex Offender Registry |accessdate=July 25, 2010 }}</ref>
| birth_date={{Birth date and age|1936|7|26}}
| birth_date={{Birth date and age|1936|7|26}}
| birth_place=[[Los Angeles]]
| birth_place=[[Los Angeles]], [[California]], U.S.
| death_date=
| death_date=
| cause=
| cause=
| victims=7-15+
| victims=7–15+
| country= [[United States]]
| country=United States
| states= [[California]]
| states=[[California]]
| beginyear=November 1972
| beginyear=November 1972
| endyear=June 1986
| endyear=June 1986
| apprehended= March 31, 2009
| apprehended= March 31, 2009
| sentence= Seven consecutive [[life sentence]]s without the possibility of [[parole]]
| sentence= Seven consecutive [[life sentence]]s without the possibility of [[parole]]
| imprisoned= [[California Health Care Facility]]
}}
}}


'''John Floyd Thomas Jr. ''' (born July 26, 1936)<ref name="meganslaw"/> is an [[United States|American]] [[serial killer]], serving a [[life sentence]] without the possibility of parole convicted of the murders of seven women in the [[Los Angeles]] area during the 1970s and 1980s, and suspected by police of 10 to 15 more.<ref name="Time30Apr">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6202024.ece|title=DNA reveals John Floyd Thomas as LA's most prolific serial killer|last=Bone|first=James|date=2009-04-30|accessdate=2009-05-01 | location=London | work=The Times}}</ref><ref name="LATimes24Sep">{{cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2009/sep/24/local/me-serial-killer24|title=Prosecutors link John Floyd Thomas to five more slayings|date=2009-09-24|publisher=latimes|accessdate=2010-09-20 | first=Andrew | last=Blankstein}}</ref><ref name="LATimes1Apr">
'''John Floyd Thomas Jr. ''' (born July 26, 1936)<ref name="meganslaw"/> is an American [[serial killer]], serving a [[life sentence]] without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven women in the [[Los Angeles]] area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.<ref name="Time30Apr">{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6202024.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090507152536/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article6202024.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 7, 2009|title=DNA reveals John Floyd Thomas as LA's most prolific serial killer|last=Bone|first=James|date=2009-04-30|access-date=2009-05-01 | location=London | newspaper=[[The Times]]}}</ref><ref name="LATimes24Sep">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-sep-24-me-serial-killer24-story.html|title=Alleged 'Westside Rapist' suspected in other slayings|date=2009-09-24|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=2022-12-12 | first=Andrew | last=Blankstein}}</ref><ref name="LATimes1Apr">
{{cite web | last = Kim | first = Victoria |author2=Andrew Blankstein |author3=Jack Leonard | title = Serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr., dubbed the Westside Rapist, is sentenced to life | work = Los Angeles Times | publisher = | date = 2 April 2011 | url = http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-westside-rapist-20110402,0,1832775.story?track=rss}}</ref>
{{cite web | last = Kim | first = Victoria |author2=Andrew Blankstein |author3=Jack Leonard | title = Serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr., dubbed the Westside Rapist, is sentenced to life | work = Los Angeles Times | publisher = | date = 2 April 2011 | url = https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-westside-rapist-20110402,0,1832775.story?track=rss}}</ref>

⚫
On April 1, 2011, Thomas pleaded guilty to the seven counts of murder as part of a deal to avoid the death sentence. Investigators have said Thomas is possibly one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history.


==Early life==
==Early life==
Thomas was born in Los Angeles and his mother died when he was 12 years old. He was later alternately raised by his aunt and a godmother. Throughout his childhood, Thomas attended public schools, including the [[Manual Arts High School]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="LAT30April">{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-serial-killer30-2009apr30,0,4540481.story|publisher=Los Angeles Times|title=LAPD ties 72-year-old man to two waves of serial killings|date=2009-04-30|accessdate=2009-04-30 | first1=Andrew | last1=Blankstein | first2=Joe | last2=Mozingo}}</ref> Thomas served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] in 1956 for a brief period of time. While stationed at [[Nellis Air Force Base]] in [[Nevada]], a superior noted that Thomas was regularly "late" and "slovenly" in appearance.<ref name="LAT30April" />
Thomas was born in Los Angeles and his mother died when he was 12 years old. He was later alternately raised by his aunt and a godmother. Throughout his childhood, Thomas attended public schools, including [[Manual Arts High School]] in Los Angeles.<ref name="LAT30April">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-serial-killer30-2009apr30,0,4540481.story|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|title=LAPD ties 72-year-old man to two waves of serial killings|date=2009-04-30|access-date=2009-04-30 | first1=Andrew | last1=Blankstein | first2=Joe | last2=Mozingo}}</ref> Thomas served in the [[U.S. Air Force]] in 1956 for a brief period of time. While stationed at [[Nellis Air Force Base]] in [[Nevada]], a superior noted that Thomas was regularly "late" and "slovenly" in appearance.<ref name="LAT30April" />


He received a dishonorable discharge, according to his military records, and was arrested for burglary and attempted rape in Los Angeles. Thomas was convicted of these crimes and sentenced in 1957 to six years in the California state prison system. As a result of a pair of parole violations, Thomas remained incarcerated until 1966.<ref name="LAT30April" />
He received a dishonorable discharge, according to his military records, and was arrested for burglary and attempted rape in Los Angeles. Thomas was convicted of these crimes and sentenced in 1957 to six years in the California state prison system. As a result of a pair of parole violations, Thomas remained incarcerated until 1966.<ref name="LAT30April" />

⚫
==Case history==
The first wave of murders came in the mid-1970s, when police were on the hunt for a serial killer targeting older women in the [[Westside (Los Angeles County)|western districts]] of [[Los Angeles]], which led to the police dubbing the killer the "Westside Rapist."<ref name="LATimes1Apr"/> The killer's [[Calling card (crime)|calling card]] was letting himself into the homes of elderly women who lived alone, raping them, either choking or suffocating them and leaving pillows or blankets over their faces after the attacks.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

The killings appeared to stop in 1978, leaving at least 17 elderly women dead.<ref name="LAT30April"/> However, in the mid-1980s, the police in the [[Pomona Valley]] area became aware of a serial killer with the same ''[[modus operandi]]'' as the "Westside Rapist." The killer, who was dubbed the "Southland Strangler," also used blankets or pillows over his victims' faces. Those murders left at least five women in [[Claremont, California|Claremont]] dead.{{cn|date=February 2022}}

The killings again appeared to stop in 1989, but the two serial murderer cases were not thought to be connected. Both cases left more than 20 people dead.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime/|title=Crime Scene|website=Unsidedocal.com|date=16 September 2017 |access-date=21 February 2022}}</ref>

===CODIS launch and re-examination===
In 2001, the [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] launched the "Open-Unsolved Homicide Unit," which reopened [[cold case]]s that included [[biological evidence]] that belonged to the perpetrators. The unit started after the launch of [[Combined DNA Index System|CODIS]], which used DNA evidence left in cold cases and compared it to the DNA in federal databases. One of the many cases looked at was the murder of 68-year-old Ethel Sokoloff, who was found sexually assaulted and choked to death in her home in November 1972.<ref name="LAT30April"/>

The re-investigation proved that there was biological evidence that was left behind but previously not examined. Based on this, a male DNA profile of the suspected killer was made. In 2005, it was found that the biological evidence left at the murder scene also matched the evidence left at the murder scene of 67-year-old Elizabeth McKeown, who was found sexually assaulted and murdered in March 1976.<ref name="LATimes24Sep"/>


==2009 arrest==
==2009 arrest==
On March 27, 2009, the [[California Department of Justice]] notified the [[Los Angeles Police Department|LAPD]] that a CODIS DNA match had been made and the killer had been identified in the murders of Ethel Sokoloff and Elizabeth McKeown, as well as the victims in the cases being investigated by the [[Inglewood Police Department]] and the [[Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department|LASD]].{{cn|date=February 2022}}
⚫
Thomas was arrested on March 31, 2009, and on April 2, 2009 he was charged with the murders of Ethel Sokoloff in November 1972 and Elizabeth McKeown in February 1976. On September 23, 2009, he was charged with the murders of Cora Perry in September 1975; Maybelle Hudson in April 1976; Miriam McKinley in June 1976; Evalyn Bunner in October 1976; and Adrian Askew in June 1986.<ref name="LATimes24Sep"/>


The offender had been identified as John Floyd Thomas, a resident of Los Angeles. A review of Thomas's criminal history revealed that he was arrested a number of times between 1955 and 1978. His criminal convictions consist of multiple burglaries, many of which involved sexual assaults of his victims. Other than an arrest for prostitution in 1993, Thomas has not had any other known law enforcement contact during recent years.<ref name="LAT30April"/>
⚫
A break in solving the related murders came in October 2008 when Thomas, then an [[insurance]] [[claims adjuster]] at State Compensation Insurance Fund, provided a DNA sample to authorities as part of an effort to assemble an offender database in the state of [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJhCnvfhBTj8BCvSlg4tpx3yOyqQD97SUS000|publisher=Associated Press|title=Police call man LA's 'most prolific serial killer'|date=2009-04-30|accessdate=2009-04-30}}</ref> He was held without bail at the LA County Jail.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/30/westside.killings/index.html | work=CNN | title=DNA leads to suspect in 1970s Los Angeles serial killings - CNN.com | accessdate=2010-05-06 | date=2009-05-01}}</ref>


When the "Westside Rapist" killings appeared to stop in 1978, it was around the time Thomas was convicted and sentenced to state prison for the rape of a [[Pasadena, California|Pasadena]] woman. Thomas was released in 1983 and moved to [[Chino, California|Chino]], which coincided with the "Southland Strangler" murders in the [[Pomona Valley]] area. Those murders appeared to stop when Thomas took a job with the state workers compensation insurance agency in [[Glendale, California|Glendale]].{{cn|date=February 2022}}
⚫
On April 1, 2011, Thomas pleaded guilty to the seven counts of murder as part of a deal to avoid the [[capital punishment|death sentence]] for the Adrian Askew murder. He was therefore sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] without the possibility of [[parole]].<ref name="LATimes1Apr"/>


⚫
Thomas was arrested on March 31, 2009, and on April 2, 2009, he was charged with the murders of Ethel Sokoloff and Elizabeth McKeown. On September 23, 2009, he was charged with the murders of Cora Perry in September 1975; Maybelle Hudson in April 1976; Miriam McKinley in June 1976; Evalyn Bunner in October 1976; and Adrian Askew in June 1986.<ref name="LATimes24Sep"/>
⚫
==Case history==

In the first wave of killings in Los Angeles in the mid-1970s, a man police dubbed "The Westside Rapist" entered the homes of dozens of elderly women who lived alone, raped them and choked them until they passed out or died. The 17 women killed were found with pillows or blankets over their faces. During that time, Thomas was a social worker, hospital employee and salesman. The attacks stopped in 1978 — the year Thomas went back to prison for the rape of a Pasadena woman.
⚫
A break in solving the related murders came in October 2008 when Thomas, then an [[insurance]] [[claims adjuster]] at the [[State Compensation Insurance Fund]], provided a DNA sample to authorities in connection with an effort to create a database of such samples from convicted sex offenders in the state of [[California]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJhCnvfhBTj8BCvSlg4tpx3yOyqQD97SUS000|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504105743/http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jJhCnvfhBTj8BCvSlg4tpx3yOyqQD97SUS000|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 4, 2009|publisher=Associated Press|title=Police call man LA's 'most prolific serial killer'|date=2009-04-30|access-date=2009-04-30}}</ref> He was held without bail at the LA County Jail.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://edition.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/30/westside.killings/index.html | title=DNA leads to suspect in 1970s Los Angeles serial killings |website=Edition.cnn.com| access-date=2010-05-06 | date=2009-05-01}}</ref>
After his 1983 release, he moved to Chino in San Bernardino County and took a job as a hospital peer counselor in nearby Pomona. That year, a series of attacks on elderly women began that included five slayings in the nearby Los Angeles County town of Claremont. The attacker also used blankets or pillows over his victims' faces. Despite some 20 survivors, detectives didn't connect the two cases. There were conflicting descriptions from victims, a lack of communication between agencies and an absence of DNA technology. Ironically, Thomas went back to the area where he had killed a woman twenty years earlier, and raped and attempted to kill his former victim’s daughter, she survived, however. The 72-year-old insurance claims adjuster may be the most prolific serial killer in the city's history, having raped and strangled as many as 30 older women.<ref>Crime Scene Blog "http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime"</ref>

Although he was charged with seven murders, investigators said they strongly believe he killed 15 or more women in the "Westside Rapist" and "Southland Strangler" period, and raped many more. On April 1, 2011, Thomas pleaded guilty to the seven counts of murder as [[Plea bargaining in the United States|part of a deal]] to avoid the [[capital punishment|death sentence]] for the Adrienne Askew murder. He was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]] without the possibility of [[parole]].<ref name="LATimes1Apr"/>

==Murders==
Thomas was charged with the following murders:
* '''Ethel Sokoloff (#1)''', 68, was found murdered in her Mid-Wilshire home on November 25, 1972<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dailynews.com/2009/09/23/man-73-pleads-not-guilty-to-killing-7-women/ |title=Man, 73, pleads not guilty to killing 7 women |website=Daily News |date=September 23, 2009 |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Cora Perry (#10)''', 79, was found murdered on September 20, 1975; her kitchen window was found open, the screen missing<ref name="aura">{{cite news |title=Aura of Dread Lingers in Wake of West Side Rapist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114506301/aura-of-dread-lingers-in-wake-of-west/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times|The Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 29, 1975 |page=6 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Elizabeth McKeown (#13)''', 67, was reported missing on February 16, 1976; she was found raped and strangled two days later in the trunk of her car<ref>{{cite news |title=Body Found |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114505961/body-found/ |newspaper=[[Redlands Daily Facts]] |date=February 19, 1976 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Maybelle Hudson (#14)''', 80, was found beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled in her garage in April 1976<ref name="LATimes24Sep" />
* '''Miriam McKinley (#15)''', 65, was found beaten and strangled in her garage in June 1976<ref name="LATimes24Sep" />
* '''Evalyn Bunner (#16)''', 56, was found slumped in the front seat of her car on October 29, 1976; the back of her dress was unzipped and pulled up to her waist, revealing bruises on her upper legs<ref>{{cite news |title=Inglewood woman's body is identified |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/621491333/ |newspaper=The Redondo Reflex |date=November 3, 1976 |page=25 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Adrienne Askew (#18)''', 56, was found sexually assaulted and strangled in June 1986, just three years after her mother had suffered the same fate, in the same apartment<ref name="LATimes24Sep" /><ref name="lapd">{{cite web |url=https://www.lapd.com/article/how-lapds-closers-nabbed-westside-rapist |title=How LAPD's Closers Nabbed the Westside Rapist |website=Los Angeles Police Protective League |date=July 23, 2009 |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
<br />
Thomas was suspected of being involved in the following murders:
* '''Ethyl Grimes (#2)''', 81, was found robbed and strangled in her apartment on May 13, 1974<ref>{{cite news |title=Elderly woman robbed, killed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114519046/elderly-woman-robbed-killed/ |newspaper=[[Progress-Bulletin]] |date=May 14, 1974 |page=8 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref><ref name="lapd" />
* '''Maye Scialesi (#3)''', 72, was found murdered on November 7, 1974; the killer entered her apartment through her bathroom window<ref name="aura" /><ref name="encyclopedia">{{Google books|gijG7fSwvjAC|The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes|page=394}}</ref><ref name="fear">{{cite news |title=Fear Shrouds Neighborhoods Where Victims Lived |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114516756/fear-shrouds-neighborhoods-where/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 29, 1975 |page=28 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Lucy Grant (#4)''', 92, was found raped and murdered in her home on November 8, 1974; there were signs of forced entry, and the home appeared to be burglarized<ref>{{cite news |title=Woman Who Baffled Giant Firm Is Slain |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/385371664/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 12, 1974 |page=20 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref><ref name="encyclopedia" /><ref name="one man">{{cite news |title=One man may have raped 21 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114517328/one-man-may-have-raped-21/ |newspaper=[[Press-Telegram]] |date=May 8, 1975 |page=21 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Ramona Gartner (#5)''', 74, was found murdered in her apartment on December 4, 1974<ref name="fear" />
* '''Sylvia Vogel (#6)''', 71, was found under a blanket in the backseat of her car, beaten, raped, and murdered, on March 22, 1975<ref name="one man" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Body Found in Car |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114517513/body-found-in-car/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=March 24, 1975 |page=3 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Una Cartwright (#7)''', 78, was found raped and murdered in her apartment on April 8, 1975; her door was found open, and a TV was stolen<ref name="one man" /><ref>{{cite news |title=West Side Rapist Trails Pall of Fear |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114517716/west-side-rapist-trails-pall-of-fear/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=December 29, 1975 |page=29 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Olga Harper (#8)''', 75, was last seen entering her apartment on April 20, 1975; three days later, she was found beaten, raped, and murdered in her home on April 23, 1975<ref name="one man" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Rapist Has Killed Four Elderly Women, Attacked 15 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114518089/rapist-has-killed-four-elderly-women/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=May 26, 1975 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Effie Martin (#9)''', 86, was found beaten, raped, and strangled in her apartment on May 22, 1975; the murderer was suspected to be the "Westside Rapist," but some sources also referred to the killer as the "Wilshire Area Rapist"<ref>{{cite news |title=Task force formed to hunt 'Westside rapist' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114514783/task-force-formed-to-hunt-westside/ |newspaper=[[Press-Telegram]] |date=May 24, 1975 |page=25 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref><ref name="aura" />
* '''Leah Leshefsky (#11)''', 63, was found raped and strangled in her home on October 29, 1975; her window was forced open, and her apartment was ransacked<ref>{{cite news |title=Westside Rapist Strikes Again |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114515477/westside-rapist-strikes-again/ |newspaper=[[Santa Cruz Sentinel]] |date=October 31, 1975 |page=14 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Lilian Kramer (#12)''', 67, was found murdered in her apartment on November 14, 1975; police suspected the Westside rapist because of "certain points of similarity"<ref>{{cite news |title=8th Wilshire Area Woman Slain in Bed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/382783357/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=November 14, 1974 |page=2 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref>
* '''Isabel Askew (#17)''', 85, was found, partially decomposed, 11 days after she was reported missing from her apartment on October 22, 1983<ref>{{cite news |title=Body in Vineyard Believed to Be Missing Woman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/114519777/body-in-vineyard-believed-to-be-missing/ |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 2, 1983 |page=42 |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |access-date=December 12, 2022}}</ref><ref name="lapd" />

== See also ==
* [[List of serial killers in the United States]]
* [[List of serial killers by number of victims]]


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist|2}}
{{Reflist}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, John Floyd}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, John Floyd}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American people]]
[[Category:American serial killers]]
[[Category:20th-century American criminals]]
[[Category:Male serial killers]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
⚫
[[Category:African-American people]]
[[Category:American people convicted of burglary]]
[[Category:American people convicted of burglary]]
[[Category:American people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:American rapists]]
[[Category:American rapists]]
[[Category:Criminals of Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Criminals from Los Angeles]]
⚫
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by California]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by California]]
[[Category:United States Air Force personnel]]
[[Category:Serial killers from California]]
[[Category:United States Air Force airmen]]
[[Category:Violence against women in California]]

Latest revision as of 23:59, 26 September 2024

John Floyd Thomas Jr.
1982 California State Prison mugshot
Born (1936-07-26) July 26, 1936 (age 88)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesThe Westside Rapist
The Southland Strangler
Willie Eugene Wilson[1]
Criminal penaltySeven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole
Details
Victims7–15+
Span of crimes
November 1972 – June 1986
CountryUnited States
State(s)California
Date apprehended
March 31, 2009
Imprisoned atCalifornia Health Care Facility

John Floyd Thomas Jr. (born July 26, 1936)[1] is an American serial killer, serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for the murders of seven women in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s and 1980s. Police suspect Thomas committed 10 to 15 more murders.[2][3][4]

On April 1, 2011, Thomas pleaded guilty to the seven counts of murder as part of a deal to avoid the death sentence. Investigators have said Thomas is possibly one of the most prolific serial killers in the city's history.

Early life

[edit]

Thomas was born in Los Angeles and his mother died when he was 12 years old. He was later alternately raised by his aunt and a godmother. Throughout his childhood, Thomas attended public schools, including Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles.[5] Thomas served in the U.S. Air Force in 1956 for a brief period of time. While stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, a superior noted that Thomas was regularly "late" and "slovenly" in appearance.[5]

He received a dishonorable discharge, according to his military records, and was arrested for burglary and attempted rape in Los Angeles. Thomas was convicted of these crimes and sentenced in 1957 to six years in the California state prison system. As a result of a pair of parole violations, Thomas remained incarcerated until 1966.[5]

Case history

[edit]

The first wave of murders came in the mid-1970s, when police were on the hunt for a serial killer targeting older women in the western districts of Los Angeles, which led to the police dubbing the killer the "Westside Rapist."[4] The killer's calling card was letting himself into the homes of elderly women who lived alone, raping them, either choking or suffocating them and leaving pillows or blankets over their faces after the attacks.[citation needed]

The killings appeared to stop in 1978, leaving at least 17 elderly women dead.[5] However, in the mid-1980s, the police in the Pomona Valley area became aware of a serial killer with the same modus operandi as the "Westside Rapist." The killer, who was dubbed the "Southland Strangler," also used blankets or pillows over his victims' faces. Those murders left at least five women in Claremont dead.[citation needed]

The killings again appeared to stop in 1989, but the two serial murderer cases were not thought to be connected. Both cases left more than 20 people dead.[6]

CODIS launch and re-examination

[edit]

In 2001, the LAPD launched the "Open-Unsolved Homicide Unit," which reopened cold cases that included biological evidence that belonged to the perpetrators. The unit started after the launch of CODIS, which used DNA evidence left in cold cases and compared it to the DNA in federal databases. One of the many cases looked at was the murder of 68-year-old Ethel Sokoloff, who was found sexually assaulted and choked to death in her home in November 1972.[5]

The re-investigation proved that there was biological evidence that was left behind but previously not examined. Based on this, a male DNA profile of the suspected killer was made. In 2005, it was found that the biological evidence left at the murder scene also matched the evidence left at the murder scene of 67-year-old Elizabeth McKeown, who was found sexually assaulted and murdered in March 1976.[3]

2009 arrest

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On March 27, 2009, the California Department of Justice notified the LAPD that a CODIS DNA match had been made and the killer had been identified in the murders of Ethel Sokoloff and Elizabeth McKeown, as well as the victims in the cases being investigated by the Inglewood Police Department and the LASD.[citation needed]

The offender had been identified as John Floyd Thomas, a resident of Los Angeles. A review of Thomas's criminal history revealed that he was arrested a number of times between 1955 and 1978. His criminal convictions consist of multiple burglaries, many of which involved sexual assaults of his victims. Other than an arrest for prostitution in 1993, Thomas has not had any other known law enforcement contact during recent years.[5]

When the "Westside Rapist" killings appeared to stop in 1978, it was around the time Thomas was convicted and sentenced to state prison for the rape of a Pasadena woman. Thomas was released in 1983 and moved to Chino, which coincided with the "Southland Strangler" murders in the Pomona Valley area. Those murders appeared to stop when Thomas took a job with the state workers compensation insurance agency in Glendale.[citation needed]

Thomas was arrested on March 31, 2009, and on April 2, 2009, he was charged with the murders of Ethel Sokoloff and Elizabeth McKeown. On September 23, 2009, he was charged with the murders of Cora Perry in September 1975; Maybelle Hudson in April 1976; Miriam McKinley in June 1976; Evalyn Bunner in October 1976; and Adrian Askew in June 1986.[3]

A break in solving the related murders came in October 2008 when Thomas, then an insurance claims adjuster at the State Compensation Insurance Fund, provided a DNA sample to authorities in connection with an effort to create a database of such samples from convicted sex offenders in the state of California.[7] He was held without bail at the LA County Jail.[8]

Although he was charged with seven murders, investigators said they strongly believe he killed 15 or more women in the "Westside Rapist" and "Southland Strangler" period, and raped many more. On April 1, 2011, Thomas pleaded guilty to the seven counts of murder as part of a deal to avoid the death sentence for the Adrienne Askew murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[4]

Murders

[edit]

Thomas was charged with the following murders:

  • Ethel Sokoloff (#1), 68, was found murdered in her Mid-Wilshire home on November 25, 1972[9]
  • Cora Perry (#10), 79, was found murdered on September 20, 1975; her kitchen window was found open, the screen missing[10]
  • Elizabeth McKeown (#13), 67, was reported missing on February 16, 1976; she was found raped and strangled two days later in the trunk of her car[11]
  • Maybelle Hudson (#14), 80, was found beaten, sexually assaulted, and strangled in her garage in April 1976[3]
  • Miriam McKinley (#15), 65, was found beaten and strangled in her garage in June 1976[3]
  • Evalyn Bunner (#16), 56, was found slumped in the front seat of her car on October 29, 1976; the back of her dress was unzipped and pulled up to her waist, revealing bruises on her upper legs[12]
  • Adrienne Askew (#18), 56, was found sexually assaulted and strangled in June 1986, just three years after her mother had suffered the same fate, in the same apartment[3][13]


Thomas was suspected of being involved in the following murders:

  • Ethyl Grimes (#2), 81, was found robbed and strangled in her apartment on May 13, 1974[14][13]
  • Maye Scialesi (#3), 72, was found murdered on November 7, 1974; the killer entered her apartment through her bathroom window[10][15][16]
  • Lucy Grant (#4), 92, was found raped and murdered in her home on November 8, 1974; there were signs of forced entry, and the home appeared to be burglarized[17][15][18]
  • Ramona Gartner (#5), 74, was found murdered in her apartment on December 4, 1974[16]
  • Sylvia Vogel (#6), 71, was found under a blanket in the backseat of her car, beaten, raped, and murdered, on March 22, 1975[18][19]
  • Una Cartwright (#7), 78, was found raped and murdered in her apartment on April 8, 1975; her door was found open, and a TV was stolen[18][20]
  • Olga Harper (#8), 75, was last seen entering her apartment on April 20, 1975; three days later, she was found beaten, raped, and murdered in her home on April 23, 1975[18][21]
  • Effie Martin (#9), 86, was found beaten, raped, and strangled in her apartment on May 22, 1975; the murderer was suspected to be the "Westside Rapist," but some sources also referred to the killer as the "Wilshire Area Rapist"[22][10]
  • Leah Leshefsky (#11), 63, was found raped and strangled in her home on October 29, 1975; her window was forced open, and her apartment was ransacked[23]
  • Lilian Kramer (#12), 67, was found murdered in her apartment on November 14, 1975; police suspected the Westside rapist because of "certain points of similarity"[24]
  • Isabel Askew (#17), 85, was found, partially decomposed, 11 days after she was reported missing from her apartment on October 22, 1983[25][13]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "California Registered Sex Offender Profile - John Floyd Thomas". Megan's Law - California Sex Offender Registry. Archived from the original on April 9, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2010.
  2. ^ Bone, James (2009-04-30). "DNA reveals John Floyd Thomas as LA's most prolific serial killer". The Times. London. Archived from the original on May 7, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Blankstein, Andrew (2009-09-24). "Alleged 'Westside Rapist' suspected in other slayings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2022-12-12.
  4. ^ a b c Kim, Victoria; Andrew Blankstein; Jack Leonard (2 April 2011). "Serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr., dubbed the Westside Rapist, is sentenced to life". Los Angeles Times.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Blankstein, Andrew; Mozingo, Joe (2009-04-30). "LAPD ties 72-year-old man to two waves of serial killings". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  6. ^ "Crime Scene". Unsidedocal.com. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Police call man LA's 'most prolific serial killer'". Associated Press. 2009-04-30. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  8. ^ "DNA leads to suspect in 1970s Los Angeles serial killings". Edition.cnn.com. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
  9. ^ "Man, 73, pleads not guilty to killing 7 women". Daily News. September 23, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  10. ^ a b c "Aura of Dread Lingers in Wake of West Side Rapist". The Los Angeles Times. December 29, 1975. p. 6. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Body Found". Redlands Daily Facts. February 19, 1976. p. 2. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Inglewood woman's body is identified". The Redondo Reflex. November 3, 1976. p. 25. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ a b c "How LAPD's Closers Nabbed the Westside Rapist". Los Angeles Police Protective League. July 23, 2009. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "Elderly woman robbed, killed". Progress-Bulletin. May 14, 1974. p. 8. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. ^ a b The Encyclopedia of Unsolved Crimes, p. 394, at Google Books
  16. ^ a b "Fear Shrouds Neighborhoods Where Victims Lived". Los Angeles Times. December 29, 1975. p. 28. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Woman Who Baffled Giant Firm Is Slain". Los Angeles Times. November 12, 1974. p. 20. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  18. ^ a b c d "One man may have raped 21". Press-Telegram. May 8, 1975. p. 21. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Body Found in Car". Los Angeles Times. March 24, 1975. p. 3. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. ^ "West Side Rapist Trails Pall of Fear". Los Angeles Times. December 29, 1975. p. 29. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. ^ "Rapist Has Killed Four Elderly Women, Attacked 15". Los Angeles Times. May 26, 1975. p. 2. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. ^ "Task force formed to hunt 'Westside rapist'". Press-Telegram. May 24, 1975. p. 25. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ "Westside Rapist Strikes Again". Santa Cruz Sentinel. October 31, 1975. p. 14. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. ^ "8th Wilshire Area Woman Slain in Bed". Los Angeles Times. November 14, 1974. p. 2. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ^ "Body in Vineyard Believed to Be Missing Woman". Los Angeles Times. September 2, 1983. p. 42. Retrieved December 12, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
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