The Grim Sleeper, Part 1

Summary

Cold Case Files – “The Grim Sleeper, Part 1” (Dec 30, 2025)

Episode Overview

In this episode, host Paula Barros and the Cold Case Files team dive deep into the chilling unsolved case of the "Grim Sleeper," a serial killer who preyed upon Black women in South Central Los Angeles during the crack epidemic of the 1980s and beyond. The episode illuminates the profound failures in justice due to race and class, focusing on the communities and families devastated by the spree, the doggedness of investigative journalism, and the breakthroughs and setbacks law enforcement experienced over decades pursuing the truth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Victims & Community Impact

• Ignored and Marginalized Victims: The victims were primarily Black women, many involved in prostitution and battling addiction—demographics largely overlooked by police and the media.
• Personal Accounts: Survivors and family members recall the heartbreak, the enduring trauma, and their anger at being disregarded by the system.
• Community Distrust: The episode explores the deep fissures between the Black community and the police, worsened by the era’s crack epidemic and the response to the murders.

Notable Quote:
"If they wanted to catch him, the police could have called him... But we were all black women." – Pamela Brooks (00:37)

Pattern of Killings and Law Enforcement Response

• Modus Operandi: The killer targeted women already living precarious lives, sexually assaulting and murdering them, often dumping their bodies in alleys, under debris, or in parks.
• Serial Pattern Recognition: Initial law enforcement confusion over whether the killings stemmed from lovers, pimps, or a serial killer. Ballistics evidence from .25 caliber bullets gradually exposed a pattern.
• Failures and Frustrations: Leads went cold or led to false arrests; the investigations often hit dead ends due to lack of witnesses and community cooperation, compounded by apparent police apathy.

Notable Quote:
"We was always under the impression that some guy killed Kody because she stole his drugs. For years, that's what we believe." – Irene Ephraim (08:13)

Case Narratives: Specific Victims and Investigations

• Henrietta “Kody” Wright’s Story (04:46–08:13):
  • Loving mother and community member, her downfall traced to addiction after personal tragedy.
  • Family recounts the horror of identifying her body and the lasting devastation.
• Barbara Ware’s Investigation (10:21–14:22):
  • Identified by fingerprints; another Black woman discarded in South LA. Ballistics linked her murder to Wright’s.
  • The lead about a church van—a dead end, reinforcing frustration with the process.
• Bernita Sparks and Mary Lowe (16:07–21:53):
  • Murders become more frequent and brutal, with mounting evidence connecting them.
  • False confessions and wrongful arrests (e.g., Jimmy “Let Loose” Spencer jailed, only for murders to continue).
• Enietria Washington – Surviving Victim (22:15–29:45):
  • Tells her harrowing survival story: shot, raped, left for dead, yet survives and aids in the investigation.
  • Misjudged by responding officers due to race and perceived lifestyle.
  • Detectives hopeful she will help crack the case, but another dead end when the .25 caliber gun at an address she recalled fails to match the murder weapon.

Memorable Narrative:
"When I woke up, he was taking pictures... You never think you'll be one of the victims of a serial killer." – Enietria Washington (01:25 & 24:16)

Missteps, False Leads & Systemic Issues

• Compounded Failures:
  • Multiple suspects investigated—none tied conclusively to the killings.
  • Ricky Ross, a deputy sheriff, arrested for unrelated murders; soon exonerated, demonstrating profound investigative misdirection.
• Systemic Neglect:
  • As murders for attention fade, so too do police resources; cases slip into cold status amidst high urban homicide rates.
  • Black families describe being ignored compared to white victims' cases.

Notable Quote:
"There were a lot of press conferences about serial killers in white areas, but there was very little about the serial killers focusing on black women." – Christine Pelezek (15:24)

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Memorable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• "I found out my mom was killed by a serial killer when I was like, 8 years old." – Rochelle Johnson (00:17)
• "We were left behind because we were drug addicts." – Pamela Brooks (01:36)
• "People don’t understand. You don’t just kill that person. You kill everybody that love that person." – Irene Ephraim (10:11)
• "He looked like a guy who just came out of Circuit City. He had a polo shirt and some khakis on." – Enietria Washington describing her attacker (26:56)
• "Maybe he grew out of it. You know, a lot of, you know, serial killers, once they start getting older, they stop." – Christine Pelezek speculates on the killer’s disappearance (29:59)
• "With the volume of murders that LA was experiencing during that next two decades... They were overwhelmed." – Cliff Sheppard on why the case went cold (33:42)
• "All of a sudden, it dawned on me who it was. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. And I knew it was him." – Enietria Washington on recognizing her attacker post-assault (34:35)

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Timeline & Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment / Content Description | |--------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:00–01:42 | Introductions: Survivors/families, tone set for killings, systemic issues | | 01:53–03:19 | Christine Pelezek discovers the case; press involvement | | 03:40–04:17 | LAPD Cliff Sheppard: Crime & addiction context in South LA | | 04:46–08:13 | Henrietta "Kody" Wright’s life, murder, family impact | | 08:29–10:11 | Barbara Ware’s discovery and investigation | | 10:21–14:22 | Barbara’s identification, investigation, failed lead with church van | | 15:24–16:54 | Systemic disregard for Black victims; task force and linked murders | | 17:03–21:53 | Murders of Bernita Sparks, Mary Lowe; wrongful arrests | | 22:15–29:45 | Enietria Washington’s survival story and subsequent investigation | | 30:06–32:55 | 1989–1990: Crack waning, false suspects, case grows cold | | 34:10–34:42 | Enietria recounts recognition of her attacker on a bus | | 34:42–End | Episode closes, to be continued in Part 2 |

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Closing Reflection

By the end of Part 1, the depth of suffering in the South Central community is palpable, as family after family describes pain compounded by neglect. The episode lays bare both the methodical investigation and the heartbreak of so many false starts, underscoring a persistent question: would these murders have drawn more urgent attention had the victims been different? The episode finishes on a suspenseful note, with the promise to conclude the complex case in the following episode.

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For the full story—including the eventual breakthrough and modern forensic twists—listeners are encouraged to tune in for Part 2.

Transcript

[Narrator]

The following episode contains intensely disturbing accounts of violence. Listener discretion is advised.

[Pamela Brooks]

I grew up in South Central, Louisiana back in the early 80s. We all knew that it was someone out there killing women.

[Rochelle Johnson]

I found out my mom was killed by a serial killer when I was like, 8 years old. When you're 8, 9, it's hard to go to an adult, like, can you tell me what happened to my mom?

[Narrator]

He prayed at night, trolling the streets of South Central LA for victims, and it's believed there were many.

[Pamela Brooks]

If I was a different race, maybe if I came from Beverly Hills and came down here and bought some rocks and he got me, maybe then it would have been something different. But we were all black women.

[Diana Ware]

He tells me, my sister is dead.

[Narrator]

I said, what happened to her? What are you talking about?

[Christine Pelezek]

He's nicknamed the Grim Sleeper because the killing suddenly stopped as if he was asleep. For 13 years, he murdered black women who were involved in prostitution or illegal drugs.

[Pamela Brooks]

He was called the Grim Sleeper. He preyed on the weak and druggies. He preyed on prostitute women.

[Enietria Washington]

When I saw the way she was portrayed, I was so angry that she was listed as some type of a prostitute.

[Pamela Brooks]

If they wanted to catch him, the police could have called him.

[Enietria Washington]

It was like, we don't matter. Black folks don't matter. When I woke up, he was taking pictures. You never think you'll be one of the victims of a serial killer.

[Pamela Brooks]

We were left behind because we were drug addicts.

[Narrator]

It's January 2006 in Los Angeles, California. Christine Pelezek is the author of the Grim the Lost Women of South Central.

[Christine Pelezek]

The winter of 2006, I was covering crime for the LA Weekly. Everything from, you know, gang killings to love affairs gone bad. I used to go and visit the coroner's office just to see if there was any cases. The coroner told me about these body dumps. There were 38 women on the list, and it was women whose bodies were found in alleyways and parks in South Central.

[Narrator]

The majority of women were African American, and many of them were sex workers.

[Christine Pelezek]

I started making calls to different detectives about it. They were not used to getting calls from the media on cases like that. But as I was going through the list, I ended up coming to two cases that were linked through DNA to a series of.25 caliber shootings back in the 80s. And I was completely shocked when I heard this because I had never heard anything before about any serial killer in South Central. And so that's actually how I ended up getting involved in the case. Was there a serial killer that Nobody knew about. Eventually we would call him the Grim Sleeper because of this very big gap between the killings.

[Narrator]

Pamela Brooks is a survivor of the Grim Sleeper.

[Pamela Brooks]

We all knew that it was someone out there killing women. At that time, he wasn't called the Grim Sleeper. He was just called a man killing prostitutes. So now we're gonna go back. I'm gonna take it back.

[Narrator]

Cliff Sheppard is a former LAPD detective.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Los Angeles has become famous for many different reasons, not all of them good. I'm a retired detective from the Los Angeles Police department. My last 10 years working unsolved murders, I worked in Southeast division. Beginning around the mid-80s, rock cocaine started getting its hold in south Los Angeles in particular. People were becoming addicted to it. And you could find dealers making a fortune almost overnight.

[Narrator]

By 1984, crack fueled drug wars ravaged south central Los Angeles.

[Cliff Sheppard]

We had an epidemic of murders in South Los Angeles where young black women were being found murdered on the streets, in abandoned homes, in alleyways.

[Christine Pelezek]

Detectives didn't know whether the women were getting killed by their pimp or it was their boyfriend. It really wasn't until there were more murders and then a pattern started emerging.

[Narrator]

It's August 12, 1986, at 2514 West Vernon Avenue.

[Cliff Sheppard]

There's a body found underneath a mattress in an alleyway. And she had a piece of cloth stuff down her throat. She's been shot at least once. No casings were found at the scene.

[Rochelle Johnson]

I found out my mom was killed when I was like 8 years old. My name is Rochelle Johnson and I'm Henrietta Wright's daughter.

[Narrator]

A mother of five children, Henrietta Wright was called Kody by family and friends, including her niece Irene Ephraim.

[Irene Ephraim]

She was a darn good mom.

[Narrator]

Rachelle Johnson is Henrietta Wright's daughter.

[Rochelle Johnson]

Growing up, I was told my mom was very outgoing, ambitious.

[Irene Ephraim]

Kody was very bubbly. She was a lot of fun. She worked for the LA Unified School District. She was always on the go. She used to love to play pool. She had several trophies from when she would win tournaments.

[Rochelle Johnson]

Growing up, we were very family oriented. We took holidays, serious birthdays, serious. So that was just like the best thing.

[Irene Ephraim]

We did things as a family. It was a village raising everybody's children. The neighborhood was rich in respect, you know, just wholesome. But I guess around the 80s, when the drugs came in, it just went all bad. I think that's just around the time Kody had got involved in that stuff. But it didn't show right away, you.

[Enietria Washington]

Know what I mean?

[Irene Ephraim]

She was a functional person that was.

[Narrator]

Getting high after Arson destroys her home. Henrietta Cody Wright spirals downward.

[Irene Ephraim]

She came to my mom's house crying, saying she had to start over again. And then she moved in with us, and she was pregnant, and she was just devastated. And then she just started living to get high. She stopped working for the school. It was a very addictive drug and it was like a snowball effect real quick.

[Rochelle Johnson]

Growing up, I always knew my mom did drugs. I was raised with two of my mother's sisters. I just was blessed and glad that she did not raise me in that environment that she was struggling in.

[Irene Ephraim]

The day after that, we went to identify the body. Oh, wow. They say it's Cody's, but the only thing I could recognize on her was the braids in her head because she was in the alley for a little bit of time. We were all really, really messed up behind this.

[Narrator]

The coroner finds that Wright was sexually assaulted, then killed by a bullet fired from a.25 caliber pistol.

[Cliff Sheppard]

No casings were found at the scene, so she was most likely shot somewhere else and then dumped in this out of the way place. I'm trying to look for any witnesses that could provide us information. Can't find anyone. That was one of the frustrating parts about this. Pretty much a dead end.

[Irene Ephraim]

We was always under the impression that some guy killed Kody because she stole his drugs. For years, that's what we believe.

[Narrator]

Then five months later, there was another very similar murder.

[Enietria Washington]

Yeah, I like to put a murder, a dead body or something. You know, he, like, he threw her out. Like he threw a gas tank on top of her and the only thing you can see out is her feet.

[Narrator]

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[Irene Ephraim]

People don't understand. You don't just kill that person. You kill everybody that love that person. And it goes on and on for generations.

[Cliff Sheppard]

911 police dispatchers receive a phone call from an unidentified male saying, hey, a guy just dropped off a body in an alley. He describes the vehicle as it being a blue and white van. He provides a license number for the van. The operator asked for a description of the man. The caller just kind of laughs and says, I can't see him. It's too dark.

[Enietria Washington]

Okay, what's your name? Huh? What's your name? Oh, I don't stand enough. I know too many people. Okay, then. Bye bye.

[Diana Ware]

Right.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Officers responded. It's pitch black out there. The officers with their flashlights, they walk partway down the alley, and as they're coming back, they realize there's a pile of debris and they can see legs sticking out. We found our body. When they removed the gas tank, they discovered that she had been shot by a small caliber firearm.

[Narrator]

Investigators use fingerprints to identify the victim as Barbara Ware. The coroner is needed to determine her cause of death. Diana Ware is Barbara's stepmother.

[Diana Ware]

My husband was notified, and I could see he was distraught, and that's when he told me. He says they found a barber murdered over on main street. The detectives couldn't tell us anything else. It was a very bad time, and we just didn't know what to do, what to think, what happened. So we were very, very, very distraught and upset at that time. Barbara Ware was my bonus daughter. I consider my bonus children, my bonus children, not stupid stepchildren. When the children were growing up, Barbara and her brother were into roller skating. That's what they liked to do on the weekend. Barbara was just a very charismatic person for her age. There was nothing shy about her. They came to live with us when they were still in junior high after their mother passed away. Suddenly she had an aneurysm. That was kind of when things started to go kind of bad for her.

[Narrator]

Like Henrietta Wright, Barbara had fallen victim to the streets and drug addiction.

[Christine Pelezek]

At first, I think they believed it was maybe a drug deal gone bad type situation. When she was taken to the coroner's office, they found that just like Henrietta Wright, Barbara had been shot in the chest with a.25 caliber pistol. And ballistically, the bullets matched Henrietta Wright's murder.

[Cliff Sheppard]

But the problem is it does not identify the murderer using this gun. The caller provides a license number of the van that was allegedly seen. They conducted a DMV check.

[Christine Pelezek]

It came back to a van from a church in South Los Angeles called the Cosmopolitan Church. When the police got there, the van was warm. They were having a revival at the church. The officers took the whole group of them down to the police station and interviewed them. You know, did anyone use the van?

[Cliff Sheppard]

And they said, yeah, we use it. We're dropping off other congregational members, taking them home, but that's it. That van was impounded and then processed for fingerprints. But it was all church members and they had nothing to do with the murder. So another frustrating lead that seemed to go nowhere. We still have the serial murder out there.

[Narrator]

By the mid-1980s, the crack epidemic in South Central is intensified. An already strained relationship between the community and police. Families of the slain women were worried this case would never be solved.

[Diana Ware]

The detectives would come by periodically. They would ask my husband questions, but they didn't tell us anything else. No leads, nothing. We just wanted to be treated like we matter.

[Pamela Brooks]

If they wanted to catch him, the police could have called him. They thought of us as just crackheads, but we still was humans. We were being hunted.

[Diana Ware]

We moved out of Los Angeles about a year or so after Barbara was murdered. We just wanted to get out of the area, but we didn't hear anything else, nothing else about Barbara being murdered. We didn't think they'd ever find out whatever happened.

[Christine Pelezek]

There were a lot of press conferences about serial killers in white areas, but there was very little about the serial killers focusing on black women. A lot of the family members thought that the police and people just didn't care.

[Narrator]

What most people of South Central LA didn't know was that since 1985, the LAPD was operating a secret task force looking into the murders of more than 25 young African American women.

[Cliff Sheppard]

We obviously knew we had a big problem. I mean, women were being murdered and we're not solving them. But then our firearms unit started comparing bullets recovered from the bodies of Henrietta Wright and Barbara Ware.

[Narrator]

They discover those bullets that matched bullets recovered from two other murder victims.

[Christine Pelezek]

There was a murder on January 15, 1984. Her name was Sharon Alice Desmueke. Then Deborah Jackson was Found murdered in August of 1985 in an alleyway in South Los Angeles. They realized that the same.25 caliber gun that was used to kill Deborah was also used to kill Sharon.

[Cliff Sheppard]

By the fourth murder, we know we have a serial murderer who's using the same firearm. We don't know when they will murder again.

[Narrator]

The answer comes soon enough. On a cool spring evening three months after Barbara Ware's murder.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Bernita Sparks body is found in a dumpster down around 94th street in Western. The location is to the rear of a church.

[Christine Pelezek]

Bernita Sparks had as well been shot in the chest with a.25 caliber.

[Narrator]

Like the other victims, she had also been sexually assaulted.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Her body has been redressed and she was also struck over the head.

[Christine Pelezek]

The police realized now that, you know, this killer is speeding up, the murders are happening a lot closer together. The newspapers and media started calling him the so called society slayer.

[Cliff Sheppard]

During that time, we were getting a lot of negative press because there were so many murders and no suspects were being developed.

[Christine Pelezek]

The big task Force assigned two detectives to the.25 caliber killings. They would get the call. They'd see that it was a.25 caliber and would go investigate.

[Narrator]

But detectives soon get a break. A tip from a woman named Shelly Brown.

[Christine Pelezek]

She was arrested for a robbery and she said that she knew information about the murder of Henrietta Wright.

[Narrator]

Brown tells police she and Wright brought two men to a hotel. Dennis Pinky Pinkney was with Shelly and Jimmy let loose. Spencer was with Wright.

[Christine Pelezek]

Sheldy had said that she heard this fighting go on in the next room. And the next thing she knew, Pinky went running out. And then she said by the time she got into the alleyway, she saw, you know, Pinky holding down Henrietta on the ground and then let loose shooting her.

[Narrator]

Police search Jimmy Spencer's home and find a.25 caliber pistol.

[Christine Pelezek]

Oh my God. Is this the.25 caliber pistol? Is this the guy?

[Todd Garner]

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[Cliff Sheppard]

When we talk to some of the family members, they're always hopeful. And what's new, we want to be able to say here. We've got the answer for you. Now here's the murderer. He did it, and we can prove it.

[Narrator]

For three years, police have been searching for the south side Slayer, a man who'd murdered five African American women with the same.25 caliber gun. Finally, investigators believe they have the killer.

[Christine Pelezek]

They end up arresting Jimmy Spencer and charging him with the murder of Henrietta Wright.

[Narrator]

But then another body is found in South Central. Fourteen months later.

[Christine Pelezek]

When Jimmy was in jail, there was another victim. I mean, it was unbelievable. Mary Lowe is found dead in an alleyway. And her body was found by a father and his son who were walking the area.

[Cliff Sheppard]

She's been shot in the chest. It appears she's been also redressed because the bullet did not penetrate the clothing and she's placed by a wall with her purse in the alleyway.

[Narrator]

The victim was found three and a half blocks from where the killer left Bernita Sparks body six months earlier.

[Christine Pelezek]

Mary was a popular teenager and she was also a really good dancer. She danced for American Bandstand and Soul Train.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Mary Lowe was at a club of sorts around 92nd street in Western. She was last seen leaving there, walking northbound on Western alone.

[Christine Pelezek]

And the next morning, her body is found in an alleyway not far from the bar where she was another woman.

[Narrator]

Murdered and her body dumped in an alley. But Mary is found on November 1, 1987, almost a year after Jimmy Spencer was jailed.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Even with his arrest, those murders didn't stop. They kept going.

[Narrator]

The police have the wrong men. The case against Pinkney and Spencer is dropped. The two are released, and the task force is back to square one.

[Christine Pelezek]

The killings continued on after that.

[Narrator]

Enietria Washington is a survivor of the grim sleeper.

[Enietria Washington]

I grew up in la and I've lived here most of my life. In the 80s, I was living the best life. You would go to these parties and you get to associate with few movie stars, you know, and it was fun, but, you know, it was too good to be true. I should have known better. I was working as a physician assistant and I had just gotten off work. So I was walking home to get changed to go to this party with my play sister, Linda Hoover. I walked past the liquor store and saw this car, this orange Pinto. It looked like the exact replica of the Hot Wheel car. And I was looking at it. The owner of the Pinto started hollering, yo, you like my car? He drove up, you know, I was like, yeah, I was buying your car. Then he goes, oh, where are you going? I said, I'm going to a party later on. He said, well, can I go to the party? And I was like, yeah, anybody can go to the party. Because Backyard Boogie was Backyard Boogie. So I said, okay, let me change clothes, and I'll let you take me over to my friend's house. I changed clothes. It was still light. It wasn't dark yet.

[Narrator]

Enietria gets in the car and the driver asks her name.

[Enietria Washington]

So we're driving. I said, you're going right here. That's where she lived. He makes a left turn, and I'm like, oh, no. He pulls in front this house, and he said, I'll be right back. I heard him talking to somebody. I didn't see the person. And I'm like, okay, if another person gets in this car, I'm getting out this car. But he got in by himself. Then we're driving.

[Narrator]

The man drives the car away from where Enietria wants to go, and then he starts calling her Brenda.

[Enietria Washington]

The black girl came out real tough. And I said, that's not my name. I don't even know you. Why are you calling me somebody else? And he says, why you dogging me out? I didn't answer him, and everything just went quiet. And I'm like, okay, it's time to get out this car. So I reached for the handle, and he shot me in my chest, point blank. He said, I'll shoot you again if you touch that door. Now I'm losing where I'm at. And I passed out. And when I woke up, it was dark, my clothes were down, and this man was on top of me taking pictures. I heard about these black women getting killed at the time in South Central. I was scared. But you never think you'll be one of the victims of a serial killer. When I woke up, there's this camera flashing. Oh, he raped me. I was pushing him off of me, trying to get out the car. As I opened the door, he pushed me out the door to see. And I remember rolling in the street and laying there, I have blood all on my shirt in the front of my chest. I couldn't believe I was shot.

[Narrator]

Her attacker speeds off in the orange Pinto, leaving Enietria to die.

[Enietria Washington]

It was dark and I was bleeding, but I was thinking, okay, I need to go to my friend Linda's. I'm walking toward her house, leaving a trail of blood. I had walked a mile. She got a Porsche light on, so I'm bamming on the doors. Then I realized, oh, she went to the party. While I'm there laying on her porch, Glenda pulls up her and her husband. I was like, call 911. When the police and everybody came, I overheard these cops talking smack. You know, why should we help her? This black girl, you know, I got to be a hooker because I had a short skirt on. I was going to a backyard boogie. Of course, I was cute. Then he looked and he saw that the panties were hanging off. They were torn. And then he goes, oh, my gosh, she's raped. We gotta get a rape thing. They finally got out in the ambulance and take me to the hospital emergency room.

[Narrator]

Doctors operate on Enietria for hours and remove a.25 caliber slug from her chest.

[Enietria Washington]

When I woke up, I had a collapsed lung. The next thing I know, these detectives walk in on me. They brought in a sketch artist and they said, can you describe him? He was a little short guy, black. He looked like a guy who just came out of Circuit City. He had a polo shirt and some khakis on.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Problem was, other than the car, there's nothing really unique about the mat.

[Narrator]

Enietria tells investigators she has no idea why he shot her.

[Enietria Washington]

I was still in the hospital room, and the detective said, oh, we got the bullet. And I'm like, okay.

[Narrator]

What investigators do not tell Enietria is that the bullet taken from her body matches the.25 caliber slugs taken from nine previous victims.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Enietria, this is our first known surviving victim. That was a big break. We need all the help that we can get, and there's a possibility that she could help identify him.

[Narrator]

Using DMV records, investigators track down and question the owners of every orange Pinto in Los Angeles.

[Cliff Sheppard]

We had stakeouts in the area looking for anybody driving an orange Pinto. All of them were eliminated. None of them were the right one.

[Enietria Washington]

When I finally got out of the hospital, the detectives asked me if I would go with them to go check over where I was, take them through it.

[Narrator]

Enietria shows detectives the route her assailant took the night of the shooting.

[Enietria Washington]

And I remembered the house and, you know, where I was.

[Christine Pelezek]

The police learned that the house was owned by a guy named Osis White. And they got a search warrant, and there it was. They found a.25 caliber pistol, and so they thought, oh, my God, this is it. This is the murder weapon.

[Enietria Washington]

And I said, thank you father guy. I really thought they caught the guy.

[Christine Pelezek]

Enietria ended up taking the detectives to this house owned by a guy named Otis White. It was kind of the local party house. You know, a lot of people would go there and hang out and drink beer. The detectives got a search warrant for the house.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Officers recovered a.25 automatic.

[Christine Pelezek]

And so they tested it and it was not the weapon that was used to shoot Enietria and kill the other nine women. Enietria said that the attacker was in his 30s and Otis White was around late 70s, so he was too old to be the killer. Enietria just wanted to find out who did this. She was having this really good life and then all of a sudden, sudden, not only was she shot, but she almost died.

[Narrator]

After Enietria Washington is shot In November of 1988, the four year string of 25 caliber murders comes to a halt.

[Cliff Sheppard]

We had a quiet spell after Anitra.

[Christine Pelezek]

Maybe he grew out of it. You know, a lot of, you know, serial killers, once they start getting older, they stop.

[Cliff Sheppard]

Did he change his MO? Maybe he's not using the 25 caliber firearm anymore. If you're familiar with Los Angeles, one of the main thoroughfares is the Harbor Freeway. It runs north and south to the ocean, passing through south Los Angeles. They were women who were found murdered alongside the freeway. A month before in survived an attack, there had been three victims who had been murdered with a 9 millimeter firearm. One night while an officer was on patrol with his partner, they see a car stopped alongside the Harbor Freeway. When they stopped, the driver, he identified himself as Ricky Ross.

[Christine Pelezek]

Ricky Ross was a Los Angeles county deputy sheriff. He was in the car with this young girl, young prostitute.

[Cliff Sheppard]

The officers asked the deputy if he had a firearm. He said, yes, I do. It's in the trunk of my car.

[Christine Pelezek]

They look in Ricky Ross trunk and they find a 9 millimeter pistol. They checked the gun and they asked him if he was involved in any of these 9 millimeter murders.

[Cliff Sheppard]

He denied it, but then he admitted that he also owned a 25 automatic. Do we finally have the guy? When they conducted the search of Ricky Ross's house, they recovered a holster for a 25 automatic, but no gun. Our firearms unit examined a 9 millimeter pistol that was in his possession, identified that gun as being used in three murders. So he was booked for those murders. Finding Ricky in the car with the woman, with the pistol that was in the trunk of the car, tying him to the 9 millimeter murders and the knowledge that he owned a.25 caliber gun. All this made it seem that he was likely the.25 caliber murderer.

[Narrator]

As the trial against Ricky ross for the three 9 millimeter murders is set to begin, Opening arguments. A new report torpedoes the prosecution's case.

[Cliff Sheppard]

The firearms expert that Ricky Ross's team had used came to the conclusion that the 9 millimeter that was recovered from Ricky Ross was not the firearm that was used to murder those three women.

[Narrator]

The DA's office hires two outside ballistics experts. They conclude that it was unlikely that the 9 millimeter gun was used in the murders.

[Cliff Sheppard]

So if it wasn't used to murder those three women, kind of puts doubt into the.25 automatic, which we never found. Ricky Ross had nothing to do with the murders. We're back at square zero. Typically, the first 48 hours are the best time to work the murder. The problem is, the most recent murder gets the most attention. Over time, they're pushed further and further back. Less and less is done, and the case will likely be forgotten about. With the volume of murders that Ellie was experiencing during that next two decades. In the 90s, we hit over a thousand murders a year. They were overwhelmed.

[Christine Pelezek]

It was very frustrating for, like, a lot of the detectives. They were so busy handling so many murders. The.25 caliber cases just sort of disappeared from, you know, everybody's, you know, view really.

[Narrator]

Tips dry up. And by 1989, the south side slayer task force disbands. Time passes, and the cases go cold.

[Enietria Washington]

At first, when the case went cold, I was scared, but I was trying to get on with my life. A year later, I noticed that this guy was on the bus with me all the time, but he would never get off where I got off. And I was like, don't pay no attention to it. Just, you know, mind your business. All of a sudden, it dawned on me who it was. And I was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. And I knew it was him.

[Narrator]

We will conclude the case of the Grim Sleeper in part two next week.