A serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" was sentenced to death today for the murders of several women and a teenager - crimes that spanned decades in Southern California.
"I can't think of anyone that I've encountered in all my many years in the criminal justice system that has committed the kind of monstrous, and the number of monstrous crimes, that you have," Judge Kathleen Kennedy told Lonnie David Franklin Jr.
Franklin, 63, in May was convicted in the 10 murders; Reuters reported at the time that a jury deliberated "just over a day" before returning verdicts.
The Los Angeles Times reports that some relatives of victims attended Thursday's sentencing hearing, at which Kennedy read the names of the 10 who were killed. Franklin "sat stoically" as the sentence came down, the newspaper's reported.
Relatives also delivered statements at the hearing, including one from a mother whose daughter was among the "Grim Sleeper" victims. The Times reports that the woman, Mary Alexander, addressed Franklin, saying, "I'd like for Mr Franklin to turn around and face me."