John Floyd Thomas Jr.

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John Floyd Thomas Jr.
John Floyd Thomas Jr.png
1982 California State Prison Mugshot
Born
John Floyd Thomas Jr.

(1936-07-26) July 26, 1936 (age 85)
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, and suspected by police of 10 to 15 more.[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[]

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.[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[]

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 killers calling card was letting himself into the homes of elderly women who lived alone, raping them, and either choking them or suffocating them and leaving pillows or blankets over the victims faces after the attacks.

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 victim's faces. Those murders left at least five women in Claremont dead.

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

CODIS launch and re-examination[]

In 2001 the LAPD launched the "Open-Unsolved Homicide Unit", which re-opened cold cases that included biological evidence that belonged to the perpetrators. The unit started after the launch of CODIS, which used DNA evidence left at cold cases and compared them to the DNA on the 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 was made of the suspected killer. 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[]

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

The offender had been identified as John Floyd Thomas. He was now 72 years old and 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.

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 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] Some of the murders included special allegations that the crimes were committed during the commission of burglary or rape. In the outcome, John Floyd Thomas was only charged with the following murders:

  • Ethel Sokoloff - November 1972. (Aged 68).
  • Cora Perry - September 1975. (Aged 79).
  • Elizabeth McKeown - March 1976. (Aged 67).
  • Maybelle Hudson - April 1976. (Aged 80).
  • Miriam McKinley - June 1976. (Aged 65).
  • Evalyn Bunner - October 1976. (Aged 56).
  • Adrian Askew - June 1986. (Aged 56).

Although he was charged with seven murders, investigators have said they strongly believe he killed 15 or more women in the "Westside Rapist" and "Southland Strangler" period, and raped many more. A call to Thomas’ court-appointed public defender, Alan Gelfand, was not immediately returned. 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 Adrian Askew murder. He was therefore sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  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. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  3. ^ a b c Blankstein, Andrew (2009-09-24). "Prosecutors link John Floyd Thomas to five more slayings". latimes. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
  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 Blog "http://www.insidesocal.com/sgvcrime"
  7. ^ "Police call man LA's 'most prolific serial killer'". Associated Press. 2009-04-30. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  8. ^ "DNA leads to suspect in 1970s Los Angeles serial killings - CNN.com". CNN. 2009-05-01. Retrieved 2010-05-06.
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