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retarded man jailed 9 years for murder released after DNA proves he didnt do it.
Original Article
Posted on Sun, Oct. 24, 2004
DNA links prisoner to LA slayings
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES A man in prison for rape has been linked by DNA evidence to the killings of a dozen women, including three that another man was convicted of committing, police said Saturday.
Police said they linked Chester D. Turner, 37, to the slayings of 12 women between 1987 and 1998 and they plan to give prosecutors evidence next week for many of the slayings.
Turner is serving an eight-year sentence after pleading no contest to rape in 2002.
Police allege the former pizzadeliveryman accosted most of his victims on a street in south Los Angeles and raped and strangled them before dumping their bodies.
A janitor with a mental disability was wrongly convicted of three of the killings and spent nearly nine years in prison. David Allen Jones, 44, was released in March.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the cases.
In a somber coincidence, the mothers of two of the victims have been friends for 30 years and have grieved together for their daughters deaths.
We never thought that it could be the same person, said Mildred White, whose daughter Annette Ernest, 26, was among the victims.
Ernests body was found in 1987 in the same neighborhood where the body of Andrea Triplett, 29, would be found six years later.
As part of his plea in the rape case, Turner agreed to submit a DNA sample that was placed in law enforcement databases.
Turner has been in and out of prison several times, but most of his convictions were for non-violent crimes.
http://www.montereyherald.com/mld/montereyherald/news/10004156.htm
Posted on Sun, Oct. 24, 2004
DNA links prison inmate to dozen slayings
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A man serving a prison sentence after pleading no contest to rape has been linked by DNA evidence to the killings of a dozen women, including three that another man was convicted of committing, police said Saturday.
Police plan to give prosecutors evidence next week against 37-year-old Chester D. Turner. He may eventually be linked to as many as a dozen other killings, Los Angeles Police Department Chief William J. Bratton said.
In a somber coincidence, the mothers of two of the victims have been friends for 30 years, and have grieved together for their daughters' deaths.
''He'll never be able to do this to someone else's child,'' said Jerri Johnson, whose 29-year-old daughter, Andrea Triplett, was among the victims. ''No family will have to go through what we went through.''
Johnson's daughter was found dead in 1993, six years and several blocks north of where the body of 26-year-old Annette Ernest, the daughter of Johnson's friend, Mildred White, also was found.
''We never thought that it could be the same person,'' White said.
Triplett and Ernest each had two young children, and Triplett was pregnant with a third when she was killed.
Turner is serving an eight-year sentence at the Sierra Conservation Center state prison near Stockton after pleading no contest to rape in 2002.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/nation/10003937.htm?1c
Posted on Sun, Oct. 24, 2004
I M A G E S
Chester D. Turner
DNA links inmate to deaths of 12 women, police say
By Tim Molloy
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - A man in prison for rape has been linked by DNA evidence to the killings of a dozen women, including three that another man was convicted of committing, police said Saturday.
Police said they have linked Chester D. Turner, 37, to the killings of 12 women between 1987 and 1998 and plan to give prosecutors evidence for many of the slayings soon. Turner is serving an eight-year sentence after pleading no contest to rape in 2002.
As part of his plea, he agreed to submit a DNA sample that was placed in law enforcement databases.
A mentally disabled janitor was wrongly convicted of three of the killings and spent nearly nine years in prison. David Allen Jones, 44, was released in March.
District attorney spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons declined to comment.
In a somber coincidence, the mothers of two victims have been friends for 30 years and have grieved together without knowing that their daughters' deaths were connected.
"We never thought that it could be the same person," said Mildred White, mother of victim Annette Ernest, 26.
Ernest's body was found in 1987 in the same neighborhood where the body of Andrea Triplett, 29, was found six years later.
"He'll never be able to do this to someone else's child," said Triplett's mother, Jerri Johnson.
"No family will have to go through what we went through."
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1609915,00.html
DNA links inmate to slayings
24/10/2004 13:58 - (SA)
Los Angeles - A man in prison for rape has been linked by DNA evidence to the killings of a dozen women, including three that another man was convicted of committing, police said.
Police said on Saturday that they have linked Chester D Turner, 37, to the murders of 12 women between 1987 and 1998 and they plan to give prosecutors evidence for many of the slayings next week. Turner is serving an eight-year sentence after pleading no contest to rape in 2002.
Police allege the former pizza deliveryman accosted most of his victims on a street in crime-plagued South Los Angeles and raped and strangled them before dumping their bodies.
A mentally disabled janitor was wrongly convicted of three of the killings and spent nearly nine years in prison. David Allen Jones, 44, was released in March.
District attorney spokesperson Sandi Gibbons declined to comment on the cases.
In a sombre coincidence, the mothers of two of the victims have been friends for 30 years, and have grieved together for their daughters' deaths.
"We never thought that it could be the same person," said Mildred White, whose daughter Annette Ernest, 26, was among the victims.
Ernest's body was found in 1987 in the same neighbourhood where the body of Andrea Triplett, 29, would be found six years later.
"He'll never be able to do this to someone else's child," said Triplett's mother, Jerri Johnson. "No family will have to go through what we went through."
Triplett and Ernest each had two young children, and Triplett was pregnant with a third when she was killed.
As part of his plea in the rape case, Turner agreed to submit a DNA sample that was placed in law enforcement databases.
Turner has been in and out of prison several times, but most of his convictions were for non-violent crimes such as theft, drug possession and parole violations, according to state department of corrections records.
Edited by Tisha Steyn
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