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20 Disturbing Facts about Chester Turner. The Southside Slayer’s Chilling Legacy

I am thrilled to write about the horrific criminal and merciless killer Chester Turner, known as the Southside Slayer. In the early 2000s, Turner was convicted of murdering ten women and one unborn child in Los Angeles. However, authorities believe he may have killed up to sixteen people between 1987 and 1998. Turner specifically targeted vulnerable African American women who were sex workers or had substance abuse issues.

He would pick them up on Figueroa Street in South LA, strangle or shoot them, and dump their bodies in alleys and abandoned buildings. What’s most chilling is that Turner was initially questioned by police in 1987 after the first murder but was let go. He was able to keep killing for over a decade under the radar before finally being arrested in 2002 through DNA evidence. As I delved deeper into Turner’s background, his motives, and the LAPD’s failure to catch him earlier, I was confronted with the dark, disturbing reality of this notorious serial killer who preyed on and terrorized LA’s most marginalized women.

These are twenty disturbing facts about Chester Turner that you might not know:

1. Turner Chester Committed Fourteen Murders in Los Angeles

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Chester Turner, dubbed the “Southside Slayer,” is one of Los Angeles’ most notorious serial killers. Between 1987 and 1998, Turner murdered at least fourteen women across South Los Angeles. Turner would pick up the women, strangle or shoot them, and dump their bodies in alleys and abandoned buildings in a chilling display of cruelty. The LAPD faced heavy criticism for not catching Turner sooner, as he was initially questioned in 1987 but let go, allowing his killing spree to continue for over a decade before DNA evidence finally led to his arrest in 2002.

2. He Targeted Vulnerable Women, Often Preying on their Desperate Circumstances

Turner’s victims followed a particular pattern: he exclusively preyed upon vulnerable African-American women struggling with addiction, homelessness, and working in prostitution along Figueroa Street in South Los Angeles. Many of the women he murdered were leading desperate lives, suffering from poverty, and turning to sex work to survive. Turner would pick up the women, feigning interest in exchanging sex for money, knowing they were unlikely to be reported missing. He exploited their difficult circumstances, luring them into his vehicle, where he would sexually assault, strangle, or shoot them. The ease with which Turner targeted these high-risk women allowed him to kill them undetected for over a decade.

3. His Brutal Murders Often involved Sexual Assault and Strangulation

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Chester Turner derived sadistic gratification from brutalizing his victims. After picking up vulnerable women under the guise of soliciting sex, Turner would sexually assault them and strangle them, often with his bare hands. He would also use ligatures and shoot some of his victims’ execution-style. The autopsies on the murdered women’s bodies revealed evidence of rape, sodomy, and strangulation inflicted upon them by Turner. The level of force and close physical contact involved in his killings reflect Turner’s violent hatred and lack of empathy toward these women. His use of strangulation to kill was highly personal and hands-on, exemplifying his cruelty and depravity.

4. He did not care about the Age of his Victims 

When committing his horrible murders, Chester Turner did not consider age. The age range of his victims was twenty-one to forty-six. Remarkably, when he killed twenty-one-year-old Peaches—who was six months pregnant at the time—Turner descended to an even more heinous level. Among Peaches’s remains, the female pregnancy was found during the autopsy. Turner’s desire to take the life of a young mother and her unborn child shows how little he values human life in general. His systematic murder of women of all ages and circumstances exposes the indiscriminateness of his brutality and his disregard for his victims’ humanity.

5. Turner’s Victims were mainly African American women 

The racist overtones of Chester Turner’s crimes are reflected in his exclusive predation of African American women in South Los Angeles. Turner would sexually abuse, strangle, and shoot them, disposing of their remains in alleys and abandoned buildings all around South Los Angeles. Horrible trauma and violence were evident in the remains. Turner’s prejudice and hatred toward low-income, disenfranchised black women are evident in the brutality of the murders and the victims he chose.

6. The authorities initially failed to connect the dots allowing Turner to evade Capture

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Shockingly, Chester Turner was able to operate as a serial killer for over a decade due to the failure of authorities to connect the dots between his murders. Turner was initially questioned by police in 1987 regarding the death of a woman but was released due to a lack of evidence. This oversight allowed Turner to continue preying on vulnerable women until 2002 without detection. Law enforcement failed to recognize the pattern of murdered black female victims with similar causes of death in South LA. Turner took advantage of this disconnect, dumping bodies across a wide area and changing his methods. The inability to link the cases together enabled Turner to keep killing for 11 years after his first known murder.

7. The LA Serial killer exploited the Crack Epidemic in Impoverished Neighborhood

The crack cocaine epidemic that exploded in Los Angeles in the 1980s created ideal conditions for Chester Turner to prey on vulnerable women. Addicted to this new, highly addictive drug, many women in South LA turned to prostitution and lived on the streets to fund their habit. Turner capitalized on this crisis, targeting sex workers. He prowled areas like Figueroa Street, known for prostitution, and motels used for drugs and sex. Many of Turner’s victims were found with crack pipes and exhibited signs of long-term drug use. The crack epidemic provided Turner with an ample pool of marginalized women to victimize.

8. Turner would Shockingly Return to Crime Scenes to Revel in his Deeds

In a sadistic, chilling ritual, Chester Turner would revisit his crime scenes after murdering the women to gaze upon their lifeless bodies and revel in what he had done. When dumping their bodies, Turner would intentionally leave them in public view along busy streets, returning up to twelve times to the spots where he had callously discarded them. Detectives later discovered Turner’s fingerprints and shoe prints at the scenes where the bodies were found. For Turner, observing the aftermath of his brutal crimes brought twisted gratification and a sense of power and control.

9. His Modus Operandi included Extreme Violence and Degradation of his Victims

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The vicious dehumanization of his victims gave Chester Turner great delight. His method of operation was to abuse the women he met in South Los Angeles, both physically and sexually. Before killing the victims, Turner frequently raped and sodomized them. Even when dead, he continued to abuse them severely, sometimes even disfiguring their anatomy. His harsh tactics demonstrated his intention to brutally subjugate these women and fulfill his dark fantasies by dehumanizing them.

10. He Earned the Nickname ‘Southside Slayer’ for his Sinister Acts in Southern LA

Due to the location of his brutal murders concentrated in South Los Angeles, Chester Turner earned the moniker “Southside Slayer” from the media and law enforcement. All of Turner’s confirmed killings occurred in neighborhoods below the 10 Freeway in South LA. This section of Los Angeles suffered from poverty, crime, and the crack epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s. By preying exclusively on vulnerable women in these impoverished southern areas, Turner became synonymous with the “Southside Slayer” identity. His crimes terrorized and disproportionately impacted communities that were already struggling with many social problems.

11. The Gruesome nature of his Crimes shocked even the Seasoned Law Enforcers

When the full, gruesome scope of Chester Turner’s murders was finally revealed, even seasoned homicide detectives and law enforcement officials were shocked by the horrific brutality. The level of violence and degradation Turner inflicted on the women was extremely vicious and personal. Detectives who had years of experience investigating murders were also disturbed by the cruelty they witnessed in the autopsy reports. Turner’s crimes stood out for their uniquely evil and sadistic nature, which seemed driven by pure hatred and inhumanity. For police and prosecutors accustomed to violence on the streets, the graphic details of Turner’s killings were profoundly unsettling and exceeded even their thresholds of tolerance.

12. He Thrived on the Lack of Forensic Technology that Hindered Investigation

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In the 1980s and 1990s, when Turner committed his murders, forensic science, and DNA technology were not advanced enough to connect his crimes. Without DNA databases and modern criminology methods, Turner was able to avoid detection as the Southside Slayer for over a decade. When questioned in 1987, there was insufficient evidence to hold him even though he had already killed multiple women by then. Turner exploited this inability of police to scientifically link evidence, profile serial killers, and eliminate suspects conclusively. He knew he could operate with impunity due to the rudimentary investigative capabilities at the time.

13. His Crimes Exposed the Flaws in the Law Enforcement System and Community

The ability of Chester Turner to kill undetected for over a decade highlighted systemic flaws that allowed his murders to go unsolved. LAPD’s initial failure to identify the serial killer pattern and connect evidence demonstrated evident investigative lapses. But Turner also exploited the lack of attention and care given to his vulnerable victims by both law enforcement and society overall. Their marginalized status led to the crimes being overlooked for so long. Turner revealed deficits in how the justice system and community protect and value the lives of poor, minority women. His chilling murder spree exposed the human cost of these multidimensional failures across Los Angeles institutions and social structures.

14. His evasion led to Men Like David Allen Jones being Convicted Wrongfully

As a result of Chester Turner’s ability to carry out his murderous spree without being discovered, several innocent people—including David Allen Jones—were wrongfully convicted. After Chester Turner killed three women, Jones was wrongfully imprisoned for more than nine years. In the 1990s, the conviction of Jones was predicated solely on circumstantial evidence due to the absence of forensic proof connecting him to the actual killer. Jones insisted on his innocence while serving his sentence. More victims had been upended by Turner’s decade of terror, men whose lives had been turned upside down by false accusations and imprisonment.

15. He Sexually Assaulted and Murdered Diane Johnson in March 1987

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One of Chester Turner’s earliest known victims was twenty-one-year-old Diane Johnson, whose body was found raped, strangled, and shot in an alley on March 9, 1987. Johnson, a mother of three young children, was struggling with a crack addiction and working as a prostitute on Figueroa Street when Turner picked her up. After kidnapping, sexually assaulting, and strangling her, he shot her in the chest and dumped her nearly naked body carelessly in public view. Johnson was the first in Turner’s long trail of murdered women whose lives and dignity he ruthlessly stole over the next decade of terror on the streets of South Los Angeles.

16. His Ability to Blend in with Neighbors Aided his Continued Criminal Activities

Chester Turner’s ability to blend in and seem normal to gullible neighbors while leading a covert murderous life was one of his most terrifying traits. Turner spent the eleven years that he killed women in the South Los Angeles area living in several houses and flats. His neighbors said he was calm, well-groomed, and courteous; there was nothing concerning about his appearance. Turner paid his rent on time, rented apartments under pretenses, and generally kept a low profile. His modest appearance made it possible for him to kill and stalk women after dark without drawing attention to himself.

17. Turner was a Homeless man in his Adult Life

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For periods during his adult life while committing his serial murders, Chester Turner was homeless and lived on the streets of Los Angeles. Being homeless allowed Turner freedom of movement and anonymity as he hunted victims undetected. He was essentially invisible to law enforcement as a serial killer hiding among people experiencing homelessness. Turner’s transient status also enabled him to vanish quickly after disposing of bodies and evade capture by police. His homelessness and detachment from the community aided his ability to keep killing.

18. His Legacy Left a Lasting Dark Stain in the History of Los Angeles

Chester Turner’s horrific legacy of murder, rape, and exploitation of vulnerable women has left an indelible stain on the history of Los Angeles. The gruesome slayings of over a dozen Black females in South LA communities terrorized and devastated families traumatized loved ones and drew attention to the human costs of poverty, addiction, and racism in the city. Turner represented some of the worst forms of violence against women that Los Angeles has witnessed at the hands of a single killer. The inability of law enforcement to stop his decade-long murder spree will haunt the LAPD permanently. For many, Turner has come to personify the city’s darkest, most tragic, and most shameful period during the 1980s and 1990s.

19. He Sexually Assaulted Maria Martinez in 2002

The beginning of the end for Chester Turner came in March 2002 when he picked up and sexually assaulted a woman named Maria Martinez. After the attack, Martinez bravely reported the crime and provided details that allowed police to link Turner through DNA evidence to her case as well as a series of unsolved murders. Once arrested, Turner’s DNA connected him conclusively to ten murdered women and one female fetus, with likely several dozen more victims. The horrific assault on Martinez gave courage to past victims, who came forward and testified against Turner in court. In 2007, Turner was sentenced to death for these cold-blooded serial killings made possible by Martinez’s stand against her attacker.

20. He was Sentenced to Death in 2007 and 2014 for Over a Dozen Murders

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For his reign of terror that claimed the lives of over a dozen women in South Los Angeles, Chester Turner received death sentences in both 2007 and 2014. In 2007, he was convicted and sentenced to death for ten murders. Then, in 2014, after being tied through DNA to four additional homicides, Turner received a second death sentence. Despite attempting to plead for mercy, the horrific brutality and scale of Turner’s crimes ensured he faced capital punishment. The State of California delivered justice to the families of the victims by handing down the maximum sentences to the vicious serial killer who had evaded capture for so long. Turner remains on death row in San Quentin Prison today.

As I conclude my investigation into Chester Turner’s cruel murders that terrorized South LA, I’m left haunted by the suffering of his vulnerable victims. The justice system failed them, but we must honor their lives. This tragedy reveals how we as a society can better protect and care for marginalized women facing addiction, homelessness, and danger on the streets.