L.A. 85

Human remains found in a Los Angeles area backyard lead investigators back to Siegsdorf, Germany and Greenwich, Connecticut in their search for a missing couple and the mysterious man renting the back house on their property. 
Along the way, Knoedler Gallery and the "Made You Look" Netflix documentary about Glafira Rosales and fake art play roles in the story
The final chapter in the tale of the man who became Clark Rockefeller takes us to Northern California, where the star is "slathering himself in cocoa butter" on the yard at San Quentin. 

A young couple is missing in California and the man suspected of killing of them turns up in Connecticut and New York and is now identifying himself as Clark Rockefeller, international banker, art collector and bon vivant.

In February 1985, Linda and John Sohus, an aspiring artist and her computer-savvy husband, went missing in an upscale suburban Los Angeles neighborhood. Nearly a decade later, contractors discover John's dismembered body buried in a backyard. Cops soon begin piecing together a mystery that will span continents and decades and ultimately lead to an international man of mystery who calls himself Clark Rockefeller. 

Police are closing in on the Night Stalker, but even with dozens of clues, the serial predator continues to elude capture. Los Angeles is gripped in fear during a long, hot summer. 
Drawing from Ramirez's own words to a reporter, this episode of LA85 examines the Cecil Hotel, the summer of murder, the Night Stalker's victims and concludes with the capture of Richard Ramirez by residents of East Los Angeles. 

As The Valley Intruder continues killing, police discover several clues that link various crime scenes and learn that there is a satanic bent to the killer's blood lust. 

Even as Night Stalker Richard Ramirez terrorized suburban Los Angeles residents with his sexual sadism and brazen break-ins, another serial killer was at work in South Central L.A.  

Lonnie David Franklin, Jr. , a.k.a. the Grim Sleeper, murdered as many as 25 young women between 1985 and the early 2000s, often dumping their bodies in alleyways along the Western Avenue Corridor. 

In South Central in the 80's there was an epidemic of crack cocaine.  It is a highly addictive and very destructive drug.  It was cheap and extremely potent and, when it first came out, had a higher purity than powder cocaine.   Its distribution and its use exploded in 1980s in South Central Los Angeles.  It left a path of destruction in this area.  People lost their jobs, homes, their families and their lives by overdosing. 

"Some women would risk everything to acquire more of this drug," One Assistant District Attorney recalled. "Some women were willing to sell their bodies and their souls to get their next high. "

Some lost their lives to the Grim Sleeper. 

While Ramirez got a lot of publicity, Franklin got very little -- even after a victim got away and practically lead LAPD officers to his front door. 

The '85 Rose Parade was a triumphant moment for the young lady who was named its queen.  Nonetheless, the announcement of selection exposed some of the secret inner workings of America's Parade. In this episode of LA85, secrets are revealed and two decades after, a high-ranking parade volunteer, and accused murderer, goes free.

Read our show notes here. 

Hosted by True Crime author Frank Girardot and Award-winning L.A.-based independent journalist Sarah Favot.  

This first episode of LA85 gives the candy-coated version of 1984 and sets the table for a podcast that examines Los Angeles amid  a landscape of serial killers (Night Stalker, the Nightclub Killer and Grim Sleeper), a murderous imposter who would become Clark Rockefeller, escalating gang violence, institutional racism, the HIV epidemic, the film "Back to the Future" and more.  

In episode the only killer making an appearance is the Juice. 

Before he was an accused killer, OJ Simpson was a hero. He carried the Olympic Torch up the California Incline in Santa Monica as a prelude to the 1984 Olympic Games. 
Everything about the city of Angels was wrapped up in the games and the era, that was like no other.  When the Olympics had ended and the cameras moved on, the city was left with brewing true crime storylines that were about to explode. 

Nationally in 1985, a conservative movement at the polls saw Ronald Reagan beginning his second term as US President. America had hit its post WWII apex and was struggling with racism, sexism, the very real HIV epidemic and very likely beginning the long goodbye that culminated at the end fo 2020 with Coronavirus, a failed presidency and a nation defined by competing desires and divergent histories.