Arraignment postponed for alleged serial killer with Claremont victim

Accused serial killer John Floyd Thomas Jr. appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom this morning to be arraigned on two counts of murder, but the hearing was postponed to Sept. 23, according to a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Superior Court system.

Thomas, 73, has been charged with murdering two Los Angeles women in the 1970s, and has been linked by DNA to at least three additional killings, including the 1986 rape and strangulation of Claremont resident Adrienne Askew, 56.

Authorities believe Thomas, a former Chino resident, may have been responsible for as many as 25 killings in the Los Angeles area in the 1970s and 1980s.

A cold-case unit of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department linked Thomas to the killings using DNA recovered from the decades-old crime scenes.

For background on the case, click here or here.