Ethel Sokoloff, a 68-year-old white female, was found murdered in her home in the Mid-Wilshire area of Los Angeles, California, on November 25, 1972. Her death was part of a disturbing pattern of attacks targeting elderly women living alone in the Los Angeles area during the 1970s. Sokoloff had been sexually assaulted and strangled, and her body was discovered with bedding pulled over her face—a signature detail that would later be linked to a series of similar crimes.
For decades, the
murder of Ethel Sokoloff remained unsolved. It wasn’t until advancements in DNA technology and the establishment of cold case units that investigators were able to revisit the evidence. In 2004, DNA samples collected from the crime scene were matched to other unsolved cases, but no suspect had yet been identified. The breakthrough came in 2008 when a DNA sample was collected from a convicted sex offender as part of a statewide initiative to build a genetic database.
That offender was John Floyd Thomas Jr., a Los Angeles native born in 1936. Thomas had a long criminal history, including convictions for burglary and attempted rape dating back to the 1950s. He had served multiple prison sentences and was known to authorities, but had never been connected to the string of murders until the DNA match. In March 2009, Thomas was arrested and charged with the murder of Ethel Sokoloff, along with several other victims. He was later charged with the murders of six additional elderly women, all of whom had been raped and strangled in similar fashion.
Authorities believe that Thomas may be responsible for as many as 30 murders, making him one of Los Angeles’s most prolific serial killers. His victims were predominantly elderly white females, ranging in age from their 50s to their 90s. The killings occurred in two distinct waves—one in the 1970s and another in the 1980s—separated by a period during which Thomas was incarcerated. The consistent method of attack and the demographic profile of the victims led investigators to link the crimes to a single perpetrator, known at the time as the “Westside Rapist.”
Thomas was ultimately charged with seven counts of murder and pleaded not guilty. He remains in custody without bail. The arrest brought long-awaited closure to the families of victims like Ethel Sokoloff, whose death had haunted investigators and the community for decades.
