On September 20, 1975, Cora Perry, a 79-year-old female resident of the Lennox area in Los Angeles County, California, was found murdered in her home. Cora Perry was identified as an elderly white woman, and her death was part of a disturbing pattern of attacks targeting older women living alone in the region during the 1970s. Her kitchen window was discovered open with the screen missing, suggesting forced entry.
The nature of the crime—rape followed by strangulation—matched a chilling modus operandi that had become familiar to investigators at the time.
Cora Perry's murder was eventually linked to a serial offender known as the Westside Rapist, later identified as John Floyd Thomas Jr., a Black male born in Los Angeles in 1936. Thomas had a long criminal history dating back to the 1950s, including convictions for burglary and sexual assault. He was known to target elderly white women, entering their homes, sexually assaulting them, and then either choking or suffocating them. Victims were often found with pillows or blankets covering their faces, a signature detail that appeared in multiple cases.
Thomas was arrested on March 31, 2009, after providing a DNA sample during a routine check-in as a registered sex offender. Cold-case investigators matched his DNA to several unsolved murders, including that of Cora Perry, the 79-year-old white female victim from Lennox. He was charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, including Perry's, and ultimately pleaded guilty in 2011. He received seven consecutive life sentences, one without the possibility of parole.
Authorities believe Thomas may be responsible for as many as 30 murders and numerous rapes spanning from the early 1970s to the late 1980s. His arrest and conviction closed one of the longest-running serial murder investigations in Los Angeles history. The death of Cora Perry, along with those of other elderly white female victims, highlighted the vulnerability of isolated individuals and the importance of forensic advancements in solving cold cases.
