Brenda Bries, a 39-year-old white female, was found dead on April 6, 1998, in Los Angeles, California. Her body was discovered inside a portable toilet near South Gladys Avenue and 5th Street, close to the downtown area. She was slumped forward with her head resting on the seat, her pants pulled down to her knees, and her shirt wrapped around her neck. A fabric cord, intertwined with her bra, was tightly wound around her neck, indicating she had been strangled.
The scene showed signs of a struggle, and the nature of the injuries suggested ligature strangulation as the cause of death.
Brenda Bries was one of several victims linked to Chester Dewayne Turner, a convicted serial killer responsible for a series of murders in Los Angeles between 1987 and 1998. Turner, a Black male born in 1966, was identified through DNA evidence collected from multiple crime scenes. His DNA matched samples taken from Bries and other victims, leading to his arrest and eventual conviction. Turner was already serving time for a separate rape conviction when investigators connected him to the unsolved murders using California’s Combined DNA Index System.
Turner was charged with the murders of ten women, including Brenda Bries, and the death of one unborn child. All of the victims were female, ranging in age from their early twenties to mid-forties, and many had histories of drug use or lived in high-crime areas. The killings occurred primarily in South Los Angeles, particularly along the Figueroa Corridor, an area known for prostitution and narcotics activity. Turner’s method of killing was consistent—most victims were sexually assaulted and strangled, often left partially nude in secluded or abandoned locations.
In 2007, Chester Turner was sentenced to death for the murders, including that of Brenda Bries. His conviction was based on overwhelming DNA evidence and the consistent pattern of his crimes. Authorities believe Turner may have been responsible for additional killings beyond those for which he was convicted. The case also led to the exoneration of another man, David Allen Jones, who had been wrongly convicted of three murders later attributed to Turner. Jones, a mentally disabled man, had been coerced into confessions and served 11 years in prison before being released and compensated.
Brenda Bries’s death, along with those of the other victims, highlighted systemic failures in investigating crimes against vulnerable women in marginalized communities. Her murder remained unsolved for years until advances in forensic technology and renewed efforts by cold case investigators brought justice.
