In the winter of 1987, a series of brutal stabbings spread fear among the homeless population of Los Angeles’s Koreatown. One of the victims in this deadly spree was John Charles Coble, a 55-year-old White man. His life was cut short on Wednesday, January 14, 1987, a day that saw the killer strike twice. John Coble was one of six men murdered in a wave of violence that targeted some of the city's most vulnerable residents.
The man responsible was Joseph Martin Danks, a 26-year-old drifter who had recently arrived from Michigan. Danks harbored a deep-seated hatred for homeless individuals and began a killing spree that terrorized the community. The attacks were marked by their suddenness and brutality. The killer would approach his victims, who were often alone, and stab them in the back with such force that death was nearly instantaneous.
On January 14, Danks had already killed one man before he found John Coble. At around noon, 58-year-old Isaac Davis was stabbed to death in the 900 block of South Menlo Avenue. Less than three hours later, the killer struck again. John Coble was attacked and fatally stabbed in the 2800 block of West 9th Street. The series of murders began on January 6, 1987, with the death of 40-year-old Christopher Michael Forsblade, and continued with another killing of an unidentified man on January 16.
The Los Angeles Police Department investigated the string of vicious attacks. Detectives noted the similarities in the cases: the victims were all homeless men, and all had been stabbed from behind. The manhunt for the so-called "Koreatown Slasher" intensified as the body count rose.
The break in the case came on January 20, 1987. Shortly before noon, Danks attacked another man in an alley behind the 300 block of South Western Avenue. This time, however, there was a witness. A companion of the victim saw the assault and bravely followed Danks for about five blocks, eventually flagging down a passing police car. Officers from the Hollywood Division arrested Danks at Beverly Boulevard and Grammercy Place without a struggle. He surrendered a knife, believed to be the weapon used in the attacks.
Taken into custody, Danks made admissions to the police. He confessed to the series of murders, claiming he believed killing homeless people was "the Lord's work." He was charged with six counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder. In December 1988, Danks accepted a plea deal to avoid the death penalty and was convicted of the six murders. He was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 156 years.
Danks's violence did not end with his incarceration. In 1990, while serving his sentence at the California Correctional Institution in Tehachapi, he murdered his 67-year-old cellmate, Walter Holt. For this crime, Joseph Danks was sentenced to death in 1993. The case of John Coble and the other victims of the Koreatown Slasher is officially closed, with the perpetrator identified and convicted for his crimes. As of November 2026, Danks was among the death row inmates whose sentences were being commuted to life without parole.
