ALERT: Police Think a Serial Killer is Targeting Homeless Men in Southern California

[Samstwitch]

ALERT: Police Think a Serial Killer is Targeting Homeless Men in Southern California

Homeless men in southern California are being warned by police to stick together and remain on high alert for a suspected serial killer who may be preying on them.

The murders of three homeless, middle-aged men since Dec. 20 have police scrambling to caution the "significant" homeless population in Orange County, according to Anaheim police spokesman Sgt. Bob Dunn.

All three men were stabbed to death by their attacker, who police believe is a man captured on surveillance video during one of the crimes. The deaths occurred in Anaheim, Yorba Linda, and Placentia, from Dec. 20 to Dec. 30.

Anaheim police, together with neighboring police departments, the county sheriff, and the FBI, are warning homeless people throughout the area to take precautions, including traveling and sleeping in well-lit, well-populated areas. They have launched a campaign to get the information to the vulnerable population, handing out fliers, notifying homeless shelters and soup kitchens, and asking churches to notify those who seek services, Dunn said.

They are also asking the homeless to report any suspicious behavior, which they are often reluctant to do, the police spokesman said.

The victims were alone when the attacks happened, said Dunn. But two of the murders occurred in public spaces, one at a strip mall around 8 p.m., and one outside of a library just before closing time, around 5 p.m. Passersby reported the crimes to the police, he said.

The other victim was killed along a riverside trail and discovered during the early morning hours by a jogger.

Dunn said that the killer is extremely dangerous, and the homeless population throughout the area is at risk. He described the county as having a significant homeless population.

Police are asking the public to call in with any helpful information to the task force hotline: 714-765-1944.

SOURCE: http://news.yahoo.com/police-think-serial-killer-targeting-homeless-161857411--abc-news.html

 

[Enigmatik]

I recall some years back finding a website that tracked possible and known serial killers throughout the US. The site's author stated that the FBI believed that every major metro area has between 2-4 serial killers operating at any given time, but it's not publicized to prevent panic.

I hope this person is caught soon, being homeless is awful enough without the fear or being stalked and murdered.

 

[Samstwitch]

Another killing today. Click on the Green titles to link to the articles:

1) 4th homeless man in month killed in Southern California
2) Man detained after another California homeless killing

 

[Graveyard Hound]

Missed that bit of news on the locl station, would love to be thhhheMH person doing eval. and tessting as to why this pop.?, no women, no children abused? If he wnted an easy target, he picked one. I am not sure if the guy is just plain mean, mentally ill or a combination. I bet his questioning will get a lot of attention.

 

[Opmmur]

Police "Confident" They Have OC Killer

By Jason Kandel, Samantha Tata 01-14-2012 10:00 PM PST

The man arrested in connection with the Friday night killing of a homeless man in Anaheim is being held as the main suspect in a month-long
string of transient murders in Orange County.

"We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for the killing of four homeless people," Santa Ana Police Chief Paul Walters said in a press conference Saturday afternoon.

Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, of Yorba Linda, is being held at the Anaheim Jail without bail, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Bob Dunn, a department spokesman.

Friday's stabbing was the fourth such killing of a homeless person in OC.

Officials will ask the District Attorney to pursue four counts of murder against Ocampo, Walter said during the press conference.

"This is great news to know that's been caught," Brad Olsen, brother-in-law of victim Lloyd Middaugh, told NBC 4. "Prayers have been answered. We feel blessed that it's over."

Middaugh was one of four homeless men killed in the area since December. James McGillivray, 53, was stabbed to death Dec. 20 near a Placentia shopping mall. Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found on the Santa Ana River trail in Anaheim on Dec. 28. Paul Cornelius Smit, 57, was killed outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30.

The latest victim, John, was killed after 8 p.m. Friday behind a Carl's Jr., at 3110 E. La Palma Ave.

The victim has not been identified, but locals called him “John” and believe he is a Vietnam War vet in his mid-60s.

Anaheim Deputy Chief Craig Hunter said the man arrested fits the description of a man wanted in three stabbing deaths - in Anaheim, Placentia and Yorba Linda - dating to Dec. 20.

“I saw (John) at CVS about a week ago and I started crying when he said he wanted to leave the area and I hugged him,” a woman told NBC4. “But then I saw him and I was so happy he was still here, but I've been busy and I didn't have time the last couple of days to say 'hi.'”

The suspect, chased away by some people who saw him running, was caught on La Palma about a quarter-mile away in next-door Yorba Linda.

Police were believed to be questioning more than two dozen witnesses, whom they recognized as "brave citizens" during the public meeting Saturday.

A task force of local police and the FBI had been set up to investigate three homeless men who were killed in December at the hands of what police believed was a serial killer.

A surveillance camera in Placentia captured images of the suspect, a thin man wearing a dark-hooded sweater, who may have been driving a four-door Toyota Corolla.

 

[Enigmatik]

Here's hoping this indeed the person responsible.

 

[Samstwitch]

Professor, thanks for posting that article. I hope he's the guy. I've been praying for the capture of the killer.

 

[Samstwitch]

Thank God they caught him...gruesome details.

Iraq vet charged with killing 4 California transients

SANTA ANA, Calif (Reuters) - An Iraq war veteran accused of knifing four homeless men to death, stabbing them each dozens of times in a bloody killing spree that rattled Orange County, California, was charged on Tuesday with murder.

Former U.S. Marine Itzcoatl Ocampo was charged with four counts of first degree murder with special circumstances, making him eligible for the death penalty if he is convicted, Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said. "This 23-year-old man was a vicious killer," Rackauckas said at a press conference in Santa Ana. "He had it in his mind to kill people and followed through with that. He is a monster."

Ocampo was chased down by bystanders and arrested on Friday night following the stabbing death of John Berry, a 64-year-old homeless man who Rackauckas said was targeted after appearing in a Los Angeles Times news story about the sensational case.

"We believe that the evidence is going to show that the defendant specifically sought out the victim for participating in this article," Rackauckas said. "He relished media attention of the crime and he stalked the victim until he got his prey."

Rackauckas said Ocampo is accused of first killing 53-year-old James McGillivray on December 20, attacking him as he slept behind a shopping center in the Orange County suburb of Placentia and stabbing him more than 40 times.

Video footage of the crime captured by a recently installed security camera shows the killer, dressed in dark pants and a black hooded sweatshirt, kneeling on McGillivray's chest as he stabs him in the head, neck and upper torso.

Eight days later the body of a second transient, Lloyd "Jimmy" Middaugh, 42, was found under a freeway underpass in Anaheim, stabbed more than 50 times in the head and torso.

Ocampo is also charged in the murder of 57-year-old Paulus "Dutch" Smit, who was stabbed more than 60 times behind the Yorba Linda Public Library. His body was found on December 30.

Rackauckas said all four of the victims were attacked with a 7-inch military-style knife and that "in each of these cases the violence, the number of stabs wounds to each victim increased."

A knife matching that description was recovered near the spot where Ocampo was arrested, along with bloody clothing and gloves, Rackauckas said.

Ocampo's attorney, Randall Longwith, told Reuters he saw his client for the first time on Tuesday in the psychiatric ward of the Orange County Jail, where he was undergoing a mental evaluation.

"I saw him for 15 seconds. He was naked but for underwear, and he was wrapped with a blanket and curled up in the corner of the cell," Longwith said.

"I got on my hands and knees and talked to him through the food slot," he said. "I introduced myself and told him what he should and should not do, and what his rights were and that his parents loved him."

Rackauckas said his office had not yet determined whether to seek the death penalty in the case, the first serial killings in more than two decades to hit largely suburban Orange County, southeast of Los Angeles.

Ocampo served in the Marines from July 2006 to July 2010 and was deployed to Iraq in 2008, a Marine spokeswoman said.

 

[Samstwitch]

Here's an update on this story (click on green Title):
Police seized knife sharpener from O.C. killing suspect's bedroom

 

[Samstwitch]

CLICK on the green Headline to Link:

2 New Murder Charges for Suspect in California Homeless Killings

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) February 6, 2012 — A former Marine already accused of killing four homeless men was charged Monday with two new counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of his high school friend's mother and older brother.

Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, was charged in the stabbing deaths of 53-year-old Raquel Estrada and her son 34-year-old Juan Herrera. Charges were dropped Friday against Estrada's son Eder Herrera, 24, a former schoolmate of Ocampo.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas said Ocampo didn't only prey on the homeless. "The homeless people killed were all easy victims but he clearly wasn't limited to that," Rackauckas said to reporters. "He's just a monstrous serial killer."

Ocampo appeared in court but his arraignment was postponed to March 16 after his attorney sought more time to look into the new allegations. "I'm shocked as to these charges," said defense attorney Randall Longwith.

Estrada and her son were killed in their home in October, and Herrera was arrested shortly after, but Rackauckas said "significant evidence" was found linking Ocampo to the mother and son killings after DNA samples were taken from his home.

Rackauckas, however, has said Estrada has not been conclusively eliminated as a suspect, and he also must face a hearing to determine if he can remain in the country after telling immigration officials he was here illegally.

Herrera's brother Juan was found stabbed more than 60 times, his body left in a hallway of the family's rented three-bedroom house on a quiet residential cul-de-sac in upscale Yorba Linda. His mother was stabbed more than 30 times, authorities said.

The stab wounds were similar to those suffered by the four homeless men bludgeoned to death in December and January, a series of killings that terrorized the homeless population of Orange County. Each of the four men was stabbed more than 40 times with a weapon believed to be a 7-inch, fixed-blade, military-type knife, authorities said.

Victim James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was stabbed Dec. 20 near a shopping center in Placentia; Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found Dec. 28 near a riverbed trail in Anaheim; Paulus Smit, 57, was stabbed to death outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30; and John Berry, 64, was stabbed to death on Jan. 13, the day Ocampo was arrested.