Serial Killer Suspect In Slayings Of Homeless Men Charged With Murder, Victims Stabbed Up To 40 Times

Itzcoatl Ocampo/Anaheim PD

The Yorba Linda man arrested on suspicion of fatally stabbing four homeless men in Orange County was charged today with four counts of murder.

Itzcoatl Ocampo, a 23-year-old Marine and Iraq War veteran, was arrested Friday night after witnesses saw him fleeing from the scene of a murder in the parking of a Carl's Jr. in Anaheim. John Berry, a 64-year-old homeless Vietnam veteran, was found stabbed to death, and Ocampo was apprehended by police abut a quarter-mile away, covered in blood and having stripped off some of his clothing. Berry was the fourth homeless man in OC to have been fatally stabbed since December.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas says a decision to seek the death penalty against for Ocampo has not been made. "We don't yet have all the information that we might need to make that decision," Rackauckas said, reports City News Service. The charges against Ocampo include special-circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait. If prosecutors decline to seek the death penalty, Ocampo faces up to life in prison without parole. Rackauckas noted, "There are going to be some members of the public who feel less sympathy for these victims because they were homeless and some had criminal records."

The first murder occurred on December 20, when James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was found stabbed to death near a Placentia shopping center. On Wednesday, December 28, the body of Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found near the Santa Ana riverbed and 91 Freeway. Paulus Cornelius Smit, 57, was found stabbed to death at the bottom of a stairwell outside a Yorba Linda public library on Friday, December 30. Surveillance video at the Placentia scene shows footage of the suspect, clad in a dark hoodie, along with the suspected getaway vehicle, a 2000-2003 white Toyota Corolla 4-door. According to Rackauckas, some of the victims were viciously stabbed as many as 40 times.

Recent reports described Ocampo as a deeply troubled Iraq vet who failed to gain necessary psychological help. Family members said the June 2010 death of his best friend in Afghanistan devastated Ocampo.

Ocampo remains in isolation at the Orange County Central Jail in Santa Ana and is expected to be arraigned Wednesday.

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By Lauren Lloyd in News on January 17, 2012 12:30 PM 0 Comments

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Eddie Aguirre

When we train people to kill then expect them to come back into society without any kind of mental help, this is what is bound to happen.

crusher153

amen! we need to take the time to evaluate and give the attention to our soldiers. this is not the first time i've heard an iraqi war vet snapping. we just had that female park ranger killed by a heavily armed former soldier who people said flew over the co co's nest. you also hear alot of our servicemen and women taking their lives.

we have seen this before. i have relatives and my wifes dad came back broken from vietnam. just look at this guys last victim (a vietnam vet that was homeless most likely cause he was hooked on drugs and couldn't assimilate back into society) its been around since the beginning of war and our government does not see or just ingnores the problem.