Orange County district attorney charges ex-Marine in killings of 4 homeless men

The man suspected of killing four homeless men in Orange County will face four counts of first degree murder and, if he’s convicted, possibly the death penalty.

At a packed news conference, District Attorney Tony Rackauckas called Itzcoatl Ocampo a vicious killer who wasn’t “done” killing.

"That he had in his mind a desire to kill people and that he followed through with that," Rackauckas said. "And that he was a monster and that he was a terrible threat, particularly to the homeless people in our county."

Rackauckas said a key in the case was surveillance video that showed Ocampo approaching 53-year-old James McGillivray, in Placentia, "kneeling on the victim’s chest and mounting the victim and stabbing him several times."

Keep up with LAist.

If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.

Subscribe

More than 40 times, Rackauckas clarified. After McGillivray, each killing became more vicious, with an increasing number of stab wounds.

"This is the picture of the knife that we believe is the murder weapon," Rackauckas said. "This is called a Ka-Bar Bull Dozier."

Hundreds of police from half a dozen agencies mobilized looking for the Orange County homeless killer. Police interviewed Ocampo at two checkpoints and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, Rackauckas said.

Anaheim police chief John Welter said his officers offered shelter to a 64-year-old homeless man who said someone was stalking him.

"We had over 500, actually close to 600 tips and leads on that case," Welter said, "and they were working through a number of those. My understanding is we got that information a day before John Berry was stabbed to death."

Rackauckas wouldn’t talk about Ocampo’s motive or whether a psychological evaluation had been performed.

Ocampo’s own father is homeless, living out of a big rig, according to the L.A. Times.

Ocampo served in the Marines until two years ago. Not long after his discharge, his family says he began acting paranoid. His demeanor changed, they said, when a Marine buddy was killed in Afghanistan.