Police Link Alleged Homeless Killer to Murders of Mother, Son
KTLA News
5:58 p.m. PST, February 2, 2012
YORBA LINDA, Calif. (KTLA) -- Detectives say they believe the fatal stabbings of a Yorba Linda woman and her son in October were committed by the same man responsible for the slayings of four homeless men.
Itzcoatl 'Izzy' Ocampo, 23, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder plus the special circumstances of multiple victims and murder by lying-in-wait, making him eligible for the death penalty.
Now police say the 4 homeless men may not be Ocampo's only victims.
During the search for the homeless killer, detectives saw similarities between the murders of Raquel Estrada, 53, and her son Juan Herrera, 34 and the stabbing deaths of the four homeless men that began in Yorba Linda.
In particular, detectives focused on the severity of the attacks, the number and the type of wounds, and the proximity of Ocampo's home to the scene of the Estrada and Herrera slayings – less than two miles away.
"We've been aware of the similarities for some time, and we have placed the highest priority on processing evidence from the Trix Circle crime scene. We are waiting for results from the DNA and other comparisons," said Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy.
Detectives are also looking into reports that Ocampo knew Eder Giovanni Herrera, Raquel Estrada's youngest son and Juan Herrera's brother, according to the Register.
Eder Herrera, 24, was arrested and charged in the stabbing deaths of his mother and brother to death.
He was in custody when James McGillivray, 53, the first of four homeless men killed, was stabbed to death behind a business in Placentia on Dec. 20.
The killer struck again on Dec. 28, when Lloyd "Jimmy" Middaugh, 42, was stabbed to death near the Santa Ana River in Anaheim.
Paulus "Dutch" Smith, 57, was stabbed in a stairwell of the Yorba Linda Public Library on Dec. 30.
Ocampo was arrested on Jan. 13 after a fourth homeless man, John Berry, 64, was stabbed to death near La Palma Avenue and Imperial Highway.
The former Marine is being held without bail.
His arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 17.
[Thanks to reader-researcher RC for this story.]
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