Accused Homeless Killer Was Spattered with Blood and Not Mentally Ill, D.A. Says

When bystanders captured him, the veteran who allegedly stabbed and killed four homeless men had blood splashed on his face and hands -- and detectives found bloody clothes nearby, officials said Tuesday.

These and other details emerged as prosecutors announced formal murder charges against Itzcoatl Ocampo, a former Marine and Iraq war veteran. The 23-year-old Yorba Linda man was arrested Friday night after witnesses reportedly chased him from the scene of the most recent slaying behind a Carl's Jr. in Anaheim.

Among the revelations at Tuesday's press conference:

• Ocampo stalked the fourth victim, 64-year-old Vietnam veteran John Berry, after seeing his photo and quotes in an L.A. Times story about the homeless murders, prosecutors said. "The defendant sought out this victim for participating in this article,'' District Attorney Tony Rackauckas alleged. 
• On the night of Berry's death, Ocampo passed through a police checkpoint in Yorba Linda, Rackauckas said: "He was calm and spoke to the officers. There was nothing that drew their attention to him.''
• Investigators recovered a KA-BAR Bull Dozier knife with a 7-inch blade they believe was used in Friday's slaying and possibly all four attacks. Rackauckas said the weapon can cut through bone without the blade chipping.
• The victims were each stabbed up to 60 times, and the number of wounds grew with each slaying.

Rackauckas would not discuss a possible motive for the attacks, but said Ocampo "appeared to like the press coverage" and had more killings planned. The county's top prosecutor called the defendant a "monster,'' and said there was "no indication whatsoever he was mentally ill.''

Rackauckas assured the public that authorities believe they captured the right man, and no one else is hunting the homeless.

The charges against Ocampo include special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and lying in wait, which make him eligible for the death penalty. If prosecutors opt against seeking capital punishment, Ocampo would face life without parole.

Ocampo was being held in isolation at the Orange County Central Jail complex in Santa Ana, with arraignment scheduled for Wednesday. Rackauckas described him as "cooperative" with investigators.

Before the final slaying, Berry, who slept along the Santa Ana River bed, had called police to say he thought someone was stalking him, according to Anaheim police Chief John Welter. Officers asked him if he wanted to go to a shelter, but he said he preferred to stay on the street and felt he could defend himself.

The first of Ocampo's alleged victims was 53-year-old James McGillivray, who was attacked as he slept outside a Placentia shopping center Dec. 20. Ocampo allegedly kneeled on the victim’s chest and hit him several times in the head and upper torso as McGillivray struggled to defend himself. Ocampo is accused of then stabbing the victim more than 40 times in the head, neck, and upper torso as the victim fought for his life. The murder was captured on a video surveillance camera that had been installed by the property management company only two days earlier.

Eight days later, the body of Lloyd Middaugh, 42, turned up on Anaheim's Santa Ana River Trail. He had been stabbed more than 50 times, prosecutors said.

On Dec. 30, 57-year-old Paulus Cornelius Smit was found dead -- with more than 60 stab wounds -- behind the Yorba Linda library.

"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,'' Rackauckas said. "Often, these types of victims are preyed upon because the perpetrator does not believe that anybody would care about them or that anybody would miss them. I'm proud to live in a community where we do care about the more vulnerable members of our community.''

The district attorney said he became concerned before the arrest "about the viciousness of the attacks, and I wondered whether this murderer would ever quench his thirst to kill, or who might be his next victim.''

Ocampo's attorney, Randall Longwith, said his client would plead not guilty. "We're hoping to get a lot of [evidence] tomorrow,'' Longwith said. "I finally got a chance to see him today for literally 15 seconds. That was a good start.''

Ocampo was "scared, shaky, very scared,'' Longwith said.

But the families of his alleged victims were relieved.

"I'm glad the streets are a little more safe for the rest of the homeless," said Julia Smit-Lozano, the daughter of victim Paulus Smit. Her father's home was declared a fire hazard and red-tagged twice, because of hoarding and a gas leak, in October 2010 and last year, Smit-Lozano said.

LaDonna McGillivray said she was "grateful to God they got this man.''

Ocampo, a 2006 graduate of Esperanza High School, served an eight-month deployment in Iraq in 2008 and was discharged in July 2010, according to Capt. Kevin Schultz, a spokesman for the Marine Corps.

He was a motor vehicle officer and reached the rank of corporal, and was last stationed at Camp Pendleton, Schultz said. While in the military, Ocampo earned the Sea Service Deployment ribbon in Iraq, an Iraq Campaign medal with one star, a Global War on Terrorism service medal and a National Defense Service medal, Schultz said.

-- City News Service