Suspected Serial Killer Awaits Arraignment

Murder charges are expected to be filed this week against an Iraq war veteran and ex-Marine suspected of stabbing four homeless men to death in Orange County.

Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, of Yorba Linda, was captured in Yorba Linda on Friday night by witnesses who chased him from the scene of a fatal attack that occurred about a quarter-mile away behind a Carl's Jr. at 3110 E. La Palma Ave. in Anaheim.

The victim was John Berry, a man of 64 or 65 who slept along the bed of the Santa Ana River, described himself as a Vietnam veteran and reportedly recently told people someone had been watching him. People who saw Berry in front of the restaurant and a nearby CVS pharmacy told broadcast outlets he was a nice guy, not an aggressive beggar.

Anaheim police Deputy Chief Craig Hunter said Ocampo fit the description of the killer wanted in three other stabbing deaths since Dec. 20 -- in Anaheim, Placentia and Yorba Linda.

"We are extremely confident that we have the man who is responsible for all four murders of homeless men in Orange County," Anaheim police Chief John Welter said Saturday.

The stabbings have been under investigation by a task force comprising the FBI, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the police departments of Anaheim, Placentia and Brea.

The first of the four men Ocampo is suspected of killing was 53-year-old James McGillivray, attacked as he slept outside a Placentia shopping center. Eight days later, the body of Lloyd Middaugh, 42, turned up on Anaheim's Santa Ana River Trail. On Dec. 30, 57-year-old Paulus Cornelius Smit was found dead behind the Yorba Linda library.

Surveillance video taken prior to McGillivray's slaying in Placentia showed a male wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt. Investigators also have been searching for a white four-door 2000 to 2003 Toyota Corolla shown on the video.

Ocampo was a 2006 graduate of Esparanza High School. High school friend Brian Doyle told the Los Angeles Times that Ocampo was kicked out the military, but there was no immediate official confirmation.

At least 121 Iraq or Afghanistan war veterans killed someone or were charged with a homicide after returning home between 2001 and 2007, The New York Times reported Thursday. About three-quarters were still in the military when the crimes occurred.