O.C. Serial Killer Targeting Homeless Men: 3 Separate Murders (VIDEO)

Police from Anaheim, Placentia and Brea held a press conference Wednesday to warn the public about a "serial killer" who is targeting homeless individuals. Police announced that they have started a task force to investigate three recent homeless murders and asked community members to be vigilant.

As Los Alamitos Patch reports, the first stabbing occurred on Dec. 21 outside a shopping center in Placentia. James McGillivray, 53, was stabbed to death and, from surveillance video, the suspect appears to be a thin man wearing a black hoodie or jacket. The police released a blurry photo of the suspect from the surveillance video Wednesday and said they believe the suspect is in his young 20s and about 5 feet, 9 inches, as ABC reports in the video above.

Eight days after the first attack, on Dec. 28, a 42-year-old homeless man, Lloyd Middaugh, was found stabbed to death along a riverbed in Anaheim. Two days after that, on Dec. 30, Paulus Smit, a 57-year-old homeless man, was found, also stabbed to death, in a stairwell outside of a library in Yorba Linda.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, police handed out fliers Tuesday advising homeless individuals to stay in groups and keep a lookout. At the press conference today, the police warned, "We believe these murders are likely committed by same suspect, and we feel he's extremely dangerous to the public."

Anyone with any information about the suspect is encouraged to call the Anaheim Police Department at 714-765-1944.

Comments

[here i am]

05:39 PM on 01/09/2012

Four men murdered and the police are up in arms....prostitutes are murdered all over the country by the hundreds and it's not a big deal. The cops don't even come on the news when a woman is murdered unless she is respectable person,and she better be pretty or nobody will look for her.

[shellyq1]

02:27 PM on 01/06/2012

I blame Patrick Bateman.

[Bartmadness]

09:32 AM on 01/06/2012

Maybe they knocked over someone's grill while they were cooking steaks....

[rewith85man]

06:07 PM on 01/05/2012

I guess that he wanted to help them solve their problem.

Yeah, I have been hearing about these young punks harassing and targeting homeless people.

It is cruel.

[stjoshy]

02:14 PM on 01/05/2012

if i was homeless id invest in a blade of my own..

[jokamachi]

12:25 PM on 01/05/2012

He won't last that long. Now that the word is out, anyone on the street will look at a stranger with a cautious eye. Problem is, homeless don't carry cell phones and stay in out of the way places where cameras aren't abundant.

[westcoastsc]

10:38 AM on 01/05/2012

After the police treated that poor homeless man that they caused the loss of his life, the police must be considered suspects.

[rewith85man]

06:08 PM on 01/05/2012

You are right. I am thinking that the suspect could be someone who is opinionated and or has a secret agenda against those in poverty.

[lofttypeofaview]

01:34 AM on 01/06/2012

Could be a 1 percenter.

[Soft Robot]

07:49 AM on 01/05/2012

One plausible use of the NDAA.

[DangerBoy]

12:44 AM on 01/05/2012

"The suspect is in his young 20's"... isn't that supposed to be "early 20's"?

[Orlando]

11:49 PM on 01/04/2012

Oh no, has Fullerton PD expanded their homeless outreach program?

[ywcachieve]

08:32 AM on 01/05/2012

Fullerton is not mentioned in this story.

[Just walkin the dog here]

10:39 AM on 01/05/2012

Fullerton is pretty much surrounded by Placentia, Brea and Anaheim.

[pflip]

10:18 PM on 01/04/2012

hp editors need to pay more attention to their headlines and stories:

'Dangerious Serial Killer'

[Ty Treadwell]

10:47 PM on 01/04/2012

On the contrary, they're simply using one of the hip new terms of 2012. A dangerious serial killer is both dangerous and serious, as opposed to the killers who are dangerous yet enjoy a good laugh.

http://lastsuppersbook.blogspot.com/

[ywcachieve]

08:33 AM on 01/05/2012

Exactly. Is there any other kind of serial killer, but a dangerous one?!

[omegas3]

10:06 PM on 01/04/2012

Evil is abundant lately

[ywcachieve]

08:36 AM on 01/05/2012

It's been this evil since the dawn of time. We just hear about it more, because of the mass media we have now days. The internet being the most prominent.

[Christina-Xena]

08:52 PM on 01/04/2012

Shades of "Criminal Minds"!!

[drfast]

08:22 PM on 01/04/2012

yikes!