Charges Expected In Calif. Homeless Killings

Published January 16, 2012 11:18PM (EST)

YORBA LINDA, Calif. (AP) — A Southern California district attorney's office is expected to announce the filing of criminal charges against an Iraq war veteran suspected in the stabbing death of four homeless men.

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Tuesday to announce charges against Itzcoatl Ocampo. The 23-year-old Ocampo is expected to be charged with four counts of murder.

Lt. Hal Brotheim, a spokesman with the Orange County Sheriff's Department, says Ocampo is being held in isolation at the central jail in Santa Ana for his own safety because of the notoriety of the case.

According to Ocampo's family he returned home from his tour in Iraq a very different man when he was discharged in 2010. His parents separated, and his father eventually became homeless.


By Salon Staff

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