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Subscribe to RSSA group that operates two homeless shelters in Orange County, Calif., is seeing a 40 percent increase in walk-ins this week, after police said they believe a serial killer is targeting homeless people in the county.
Larry Haynes, executive director of Mercy House, said in each of the past couple of evenings about 140 people have checked in at the group’s shelters in Fullerton and Santa Ana, compared to 100 to 110 normally.
The increase seems significant particularly given this week’s summer-like temperatures which normally depress the number of people staying at the shelters, Haynes said. “It seems reasonable to make some sort of connection (with the murder investigation),” he said.
So far, three middle-aged homeless men have been stabbed to death in the county since late December. The first victim, 53-year-old James Patrick McGillivray, was found Dec. 20 in Placentia. The body of Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found Dec. 28 in Anaheim. The third victim, Paulus Cornelius Smit, 57, was killed Dec. 30 in Yorba Linda.
“We believe these murders are likely committed by the same subject and we feel he is extremely dangerous to the public,” Anaheim Police Chief John Welter said. Police have obtained a murky surveillance photo of a possible suspect, a man dressed in dark clothes, and also are looking for a white 2000 to 2003 Toyota that may be linked to the killings.
“I’m scared for my extended family out here,” Modesto Vasquez, who is homeless, told KNBC Los Angeles.
Since the killings, there has been heavy outreach to the homeless, with advocacy groups and police urging people to get off the streets at night to stay safe.
The Orange County Rescue Mission is handing out "safety kits," including whistles and flashlights, to homeless people and urging them to stay in groups, said the group's president, Jim Palmer. He said he expects an upsurge in people seeking shelter in the next few days.
Haynes of Mercy House praised the local news media for their extensive coverage of the killings and the investigation, a joint effort by local police, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.
“So much of the time, homeless people are treated as almost subhuman,” he said. “Even if you’re on hard times, you still matter.”
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I don't get it, why kill homeless people?
Because they're vulnerable and easy to kill.
For some that have the desire to kill, the fascination, compulsion of psychopathy, whatever.... homeless people are really in the same category as prostitutes, as in you can indulge with the least chance of being caught. Stabbing is quite personal and no pun intended but extremely hands on, intimate in experiencing the death lust.
A great deal of killings are for personal reasons; finding the guilty is generally a matter of time as it's a simpler puzzle per motive. Take out of the percentage left that are gang/drug/violence related (which are a good percentage of what's left) as well as the 'hater' groups and you've got your random murderer that's next to impossible to trace for some time, as they're without connection to their victim(s).
For whatever reasons, they simply want to kill, and stabbing is again one blazen sign of enjoying it thoroughly. Until caught, this thing will surely continue.
This motive is why the police describe him as very dangerous.
could be many reasons from the general - the killer is just tired of homelsss poeple taking advantage of the system and their never-ending ever-increasing presence, to the personal - some homeless vagrant assaulted him over a few coins of change.
Bobb-2848693
Homeless people do not take advantage of the system, you , selfish idiot ! They have nothing, and the very large majority of them are mentally ill people that cannot provide for themselves because of the diseases they suffer ! Some of you are truely ignorant and brainwashed ! It is the rich that profite from the system and the lack of regulations !
lookatmycastle Thanks for saying that, I tried to answer him and found myself speechless with disgust. Sounds like the cops should check out this guys location..maybe we have found the killer.
it's nice that the orange county rescue mission is trying to help, but how is a whistle and a flashlight gonna help against a knife wielding psycho? let's hope it's a huge and heavy maglite that they can beat the guy with!
be safe out there. hope the police catch this a-hole soon!
You have to remember Orange County is VERY Republican and the homeless are VERY poor.
Rich Christian protestant types tend to be hostile to anyone not like themselves.
johnsixty, interesting isnt it? especially since both Jesus and the apostle Paul were homeless.
Highly vulnerable population for psychopaths. Prostitutes, runaways, youth, elderly are also prime targets for anyone looking to commit relatively unmotivated crimes.
No, Orange County is the Rethuglican Capital of California's coast. The murderer probably just doesn't like the poor or minorities. Look at Troy Davis in Rethuglican Georgia. They refused a new trial and killed him for sport.
Well then again- it could be bias motivated murders (aka hate crimes). But I think some people just need easy targets to satisfy murderous impulses.
Completely agree; a spree that won't stop until this thing is stopped, as the impulses won't stop. Seems to be in rather quick succesion.
Haven't you heard? It's cool to hate the down and out, the poor, the unemployed, the homeless, the pregnant out of wedlock, the gay, the minorities.
Just ask the GOP-Tbaggers.
It's not cool they just have their own news channel 24/7 on cable.
It's their own fault for not being rich. Just like Herman Cain said
dumb- What world do you live in? Certainly not the planet Earth and the United States? What is cool is to give everyone an equal opportunity and then get out of their way. Something the Democrats don't understand.
What is the old quote "give a man a fish, teach a man how to fish........"
Oh, please, bozo, don't inject useless hyper-political drivel into a serious crime situation.
Hopefully before all the political trolls jump on in here, note that a high percentage of the homeless are veterans suffering from untreated PTSD. With a wait list of up to 6 months to receive treatment, current servicemen and women are self-medicating with alcohol. They are tomorrow's homeless addicts.
Joyce- maybe if you focused on being more literate and less condescending I would actually understand the points you are trying to string together.
Ignorant post, extremism at it's worst, and a shining example of why naught will ever change if you're the majority; Dem or Repub, whichever way this thing may or may not vote, has about as much to do with what it is as..... just forget it. You're ridonkulous.
Keep seeing the betterment of America happening through Blue or Red eyes; it's worked so well for us for the past 3 decades or so.
Wow, it only took minutes for political useless bashing to begin. Thanks "MynameisE" to begin the onslaught of garbage instead of intelligent information to help change this situation and get a warning out to the people.
Please, "MynameisE", volunteer yourself as bait for this psycho - we dont need you.
well arlene, idiot response. Joyce is right, give someone a chance and get out of the way. You would rather sit on your butt and live off of others hard work.
Wow, I though Earlene was using that difficult to decipher online tool known as sarcasm. I don't think she really meant what she said, she was making a statement about the upsurge in crimes against the groups she mentioned. Then again maybe I'm wrong, but I choose to take it as sarcasm.
"Teach a man to fish" and "Give a man a chance" sound great but when you take into consideration that the top 1% for the most part inherited their money so they didn't need a chance, then spend a great deal of effort using tax evasion, corporate accounts, off shore banking, etc to hide their money and avoid paying their taxes, it puts a new bent on the fore mentioned quotes. Maybe if everyone had their college educations paid for and we all started on equal footing that analogy might apply, but in today's world where there are so few "haves" and so many "have nots" it's a no go. I know plenty of people who put in 60+ hours a week trying to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table, some of them even put their lives on the line to save your right to your opinion, seems to me they worked a hell of a lot harder than most of the 1% whether DEM or REP.
Oh and please let's not forget the Paris and Kims of this world, rich for being what? Earned it how? Acting like ho's. Meanwhile our soldiers, teachers, farmers, social workers, etc barely earn enough to cover life expenses... WOW gotta love the blind to the truth ones.
Shelters are the homeless peoples only hope...the police don't give a damn about the homeless...to the police, the homeless are/were just something to practice their baton swings on...but the police have OWS protesters now...
You have to remember most the homeless you never see. They use one of the many charities or government programs to assist them. The homeless everyone sees are the ones that choose their addiction over any program designed to help them. You get into the nasty problem of what can the police do to protect someone who is not acting in his own best interest. What would happen next arrest their fellow officer for eating too many sugary donuts.
What about a secret decoder ring also ...
I know; who brings a knife to a gun fight? Pepper spray maybe, but a whistle or flashlight? Where the homeless are, the whistle will probably be considered nothing, and the flashlight only let's you see what's to come.....PC appearances at their best.
People who commit murders like these are so far detached from true reality. They might have feelings of being superior or possibly they are even blaming others for there situation. Who really knows but I sure hope they are caught soon and before they can harm anyone else who is just trying to survive.
My thoughts go out to all of those who have perished and there family and friends who are left with no answers.
Rest in peace.
muddiemike - The problem is that these people often do not have any "family and friends." If they truly did they would not be on the streets and homeless.
In reading different accounts of other serial killers, the murderers are counting on the dead not being missed (as the Green River killer did), lack of witnesses (as in who saw the victim last and with whom), and perhaps even vindication on getting the streets "clean."
Joyce that is incorrect; most DO have family. My aunt is currently homeless, has mental illness and refuses treatment because she believes the doctors are trying to kill her. She has 2 living brothers, 2 living sisters, three adult children and a ton of nieces and nephews that all love her and would gladly give her a place to live but she will not accept it.
Joyce-=4263422... not all homeless are without family & friends... some chose to live on the streets because of those families and friends. For some the only way they can get medical and other assistance is to be homeless. It is a very dangerous place and being in groups is the best thing for them to do during this danger. I have ready many articles over the years and the interviews of homeless men and women, some are there by choice, it is sad that one of the greatest countries in the world probably has the highest homeless population (just speculating).
Knives are quieter than guns. And they keep the anti-gun freaks happy.
I think we should have to register all our knives so this type of thing never happens again.
whatever gets them off the street.
How heartbreaking. Why are the most vulnerable always targeted by the predators. I would use the republican agenda as an example but not in such a terrible situation as this. I am not saying their politics dont have the potential to kill as well. Look at Iraq for example!
Keep believing in one end of the Donkephant over the other; other nations will laugh at our stagnancy as they are now for years to come. How easily some are led.... and just as sad that faux 'I won't go there but am stating that I'd like to and did' is played as the wild card. Congratulations on believing A or B is our only choice, supporting it, and agendizing something completely out of the political realm.
These people belong in shelters and not sleeping under a bridge. Get them off the streets, stop using our parks as bathrooms and begging on the street.
Well that's a great idea.. Now you get on it and tell the government to quit shutting down all the mental health facilities. Oh wait, they need the money that should be used to help heal people to fight a losing drug war, build new prisons and hire more under paid and uneducated police. You can't have it both ways, choose what's important and work for it. Face it, if we spent more time healing people there would be less drug abuse and less need for a drug war.
This is what we can expect in 21st century America. Get used to it and protect yourselves; do not fall for the b/s that the police can or will protect you. In fact you must question who is there to protect you from the "protectors".
If you can get them off the drugs, you can get them off the streets.
DUH! When the drugs wear off they pick themselves up and then go seek out their next fix!
Does stereotyping know no boundaries? Why stereotype the homeless? Some homeless people are drug addicts. Every homeless person isn't a drug addict.
Even if some are drug addicts, does that give someone a right to kill them? Does that give people a right to be flippant and not treat their deaths as you would someone's death you hold in high esteem?
Human beings are being stabbed to death - for nothing. That should strike a sympathetic cord in you, somewhere.
When this person runs out of homeless people to kill, do you believe this wanton murderer will simply give up? I'm sure any victim will do - anyone - even you; the homeless are just, shall we say, effortless targets.
Who really knows the mind and heart of a psychopath regarding seeking a reason for the senseless killings?
Whatever reason motivates the murderer probably wouldn't make sense to sane people, anyway. The murderer, on a conscious level, might not even know the reason - merely slavishly obeys the instinct to stab until the target is permanently still.
However, as some have alluded, the homeless are easy targets for someone who has a thirst to kill. I wouldn't be surprised if all three of the victims were stabbed while they were sleeping.
Had no idea there is a serial killer literally in my own backyard. Wow hope they get this person soon
You didn't realize the Cereal killer was in your back yard? How do you think Captain Crunch and Toucan Sam ended up there?
How big of the stabbing wound? Are the weapon almost the same size in terms of the width and length on all these victims?
Condolences and prayers go to the victims' loved ones.
It's become a sport like gay bashing...
Probably a republican.
Gee Eric, got any other dumb comments to make?
I thought you lefties were supposed to care about people and upon the deaths of 3 innocent men already down on their luck all you can manage is some inane biased political smear. Gotta say I am now soooo much more likely to change my political point of view.
Thanks for making all of us heartless Tbaggers look like Mother Teresa.
Eric, people are dying. Go be an idiot in front of your XBox; its the only thing you'll ever be good at in this life.
Watch that OCD there, eric.... it's taking you over. Seeing the number 7 everywhere, are we?
Eric, how did you find time to stop masterbating to those thoughts to post that?
At least they won't have to deal with their dead end lives anymore and are back home with their Creator.
Hope they catch this guy.
There are just some mean spirit people in this world, this person needs to be arrested right away before he/she takes someone else life. This is sad on top of sad, killing homeless people who have no where to go, this is just evil.
Its also plenty cold outside right now, too.....
Hope they catch this Dude soon. It's sad things like this happens. Majority of the homeless are good people. I had a chance on talking with many homeless people. When I was searching for my run-away granddaughter from her parents. Most of them were touched that a grandpa cared so much. It was a homeless person that helped me on finding her. He refused money, saying this day is the best day of his life, seeing my granddaughter and I together.
Although it's easier for those killers to find victims on the streets, hanging around bus terminals etc. they can still do their psychopathic deeds in the shelters. They can check in like any homeless person and wait until things settle down at night and . . .
Out of at least 140 people, I think they can manage watch shifts throughout tthe night.
Yea but for the grace of God so go I. Took my teenage son years ago to the seedy, dark side of downtown Atlanta to hand out food and clothes. Best damn thing I could've done for him. I saw a change then and there in the young lad.
People came out of the shadows like dawn of the dead,...scary, weird...he met this elderly black man and at first was quite freaked out. A conversation starts and my son realizes this dude was quite articulate, courteous, and also ashamed for the plight he found himself in. A string of really bad luck. By the end of their lengthy conversation...this stranger and my son were crying...hugging each other.
Yes, there are some who choose being homeless. Some who are mentally just screwed-up. Some who fell prey to the insidious nightmare world of heavy drugs/booze. BUT...there ARE those who just got hammered with a string of bad luck. I count my lucky stars I am so far not one of them.
They're usually the first test targets in a serial killer's escalation ladder. Next will be high-risk targets, unless they catch him.
No chris! It's like the stock market!
Low-risk, Moderate-risk, High-risk, and then "Bernie Madoff What The F...K Are You Nuts-Risk"!