Police warn Calif. homeless about serial killer
AMY TAXINAMY TAXIN, Associated Press?
?Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, at podium, speaks during a press conference in Anaheim, Calif. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. Hutchens said that her department is working diligently to process the evidence gathered from for three fatal stabbings in northern Orange County. At the press conference, the newly formed Homeless Homicide Investigative Task Force, from the left; Anaheim Police Dept. Lt. Julian Harvey, Brea Police Dept. Chief Jack Conklin, Anaheim Police Dept. Chief John Welter, Hutchens, Placentia Police Chief Rick Hicks, and FBI Special Agent William O'Leary, discussed their latest findings. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers)
Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, at podium, speaks during a press conference in Anaheim, Calif. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012. Hutchens said that her department is working diligently to process the evidence gathered from for three fatal stabbings in northern Orange County. At the press conference, the newly formed Homeless Homicide Investigative Task Force, from the left; Anaheim Police Dept. Lt. Julian Harvey, Brea Police Dept. Chief Jack Conklin, Anaheim Police Dept. Chief John Welter, Hutchens, Placentia Police Chief Rick Hicks, and FBI Special Agent William O'Leary, discussed their latest findings. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers)
Anaheim Police Chief John Welter speaks during a news conference on the recent slayings of three middle-aged homeless men who were stabbed to death last month, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012, in Anaheim, Calif. Welter said the suspect is "what we believe to be a serious, dangerous serial killer operating in Orange County." Next to him are other leaders of the newly formed Homeless Homicide Investigative Task Force, including Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, left, and Placentia Police Chief Rick Hicks, right. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
In this photo taken Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011, police work the scene where 42-year-old Lloyd Middaugh, a homeless man, was stabbed to death on the Santa Ana River Trail, near the 91 freeway, in Anaheim, Calif. Authorities on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 said they believe a serial killer was responsible for the slayings of three middle-aged homeless men who were stabbed to death last month. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chamber) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
This photo taken Dec. 22, 2011 shows the Placentia, Calif. strip mall the day where homeless man James McGillivray, 53, was killed. Authorities on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 said they believe a serial killer was responsible for the slaying of McGillivray and two other middle-aged homeless men who were stabbed to death last month. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
In this Jan. 3, 2012 photo, flowers are placed near where the body of 57-year-old homeless man Paulus Cornelius Smit was found outside the Yorba Linda Library in Yorba Linda, Calif. last month. Authorities on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2012 said they believe a serial killer was responsible for the slaying of Smit and two other middle-aged homeless men who were stabbed to death last month. (AP Photo/Orange County Register, Bruce Chambers) MAGS OUT; LOS ANGELES TIMES OUT
SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) ? Homeless people in Orange County were put on alert by police and advocates concerned that they're the target of a serial killer who has already slain three homeless men.
Police said an attacker has stabbed three homeless people to death in north Orange County.
As a precaution, the Orange County Rescue Mission handed out flashlights and whistles to the homeless on Thursday, in an effort to help them protect themselves, said Jim Palmer, the group's president.
Palmer's group is encouraging area homeless to sleep in groups, or better yet, come inside to a shelter.
"Our goal is to get them into those beds and fill those beds," he said.
Darryl Bossier, 49, said he sleeps outside the Orange County administration building in downtown Santa Ana ? one of a dozen transients who use the benches that zigzag across the courtyard as a place to rest each night.
"I'm a watchdog. I don't want them to get anybody," Bossier said of the killer, adding he sleeps only about four hours a night. "Who wants to wake up next to somebody dead?"
He said he learned of the killings three days ago but would not go to a shelter because he had his cellphone stolen from his bag the last time he slept there.
"You take a deep breath, but what are you going to do? Watch out for the people who are there."
Authorities have asked for the public's help in finding the killer, as a special task force searches for the suspect with officers from Placentia, Anaheim and Brea, the Orange County Sheriff's Department and the FBI.
An image of a suspect from a video surveillance camera in the area where the first victim was killed shows what appears to be a thin man dressed in a dark hoodie or sweater who appears to be lying in wait for his victim.
The body of the first victim, 53-year-old James McGillivray, was found Dec. 21 near a Placentia shopping mall. The second victim, 42-year-old Lloyd Middaugh, was found on a riverbed trail in Anaheim a week later.
The third victim, 57-year-old Paulus Cornelius Smit, was discovered with fatal stab wounds outside a Yorba Linda library, where a photo of him stood at a small candlelit memorial this week.
Two of the killings took place at night and one in the late afternoon.
No motive has been determined, and investigators have found no connection among the victims beyond their homelessness.
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