Itzcoatl Ocampo

Itzcoatl Ocampo was born on March 20, 1988, in Mexico City.[2] He was the eldest in a family of three children. Shortly after his birth, his family emigrated to the United States, settling in Yorba Linda, California. His father, a qualified lawyer, found a high-paying job and rented an apartment. His parents led a law-abiding lifestyle and had no bad habits that affected the family home, thanks to which Ocampo grew up in a positive environment without traumatic events.[3]

After living in the state for 12 years, Ocampo and the rest of his family went through all the legal procedures and obtained American citizenship.[4] Ocampo attended Esperanza High School in Anaheim, graduating in 2006. During his school years, he was known as a friendly and approachable guy, thanks to which he befriended many and was popular among his peers. The September 11 attacks had a strong effect on the formation of his personality, as a result of which in subsequent years he became interested in politics, supporting the Republican Party and George W. Bush's foreign policies. After leaving school, Ocampo, along with his school friend Claudio Pattino, enlisted in the United States Marine Corps. Since July 2006, he served at Camp Pendleton in Oceanside, where he was attached to the 15th Regiment of the Medical and Sanitary Battalion. In 2008, he was sent to Iraq, but did not partake in combat: his main responsibility was to provide medical support to personnel of various formations, as well as to search for, identify, transport and bury the dead American soldiers, allied military personnel and civilians, coming across much carnage during his stay. He spent eight months in the country, for which he was subsequently awarded the Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. After returning to the USA, he was sent back to Camp Pendleton.[5][6]

During this period, as a result of the Great Recession, his father lost his job. Due to material difficulties, the family lost their homes, and Ocampo's father developed a drug addiction, causing his mother to divorce him, taking Ocampo and two of his siblings to stay with some relatives. In July 2010, Ocampo was Honorably Discharged and returned to Yorba Linda. Not long after returning from Iraq, he began to show signs of PTSD and exhibited deviant behavior. A serious factor for the deterioration of his mental state was the death of his close friend Pattino, who died on June 22, 2010, while fighting in Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Following his death, Ocampo became depressed, suffered from frequent headaches, hand tremors and alcohol abuse. Over the next two years, unable to adapt to a normal life and hold a job, he depended on income from relatives and refused treatment from psychiatrists. By the end of 2011, his mental state had deteriorated sharply, to the point of developing hypochondria and showing signs of clinical delirium.[7][8][9]

On October 25, 2011, Ocampo came to the doorstep of his former classmate, 24-year-old Eder Herrera, where his mother, 53-year-old Raquel Estrada, and his older brother, 34-year-old Juan, were at the time. During the visit, Ocampo unexpectedly lunged at them, stabbing both Raquel and Juan repeatedly, 30 and 60 times, respectively. The neighbors witnessed the murders, providing police with a description of the offender's appearance and his clothing. Because Herrera and Ocampo were similar in appearance, Herrera was arrested. Despite denying any involvement in the deaths of his mother and brother, he was still considered the main suspect, as it was revealed that, shortly before the crime, he had gotten into an argument with them.[10]

On the evening of December 21st, Ocampo was loitering around the parking lot of a shopping center in Placentia, where he proceeded to attack a 53-year-old homeless man named James McGillivray, whom he stabbed to death. The event was recorded on CCTV, and the police managed to release an identikit of the suspect.[11]

A week later, Ocampo committed another murder. The victim was 42-year-old vagrant Lloyd "Jim" Middaugh, who lived under a bridge crossing the Santa Ana River in Anaheim. Middaugh, like McGillivray, was fatally stabbed multiple times with a knife.[11]

Two days later, Ocampo killed 57-year-old Paulus Smit, stabbing him more than 60 times and then discarding his body onto the parking lot of a public library in Yorba Linda.[12]

By the time of the fourth murder, the news about homeless men being killed in Orange County spread in the Los Angeles media, leading police in several cities to enforce heavy duty patrols around homeless shelters and other areas where vagrants were known to reside. In early January 2012, several newspapers published a series of articles about the investigation into the killings: one, by the Los Angeles Times, interviewed a 64-year-old Vietnam War veteran named John Barry, who spoke extremely negatively about the perpetrator, and urged any potential victims to be as careful as they can in order to avoid being the next victim. As a result, Ocampo travelled to Anaheim and began stalking Barry, who notified police on January 12th. He was asked to move into a homeless shelter, but refused. The following evening, Ocampo found Barry near a Carl's Jr. in Anaheim. Upon locating him, he attacked and stabbed Barry in front of dozens of witnesses, fleeing on foot after killing him.[13][14]

After killing Barry, a number of witnesses to the crime pursued Ocampo while others called the police. Ocampo tried to dispose of his bloodied clothing, but was arrested by the authorities about several hundred meters away from the crime scene without incident. When he was searched, a stainless steel knife with a 7 inch (17.7 cm) long blade was seized from him. Ocampo was taken to the police station, where he was charged with killing Barry based upon the available evidence. When he was investigated further, it was found that the murder weapon matched that used in the killings of the three homeless men, and Ocampo was additionally charged with their deaths as well. At a press conference, the Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas confirmed that he would seek the death penalty for Ocampo in his upcoming trial.[15][16]

On February 4, 2012, after analysing blood stains found on his shoes, Ocampo was linked to the Estrada-Herrera murders. He was charged with the double murder, and Herrera, who by then had been detained for three months in the county jail, was released.[17][18]

Ocampo's father, brother and a number of acquaintances declared their belief in his innocence after his arrest, stating that his personality wasn't that of a murderer and that since his dismissal, he had provided material support for his homeless father and others who lived on unemployment benefits. Ocampo himself pleaded not guilty after the indictment, with his lawyer declaring that his client was mentally unfit to stand trial.[19][20]

After the investigation was completed, the criminal case was sent to the court, with the trial scheduled to begin on January 17, 2014. On the evening of November 27, 2013, Ocampo, while sitting in his jail cell at the Orange County Jail, complained about being ill before vomiting and passing out. After first aid failed to resuscitate him, he was transported to the local hospital in Santa Ana, where it was determined that he had ingested a large quantity of Ajax, a general purpose cleaner. He died the following day, at 13:38 local time. During the subsequent investigation, it was determined that he had been collecting the detergent over several months, as it was given out daily in small quantities to prisoners so they could clean their toilets. The incident was ultimately ruled a suicide.[21][22]

• List of serial killers in the United States