Report: Dad of suspect in Calif. homeless killings also homeless

[tawadi]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/16/justice/california-homeless-killings/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

By the CNN Wire Staff
updated 2:11 PM EST, Mon January 16, 2012

(CNN) -- The father of the man police accuse of killing four homeless people in California is himself homeless, according to a published report.

Refugio Ocampo, who lost his home in 2008 and now lives in the cab of a semi-trailer parked in Fullerton, California, said it was hard to believe his son could be involved in the killings.

"I saw him so many times giving the last money he had in his pocket ... to the homeless, to the people that (are) asking for some help. ... My son's always been a role model," Ocampo said in a video interview posted on the newspaper's website.

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"Refugio Ocampo said his son was a Marine in Iraq, and returned a changed man. He started talking about things that "didn't make any sense," like the end of the world."

[Yo_Mama]

1. The perp might be schizophrenic.

Who knows until the shrinks get to evaluate him?

It's a remarkably awful tale.

[tawadi]

2. A link from today

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/serial-killer-suspect-stalked-homeless-men-before-killing-them-da-says.html

[Yo_Mama]

3. The entire story makes no sense

Here's another story about intimates saying that this guy (the killer) gave a lot of his money to charity:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/01/orange-county-homeless.html

I mean, we all know that whoever would commit such a crime is twisted mentally in some way, but this seems a different type of twist than the "normal" serial killer. I can't believe I just wrote that sentence, but I'll leave it. Maybe this is due to my ignorance, but it seemed to me that many serial killers do it because they like to do it.

Stabbing people 40 times doesn't seem like a calculated, controlled action. The reason I thought there was a chance that he might be schizophrenic was that in the first round of news stories, those close to him were quoted as saying that he had told them of hearing and seeing things. He's at the common age for schizophrenia to emerge.

The only good part about the story is at least that he is off the streets and that no more will be killed, but discovering that the last victim had called police about being stalked is depressing as all hell. The police may have had many such calls, but still ....

Edited to add link to HuffPost article on interview with father:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/itzcoatl-ocampo-oc-serial-killer_n_1207541.html

Note that the killer wouldn't go for psychological treatment. It does suggest a motive for the killings, though - he might have been trying to scare his father back into the family?

[tawadi]

4. I know it

It sounds simplistic but war can (and often does) drive a person over the edge.