Man detained after another Calif. homeless killing
Mourners wept and placed flowers Saturday at the scene of the latest stabbing death of a homeless man in Orange County, and people who knew the victim said he had feared for his safety as police recently sought a serial killer suspected in the slayings.
Police detained a man in connection with Friday night’s killing in Anaheim but investigators didn’t say if there were any links to the deaths of three other homeless men.
The dead man, described by friends as a Vietnam War veteran in his 60s named John, was found between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. in the parking lot of a Carl’s Jr. fast-food restaurant at the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Imperial Highway in Anaheim, police said.
Marilyn Holland, an Anaheim resident who befriended the victim and regularly brought him oatmeal raisin cookies, said he was uncharacteristically nervous since police warned him to stay vigilant in the days after the killings began.
“He told me he thought he was being followed,” Holland said. “I told him after pay day I was going to get him a cell phone, so he could call 911 if anything happened. Normally he would refuse help but he was willing to accept the phone because he was scared.” Holland was paid Friday but never got the phone to her friend.
Several witnesses reported an assault in progress, and officers arrived to find the homeless man dead near a trash bin in the restaurant parking lot. Witnesses followed a man who ran from the lot and led police to him, Anaheim police Sgt. Bob Dunn said.
“We were having dinner in the area and saw about 40 police cars scream into the parking lot. I ran over and hugged my friend, screaming, `Please tell me it’s not John!’ But it was,” Holland said, fighting back tears.