| For Immediate Release Case # 12ZF0130
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Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
FORMER MARINE INDICTED BY GRAND JURY FOR THE SERIAL MURDERS OF SIX PEOPLE INCLUDING A MOTHER AND SON AND FOUR HOMELESS MEN
SANTA ANA – A former Marine was indicted today by the Orange County Grand Jury for the stabbing-murder of a mother, her son, and four homeless men in a serial thrill-kill spree. Itzcoatl Ocampo, 23, Yorba Linda, is charged with six felony counts of murder with special circumstances for multiple murders and lying in wait and sentencing enhancements for personal use of a deadly weapon, a knife, during the commission of a crime. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. The special circumstances in this case make Ocampo eligible for the death penalty, and the District Attorney will make this determination at a later date. Ocampo is being held without bail and will be arraigned on the indictment Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office released a press release Feb. 3, 2012, with the following information on the Ocampo case:
Murder of Raquel Estrada and Juan Herrera
On the night of Oct. 25, 2011, Ocampo is accused of murdering 53-year-old Raquel Estrada and 34-year-old Juan Herrera. He is accused of stabbing both victims and leaving their bodies on the floor of their Yorba Linda home. Estrada was stabbed more than 30 times and Herrera was stabbed more than 60 times.
Ocampo is accused of being linked to the crime Jan. 31, 2012, through DNA evidence found at the scene. The nature of this crime was similar to the murders of four homeless men (described below), in that all six victims were stabbed in a like manner and suffered a substantial number of stab wounds to the upper body.
Ocampo is accused of living approximately one mile from the victims’ home at the time of the murder. He is accused of having a prior relationship with Eder Herrera, the son/brother of the victims, as friends from middle and high school.