| For Immediate Release Case # 12ZF0130
May 21, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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OCDA TO SEEK DEATH PENALTY AGAINST FORMER MARINE FOR STABBING-MURDER OF MOTHER AND SON IN YORBA LINDA AND SERIAL MURDERS OF FOUR HOMELESS MEN
SANTA ANA – The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) announced today that he will seek the death penalty against a former Marine for the stabbing-murder of a mother and her son in Yorba Linda and murdering four homeless men in a serial thrill-kill spree.
Itzcoatl Ocampo, 24, 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. Ocampo is being held without bail and is scheduled for jury trial Sept. 10, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. in Department C-45, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD), Anaheim Police Department (APD), Brea Police Department (BPD), and Placentia Police Department (PPD). Members of these agencies interviewed more than 200 witnesses both before and after the arrest. OCSD Crime Laboratory made this case a top priority and analyzed the key physical evidence in this case. The FBI provided specialized information and expertise.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Susan Price of the OCDA Homicide Unit is prosecuting this 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.