The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Docs: Serial murder suspect says he needed to kill

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Published : March 15, 2012 - 11:24

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An Iraq war veteran indicted in the murders of six people in California, including four homeless men, told a police detective after his arrest that he joined the Marine Corps because he needed to kill, according to court documents obtained by the Orange County Register.

Itzcoatl Ocampo confers with his attorney Randall Longwith during Ocampo`s arraignment Tuesday Feb. 21 in Santa Ana, California. (AP-Yonhap News) Itzcoatl Ocampo confers with his attorney Randall Longwith during Ocampo`s arraignment Tuesday Feb. 21 in Santa Ana, California. (AP-Yonhap News)


Itzcoatl “Izzy” Ocampo said he was disappointed when he did not see any combat during a six-month tour of duty in Iraq when he “became a truck driver instead of a killer,” according to a transcript of a secret hearing of the Orange County grand jury obtained by the newspaper.

“He felt in order to become a real Marine, he needed to kill,” Detective Daron Wyatt told the grand jury. Wyatt took Ocampo's confession a few hours after he was arrested following the stabbing death Jan. 13 of the fourth homeless man outside a Carl's Jr. fast-food restaurant in Anaheim.

Ocampo told Wyatt that he had planned to continue killing people and hoped to build a kill list with 16 names before he was finished, according to the transcript.

Ocampo was charged in an amended complaint in February with the murders of four homeless men in December and January, and with murdering Raquel Estrada, 53, and her son, Juan Herrera, 34, in their Yorba Linda home. Estrada's youngest son initially was charged with the attack.

Ocampo told Wyatt during one interrogation after he waived his right to remain silent that he killed the four homeless men because “he felt that he was somewhat doing a service to the community, because the homeless population had become a blight to the community.”

Wyatt also testified that Ocampo said he chose his victims “because they were available and vulnerable.”

The grand jury transcript also revealed that Wyatt described how Ocampo claimed he studied the human anatomy to find out the best way to kill. “He said he specifically targeted the throat to kill people, to sever the esophagus,” Wyatt testified. “That he (also) targeted the head, because he had seen in the movie `Terminator 2' that it was a quick kill.”

Ocampo has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 10. (AP)

 

<관련 한글 기사>


'죽여야 해...' 참전군인에서 연쇄살인마로


올해 초 노숙인 네 명을 포함해 6명을 살해한 혐의로 체포된 용의자가 자신이 과거에 이라크전에 참전한 이유가 살인이었다고 밝혀 충격을 주고 있다.

법정 기록에 따르면 이츠코아틀 “이지” 오캄포는 이라크에서 전투임무가 주어지지 않고 트럭 운전만 하게 되자 실망했다고 한다고 AP통신은 15일 보도했다.

오캄포가 1월 13일, 마지막 범행을 저지르고 몇 시간 후에 체포되었다. 그는 담당 대론 와이어트 형사에게 “진짜 해병이 되기 위해서는 죽여야 한다고 느꼈다”라고 말했다.

오캄포는 거의 “살인 명단”에 16개의 이름이 쓰일 때까지 계속해서 범행을 저지를 계획이었다고 밝혔다.

그는 노숙자 네 명 외에도 50대 여성과 그의 아들까지 총 6명을 살해한 것으로 밝혀졌다.

용의자는 노숙자 살해 혐의로 취조를 받던 도중 묵비권을 행사하기도 했는데, “노숙 인구는 지역 사회를 망치기 때문에 어떻게 보면 그가 사회에 기여를 한 셈이다”라고 생각했기 때문이라고 한다.

법정 기록에 따르면 오캄포는 살인을 저지르기 위한 최선의 방식을 찾기 위해 해부학을 공부하기도 했다고 한다.

오캄포는 모든 혐의를 부인하고 있다.