California Screaming

I first heard about James McGillivray, Lloyd “Jim” Middaugh, and Paulus “Dutch” Smit about a month ago, though not by name.

A tiny news crawler reported that three men were victims of a serial killer in southern California.

James McGillivray’s body was found near a Placentia, CA, shopping mall on December 21^st.  53 year-old McGillivray hung out almost every day at the mall.  Regulars there called him humble, unobtrusive, and a “nice guy.”  A 17 year-old commented “I don’t know why someone would kill him.”  McGillivray was sleeping when he was attacked and stabbed to death.

Jim Middaugh’s body was found along a riverbed trail in Anaheim on December 28^th.  He was also stabbed to death as he slept.  After his death, his mother – to whom Middaugh was exceptionally close – described her six foot, four inch son as a “gentle giant.”

Dutch Smit was 57 years old when his body was found outside a Yorba Linda public library on December 30^th.  He left three children and 10 grandchildren.  He was described by his daughter as “an honest and sincere soul.”  He enjoyed the library, often sitting and reading quietly for hours on end. 

McGillivray, Middaugh, and Smit had one thing in common.  

They were targeted for death because they were homeless.

The police considered McGillivray a “loiterer,” but his homelessness may have been tied to his drinking.  According to the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), a 2008 survey identified substance use as the leading cause of homelessness among single adults.

Smit, who called himself a wanderer, not a transient, was a hoarder who left his home when it became too unsafe to live in.  Hoarding is a symptom of mental illness.  Mental illness is the third leading cause of homelessness among single adults.

Middaugh lost his transitional living apartment for sex offenders after he had lunch with a friend at a Chinese restaurant that was too close to a public park where children might be playing.  He had been convicted for “lewd and lascivious acts on a minor under the age of 14.”  But the crime for which the 42 year old was still being punished had occurred more than twenty years in the past.

80% of crimes of violence against homeless people are committed by people under the age of 30. 

The suspect in the executions of McGillivray, Middaugh, and Smit is 23 years old.  Itzcoatl Ocampo, of Yorba Linda, CA, is a former Marine who served in Iraq.  As a Marine, Ocampo was reported to have earned at least four medals and commendations.

Ocampo was caught with blood on his hands on January 13^th, while executing a fourth homeless man, John Berry, a 64 year-old Vietnam Veteran.  Ocampo targeted the others simply because they were homeless, but apparently attacked Berry as retaliation after Berry spoke out in the media about the murders.  During the assault, a Good Samaritan intervened and chased Ocampo down. 

Police and prosecutors seem certain that Ocampo does not suffer from PTSD or other mental illness, but his attorney is not so sure.

There is no doubt that the Good Samaritan, 32 year old Donald Hopkins, now does.  He is receiving counseling after witnessing the violence because the scene keeps playing over and over again in his head.

This story – and the relative lack of national news attention it has received – bothers me a lot. 

Perhaps it is because of the way we treat homeless adults.  Of 235 cities surveyed by NCH, 33% prohibit “camping,” 30% prohibit “sitting or lying,” and 47% prohibit “loitering,” all of which are often selectively enforced against homeless people.  Of the ten "meanest cities" toward people who are homeless, three are in California, but my home state of Florida is home to four – St. Petersburg, Orlando, Bradenton, and Gainesville. 

Or maybe it is because we ostracize even children with behavioral health conditions, setting many of them on their path toward isolation and homelessness as adults.  The school district in my old Connecticut home town of Middletown made news last week for forcing such children into cell-like “scream rooms.” The federal government is now investigating.

Or maybe it is because my son also happens to live in California, and is homeless, has mental illness, and self-medicates.  He has been beaten up, cited for “sitting or lying” on a sidewalk, and been in jail, but he also loves reading in libraries, has an honest and sincere soul, and has been described as a gentle giant.

But I think what screams out most to me is that these executions call attention to our deeply flawed views about homelessness, behavioral health diseases, and the victims of violence in America.  

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