Charges dropped against son of Calif murder victim

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- Charges were dropped Friday against the son of a murder victim after detectives linked the case to a suspected California serial killer.

Eder Herrera, 24, was arrested shortly after his mother and brother were found stabbed to death in October.

A judge dismissed the charges Friday after detectives linked Itzcoatl Ocampo to the fatal stabbings and found that Ocampo was associated with Herrera.

Authorities also have linked Ocampo to a killing spree in December and January targeting four homeless men: James Patrick McGillivray, 53, who was stabbed Dec. 20 near a shopping center in Placentia; Lloyd Middaugh, 42, who was found Dec. 28 near a riverbed trail in Anaheim; Paulus Smit, 57, who was stabbed to death outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30; and John Berry, 64, who was stabbed to death on the day Ocampo was arrested.

Each of the four men was stabbed more than 40 times with a weapon believed to be a 7-inch, fixed-blade, military-type knife, authorities said.

Before Ocampo's Jan. 13 arrest, police had fanned out across the county better known as the home to Disneyland and multimillion-dollar beachfront homes to urge the homeless to be careful and seek shelter indoors.

Ocampo has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, plus the special circumstances of multiple victims and murder by lying-in-wait.

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