Man detained in killing of homeless man in Anaheim

Anaheim police have detained a man for questioning in the slaying of a homeless person found behind a Carl's Jr. restaurant late Friday.

At a news conference Friday night, police officers said bystanders detained the man after the fatal stabbing and that he has since been taken to the Anaheim Police Department headquarters. Police said they can't say if the slaying is connected to the killings in recent weeks of three homeless men in Orange County.

Anaheim police set up a one-mile perimeter around the location and were going through nearby neighborhoods, including a mobile home park.

The homeless victim, a man, was believed to have been killed about 9 p.m. Friday. 

The task force probing the string of homeless deaths was at the crime scene in Anaheim on Friday.

Each of the previous stabbing victims, authorities say, was alone when attacked. James Patrick McGillivray, 53, was killed near a shopping center in Placentia on Dec. 20; Lloyd Middaugh, 42, was found near a riverbed trail in Anaheim on Dec. 28; Paulus Smit, 57, was killed outside a Yorba Linda library on Dec. 30. Authorities have said the homicides are the work of a serial killer and have released grainy photographs captured from surveillance video that show a man dressed in dark clothing.

A white, late-model Toyota Corolla is also a vehicle of interest. Police have been urging homeless people to seek shelter and have gone into homeless encampments across Orange County warning those living there that a killer is on the loose.

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-- Nicole Santa Cruz in Anaheim and Mitchell Landsberg

Photo: Police found the latest victim near a Carl's Jr. restaurant at La Palma Avenue and Imperial Highway in Anaheim. Credit: KTLA-TV