Serial Killer Fear Grips SC City Before July 4th

NC cops shot suspect after 5 slayings in SC county in 6 days

(NEWSER) - The man shot to death by North Carolina police early today was the serial killer who had terrorized a rural South Carolina county, police say. Tests on his gun confirmed that it was the firearm used in the crime spree, which saw five people shot dead in less than a week, the Charlotte Observer reports. "We have him," says a South Carolina law-enforcement official. "He's our serial killer." More»

(NEWSER) - A suspected South Carolina serial killer claimed his fifth victim today when a teenage girl died in hospital, the Gaffney Ledger reports. Like her father and four other victims, Abbey Tyler, 15, was found shot earlier this week in Gaffney, SC. Police say the killings are linked. Scared residents say they are avoiding July 4th celebrations for their own safety as dozens of investigators, some state and federal, work the case. More»

Itzcoatl Ocampo to be charged with stabbing Raquel Estrada, Juan Herrera

(NEWSER) - Authorities believe Itzcoatl Ocampo, the 23-year-old Iraq veteran charged with stabbing four homeless men to death in California, also killed two other people—ones that he knew. Ocampo will be charged today with the murders of Raquel Estrada, 53, and her 34-year-old son, Juan Herrera, the mother and brother of a friend Ocampo has known since high school. That friend, Eder Herrera, had originally been charged with the murders, but those charges were dropped Friday, CNN reports. More»

Belongings linked to Craigslist escort found in serial killer area

(NEWSER) - Clothing and a purse believed to belong to a female escort who advertised her services on Craigslist have been found on an Long Island beach nearly two years after she vanished. Police discovered Shannan Gilbert's jeans, cell phone, shoes, and a purse with identification near the community of Oak Beach. It was the police search for the missing woman that led them last year to the discovery of a shocking body dump of 10 victims of a suspected serial killer. The corpses of eight women, a toddler and a transvestite were found in the weeds along a rocky stretch of beach. Of the five women identified, all were prostitutes. More»

Investigators release sketches, jewelry in bid to ID victims

(NEWSER) - Long Island cops released new information yesterday as they continue to press their hunt for as many as three serial killers who they believe murdered at least eight women, a man in woman's clothing, and a toddler. Five of the victims remain unidentified, and police provided sketches of two of them in the hope that someone will know the victims, which may help lead police to the killer, reports Newsday . Investigators believe the unidentified toddler was the daughter of one of the murdered women, and displayed photos of earrings and bracelets worn by the little girl at a press conference. Five other victims have been identified as prostitutes. More»