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'Serial killer' suspected of beating homeless people to death in California

Ramon Escobar arrested after police found a baseball bat and bolt cutters in his car
A man described as a “violent predator” has been arrested on suspicion of beating
homeless men to death in California.
Ramon Escobar, who allegedly fled to the West Coast state from Texas after being
questioned over the disappearance of two Houston relatives, is accused of killing
three people and seriously injuring four others.
Los Angeles police Captain William Hayes said the 47-year-old was taken into
custody after officers searched his car and recovered a wooden baseball bat and
bolt cutters that they believe he used to carry out the attacks on random victims in
Los Angeles.
Police said the items seized and forensic evidence helped investigators link him to
all seven victims.
The El Salvador native’s arrest came days after a man was clubbed in the head with
a pair of bolt-cutters as he slept on the pavement in Santa Monica, Los Angeles on
24 September. The victim remains in a coma.
Separately, three homeless men were bludgeoned in the head with a baseball bat
on 10 and 16 September as they slept on the streets of downtown LA. Two died and
one was left in critical condition.
Steven Ray Cruze Jr, 39, of San Gabriel, was also found dead under the Santa
Monica Pier on 20 September.
Investigators believe Mr Escobar is homeless himself and robbery was his main
motive for the attacks. Surveillance video showed the attacker ransacking the
pockets and belongings of one of the victims.
He now faces three counts of murder and four counts of attempted murder.
Mr Escobar’s chequered past included six felony convictions for burglary and illegal
re-entry, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
Records show he spent five years in prison for robbery in the mid-1990s. He has
also been arrested for vehicle burglary, trespassing, failure to stop, public
intoxication and two assaults, most recently in November 2017.
Immigration officials said that he has been deported from the United States six times
between 1997 and 2011. He was released from ICE custody last year after appealing
against his latest immigration case, and his current legal status remains unclear.
He is also currently the prime suspect in the disappearance of his aunt, Dina
Escobar, and her brother, 65-year-old Rogelio Escobar, Houston police said.
Ms Escobar's burnt-out van was found in Galveston, Texas, a few days after she
went looking for her brother. She was last seen 28 August, two days after her brother
vanished.
Her daughter, Ligia Salamanca, told KTRK-TV that her cousin had never come
across as violent person.
"She loved him as she would a son," Ms Salamanca said of her mother's relationship
with Mr Escobar.
Mr Escobar is being held without bail.

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