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San Diego police still searching for suspected serial killer of homeless | San Diego police still searching for suspected serial killer of homeless |
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A man arrested last week on suspicion of waging a murderous campaign against San Diego’s homeless population has been released without charge, suggesting that a serial killer could still be on the loose. | |
San Diego’s police department announced on Monday it had released Anthony Alexander Padgett, 36, who was detained last Friday in connection to a grisly spree of stabbings and burnings that killed three men and wounded another. | |
“I don’t have enough evidence to keep him behind bars right now,” Capt Dave Nisleit told a news conference. “We have discovered exculpatory evidence.” | |
Nisleit said police had arrested Padgett, who is homeless, because he resembled a suspect in a surveillance video and had been convicted in 2010 of setting fire to a fellow transient. | |
He was due to be arraigned on Monday charged with murder and attempted murder but police decided against filing charges, the captain said. “I can’t with good confidence move forward with keeping Padgett in custody.” | |
However, Nisleit declined to say Padgett, who is from Chula Vista, was in the clear, or whether police were tailing him. “I’m not saying I have the wrong guy.” | |
He said police still believed the suspect in the surveillance video was the killer – and that police could re-arrest Padgett if new evidence came to light. | |
The police department issued a new plea for information. “We need the public’s assistance to provide additional tips and leads to help us solve these crimes.” | |
Padgett’s release renewed fear among San Diego’s sizable homeless community, said Michael McConnell, a homeless advocate. “We don’t want to convict someone who has not received a trial but we certainly won’t feel safe with him being out. They arrested him for a reason.” | |
The release raised embarrassing questions for authorities about last week’s manhunt, the biggest in recent memory. | |
Padgett was convicted of assault and mayhem for setting fire to a man in National City, near Chula Vista, in 2010. | |
Last week’s homicidal spree left three men dead. Dionicio Derek Vahidy, 23, died on Sunday in a hospital four days after being doused with flammable liquid and set on fire while he was sleeping. | |
The attacks began on 2 July when the body of Angelo de Nardo, 53, was found on fire between a local freeway and train tracks. He suffered extensive trauma to his upper torso and died before his body was set alight. | The attacks began on 2 July when the body of Angelo de Nardo, 53, was found on fire between a local freeway and train tracks. He suffered extensive trauma to his upper torso and died before his body was set alight. |
The next day another homeless man, Manuel Mason, 61, suffered severe injuries to his torso. He is in critical condition. A short while later the same day police found the bloodied body of another homeless man, Shawn Longley, 41. | |
Homeless people interviewed downtown said assaults were a fact of life on the streets and left them feeling like “sitting ducks”. | |
Last month someone bludgeoned half a dozen homeless people in a single night, a spree believed to be unrelated to last week’s murders. | |
The homicides have shone a harsh light on a city that markets itself as a business-friendly tourist mecca. | |
Once considered a backwater to Los Angeles, San Diego has acquired a hip reputation for sleek condos, technological innovation, gastronomy, arts and mega-events, notably Comic-Con, the annual pop culture jamboree, which starts on 21 July. Last year 34.2 million visitors spent a record $9.9bn. | Once considered a backwater to Los Angeles, San Diego has acquired a hip reputation for sleek condos, technological innovation, gastronomy, arts and mega-events, notably Comic-Con, the annual pop culture jamboree, which starts on 21 July. Last year 34.2 million visitors spent a record $9.9bn. |