Autopsy for accused O.C. serial killer is slated for Monday

An independent pathologist on Monday will conduct an autopsy on an accused Orange County serial who is believed to have swallowed a household cleanser in his cell to avoid trial.

A contractor was hired to perform the autopsy on Itzcoatl “Izzy” Ocampo, who died in custody, to avoid any conflict of interest, said Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department. The county coroner’s office is under the umbrella of the Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies found Ocampo in his single-man cell at Central Jail in Santa Ana on Wednesday, shaking and vomiting. He was taken to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana, where he died on Thursday.

Ocampo’s attorney, Michael Molfetta, said investigators believe his client accumulated enough cleanser to create a lethal dose that he ingested.

“There’s no excuse, this should not have happened,” Molfetta said.

Upon request inmates are given a powder cleanser to clean their cells, Hallock said, but he did not know the brand or type of cleanser.

Ocampo, a Marine, was accused of killing six people: four homeless men and a woman and her son.

He was scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing in January. He was arrested in January 2012 after a series of slayings in north Orange County and had set a personal goal of 16 killings, authorities said.

Orange County prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty against Ocampo.

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