Orange County stabbing spree: 3 of 4 victims identified in violent rampage

ByJessica De Nova and ABC7.com staff KABC logo
Friday, August 9, 2019
Orange County stabbing spree: 3 victims identified in violent rampage
Three of the four victims who were killed during a stabbing rampage that spanned two Orange County cities were identified Thursday.

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. (KABC) -- Three of the four victims who were killed during a stabbing rampage that spanned two Orange County cities were identified Thursday.

The Orange County coroner's office identified two of the victims. Pascual Rioja Lorenzo, 39, was fatally stabbed at a Subway parking lot on 1st Street in Santa Ana. The Garden Grove resident died at the scene.

Another victim, identified as 58-year-old Robert Parker, was a security guard in a 7-Eleven in Santa Ana. The resident of Orange was stabbed inside the store and rushed to the hospital but later died.

The suspect in the killings, Zachary Castaneda, 33, was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after he came out of the convenience store. He dropped a knife and a handgun that he had taken from the security guard by cutting off the guard's belt and holster, police said.

A third victim was identified by his son as Helmuth Hauprich. Erwin Hauprich said his father died at hospital Wednesday after he and his roommate were stabbed at their apartment complex located in the 12000 block of Jentges Avenue.

A GoFundMe page has been established to help Hauprich's family.

The unidentified fourth victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the suspect also lived in the complex, but it is unclear if the suspect knew the two neighbors.

After leaving the apartment complex, Castaneda committed two robberies at local businesses in the area.

Several people who had close calls with the suspect in a series of robberies and fatal stabbings are speaking out.

Surveillance footage from a Garden Grove insurance business on Harbor Boulevard shows Castaneda repeatedly trying to stab an employee. She fought back against the attacker and is expected to survive.

Castaneda also found his way to a bakery in the area. The bakery's owner, Donna Beltran, said she caught him trying to take money from the register but she wasn't harmed.

Beltran said she feels lucky to be alive knowing she came face-to-face with the murder suspect.

Another man suffered stab wounds to his face but he is also expected to survive. Police said the victim was pumping gas as the Chevron gas station on Harbor Boulevard when the suspect approached him.

Here is a timeline of the crime spree that spanned seven separate crime scenes in Orange County: