Wesley Brownlee, the man suspected of multiplenorthern California serial killings, has been charged with four additional murders, bringing the total to 7.
Brownlee was charged Tuesday in the 2022 shooting deaths of Paul Yaw, 35, who was found dead in a park on July 8, and Salvador Debudey Jr., 43, who was shot in a fast-food restaurant parking lot on Aug. 11, in Stockton. He was also charged in the killing of 39-year-old Juan Vasquez Serrano on April 10, 2021, in Oakland. Their deaths were previously linked to Brownlee but charges had not been filed.
The suspected serial killer was charged in October in the 2022 deaths of Jonathan Rodriguez Hernandez, 21, who was found inside his car on Aug. 30; Juan Cruz, 52, who died from gunshot wounds at a city intersection on Sept. 21; and Lawrence Lopez Sr., 54, who was shot in the early morning hours of Sept. 27. All of those victims were killed in Stockton.
Wesley Brownlee.Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee via ZUMA
“The San Joaquin County District Attorney’s Office continues to collaborate with our local law enforcement agencies to ensure justice for these victims,” District Attorney Tori VerberSalazar said in a press release. “We would like to thank the community for their support and law enforcement for their diligent investigation and apprehension of the suspect.”
Stockton — located in California’s Central Valley — was gripped in terror when authorities announced in September that a serial killer was hunting victims on the streets.
“We started seeing a different set of patterns that we are used to from our regular homicides in Stockton,” police department spokesperson Joseph Silva previously told PEOPLE. “We started noticing that our victims were alone in the dark. They were out late or in the early morning hours, and these were areas that were not well lit and really didn’t have too many surveillance cameras.”
On October 4, police releasedgrainy surveillance footageof a person of interest, hoping members of the community would recognize the man’s rigid posture and distinctly stiff way of walking as well as a description of the attacker. Police went out in force, under cover, knocking on doors, gathering home surveillance cameras, watching the streets and waiting for a break in the case.
Their big break came in mid-October when they began surveilling a person of interest after “a good couple of tips came in” from community members, Silva said.
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“Our surveillance team followed this person while he was driving,” Stockton police chief Stanley McFadden explained at a press conference Oct. 15. “We watched his patterns and determined early this morning he was on a mission to kill.”
Near a city park, police said, the suspect got out of his van and walked toward a person before heading back to his vehicle. He was dressed in dark clothing and wearing a face mask around his neck, with a handgun in his waistband.
“He was out looking for a person to attack,” Silva said. “After he zeroed in on the man, we had to make a split-second decision to arrest him. We believe we prevented another homicide.”
Brownlee, a truck driver, was arrested Oct. 15.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 3. He has yet to enter a plea on all the charges. His attorney could not be reached for comment.
source: people.com
