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String Of Homeless Murders In Orange County May Be Linked

YORBA LINDA (CBS) — Police are investigating whether there is a link between the fatal stabbings of three different transient men in Orange County over the past ten days.

The body of the latest victim was discovered Friday outside the Yorba Linda public library. The victim, a Caucasian man in his mid-fifties was found dead and covered in blood near a stairwell to the library.

The body was found in plain view of some upstairs windows.

"We had a lot of children in the library this afternoon," said the library's director Melinda Steep. "And we didn't want them to see something that would make them uncomfortable."

Steep said library staff ushered patrons out of the building once police arrived.

On Wednesday, another transient man was found stabbed to death in a riverbed near Tustin Avenue and the 91 Freeway in Anaheim.

Last Tuesday a 53-year-old man was found stabbed to death outside a shopping center in Placentia.

Police were working Friday evening to confirm the latest stabbing victim was homeless. After the library was evacuated, a bicycle with a number of belongings strapped to it remained unclaimed in the parking lot.

Investigators from the previous incidents in Anaheim and Placentia joined Brea police at the library murder scene Friday.

It is not yet clear if there is a connection between the three deaths.

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