Two deadly stabbings of homeless men "likely connected," Aurora police say; "Person of interest" arrested.
Two deadly stabbings on Sunday morning in Aurora are "likely" connected, Aurora police said on Monday, and now a "person of interest" is in custody.
Both victims were homeless men, the stabbings were about half a mile apart and the victims were discovered within four hours of one another, according to investigators.
Monday evening, Aurora police said investigators identified a person of interest in the case.
"The man was arrested Sunday afternoon by another jurisdiction and is currently being held on unrelated charges," the department said in a . "We won't release his identity unless he is formally arrested or charged in connection to these homicides."
Police said around 1:45 a.m., they found a man lying on the sidewalk near Moline Street and East Colfax Avenue with multiple stab wounds. The department says that officers tried saving his life, but he died at the scene.
Officers then found an unresponsive man at a bus stop near Peoria Street and East Colfax Avenue around 6:30 a.m. He was also pronounced dead at the scene.
Anyone with information about the stabbings is asked to call Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867).
Experts say homeless people are more likely than the general population to be victims of violent crimes.
A 2024 study by the found that people experiencing homelessness are "more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators."
The National Coalition for the Homeless found about in the last 23 years, at least 588 of which resulted in those victims dying, the organization said. And those instances of attacks appear to be getting deadlier, as the period between 2020 and 2022 that the organization looked at had a fatality rate of almost 50%.