Calif. ‘bag murder' victims may total 43; 2 held

LOS ANGELES (AP) Investigators in five Southern California Counties say they are questioning two acknowledged homosexuals about the murders of up to 43 young men.

The bodies of eight men have been discovered in the area in the past two years, but Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff Marvin Cavanaugh said 30 to 35 more bodies may be found.

The two homosexuals have made statements about other possible murders since 1967, said Los Angeles County Deputy Mike Santander, but links have not been confirmed.

Patrick Kearney, 37, and David Hill, 34, were held in Riverside County Jail in lieu of $500,000 cash bail each yesterday. They surrendered Friday, a month after the

Dienreida County district attorney's

office issued warrants charging them in two killings.

The two fled to El Paso, Tex., after the warrants were issued, but returned to surrender under pressure from their families, said Sam Lowery of the Riverside County sheriff's office.

The two men, former roommates in suburban Redondo Beach, face arraignment tomorrow in Riverside

Municipal Court. The eight bodies, found along well-traveled highways in Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange counties, were nude and had been shot in the head or mutilated or both, Cavanaugh said. Similar murders have occurred in Imperial County.

"We know the majority of the victims had homosexual backgrounds," Lowery said..

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"Robbery did not figure as a motive in the killings, only sex," a Riverside County investigator said.

Four of the dead men, aged from about 16 to 23, had been stuffed in plastic bags, leading police to call the killings "the trash bag murders." Three of the victims have not been identified.

Authorities said the victims ap-

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peared to have been picked up, apparently willingly, at several locations in Los Angeles County, including spots frequented by homosexuals

Kearney was employed by Hughes Aircraft Corp. near his home and his roommate was unemployed during the past year, Lowery said. Both men admitted to authorities that they were homosexuals.