Central Valley Double Homicide Suspect Found Hiding Out Among Homeless
CLOVIS (CBS SF) -- A 49-year-old British man wanted in connection with the deaths of his estranged wife and her mother in the Central Valley over the weekend was arrested early Wednesday morning at a Seaside homeless encampment, police said.
Dave McCann is a suspect in a stabbing reported in a Clovis home around 4 a.m. Saturday and investigators received multiple tips on his whereabouts, police said.
One tip led investigators to a Seaside homeless encampment, where they found McCann sleeping by a fence around 1:30 a.m., Clovis police Chief Matt Basgall said during a news conference outside Seaside police headquarters.
McCann was arrested in connection with the deaths and has been sent back to Clovis, Basgall said.
The Fresno County coroner's office identified the victims as 68-year-old Judith Cooper of Paso Robles and 36-year-old Tierney Cooper-McCann of Fresno, police said.
McCann left a rental truck in a Paso Robles neighborhood that was in the same area where a victim's family member lived, according to police.
He allegedly broke into the family member's home, took a bicycle and fled, police said.
One tipster saw McCann in Cambria, a San Luis Obispo County community and another indicated he traveled from the Big Sur area to Seaside on Sunday night, Basgall said.
The suspect went "off the grid" without a cellphone or making any ATM transactions and officers had to do "old-fashioned police work" by talking to people, Basgall said.
Investigators were also told he was dropped off at a McDonald's restaurant in Seaside and a homeless person tipped them off to the suspect's location, the chief said.
"Without that person's willingness to step up and help us, we'd still be looking for Mr. McCann this morning," Basgall said.
TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
