Man arrested in stabbings of 4 homeless people within 1 week, police say

LAS VEGAS (KVVU/Gray News) – A man has been arrested and charged in connection with four stabbings, two of them fatal, of homeless people within one week in Las Vegas.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said Christopher Martell was taken into custody Wednesday afternoon.

Police said the investigation began after a 57-year-old homeless woman was stabbed and killed while she slept outside on Sept 14. A second person, a 74-year-old homeless woman, was stabbed to death on Tuesday.

Believing that the two stabbings were related, Capt. Dori Koren says the department enacted major case protocol.

On Wednesday, two more homeless people, a man and a woman, were stabbed. Both are in critical but stable condition at the hospital, police said.

Martell was arrested shortly after, and police said he had a large knife on him. He faces two murder charges and two attempted murder charges.

Police said in a news conference that they narrowed in on Martell by placing cameras in the area where they believed the suspect was likely living.

Police said they have not determined a motive in the attacks.

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