SANTA ANA : Man Found Stabbed to Death Identified

Police on Monday identified a Santa Ana man who was found stabbed to death in the back seat of his roommate’s car.

Rafael Brito, 30, was found late Sunday morning by a passerby who spotted an arm inside the car parked in the 1000 block of Occidental Street, according to police.

The passerby called police after peering through the window at Brito’s bloody and partially clothed body, Police Lt. Robert Helton said.

A group of children later found bloody clothing, a knife and a key discarded in a Madison Park trash can about 200 yards from the car. Helton said tests will be conducted to determine if the knife was the murder weapon and if the clothes belonged to Brito.

“We are kind of at a loss as to why he was killed,” Helton said. “It appears that whoever stabbed him was intent on killing him.”

Helton said Brito had been stabbed numerous times about the torso and neck. It was unclear how long the body had been in the car, which was found about 4 miles from Brito’s apartment. Helton said a small amount of money, apparently the victim’s, was also found in the car.

One of the victim’s roommates, who asked not to be identified, said Brito and his 6-month-old daughter had shared an apartment on South Poplar Street for about three months with friends. Brito had borrowed the car from the roommates several days before his death.

She said that Brito, a native of Mexico who had come to this country about six years ago, was working two jobs--one of them as a custodian at a Santa Ana office. The mother of Brito’s daughter apparently did not live with Brito.

Helton said police investigators have interviewed Brito’s roommates and some of his friends in an effort to trace his actions in the days leading up to his death.