Youths Appeared to Enjoy Killing Homeless Man

Four young men appeared to celebrate their fatal stabbing of a 35-year-old homeless man by giving each other “high fives” as he lay dying on a sidewalk, Glendale police said.

With no apparent motive for the Friday killing, police theorized the four assailants may have beaten, kicked and stabbed John Vice to death for the fun of it.

“It looked like they were celebrating, and were getting joy out of killing this man,” said Det. Dennis Smith.

The incident began shortly before 2:30 a.m. Friday when witnesses saw four males with close-cropped hair and dressed in gang attire surround Vice on a sidewalk in the 500 block of East Garfield Avenue, police said.

Witnesses told police the four battered Vice--known to friends as “Two-Beer Johnnie” because he apparently had a relatively low tolerance for alcohol--and shoved him back and forth between them.

“He was picked up once after he fell down and beaten some more,” Smith said.

After Vice dropped to the ground for the last time, the four suspects slapped hands and ran off, Smith said, and one of the witnesses flagged down a police officer passing through the mostly residential area.

Vice, who suffered multiple stab wounds and bruises, was pronounced dead a short time later.

With no suspects in custody and the investigation still underway, police said they were not certain Vice was killed merely for the thrill of it. But so far, Sgt. Rick Young said, no evidence has emerged indicating he was slain during a robbery or other crime.

“Generally, criminals don’t prey on the homeless [because] they have nothing to steal,” Young said, adding that most crimes against transients are committed by other transients “attacking for Social Security checks or just alcohol.”

Vice was among about a dozen or so homeless or formerly homeless people who gather regularly outside the Glendale Central Library and nearby Adult Recreation Center, said Mike Baray, grounds superintendent for the two facilities.

“He was a nice, quiet guy,” said Baray, adding he had seen Vice in the area for about the last four years. “He kept to himself. He did drink a lot, but he was well-mannered.”

Baray added that Vice “wasn’t a big troublemaker,” and did not seem the type to provoke a violent confrontation.

Eugene “Tiny” Stroko, 39, who described himself as a former homeless person, said he knew Vice only as part of the local homeless community. But the man’s death hardly surprised Stroko.

“I’ve seen people come and go around here,” he said. “I think he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Times correspondent Steve Ryfle contributed to this story.