Denver Homeless Take Up Arms After 2 More Slain

Homeless people armed themselves with knives, pipes and railroad spikes Thursday after the decapitated bodies of two transients were found in the same area where five homeless men were beaten to death.

The headless corpses were spotted by a homeless man Wednesday in a weed-covered field behind Union Station, Denver’s main railroad station.

Operators of homeless shelters reported a rise in the numbers of people seeking shelter.

Mayor Wellington Webb said he thought the killings would stop after several youths were arrested a week ago in one of the beating deaths.

“We were really taken aback when the other two bodies were found,” he said.

He said the FBI is joining the investigation.

Investigators have not concluded that the deaths are linked but have theorized that they resulted from a turf war between a group of so-called mall rats--homeless young people sometimes found at the downtown 16th Street Pedestrian Mall and a nearby park--and the older transients who have been the victims.

“I’ve got a little perimeter set up around my campsite,” said a homeless Roger Veles, 37. “I hook a fishing line to a jar full of marbles, and I’ve got a buddy sleeping by me, and we both have plenty of weapons. They’ll do the job if I have two or three seconds’ warning.”

Tom Hollis, 44, who survived a September beating, said his friends are carrying knives, railroad spikes and pipes.

The attacks began nearly three months ago, with the first body found Sept. 7. The victims have been attacked in the lower downtown area, where Coors Field, Elitch Gardens amusement park, a new aquarium and Union Station are located.

Seven young people have been arrested on suspicion of assaulting Hollis. Three of them--two men and a 16-year-old boy--also have been charged with murder in one of the beatings.