LOS ANGELES _ Two of the homeless men who were brutally beaten in downtown Los Angeles earlier this week died of their injuries Thursday, and police are investigating whether those attacks are linked to the death of a homeless man whose pummeled body was discovered under the Santa Monica Pier.
Both men had been hospitalized since Sunday morning, when an assailant repeatedly struck them with a baseball bat as they slept in the Financial District. Los Angeles police Officer Drake Madison said a third man beaten in Sunday's attacks remained in the hospital. None of their names have been released.
The case took a different turn Thursday, when beach maintenance workers in Santa Monica discovered the body of a man under the pier about 6:40 a.m., according to a Santa Monica Police Department statement.
Lt. Saul Rodriguez, the department's chief spokesman, said the man's injuries were "consistent with being hit violently with some sort of blunt-type object." Police had not determined what type of weapon was used in the attack or when it occurred.
The identity of man, who appeared to be in his 30s, was being withheld pending notification of his family, Rodriguez said.
Investigators believe the man was sleeping at the time of the attack. Rodriguez said detectives have been in touch with the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery Homicide Division to explore links between the Santa Monica killing and the downtown killings.
The downtown attacks occurred between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday along Flower Street as the men were sleeping, police said. Detectives suspect the assailant _ who is also believed to be homeless _ was motivated by robbery because he rummaged through the victims' pockets after clubbing them.
