Dana Point man found beaten to death in Anaheim cul-de-sac

Police on Sunday were investigating the beating death of a 48-year-old man found in an Anaheim cul-de-sac.

Officers responded Saturday at 2:55 a.m. to the 1500 block of West Center Street after a passerby discovered the man on the ground with “injuries consistent with blunt force trauma,” Anaheim Police Sgt. Daron Wyatt said.

The victim, identified as David Patrick McCabe of Dana Point, was found dead in a cul-de-sac near commercial buildings and the 5 Freeway. On Sunday afternoon, the scene was marked by a pair of candles burning on an oily, gravel-covered patch of concrete.

Mike McGarvey, who owns Doll Hut Studios, a rehearsal space around the corner from where McCabe’s body was discovered, said McCabe played drums for a punk rock band, Knightenders, and had practiced at the studio for a couple of years. The band’s guitarist, Johnny Spade, called McCabe the “heart of the band,” and a fierce advocate of local musicians.

“He supported the scene like no one else,” said Spade. “He went to countless shows and always pumped up the bands. He was almost as passionate about the music as he was about his runts.”

McGarvey said the victim was survived by two adult children.

Friends knew him as “Super Dave,” Knightenders vocalist Minnie Green said. She described him as an energetic and sociable person who found it easy to get along with people.

She said McCabe was a driving force behind their band, and was passionate about it to the point of obsession. He would frequently send ideas in group texts to his band mates at odd hours of the night, and had a habit of drawing the Knightenders logo wherever he went and in whatever medium he found at his disposal, Green and Spade said.

“If it weren’t for him, I would never have fronted a band, or even tried karaoke,” said Green while holding back tears on Sunday. “He really brought me out of my shell. He was no poser.”

For now, the remaining members of the Knightenders plan on continuing as a band, partially in order to honor McCabe’s memory, Green said. The punk outfit has a show scheduled Wednesday, July 24 at the Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., just a few hundred feet where their drummer was found dead.

Detectives have not publicly identified a suspect or given a possible motive for the killing.

Anaheim police asked anyone who witnessed the attack to call Crime Stoppers at 855-TIP-OCCS or go to occrimestoppers.org.