Surveillance photos of the suspected killer of three homeless men in San Diego. Photos: San Diego Police

After discovering new evidence suggesting his innocence, authorities in San Diego freed a man arrested last week as the suspect in a series of deadly attacks on sleeping homeless men, NBC News reports.

On Monday, 36-year-old Anthony Alexander Padgett was released without charge, but Homicide Captain David Nisleit defended the arrest, according to The Guardian, saying, “I’m not saying I have the wrong guy.”

“Over the weekend, we discovered exculpatory evidence which does not give me confidence moving forward with Padgett still in custody,” said Nisleit at press conference Monday afternoon. “With that said, in an hour or tomorrow, we could get new evidence that might point the finger back to Padgett, or someone new.”

Since July 3, three homeless men in San Diego have died and another is grave condition after being beaten or set on fire while outside. Shortly after the attacks began, police released surveillance photos of a man they still believe to be the killer, according to The L.A. Times.

Padgett, who was convicted of a similar crime while he was himself homeless in 2010, has maintained his innocence since his arrest, claiming he is not the man pictured in the photos.

“We’re innocent, innocent. We look like the person. We’re innocent,” Padgett told reporters gathered near police headquarters on Thursday. “I look like that person, I’m innocent.”