Three — possibly four — homicides in El Paso County this year occurred during residential burglaries, which law enforcement officials say is unusual.In three of the reported burglary-related deaths, the victims surprised their killers.“Many times what we see are (burglars) actually going to some length to determine if someone is not home and then targeting the home from that point forward,” Lt. Jeff Kramer, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Office, said Friday.“If we were to go through and look at burglary reports, what we would see predominately is burglaries are committed during times that the homeowner is not home,” he said.That’s how three of the homicides — all in the city of Colorado Springs — started off.On Jan. 14, combat veteran David Dunlap, 37, and his pregnant wife, Whitney Butler, 35, were killed when they walked into a burglary at their home at 222 Bassett Drive, police said. A burglar alarm went off before their shooting deaths, but police didn’t initially respond to investigate, according to court testimony. Police arrested Macyo January, 21. He has been charged with first-degree murder and other charges in the deaths.On Feb. 15, Gregory Martin, 46, a maintenance worker at Park Ridge Apartments, was stabbed to death when he and his brother interrupted a burglary, court records state. Isaiah Jackson, 21, who lived across the hall from the burglarized apartment, has been charged with first-degree murder, burglary and felony menacing in connection with the death.The fourth homicide — this one investigated by the Sheriff’s Office — was initially reported as a burglary in progress when a woman came home to find the door of her Widefield home open. Kramer said the woman “wisely” walked away and called deputies, who found her father, Miguel Barajas, 46, dead inside. No arrests have been made.While items were missing from the home, Kramer won’t say whether Barajas interrupted a burglary or was in the home when the burglary started to occur.“We dispatched on a burglary in progress based on what (Barajas’ daughter) was reporting to us over the phone and what her observations were, but to go into detail as far as what we’ve discovered since then, I just can’t share at this point,” he said.What is known is that homicides in the city and the county are off to a brisk pace in 2013.The number of homicides investigated by the Sheriff’s Office this year — four — have exceeded last year’s total of three.In the city, there have been seven homicides. At this time last year, there were four.If the trend keeps up, Colorado Springs would have a record number of homicides. But homicide rates fluctuate, which means the city could go weeks, even months, without a homicide.In a statement, Colorado Springs homicide Lt. Adrian Vasquez said the circumstances behind each homicide are so diverse that there is no pattern to help with predicting the next one.Vasquez said that when a suspect is caught in the midst of a crime, some criminals will resort to murder to avoid capture. But there are plenty of motives to go around.“Other reasons are related to high emotions of a domestic altercation. While there are many other reasons given by suspects, I think the point is simply that we can’t predict human reaction to a given set of circumstances.”—Contact Daniel Chacón: 476-1623Twitter @danieljchaconFacebook Daniel Chacon