On Monday, prosecutors announced charges against a California man in the abduction and deaths of an 8-month-old infant, her parents, and her uncle.
On October 3, Jesus Salgado is said to have taken the family at gunpoint from their trucking company. Authorities claim that Salgado, a former worker with whom he had a long-running conflict, murdered them within an hour.
The bodies of Aroohi Dheri, her 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur, her 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh, and her 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh were not discovered until late Wednesday, when a farm worker in an almond orchard in a remote area of the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland, did.
A day after the abductions, 48-year-old Salgado attempted suicide before being arrested. The Merced County District Attorney’s Office stated on Monday that he is charged with four counts of first-degree murder with unusual circumstances. He may be sentenced to life in jail without the chance of release if found guilty.
According to the specific circumstances, the deaths were part of many homicides in the same case and were carried out within the course of an abduction.
Salgado made his appearance in court on Monday, according to KSFN. He declined to plead and requested more time to hire a lawyer. He is due back in court on Thursday.
Vern Warnke, the sheriff for Merced County, refused to comment last week on the state of the adults’ bones found in the orchard and claimed it was unknown how the infant passed away. The kid, according to Warnke, had no obvious injuries.
Salgado should receive the death penalty, according to Warnke. However, District Attorney Kimberly Lewis announced on Monday that she would postpone that choice until 2019.
Salgado is also accused of setting a fire and having a weapon in their possession against the law. He had previously been found guilty in Merced County of first-degree robbery with a weapon, attempted false imprisonment, and an effort to impede or deter a victim or witness after holding a family he had worked for at gunpoint and compelling them to obey his commands nearly 20 years earlier.
He received an 11-year state jail term in the case in 2007. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, he was freed in 2015 and released from parole three years later. According to the agency, he was also found guilty of possessing a controlled narcotic.
Alberto Salgado, 41, Alberto Salgado’s younger brother, was detained late on Thursday and charged with criminal conspiracy, accessory, and destruction of evidence.
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