San Francisco (US):
The man charged earlier this Thursday with kidnapping and then murdering the eight-month-old baby and her family pleaded not guilty.
Jesus Salgado is said to have kidnapped eight-month-old Aroohi, her parents and her uncle at gunpoint from their trucking company on Oct. 3.
According to authorities, Salgado, a former employee with a long-standing dispute, probably killed them within an hour of the family’s kidnapping.
The 48-year-old accused entered his not-guilty plea on Thursday morning, KFSN TV reported, adding that the accused will return to court next month and remain in jail without bail.
Douglas Foster, Salgado’s court-appointed attorney, declined to comment.
The bodies of the victims were found two days after the kidnapping in a remote area.
A farm worker in an almond orchard in the San Joaquin Valley, California’s agricultural heartland, discovered the remains 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.
Salgado is charged with four counts of first degree murder with special circumstances.
Authorities claim the murders took place while committing a kidnapping and were part of multiple murders in the same case.
Salgado is also charged with arson and possession of weapons by a prohibited person.
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole.
The investigation into the family’s disappearance began on October 3 after police found Amandeep’s truck on fire in the town of Winton.
When the family members couldn’t find Amandeep or his brother and sister-in-law, or the couple’s baby, they reported the family missing.
The search led investigators from the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to the family business, Unison Trucking, where video footage showed a suspect kidnapping the family at gunpoint and leading them away in the truck.
Salgado, who was arrested Oct. 6, attempted suicide last Tuesday when investigators identified him as a suspect in the case, the Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. He was held in the hospital for two days and was then taken to prison.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke has called for the death penalty for Salgado.
However, District Attorney Kimberly Lewis said on Monday that she would postpone that decision until next year.
Salgado’s younger brother Alberto Salgado, 41, is in custody on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, complicity and destruction of evidence.
Meanwhile, Aroohi’s relatives announced that the family will be buried in Turlock on Saturday.
The funeral is closed to the public, but anyone willing to support the family can gather outside the venue.