A former Vancouver man accused of killing his roommate in May was arraigned Thursday on a murder charge in Clark County Superior Court.
David Jonathan Salgado, 20, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting May 9 at an apartment in the Bagley Downs neighborhood.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the shooting.
Salgado on Thursday wore an orange jail jumpsuit, rather than the suicide-prevention smock he initially appeared in. He remained quiet during the hearing and allowed his court-appointed attorney, Steve Rucker, to speak on his behalf.
His trial will begin Oct. 3.
Salgado was arrested last month in Venice Beach, Calif., by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force. He jumped into the ocean to try to avoid capture, according to arresting officers.
Investigators believe Salgado lured one roommate away from their apartment so he could kill the other roommate, Fernando Cendejas, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court.
Salgado, Cendejas and Cendejas’ brother, Amador Patino, lived together at the Ashley Terrace Apartments, 4500 Nicholson Road. Patino found his brother dead on the couch and said he was shot multiple times. Among his injuries, Cendejas suffered a gunshot wound to the head, the affidavit states.
He told detectives that he had gotten a call from Salgado to meet up for food shortly before midnight. Patino went to the restaurant, he said, but when Salgado didn’t show, he came back to the apartment about 30 minutes later to find his brother dead, the affidavit said.
Detectives interviewed Salgado, and he said he also discovered Cendejas’ body in the apartment, court records said. However, surveillance footage from a neighboring apartment captured the sound of gunshots followed by a man who resembled Salgado leaving the apartment, according to court documents.
Detectives also obtained a search warrant for Salgado’s cellphone and recovered time-stamped photos of him posing with a semi-automatic pistol around the time of the shooting, court records said. GPS data placed Salgado at the apartment within 10 minutes of the shooting, the affidavit states.
