A former Vancouver man was arrested in California over the weekend in regard to the May killing of his roommate, according to Vancouver Police Major Crimes Sgt. Jeff Kipp.
David Jonathan Salgado, 20, was arrested by the U.S. Marshals Pacific Southwest Fugitive Task Force on Saturday in Venice Beach in Southern California on suspicion of first-degree murder, Kipp said. Police say that Salgado tried to jump into the ocean to avoid being detained.
Investigators believe that Salgado lured one roommate away from their apartment in order to kill his other roommate, Fernando Cendejas, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in support of the arrest warrant.
Salgado, Cendejas and Amador Patino all lived together at the Ashley Terrace Apartments, 4500 Nicholson Road, according to the court document.
Patino found his brother and roommate, Cendejas, dead on the couch of their Bagley Downs apartment in the early morning hours of May 9. Cendejas died of multiple gunshot wounds, and police reported that he had a gunshot wound to the head, court records show.
Though he found his brother’s body at about 12:30 a.m., Patino didn’t call 911 until just before 4 a.m., the document states. He told authorities he was in shock and fled, but called police as he returned to the apartment.
Patino told detectives he had gotten a call from Salgado in which Salgado asked him to meet up for food just after midnight, according to the court records.
Patino went to the restaurant, but when Salgado didn’t show, he came back to the apartment about 30 minutes later to find Cendejas dead on the couch, according to the affidavit.
Detectives interviewed Salgado immediately after Cendejas’ body was found, but he told authorities that he had discovered the body in the same manner as Patino, the document states.
However, through their investigation they learned a different story.
Investigators obtained surveillance footage from a neighboring apartment in which gunshots can be heard followed by a man who resembled Salgado exiting the apartment, the affidavit reads.
Detectives also obtained a warrant to search Salgado’s cellphone, which showed time-stamped photos of Salgado posing with a semi-automatic pistol around the time of the killing, according to court documents. GPS data also placed Salgado at the apartment within 10 minutes of the homicide, according to the affidavit.
Detectives wrote in the affidavit that Salgado “lured Amador Patino from (their apartment) for the purpose of shooting Fernando Cendejas to death.”
Salgado is currently being held in San Bernardino pending the extradition process.
Kipp said that detectives don’t yet know a motive for the killing.
