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<\/div>\nThe 48-year-old accused entered his not-guilty plea on Thursday morning<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
San Francisco (US): <\/b><\/p>\n
The man accused of kidnapping and then killing the eight-month-old baby and her family earlier this month on Thursday pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n
Jesus Salgado allegedly kidnapped eight-month-old Aroohi, her parents, and her uncle at gunpoint from their trucking business on October 3.<\/p>\n
According to authorities, Salgado, a former employee with a longstanding dispute, likely killed them within an hour of kidnapping the family.<\/p>\n
The 48-year-old accused entered his not-guilty plea on Thursday morning, KFSN TV reported, adding that the accused is scheduled to return to court next month and remains in jail on no bail.<\/p>\n
Douglas Foster, Salgado’s court-appointed attorney, declined to comment.<\/p>\n
The victims’ bodies were found two days after the kidnapping in a remote area.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Salgado is charged with four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances.<\/p>\n
The authorities allege that the slayings took place during the commission of a kidnapping and were part of multiple killings in the same case.<\/p>\n
Salgado is also charged with arson and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.<\/p>\n
If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n
The investigation into the disappearance of the family began on October 3 after police found Amandeep’s truck on fire in the town of Winton.<\/p>\n
When the family members could not locate Amandeep or his brother and sister-in-law, or the couple’s baby, they reported the family as missing.<\/p>\n
The search led investigators with the Merced County Sheriff’s Office to the family business, Unison Trucking, where video surveillance showed a suspect abducting the family at gunpoint and leading them away in the truck.<\/p>\n
Salgado, who was arrested on October 6, attempted suicide last Tuesday as investigators zeroed in on 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 booked into jail.<\/p>\n
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke has called for Salgado to face the death penalty.<\/p>\n
However, District Attorney Kimberly Lewis on Monday said she would defer that decision to next year.<\/p>\n
Salgado’s younger brother Alberto Salgado, 41, is in custody on suspicion of criminal conspiracy, accessory, and destroying evidence.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Aroohi’s relatives announced that the family will be laid to rest on Saturday in Turlock.<\/p>\n
The funeral will be closed to the public but anyone who would like to support the family can gather outside the venue.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n