California man charged in family's kidnapping, slaying

MERCED, Calif. (AP) — Prosecutors on Monday charged a California man in the kidnapping and killings of an 8-month-old baby, her parents and uncle.

Jesus Salgado is accused of kidnapping the family at gunpoint from their trucking business on Oct. 3. Authorities say Salgado, a former employee with a longstanding dispute, likely killed them within an hour.

Their bodies were not found until late Wednesday, when a farm worker in an almond orchard in a remote area of 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, 48, tried to kill himself a day after the kidnappings before he was taken into custody. He faces four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, the Merced County District Attorney's Office announced Monday. If convicted, he could spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The special circumstances allege that the slayings were committed during the commission of a kidnapping and were part of multiple killings in the same case. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday afternoon. It was not immediately clear whether he has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke last week would not discuss the condition of the adults’ remains in the orchard and said it was unclear how the baby died. Warnke said the child had no visible trauma.

Warnke called for Salgado to face the death penalty, but District Attorney Kimberly Lewis on Monday said she would defer that decision to next year.

Salgado is also charged with arson and the possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. He was previously convicted of first-degree robbery...