«There is a special place in hell for this guy,» Merced County’s sheriff said about the suspect.
A 48-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday morning as a suspect in the kidnapping and murder of a Central Valley family of four in California, according to the Merced County Sheriff’s Office.
The man, identified as Jesus Manuel Salgado, is currently in a critical condition in the hospital after attempting to kill himself before detectives could reach him, officials said.
Police were able to interrogate him over the case, but Salgado is refusing to cooperate as the sheriff’s office investigates the murders of the four family members.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the 48-year-old man was previously known to law enforcement, having already been convicted of first-degree robbery with the use of a firearm, attempted false imprisonment, an attempt to prevent or dissuade a victim or witness and possession of a controlled substance in Merced County.
He was sentenced to 11 years in state prison in that case, and was released in 2015. In 2018, he was discharged from parole.
Merced County police didn’t indicate whether Salgado had previously known the kidnapped family, and his possible motivation for the crime is still unknown, though detectives believe it was financial.
On Monday, Merced County Sheriff’s Office said that an entire family of four—eight-month-old Aroohi Dheri, 27-year-old mother Jasleen Kaur, 36-year-old father Jasdeep Singh, and 39-year-old uncle Amandeep Singh—had been kidnapped in the South Merced Area of the county.
