By David K. Li -
NBC News
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke reported Friday the arrest of the brother of the man suspected of kidnapping and murdering four members of a family in central California.
Alberto Salgado, 41, was arrested for conspiracy, complicity and destruction of evidence, authorities said, in the case against his brother, Jesús Manuel Salgado, 48, arrested Tuesday after attempting to take his own life.
Salgado worked in the trucking business of the victims
with whom he had a long-running dispute that ended in an act of "pure evil," Warnke told The Associated Press.
The conflict, which he did not provide details about, dates back a year and "got nasty" in messages and emails, he said.
Alberto SalgadoMerced County Sheriff's Office, California.
Salgado was arrested in the investigation for the kidnapping of Aroohi Dheri, 8 months old;
his parents, Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36;
and her uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39. The family was kidnapped Monday morning from her company;
Her bodies were found Wednesday night at a nearby farm.
Some relatives of the victims have told local media that
the suspect, after killing the adults, left the baby to die in the field
.
The sheriff advised that he should wait for an autopsy to determine the cause, but that there was no visible trauma.
"It's bad enough what he did to the adults, but what was reported to me with the baby is just unimaginable," he told ABC 30.
From the beginning of the investigation, the sheriff had mentioned that Jesús Manuel Salgado could be an accomplice of his brother in the kidnapping, which was recorded by surveillance cameras.
The bodies of the family kidnapped in California were found together in an almond orchard
Oct. 7, 202200:36
Jesus Manuel Salgado was taken into custody Tuesday after the missing family's ATM card was used at an Atwater bank, the sheriff's office said.
His own family called authorities, but Salgado "attempted suicide prior to any contact with law enforcement," Warnke said Wednesday.
