A suspect has pleaded not guilty in the fatal shooting of a 57-year-old storeowner killed in front of his wife during an armed robbery at their Bridgeport grocery store.
Leighton Vanderberg, 22, of New Haven, pleaded not guilty on all three counts he is facing in the murder of Bridgeport storeowner Jose Salgado.
Vanderberg is charged with felony murder and being held in lock-up on a $1 million bond.
He is due back in court on July 8 for this case, but he will be in New Haven Superior Court on Thursday facing his murder charges in the murder of New Haven clerk Sanjay Patel.
At a previous court appearance, his family said he is an innocent man.
“It’s allegedly!," said a woman who identified herself as Vanderberg's sister, but did not want to provide her name. "Allegedly it’s not factual! Therefore it’s a theory. Ya’ll all went to school, ya’ll all know what it means. It’s a theory!”
Salgado, was killed in April while working at the store he owns with his wife, Sapiao's Grocery at 351 Lexington Avenue in Bridgeport.
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Police said he had handed over the cash, but was shot anyway and they identified Vanderberg and Treizy Lopez, 18, of New Haven, as suspects in the murder.
While leaving the courthouse during a previous hearing, Vanderberg's wife, Jyne Vanderberg, said the allegations against Vanderberg are untrue.
“My husband, Leighton Vanderberg, is completely innocent! And justice will show that!,” she said.
