Cold Case Suspect in Teenager's Murder Extradited

The alleged gunman in the 1980 home-invasion murder of a teenage boy has been extradited from Pennsylvania and jailed in Los Angeles, where he's facing a charge of one count of murder.

Police arrested Patrick David Salmon, 53, in mid-May, 30 years after their search for the shooter went cold. He was taken into custody at his home just outside Pittsburgh.

Salmon is being held at the men's central jail in downtown in lieu of $1.05 million bail. He was due in court Monday, according to online jail records.

He is charged in the shooting death of 16-year-old Joaquin Mansion during a home-invasion robbery May 21, 1980 in the 700 block of Marine Street. Two juveniles were convicted of robbery and murder in the months following, but the adult gunman—a transient known to acquaintances only by a nickname—was never identified, according to the Santa Monica Police Department.

The investigation was ultimately suspended for nearly three decades until it was reopened by Santa Monica's Police Department's Cold Case Unit two years ago.

"We had a name of a potential suspect when we started doing some searches, the hardest part was making sure was making sure we had the right guy," said detective Larry Nicols.

Investigators began searching computer and online databases, including social media sites, and weeded through dozens of hits. They were able to use an old booking photo of Salmon taken in 1984 when he was arrested in Santa Barbara on suspicion of aggressive pan handling.

"That picture alone kind of got the case rolling... it took off on its own from there," he said.

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