One of three men accused in the kidnapping and killing of a Tracy man abducted from a Sikh temple appeared in court Monday for the first time since his arrest in Mexico last week.
Alberto Alonso Alencastro, 27, did not enter a plea at a hearing in San Joaquin County Superior Court, where he was charged with one count each of murder with a special circumstance and kidnapping.
Arrested last Friday in Jalisco, Alencastro was brought into court handcuffed and in a red jail jumpsuit. Friends and family of Avtar Singh, the 57-year-old who was abducted on Feb. 17 from the Gurdwara Gur Nanak Parkash and found dead days later, sat in the front row.
Superior Court Judge Chrishna Martinez granted a request from Alencastro’s attorney, Allison Nobert, to postpone the hearing while he secured legal representation. Alencastro will return to court on Nov. 30 and will be held without bail.
“This senseless and deeply troubling crime shook the city of Tracy and the Sikh community,” San Joaquin County District Attorney Ron Freitas said at a news conference following the hearing. “His kidnapping and tragic death left his family, friends and community grieving and searching for answers.”
In June, a grand jury indicted Alencastro and two other men – Barnabe Antonio Segura, 22, and Alfonso Segura, 20 – on charges of murder and kidnapping in connection with Singh’s death. Surveillance footage of the abduction showed three unidentified individuals in dark clothing forcing Singh into a white SUV, San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office officials said at the time.
Three days later, Singh’s body was discovered at Lake Berryessa in Napa County, around 100 miles from Tracy. Authorities said Singh was not killed in the area where his body was found. He had been strangled, with a “cement-like dust” covering his torso and hands, according to the San Joaquin County Medical Examiner. Small bruises and scrapers were also found on his hands and forehead.
Authorities said the attack on Singh appeared to be a case of mistaken identity, with an individual in Canada at the time being the intended target.
Known fondly as “Baba Bullet,” Singh had lived at the Tracy gurdwara for more than 20 years. As the head chef, he prepared the temple’s langar, a free community meal served in the Sikh faith. Months before his death, he and his wife, Salinder Kaur, had recently had triplets.
“Mr. Singh was taken from a place of worship in the Tracy area — somewhere he should have been safe,” said San Joaquin County District 5 Supervisor Robert Rickman, whose district includes Tracy. “His death shook our community, and his family [has] had to live with that loss every day since.”
Investigators are continuing to search for Barnabe Antonio Segura and Cresencio Segura. Information can be provided anonymously through Stockton’s Crime Stoppers at (209) 946-0600.