UPDATE: San Jose Cold Case Stabbing Suspects to Appear in Court
SAN JOSE (CBS SF/BCN) -- Three suspects who were recently arrested in a cold case Halloween night homicide from 20 years ago in San Jose were set to appear in court Friday, according to authorities.
Eutropio Dagaray, 47, Francis Dagaray, 45, and Gilbert Meriales, 45, all from San Jose, were charged Thursday with murder and related crimes in the fatal stabbing of 22-year-old Nhin Phi Ha on Halloween night in 2001, prosecutors said. San Jose police announced Monday that all three suspects were arrested last week on Oct. 6.
The three suspects were scheduled to be arraigned on charges of homicide and assault with a deadly weapon with gang enhancements Friday in San Jose and face life in prison if convicted.
Police said was stabbed to death in front of his apartment on the 500 block of Avalani Avenue by two assailants, in a seemingly unprovoked attack. A friend of Ha's was also stabbed multiple times but survived his injuries. San Jose police said the two attackers fled in a SUV driven by a third suspect.
"This was a completely random attack. The suspects did not know the victim, for whatever reasons, decided to attack him that day," said Sgt. Christian Camarillo.
Detectives worked the case over the course of the past 20 years, but the leads they developed did not lead to any arrests. In August, the case was assigned to a police department and district attorney's office cold case team. According to police, re-interviewed several witnesses, who apparently had a "change of heart."
The San Jose Police Department has not yet been able to reach Ha's family to inform them of the arrests, because phone numbers and other contact information have since become outdated.
