Santa Monica Police Make Arrest in 1980 Murder

By Lookout Staff

June 1, 2012 -- A Pennsylvania man was arrested for a murder that took place May 21 in the 700 block of Marine Street in Santa Monica 32 years ago.

Patrick David Salmon, 53, was arrested on May 17 at his home in Shaler Township, Pennsylvania, in connection with the fatal shooting of Joaquin Mansion, 16, during a home-invasion robbery near the Venice border.

Salmon circa 1980.	Salmon today.
(Photos courtesy Santa Monica Police Dept.)

In the months following Mansion's murder, two juvenile co-conspirators were arrested and convicted of the robbery and homicide, but the adult gunman, "a transient known to acquaintances only by a nickname, was never identified," Lewis said. 

The arrest by members of the Santa Monica and Shaler Township Police Departments in the suburban community outside of Pittsburgh capped a nearly two year investigation by the Santa Monica Police Department’s Cold Case Homicide Investigation Unit.

It was information gathered using newer technology, and not DNA, that led police detectives to Illinois, South Dakota and ultimately to Pennsylvania, police officials said.

The information led police to evidence from the homicide that identified Salmon as the gunman, and he was taken into custody.

"Substantial improvements in electronic law enforcement and open source databases since 1980 provided valuable leads that were unavailable to detectives in 1980," said Sgt. Richard Lewis, the Police Department spokesman.

Police suspended the investigation for nearly three decades before reopening the case, Lewis said.

Salmon is currently being held in the Allegheny County Jail awaiting extradition.

Anyone with additional information concerning the arrest of Patrick David Salmon can call Detective Larry Nicols at 310.458.8451.