Indiana man arrested for cold case murder in San Diego

SYRACUSE – A Syracuse, IN man was arrested this week for a murder that occurred in San Diego, CA in 1975.


Investigators with the Indiana State Police, including the Cold Case Unit, were contacted in 2024 by San Diego, California, Cold Case detectives and asked to assist with a 1975 murder case. Indiana investigators assisted over the next year. They identified Johnnie Ray Salisbury, age 71, of Syracuse, Indiana.
Investigators from the San Diego Police Department flew to Indiana this week. Salisbury was taken into custody when an arrest warrant was served on Wednesday, January 21. The Syracuse Police Department assisted with this warrant service.
Salisbury was transported to the Kosciusko County Jail, where he awaits extradition back to California.

All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.