A man accused of fatally stabbing a South Bay music producer whose body was discovered inside a barrel floating near the surface of San Diego Bay pleaded not guilty Friday to a murder charge.
Timothy John Cook, 52, of Chula Vista is accused in the death of 28-year-old Omar Medina. Prosecutors said the victim was stabbed 66 times.
Cook was ordered held without bail.
Derrick Jefferson Spurgeon, 38, of El Cajon, was charged with being an accessory after the fact. He pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Both defendants will be back in court Dec. 27 for a status conference and Dec. 29 for a preliminary hearing.
Medina’s body was found by a diver on Oct. 12, stuffed inside a 55- gallon drum that was anchored to cinder blocks. Medina, from Chula Vista, had been reported missing by friends and family who had not seen him since Sept. 30.
Cook and Spurgeon were arrested in separate locations on Wednesday.
Investigators assigned to the case also served search warrants at a pair of residences on Rios Canyon Road in El Cajon and McIntosh Street in Chula Vista Wednesday morning.
–City News Service
