SANTA ROSA (BCN) -- A gun used in the shooting murder of an ex-convict Saturday was found around noon Wednesday in a pond used to irrigate vineyards, a Sonoma County Sheriff's sergeant said this afternoon.
The .380-caliber, semi-automatic handgun is believed to be the weapon used to kill 52-year-old Kenneth Swolley, of Penngrove, in a home in the 1200 block of Arnold Drive, Sgt. Tim Duke said.
The sheriff's department also recovered a rifle in the pond, located near Watmaugh Road about a mile from the house where the murder occurred, Duke said.
Salvador Camargo, 26, has been charged with Swolley's murder. A hearing on his mental competence is scheduled for Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court. He is being held under no bail in the Sonoma County jail.
Duke said it's believed Camargo pulled off a road, went down to Sonoma Creek and tossed the weapons into the pond. The rifle isn't the murder weapon but Camargo was walking around with it in the Arnold Drive residence the night Swolley was killed, Duke said.
Swolley and Camargo came across each other on Saturday and Swolley went to the Arnold Drive home to fix or sell some electrical or stereo equipment, Duke said.
Duke said investigators have an idea about the motive for the fatal shooting but are not releasing any information at this time.
Swolley was shot once in the right temple from about 3 feet away, Lt. Chris Spallino said.
Swolley and Camargo were in the living room of the home at the time of the murder, Duke said. Two other men who were in the house heard but did not witness the shooting, Duke said. One of the two men contacted the sheriff’s department in nearby Sonoma.
After the shooting, Camargo drove to a residence about 3 miles away on Pueblo Road and asked a woman living there to call 911, the sheriff’s department said. Camargo told the woman someone was trying to kill him.
The woman was able to leave the house and Camargo was arrested after a police dog bit him, the sheriff's department said.
Swolley had convictions for fraud and was recently released from prison, Duke said.
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