SAN JOSE — A Central Valley man has been arrested in the fatal 2017 stabbing of a 63-year-old — a case whose investigative trail had been cold until detectives revived it this past fall, according to San Jose police.
Keith Dupee, 36, was arrested Saturday in Selma, a town located 16 miles southeast of Fresno, police said.
Dupee was recently identified as a suspect in the June 10, 2017 stabbing of Samuel Choi in a residential neighborhood on Everglade Avenue off South King Road.
Choi was attacked that morning and was stabbed multiple times, and died from his injuries eight days later. The following August, police released home-security video of a potential stabbing suspect, but investigators could not identify the man depicted in the footage.
Police said homicide detectives took another look at the case in September, and uncovered new evidence linking Dupee as a suspect.
First, they determined that Dupee had assaulted Choi six days before the fatal stabbing, near the same location, as Choi was walking to a board and care home, according a police investigative summary accompanying a criminal complaint filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office.
The assailant was seen in surveillance footage from both attacks wearing the same gray hooded sweatshirt, gray jeans and distinct red shoes.
The renewed investigation also determined that someone resembling Dupee had been arrested and charged with trying to rob a 52-year-old man near the same location five months earlier, on Jan. 12, 2017. Dupee was released from custody on May 23 that year and put on probation, which was still in effect when the fatal stabbing of Choi occurred.
Detectives then found that the day after the last stabbing, June 11, 2017, Dupee was stopped by Menlo Park police. They reviewed body camera footage from the pedestrian stop and decided that Dupee matched the physical appearance of and was wearing the same clothing as Choi’s assailant. The Menlo Park stop also recovered a pocket knife in Dupee’s backpack.
Police obtained an arrest warrant for Dupee, but believed he was transient and had no known location for him.
That was until Saturday, when Dupee was contacted by law enforcement in Selma as part of a service call. Officers searching for him in a criminal database found the arrest warrant and arrested Dupee. San Jose police went to Selma and took Dupee to the Santa Clara County Main Jail, where he is being held without bail.
Dupee was charged Tuesday with murder and attempted murder — for the two reported attacks on Choi — and was arraigned Wednesday. His next court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 4.
None of the available public records indicated what led up to the attacks on Choi, or offered any information on why Choi might have been targeted.
Anyone with information about the case can contact the SJPD homicide unit at 408-277-5283 or email Detective Sgt. Ivan Barragan at 4106@sanjoseca.gov or Detective Elizabeth Ramirez at 4201@sanjoseca.gov. Tips can also be left with Silicon Valley Crime Stoppers at 408-947-7867 or at svcrimestoppers.org.
Source: www.mercurynews.com