Construction Site Killing: Oceanside Man Pleads Not Guilty To Murder

VISTA, CA – A man accused in the stabbing death of a plumber at a construction site in Oceanside pleaded not guilty Monday to a murder charge and was ordered held on $3 million bail.

Mikhail Schmidt, 30, of Oceanside, was arrested about 5 p.m. Thursday in the 900 block of The Strand, a few blocks from the under-construction home on Windward Way where the victim's body was found about 12 hours earlier, said Oceanside police Lt. Valencia Saadat.

Jacob Laughlin Bravo, 37, was discovered in a trailer on the site in a pool of blood. Police said Bravo's body had "obvious signs of traumatic injury," but a motive for the slaying remains under investigation.

Schmidt faces 26 years to life in prison if convicted of murder with a knife-use allegation.

A readiness conference is scheduled for April 10 and a preliminary hearing for May 1.

By City News Service / Image via Shutterstock