Vista

A Vista man pleaded innocent Wednesday to committing two drug-related murders in San Marcos in 1986.

Keith Robert Lugo, 23, was arraigned before San Diego Municipal Judge Charles Patrick, who set bail at $500,000.

Lugo is charged in the July 9, 1986, killings of Robert Pharoah III, 26, of Spring Valley and Timothy Ridgewell, 24, of La Mesa. Both victims were shot to death on Sarver Lane in San Marcos about 4:35 a.m. Their bodies were left on the road.

Also charged in the case but not arraigned is Michael Edward Smith, 23, of San Diego. Smith is facing trial in Minnesota in an unrelated slaying and has not been extradited.

A preliminary hearing was set for May 15. Lugo waived his right to have a bail review because he is serving a seven-year sentence on a drug charge, said his attorney, C. Logan McKechnie.

McKechnie said the reason the preliminary hearing was set about five months away is because he is representing another murder defendant who may face the death penalty if convicted. That trial won’t start until January and is expected to last many months.