Prelim hearing on track for Vallejo man, 39, charged with 2013 murder

A 39-year-old Vallejo man faces an August preliminary hearing for a 2013 murder after having fled to Peru but eventually extradited to the United States and Solano County two years ago.

Solano County Superior Court judge Stephanie Grogan Jones previously ordered William Bruce Cordoba, who was scheduled to appear Thursday for a readiness conference in Department 5, to return for the hearing, a sort-of minitrial with the presentation of evidence and witness testimony, at 9 a.m. Aug. 12 in the Justice Center.

He has been charged with the Feb. 4, 2013, murder of 27-year-old Jimmie Richardson at about 4:20 a.m. near Borges Lane and Evelyn Circle in Vallejo, where arriving officers found Richardson dead from multiple gunshot wounds.

The Solano County District Attorney filed its complaint against Cordoba on April 2, 2013, and an arrest warrant was issued the next day. Besides first-degree murder, he is charged with mayhem and assault with a semi-automatic firearm, the latter another felony.

At some point, Cordoba apparently fled the United States and settled in Peru, but he could not stay out of trouble.

Also known as William Johnson, he was arrested

March 21, 2014, in the city of Lima, Peru’s capital, where he faced local charges in an unrelated case.

A U.S. citizen, Cordoba was extradited to the U.S. on April 5, 2019, and he was booked into Solano County Jail, where he remains without bail.

He was, at one time, represented by attorney Joseph D. O’Sullivan. Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm appears to be leading the prosecution, according to court records.

If convicted of first-degree murder at trial, Cordoba faces 25 years to life in state prison and likely more time for the other charges and for fleeing the country.