Legal proceedings go forward for man charged with 2013 killing

A Solano County Superior Court judge again reshuffled legal proceedings for a 40-year-old Vallejo man accused of a 2013 murder who fled to Peru but was eventually extradited to the United States 33 months ago.

Judge Robert Bowers ordered William Bruce Cordoba, who was scheduled to appear earlier this month Department 15 for a readiness conference and the setting of a preliminary hearing, to return for the same matters at 8:30 a.m. March 10 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.

Cordoba 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 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.

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 is represented by Geoffrey Carr, a criminal defense attorney with offices in Redwood City. Deputy District Attorney Eric Charm leads 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.