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Inmate charged in 1987 death of corpsman

NATIONAL CITY, Calif. — A 62-year-old man already serving a life sentence for murder pleaded not guilty Thursday to the killing of a Navy corpsman whose remains were discovered last year, 22 years after he went missing.

Robert Nydegger — who is serving his sentence at Solano State Prison for the 1988 murder of his roommate — entered the plea for the murder of then-25-year-old corpsman Crispino Buzon.

Nydegger had been Buzon’s supervisor at Balboa Naval Hospital. Police say the two men had gone to dinner together on April 24, 1987.

Buzon had been scheduled to fly to the Phillipines from Norton Air Force Base in San Bernardino the following day to pick up his wife and bring her back to the United States but never showed.

Nydegger had been considered a person of interest at the time, but no charges were filed, partly because no body was found.

Police said Buzon had told family and friends he had paid Nydegger $3,000 because Nydegger said he had special connections who could make it easier for Buzon’s wife to come to the United States.

The case was reopened in 2005, and Buzon’s skeletal remains were found in a remote section of San Bernardino County last year.