Bail Amount Under Dispute in Prison Guard Murder

As family members began a four-day Hmong ritual to mourn correctional officer Steve Lo, a deputy district attorney said Friday that Lo was having an extramarital affair with the wife of a former Sacramento County sheriff's deputy, providing a possible motive for Lo's slaying.

Robert Clancy discussed the relationship in Sacramento Superior Court while arguing against a motion to reduce bail for former Deputy Chu Vue. Vue has been in jail for the last week on an unrelated felony charge of possessing an illegal weapon.

Police consider Vue a "principal" in the investigation into Lo's killing, but have not charged him in connection with that case. He is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail – 10 times the standard amount for an illegal weapons charge.

Judge Steve White sided with Clancy, and Vue, 43, remained in custody late Friday.

Vue, who was fired Monday at his arraignment hearing after 13 years with the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, has pleaded not guilty to the weapons charge.