Encinitas

Three men who could be sentenced to death in a murder-for-hire scheme pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of murder and conspiracy.

William Wayne Nix Jr., Steven Vernon Gates and Rocky T. Holton were indicted by a county grand jury when prosecutors decided to seek the death penalty after originally indicting the men in federal court.

The three men, all of Upland, are accused of participating in the murder of Leucadia car salesman Salvatore Ruscitti, who was gunned down on the front porch of his Gascony Way home Sept. 17, 1988.

Although the alleged gunman in the case remains at large, prosecutors say that Nix arranged for Ruscitti’s murder after Ruscitti filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against a car dealership owned by Nix’s parents.

The class-action suit, which remains active after being filed almost six months before Ruscitti’s murder, now has about 300 plaintiffs who allege the owners of Kearny Mesa Ford, formerly known as Center City Ford, systematically cheated sales personnel out of commissions.

Because the case involved a North County victim and many of the witnesses are from the area, Superior Court Judge Herbert J. Exarhos ordered Tuesday that proceedings be moved to the Vista courthouse.

Nix and his co-defendants are being held without bail.