DUBLIN — An Arizona resident has been charged in a baffling homicide, where police say he drove all the way from his residence to the Bay Area, met with a friend he’d interacted with for years on social media, then killed the victim after a brief interaction.
The motive for the Aug. 23 homicide of Michael Dalipe remains under investigation, but police have determined that Dalipe met his suspected killer on the social media platform Discord — a popular destination for gamers to chat online — and that the two had communicated with some regularity for four years. On the day Dalipe was killed, the suspect arrived at his Hacienda Drive apartment, asked to speak with him, and shook his hand outside the residence, police say.
Then the man, identified in court records as 38-year-old Nicholas Paleveda, allegedly pulled out a firearm and shot Dalipe in the head. Paleveda fled the area, and was arrested in Southern California, apparently while on the return trip to his home in Yuma, Arizona, according to police.
Paleveda had nearly shot a roommate four years earlier, while living in Gainesville, Florida, when he pointed a gun at the victim’s chest and pulled the trigger, according to authorities there. But the firearm jammed, and Paleveda later pleaded no contest to aggravated assault for a three-year probation term, according to court records.
“You have to respect me, I am your lord,” Paleveda allegedly told his then-roommate, also accusing him of alcoholism and “abuse,” according to court records. The victim was able to escape unscathed.
Dalipe and Paleveda met the same year as that incident, according to investigators, through Discord. Police say Dalipe was active on the social media platform and also occasionally sent packages to people he met on there, potentially giving away his home address in the process. Dalipe’s wife told police that a problem developed between the two men at some point, but police haven’t said what it was over, and that those details remain under investigation.
When Paleveda approached Dalipe that day, police say he referred to Dalipe as “Reznol,” a reference to Dalipe’s online user name. Their interaction before the shooting was not just seen by witnesses but captured on nearby surveillance cameras, according to police. When authorities arrested Paleveda, he reportedly refused to speak and instead invoked his right to a lawyer.
Paleveda has been extradited to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, where he’s being held without bail. His next court date has been set for Sept. 12, records show.
