Three of the four men charged with the murder of a man found near the I-430 bridge faced a judge Thursday, but all have pleaded not guilty in the death of 57 year old Jose Mejia. 

Apolinar Vargas, Jose Espanosa, Mario Nieto and Alex Vargas are all charged with 1st degree murder and tamporing with evidence of a crime. Investigators say someone slashed Mejia's throat at his home which is attached to an auto repair shop in Pulaski County, then tried to burn his body after it was dumped by the Arkansas River.

"They were all present when the murder took place again, because of the way this developed the more people we talked to, the more people we found involved, the more people we found were there," says John Rehrauer, Pulaski County Sheriff's Department.

Alex Vargas owned the auto shop. Right now, detectives believe the motive involved money.

"A small amount of money the victim supposedly took from one of the suspects. An insignificant amount of money and we're continuing to investigate and look at all possibilities but right now, that's what we are going on that the initial argument is over money, "says Rehrauer.

The men are expected to be back in court in December.