San Diego

Bail was set at $500,000 for a man who pleaded innocent Friday to charges of murdering a Mira Mesa High School student, whose bloodied and handcuffed body was found near the pizza parlor where they worked.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Lamborn requested the high bail for Mark Radke, 21, a Mira Mesa resident accused of the Jan. 22 slaying of Jeffrey Vance Rudiger, 16, whose body was found the next morning in an alley behind a group of warehouses.

“This was an exceptionally vicious attack on a victim in handcuffs, who was beaten and severely slashed several times, with puddles of blood found in three areas,” Lamborn told Municipal Court Judge Linda Boelhauf Quinn.

Authorities found a trail of blood leading to the door of one warehouse where the victim apparently tried to crawl to safety, Lamborn said outside court.

“The victim apparently was struck down there and pulled because there are some drag marks from there to the area where the body was found,” he said.

Other evidence against Radke includes bloodstains inside his car that match blood found at the murder scene, and tire tracks at the scene that match those of the defendant’s car, Lamborn said.

A hammer allegedly was used in the beating, which the coroner’s office said caused Rudiger’s death, but Lamborn said no such weapon has been recovered.

A bail review hearing was scheduled for Wednesday after defense attorney Doug Brown’s requested for bail of $100,000 was denied.

Investigators, meanwhile, continue questioning friends of the victim and defendant as they try to determine a motive the attack.