HARTFORD — A Connecticut man charged with killing three people in 2008 pleaded not guilty to one of the homicides on Wednesday.

Harold Patterson appeared in Hartford Superior Court, where a judge continued his case to April 27. He remains detained on $3 million bail on three murder charges.

The 35-year-old Hartford resident was arrested in December during a cold case investigation by city police and the Chief State's Attorney's Office. One of his lawyers, William Gerace, said Patterson denies any involvement in the three killings.

"He has no idea about who killed these people," Gerace said.

Prosecutors said Patterson fatally shot 34-year-old Raymond "Flip" Hite in June 2008, and used the same gun to kill 21-year-old Lamar Gresham and 23-year-old Carlos Ortiz in a drive-by shooting two months later. Police say the two incidents appeared to be unrelated.

Patterson pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Hite's killing. He previously pleaded not guilty in the other two homicides.

Investigators said in arrest warrant affidavits that Patterson shot Gresham and Ortiz while arguing on a street following a dispute at a nightclub, The Hartford Courant reported. The two men were walking with two women when a car with Patterson and several other people pulled up and Patterson tried to talk with to the women, police said. When one of the two men told Patterson not to bother the women, Patterson opened fire, police said.

Authorities said their investigation determined the bullets fired at both crime scenes came from the same gun, which also was linked to two other shooting incidents in Hartford around the same time. The gun has not been recovered, police said.

Court records show Patterson has a criminal record that includes convictions for attempted assault on a police officer, selling and possessing drugs and leaving the scene after getting into a car accident.