2 face new charges in killing of man found dumped in ocean off Dana Point
A San Juan Capistrano woman who owned the boat on which a man is believed to have been killed before being dumped into the sea is now facing a murder charge, according to a new indictment issued by a federal grand jury.
Federal prosecutors now allege that Sheila Ritze conspired with Hoang Xuan Le to lure the man onto her boat with promises of an overnight lobster fishing trip, two days before his body was found floating in the ocean waters off Oceanside.
Both Ritze, 40, and Le, 39, were arrested earlier this year, with prosecutors alleging Le shot the unnamed victim and threw him overboard. Ritze was initially accused of being an accessory after the fact, but has now been charged in connection to the killing.
Both have pleaded not guilty. After an earlier court hearing, an attorney representing Ritze said he believed she suffered from PTSD related to what happened on the boat, which the attorney cited as the reason she didn’t go to authorities prior to being arrested. The attorney described it as a “frightening, horrifying story.”
An FBI agent in an sworn statement filed with the court at the time of the pair’s arrest wrote that Le confessed to a confidential FBI source that he took the victim out onto the boat, confronted him about a $30,000 to $40,000 drug debt, shot the man, then tied weights to his ankles and threw him into the ocean.
According to federal prosecutors, surveillance cameras at the Dana Point Harbor captured Le and Ritze getting onto the boat, then returning hours later without him. Prosecutors also allege that after the killing, Ritze surveyed for surveillance cameras around the harbor and bought a tracking device that was later found on a car belonging to the victim’s girlfriend.
Le is also accused of agreeing to buy cocaine from the confidential informant during a meeting at his home, and to expressing a willingness to being hired as a hit man, according to the statement from the FBI agent.
The new indictment adds several allegations against Ritze and Le.
Prosecutors now allege that Ritze lied during an interview with the FBI after her arrest, including telling them she had never met the victim prior to the boat trip.
The new indictment also alleges that Le distributed cocaine and methamphetamine and possessed two firearms, including an “AR-15-type ghost gun,” a reference to a gun that does not have a serial number or identifying marks.
Le and Ritze – who are being held in federal custody without bond – are scheduled to return to court to be arraigned on the charges in the new indictment on July 6. If convicted, they face life in prison without the possibility of parole.