Disappearance may factor into bank fraud sentence

David Fitch has never faced a murder charge in connection with the 1999 disappearance of his wife, but that isn't stopping prosecutors from trying to convince a federal judge that he killed her.

Fitch has been convicted of numerous related charges since his wife, Maria Bozi, was last seen near Lake Mead.

He recently completed an eight-year prison term for illegally possessing firearms and false identification documents.

Now, prosecutors want him to serve an additional 30-year sentence for his new convictions in a bank fraud case.

"Although Ms. Bozi's body has not yet been located, the facts and circumstances of this case sadly lead to the inescapable conclusion that Ms. Bozi is dead," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. "Moreover, the facts and circumstances also convincingly show that the defendant killed her."

The document asks U.S. District Judge James Mahan to consider the facts and circumstances of Bozi's case as "relevant conduct" at Fitch's sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Sept. 21. Doing so would give Mahan justification for giving Fitch the lengthy sentence prosecutors are seeking.

"He's 48 years old," said the defendant's court-appointed attorney, Lisa Rasmussen. "They're essentially arguing for a life sentence."

Rasmussen said she is preparing a response to the prosecutors' sentencing memorandum.

She said Bozi's disappearance was considered at Fitch's sentencing in the previous case, and he should not be required to serve any additional time in the new case, which stemmed from the same "scheme of conduct."

Prosecutors allege Fitch married Bozi, 46, and then killed her to steal her money and property.

Fitch pleaded guilty in July 2000 to multiple felony counts that involved possession of firearms, ammunition and false identification documents.

In July 2004, while Fitch was serving his eight-year sentence, he was indicted in the bank fraud case.

By waiting four years to charge Fitch with the additional offenses, Rasmussen argued, "the government is attempting to manipulate the sentencing guidelines to substantially increase the time that he serves."

A jury convicted Fitch on June 21 of multiple felony counts of bank fraud, money laundering and unauthorized possession of a credit card.

Fitch is being held at the North Las Vegas Detention Center pending sentencing.

"He really should have been charged with the crimes he was charged with in this case in 2000 because they had all the evidence to charge him then," Rasmussen said.

Fitch's lawyers' previous claims of prosecutorial vindictiveness have been unsuccessful. But Rasmussen said she will argue that government misconduct should entitle her client to a reduced sentence.

In seeking leniency, she will argue that the delay in bringing the second case caused Fitch prejudice and that the conditions of his confinement since his 2000 arrest have been "particularly onerous."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Vasquez, who is prosecuting the bank fraud case, could not be reached for comment.

"The facts, circumstances and defendant's own writings demonstrate that Ms. Bozi's murder was premeditated," according to the government's sentencing memorandum.

"Indeed, the evidence shows that defendant married Ms. Bozi as part of an elaborate and lengthy plan to marry her and lure her to the United States where -- isolated from Ms. Bozi's friends and family -- the defendant disposed of her and took, or attempted to take, all of her money, property and worldly possessions."

Records show Fitch, who was born in Arizona, has 1992 convictions in Phoenix for manufacturing counterfeit currency and attempting to sell marijuana, both felonies.

Bozi, a native of Romania, married Fitch in April 1999 in England and moved with him to Southern Nevada. She purchased a mobile home in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, where she was last seen around Labor Day that year.

Around the time of her disappearance, Bozi had more than $100,000 in her bank account, but Fitch removed nearly half of it before bank officials froze the account.

Fitch traveled to England in November 1999 under the name David Lee Krause and, while there in January 2000, married a Colombian woman, Patricia Molano Gutierrez. She was 30 at the time.

"The defendant viewed his short-lived marriage to Ms. Bozi as a means to acquire the money necessary to fund the life that he envisioned with Ms. Molano," prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.

When Henderson police stopped Fitch in February 2000 for speeding, he was driving Bozi's car and carrying a Utah driver's license bearing the name Krause. FBI agents later found a shotgun and rifle in his storage unit on Boulder Highway.

They also searched his fifth-wheel trailer, where they found books with such titles as "Kill Without Joy! The Complete How to Kill Book," "Hit Man: A Technical Manual for Independent Contractors," and "Dragon's Touch: Weaknesses of the Human Anatomy."

The FBI agents also found books explaining how to make silencers and change one's identity. Records show that Fitch ordered chloroform, a toxic liquid used to anesthetize or kill, in July 1999.

"The government keeps telling me that Clark County is going to charge him with murder," Rasmussen said.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he could not comment on Fitch's case specifically.

"However, in the state of Nevada, there's no statute of limitations for the crime of murder," Roger said.

He said Clark County prosecutors have convicted defendants of murder "many times" without the discovery of a victim's body.

Rasmussen said federal judges may consider anything at sentencing as "relevant conduct," as long as it is proven by "clear and convincing evidence." Prosecutors must meet a higher standard to convict a defendant at trial, where they must prove crimes "beyond a reasonable doubt."

In their sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that evidence supports the "clear and convincing inferences" that Bozi is dead and that her death facilitated Fitch's crimes in the bank fraud case.

"A substantial sentence is needed to reflect the seriousness of the defendant's offenses and to provide just punishment," according to the document.

"Additionally, a substantial sentence is needed not only as a general deterrent against such egregious murder-for-profit schemes, but also to protect the public from the danger posed by this man."