Feds investigate mysterious crime spree

BOULDER CITY -- Ken Housman thought David Fitch was too friendly, but his wife told him he was just being jaded. It may turn out the California cop's first instinct was correct.

Fitch, 41, is at the center of what one federal prosecutor is describing as one of the most unusual cases he's ever seen.

The case involves tens of thousands of dollars, two missing women, a stolen car and Fitch, a man who apparently goes by more than one name and has a criminal past.

According to court testimony, Fitch married Maria Bozi, a native of Romania, in England in April and moved to a Lake Mead National Recreation Area trailer park.

Bozi disappeared five months later -- sometime between Sept. 4, when she called the caretaker of her England property, and Sept. 7, when Fitch, according to investigators, donned a fake mustache and used Bozi's ATM card to remove a large amount of money from her bank account.

Over the next few weeks, authorities allege, Fitch obtained birth certificates and passports in at least two other names -- David Lee Krause and Daniel Joseph O'Hare. He also received medical treatment at Valley Hospital under the name Mario Bozi.

Fitch told neighbors and Bozi's caretaker that his wife had flown to Vancouver, British Columbia, and the National Park Service that she'd gone to Romania.

Authorities allege Fitch continued to withdraw funds from Bozi's account and fraudulently cashed a $40,000 check, depositing it into an account under one of his aliases.

After National Park Service rangers sealed Bozi's trailer, authorities allege Fitch broke in, removed her belongings and put them into a storage unit. On Oct. 1, after seeing Fitch dump some trash at the storage unit facility, rangers went through it and found a receipt for chloroform made out to another of Fitch's aliases -- Dr. David.

In January Fitch flew to England as Krause and married Patricia Molando Gutierrez, a 30-year-old Colombia native.

She is now missing as well.

On Feb. 8 Henderson police pulled Fitch over for speeding, and a records check revealed he was driving Bozi's Ford Thunderbird. Although he initially denied knowing Bozi, he later conceded he was her husband. He also gave permission to the officers to search his storage units. Inside the storage units were weapons that, as an ex-felon, Fitch is not allowed to own or possess.

Fitch, who has served time for manufacturing counterfeit currency and attempted marijuana selling, is now being held on two federal weapons charges as FBI agents work to solve the mystery.

A preliminary hearing has been set for Feb. 25 to determine whether there is enough evidence to hold Fitch for trial.

Yellow crime scene tape is still stripped across the doors of Fitch's trailer in Boulder City. Several yellowed newspapers dating back to December lie scattered on the porch, and the kitchen's windows remain open.

Housman spends his weekends renovating a mobile home that sits across the street from the white and beige trailer Fitch lived in.

As neighbors in small communities often do, Housman said he introduced himself to Fitch and offered his assistance on the day Fitch moved into the trailer. Fitch introduced himself as "Dave" but neglected to introduce the dark-haired woman who was with him.

"A couple of days later, I asked 'Is that your wife?' and he said, 'Oh, no, that's my sister-in-law. My wife's in Colombia,' " Housman said.

Fitch, who said he was an overseas engineer, explained that he was trying to obtain U.S. citizenship for his wife, Housman said.

"He said he was trying to get his wife into the country, but he said 'You know how the government is. If it says Colombia, they don't want it in the country. They think everyone in Colombia are drug runners,' " Housman said. "He kept saying how beautiful his wife is and how he couldn't live without her."

Housman said he only spoke to the woman, who he believes bears a striking resemblance to the pictures of Bozi shown by the media, once.

"She shook my hand and said 'Nice to meet you,' with an English accent," Housman said, noting he never saw her after that first week.

Over the next couple of weekends, Housman said he and Fitch shared some beers, talked about boating, fishing and renovating mobile homes. In fact, he loaned an electrical book to Fitch, who said he was going to work on his trailer's electrical system.

But a few weeks later, Housman said he saw Fitch loading up a pickup with furniture, odds and ends and a rolled carpet.

The idea of a body in the rug crossed his mind, but he laughed it off, Housman said. Now he wonders.

Fitch at first said he needed to get rid of his sister-in-law's stuff because it was crowding his trailer. Moments later, said he had gotten an overseas contract and had to sell it, Housman said.

Housman never saw Fitch after that night, he said, but the mysterious neighbor was never far from his mind.

Housman said when the National Park Service began cruising his neighborhood, the neighbors began to talk to one another.

Things Housman didn't pay much attention to, in hindsight, appeared telling. Fitch said on the day he was moving that he was going to have hernia surgery the next day, yet refused help loading the truck.

A horrible smell noticed by neighbors in September and originally assumed to be a dead coyote has now taken on a more ominous meaning, Housman said.

One neighbor is now saying she even heard a woman's screams in September, Housman said. That neighbor was unavailable for comment Saturday and Sunday.

The Ford Thunderbird Fitch used to care for constantly was left neglected at the trailer for several weeks, then disappeared in the middle of the night, Housman said. He heard squealing tires at 2 a.m. one day, looked out and the Ford was gone.

And while Fitch had told the Housmans he was an overseas engineer, he told others he was either a crop duster or a chiropractor, Housman said.

"I guess the only true thing about him is his first name," Housman said. "Now that I look back, he was pretty bizarre. I always just thought he was too friendly, but my wife kept telling me 'Don't think everyone's a crook.' "

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