A San Juan Capistrano woman was found guilty in the 2019 killing of a man who was shot on her boat and found floating in the Pacific Ocean, authorities said Tuesday.
Sheila Marie Ritze, 42, was found guilty of second-degree murder within in the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., and one count of making false statements to federal investigators.
She faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in federal prison, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The killing happened on a boat near Dana Point Harbor in October 2019.
The woman and 40-year-old Hoang Xuan Le had taken a man who owed Le money onto Ritze’s boat, which was docked on Dana Point Harbor.
The victim was lured onto the boat with promises of an overnight fishing trip, authorities said.
Around midnight, they drove the boat out into the ocean, where Le shot the victim, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The victim went overboard, and Ritze and Le returned to Dana Point Harbor, leaving the victim to drown in the ocean, officials said.
The man’s body was found a day later, floating in the ocean with bullet and blunt force trauma wounds.
A coroner later found out that he was a homicide victim who drowned after being shot and suffering blunt force trauma.
Federal investigators interviewed Ritze in December that year, and she told a series of lies, including saying she had never met the victim before the fatal boat trip, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Authorities said Ritze and the victim had actually been to Las Vegas together just 11 days before the killing.
In 2021, a jury found Le guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and using a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.
Le also pleaded guilty this year to eight narcotics-related felonies, including distribution of cocaine and methamphetamine. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
