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Three Additional Murder Charges Filed Against Man Linked to Southcrest Human Remains Investigation

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that Dwight Rhone, 74, who is currently charged with one count of murder in connection with the 2023 killing of Bernardo Moreno, now faces three additional murder charges, as well as a special circumstance for committing multiple murders. The new charges are tied to two cold cases involving bodies discovered in 1993 and 2002, as well as human remains found at a Southcrest home in December of 2025.

“These additional murder charges reflect years of dedicated work by Deputy District Attorney Jalyn McNee and our law enforcement partners, whose persistence and attention to detail helped uncover critical connections between this defendant and multiple victims, including victims whose cases had gone cold,” DA Stephan said. “This outstanding work and remarkable development were also made possible through the invaluable partnership and expertise of SDPD, FBI, NCIS and CHP. Together, we were able to crack these cases, uncover critical evidence, and advance our pursuit of justice for multiple victims and their families.”

Murders tied to the defendant now include the following:

Michael Brown (remains found December 2025): Brown’s remains were discovered beneath a former residence of the defendant on Newton Avenue after investigators executed a search warrant at the property.

Bernardo Moreno (October 2023): Moreno was found dead in burned debris near the Interstate 5 and State Route 905 interchange. He died from a gunshot wound to the base of the skull. Rhone is currently being prosecuted on this case.

Ronald Johnken (September 2002): Johnken’s body was discovered in Chollas Creek near 3300 National Avenue. The Medical Examiner determined he died from blunt-force trauma to the head.

Heriberto Ruiz (December 1993): Ruiz was found dead in an alley near the 3500 block of Acacia Street. The Medical Examiner determined he died by strangulation.

Rhone was arraigned on the three additional murder charges today and pleaded not guilty. He will be in court again on March 24, 2027.

“Our commitment to holding violent offenders accountable remains as strong today as it was on the day these crimes were committed,” DA Stephan said. “The District Attorney’s Office will never stop seeking the truth no matter how many years have passed. Victims deserve justice and their families deserve answers.”

The investigation remains ongoing and investigators continue to examine additional missing-person cases and unidentified or deceased persons potentially associated with the defendant. Anyone with information regarding Danice Galloway (DOB 12/15/1955), whose body was discovered on May1, 1989 in the north alley located at 3700 Main Street in San Diego, or Antenogenes Gomez Velasquez (DOB 7/16/1981), who was last seen in 2021 and was last known to reside at 3456 Newton Ave in San Diego, is encouraged to contact the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.

Deputy DA Jalyn McNee and Deputy DA Annie Sanchez are prosecuting this case.

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Escondido Man Charged with Murder after Victim Dies from Severe Beating

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that Thomas C. Butler has been charged with murder following the death of Escondido resident Kerry Sheron. Butler was previously charged and arraigned on May 22 for attempted murder in connection with the brutal May 20 assault. Mr. Sheron later died from the injuries inflicted during the attack, leading to the murder charge.

“The violent assault and murder of Kerry Sheron outside his own home has left his family and community shaken and grieving for the veteran’s senseless loss of life,” DA Stephan said. “My office has filed a murder charge along with related charges against the perpetrator and will seek justice and accountability under the law while providing support for the victim’s family. The investigation will continue to seek answers to the relevant aspects of this case.”

Butler did not appear in court today as scheduled and was not arraigned on the murder charge. A new court hearing has been set for June 5 at 8:30 a.m. in Department 6 of the Vista Superior Court. If convicted, he faces 28 years-to-life in prison.

Deputy DA Ross Garcia and Keith Watanabe are prosecuting this case.

Deputy District Attorney Maura Duffey speaks to reporters after the arraignment of Yolanda Marodi.

DA Files Murder Charge in Stabbing Death of Cal Fire Captain

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan today announced the arraignment of Yolanda Olejniczak Marodi, 53, in connection with the stabbing death of her spouse, Rebecca Marodi, 49, a Cal Fire Captain. Olejniczak Marodi is charged with murder and pleaded not guilty at today’s hearing. She is being held without bail and if convicted faces 25 years-to-life in prison.  

Mexican authorities arrested the defendant last Sunday near a hotel in the Ferrocarril neighborhood of Mexicali after a binational five-week search. She was successfully handed over to U.S. Marshals and returned to San Diego County to face charges. 

The victim was employed at Cal Fire for more than 30 years. The pair had been married for about two years. On February 17, shortly before 9:00 p.m., San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the couple’s Ramona home. Marodi had suffered multiple stab wounds and died at the scene.  

“I want to thank the Sheriff’s Office for their thorough investigation and law enforcement on both sides of the border for locating and arresting this dangerous defendant so she could be returned to San Diego and face justice for this deadly crime,” said DA Stephan. “Rebecca Marodi was a beloved Fire Captain who devoted her life to protecting others, including recently battling the Eaton fire near Los Angeles and the capture of her killer will begin the court process with today’s arraignment. When the U.S. Marshals’ San Diego Fugitive Task force is looking for violent criminals, they can run but they can’t hide as we saw in this case.  This intimate partner homicide is a reminder that there are resources out there for individuals who are in fear for their safety.” 

In 2023, there were five domestic violence homicide victims of which the suspect was a current or former intimate partner, a 50% decrease from 2022. Statistics for 2024 are still being compiled. 

The District Attorney provides domestic violence and other services at no cost at One Safe Place:  The North County Family Justice Center. Assistance is also available by contacting the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233 or text “START” to 88788. 

A status conference and bail review hearing is set for April 28, and a preliminary hearing is currently scheduled for June 24. Deputy District Attorney Maura Duffey is prosecuting this case. 

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Man Who Killed His 87-Year-Old Mother Sentenced to Prison

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that a 57-year-old East County man has been sentenced to 76 years-to-life in prison for the 2022 shooting death of his elderly mother while she was standing by the kitchen table. 

Chase Folkes, who was found guilty of second-degree murder and of being a felon in possession of a firearm, shot 87-year-old Carolyn Folkes in the forehead on May 17, 2022 after his mother hid her debit card from him, preventing him from buying alcohol. A jury delivered the guilty verdict on July 9 after one day of deliberation.

“This is a heartbreaking example of elder abuse in its most extreme form,” DA Stephan said. “Taking the life of an innocent person is always horrific but when it is in the context of a son against an elderly mother, the complexity and harm committed is very deep.”  

Folkes used a homemade shotgun to commit the murder.

“I am proud of the dedication of our prosecution team which delivered a conviction and a measure of justice for the family of Ms. Folkes,” DA Stephan said. “We’re also proud of the work of law enforcement in conducting this investigation.”

Deputy District Attorney Briana Wilford prosecuted this case.

 

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TikToker Sentenced to LWOP Plus 50 Years for Murdering Wife and Her Friend

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that Ali Abulaban, the TikTok personality who killed his wife and her friend in October 2021, has been sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole plus 50 years to life in state prison.

The sentence was handed down today by San Diego Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Fraser. A jury found Abulaban guilty of two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances on May 29 after a 16-day trial.

“This defendant mercilessly took the lives of two young people and the pain he left their families with is unimaginable. We hope the guilty jury verdicts and today’s sentence will bring some semblance of justice and peace for the families left behind in the wake of this terrible violence,” DA Summer Stephan said. “Every year, domestic violence kills an average of 13 people in San Diego County. This is a statistic we must confront and continue to fight. One death at the hands of an intimate partner is one too many.”

The evidence in this case proved that defendant Abulaban drove to their apartment with a loaded gun, used a key card to enter the apartment, and immediately killed both his estranged wife Ana Abulaban and her friend Rayburn Barron by shooting them in the head.

Deputy District Attorney Taren Brast worked tirelessly to bring justice and successfully prosecuted this case.

If you or someone you know is being abused by a current or former partner, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233) for confidential support and assistance planning for safety.

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Murder Charges in Fentanyl Overdose Death

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that two individuals have been charged with murder in connection with the fentanyl overdose death of 31-year-old Connor Gerhart. Defendants Sheri Cavanaugh, 59, and her co-conspirator, Micah Seau,31, are both charged with murder and conspiracy to commit a crime. The pair conspired to sell the victim fentanyl pills which resulted in his overdose death.

“These defendants were aware of the dangers of the illegal drugs they were selling and in a callous indifference to the victim’s overdose death, conspired to continue dealing this poison in our communities,” said DA Stephan. “Working with our law enforcement partners, we will continue to hold individuals accountable for murder in cases like this and work to deliver justice for Connor’s family and loved ones.”

On June 2, 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Overdose Response Team responded to the scene of the overdose and immediately commenced an investigation. During their investigation, they established that Seau and Gerhardt were longtime friends and that Cavanaugh and Seau were longtime associates dealing illegal narcotics. The investigation further showed that on May 31, 2023, Seau purchased at least $1,200 worth of fentanyl pills from co-defendant Cavanaugh in La Mesa. Thereafter, Seau invited the victim to pick up his pills and charged him $700. Mr. Gerhart picked up the pills, took some of them, and died on the evening of June 1. He was found in his home by a family friend. In the days following Gerhart’s death, Seau and Cavanaugh continued to be in contact regarding Seau purchasing more narcotics.

“Connor Gerhart is gone too soon,” said DEA Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Chrysanthis. “His life was stolen by careless drug dealers who chose money over life. Removing those who sell fake pills and endanger the community is one of the top priorities for the DEA.”

Seau and Cavanaugh were both arrested without incident on May 31 at their homes. They were arraigned this Tuesday in San Diego Superior Court and pleaded not guilty. A readiness hearing was set for June 12. If convicted of all the charges, each defendant faces up to 15 years-to-life in state prison.

“Fentanyl continues to fatally plague our communities, said San Diego Police Chief David Nisleit. “The impacts we see from Fentanyl sales is overwhelming and destructive, prematurely ending the lives of those struggling with addiction every day.” “The San Diego Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Narcotics Task Force, in coordination with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office have dedicated significant resources to identify and aggressively prosecute those individuals responsible for the sales of these drugs, especially when such action causes death. This case is a result of the hard work and dedication of investigators to bring those responsible to justice.”

Since 2017, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office has charged eight fentanyl dealers with homicide stemming from selling or furnishing fentanyl-laced drugs.

In 2021 and 2022, there was an average of about 800 deaths in San Diego County  caused by fentanyl or analogs of fentanyl in each year. To put that in perspective, in 2021, San Diego County experienced 88 homicides caused by firearms. That same year, the county saw 814 deaths caused by fentanyl poisoning.

“Fentanyl killed more young people in our nation than any other cause last year,” DA Stephan said. When someone sells fentanyl, knowing how incredibly dangerous that drug is, and another person dies as a result of using that drug, that is murder.” said DA Stephan.

This case is being prosecuted by the DA’s Major Narcotics Division.

Here are five things we should all know about the dangers of Fentanyl.

Solana Beach Woman Sentenced for Killing Stepfather

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that defendant Jade Janks, 39, who was convicted by a jury on December 21 of first-degree murder, has been sentenced to 25 years-to-life in prison.

Hours after she picked up the victim from a medical care facility, Janks drugged and strangled Tom Merriman, 64, to death on New Year’s Eve 2020 because she found nude photos of herself on his computer. Merriman was the co-founder of the education and research nonprofit Butterfly Farms, which had a half-acre vivarium in Encinitas.

“This was a complex case that our prosecution team along with law enforcement worked tirelessly on to prove the premeditated nature of this killing,” DA Stephan said. “Although today’s sentence will not bring back Mr. Merriman, it is a measure of justice for his family after a long ordeal.”

While Merriman was recovering on December 23, 2020 at a medical care facility in Encinitas, Janks went his home to tidy up when she accidentally bumped his computer mouse and discovered hundreds of nude photos of herself on his computer. She reached out to a friend who said he could help “fix” her problem. On December 31, Janks picked up her stepfather after he was discharged and gave him several pain pills and sleeping pills.

She texted her friend, the fixer, that she “just dosed the hell out of him” and was bringing Merriman home. But the fixer never showed up, causing Janks to panic and send a flurry of text messages, including:

  • “He’s waking up. I really don’t want to be the one to do this.”
  • “He is waking up and I really need help.”
  • “I am about to club him on the head as he is waking up.”
  • “It’s going to be Weekend at Bernie’s.”

Later that evening, a friend of Janks’ arrived, and Janks confessed that she drugged, suffocated, and strangled Merriman and needed help putting his body in his bed to make it look like an overdose. The friend said he couldn’t help, left and called police reporting what Janks said and letting them know they should look for Merriman.

The San Diego Sheriff’s Department contacted Janks and looked for Merriman but couldn’t find him anywhere in his home or her residence. As they were finishing their search of the premises, detectives looked under a pile of trash in Merriman’s driveway and found his body buried underneath it. The San Diego Sheriff’s Department conducted an extensive investigation—interviewing dozens of witnesses, examining terabytes of data, and testing numerous pieces of evidence for DNA—that ultimately solved the case and led to a first-degree murder conviction.

Deputy District Attorneys Jorge Del Portillo and Teresa Pham prosecuted this case.

Man who Brutally Murdered Wife and Sister-In-Law Sentenced

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan announced today that defendant Juan Carlos Ortega, 38, who was convicted by a jury on December 21 of two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of child endangerment likely to produce great bodily injury and one count of arson, has been sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole plus 26 years to life in prison.

In 2018, Ortega fatally stabbed his wife Veronica Soto Ortega, 30, and her sister Ana Gabriela Soto, 26, as the couple’s children slept nearby.

“The brutality with which this defendant killed the two victims is horrendous and is sadly a disturbing example of what can happen when domestic violence escalates,” DA Stephan said. “A specialized DA prosecution team worked tirelessly to bring this case to justice, and we are grateful for the jury verdict and sentence in this case. Every year there are more than 17,000 reported incidents of domestic violence with an average of 13 women killed per year by their intimate partner. We will keep fighting to reduce the gut wrenching damage of domestic violence in our community.”

On August 9, 2018, Ortega watched his estranged wife’s apartment in Escondido and waited to enter until just after 3 a.m. Once inside the home, he attacked his wife, stabbing her in the neck twice, then slashed his sister-in-law’s throat, stabbed her in the chest and shot her. He then continued stabbing his wife until she died. After killing his wife, he locked his two children, ages 4 and 5, in a nearby bedroom and covered his wife with a blanket. He stuffed his sister-in-law’s body into the back of his wife’s SUV and drove off, tossing out Soto’s cellphone along the way.

At Country Club Drive and Kauana Loa Drive, just east of Escondido, Ortega poured lighter fluid over Soto’s body, set it on fire, then walked back to his vehicle, which he left at a Park & Ride in San Marcos.

Deputy District Attorneys Patricia Lavermicocca and An Dang prosecuted this case.

If you are a victim of domestic violence, take the first step today to protect yourself and your family and call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233(SAFE) for help and referrals to local resources. Call 9-1-1 if in immediate danger.

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Cold Case Suspect Arrested in Tennessee

San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said today that one man has been arrested in connection with the 1990 murder of Larry Joe Breen, 32 in Point Loma. San Diego police and the FBI took Brian Scott Koehl, 51, into custody in Knoxville, TN on July 13, 2022 after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Koehl will be extradited to San Diego where he has been charged with murder. His first hearing in Knox County Superior Court will be held tomorrow, July 14.

“It is a tribute to the commitment and dedication of investigators and prosecutors in our Cold Case Homicide Unit working closely with local and federal law enforcement that we continue to solve decades old crimes, hold murderers accountable and ultimately deliver justice to victims’ loved ones,” said DA Stephan. “Thanks to their hard work and the work our law enforcement partners in the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Knox County Sheriff’s Department and the Knox County District Attorney, we will, at long last, be able to seek justice and accountability for the killing of Larry Breen.”

The victim, a petty officer and cook in the US Navy stationed aboard the USS Fox CG-33, was found on May 25, 1990 in the backyard of a home at the corner of Nimitz Boulevard and Locust Street. The victim had recently rented the home and was preparing to move in.  He was slumped against a fence in the backyard and had been stabbed several times in the neck. His car was missing and was later found abandoned over a mile from the crime scene. Despite a thorough investigation by both the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and the San Diego Police Department at the time, the murder went unsolved.

Recently, these agencies reexamined the case, and, with the assistance of the District Attorney’s Office Cold Homicide and Research Genealogy Effort (CHARGE), an investigative lead was developed which led to the current criminal charge against Koehl and his arrest.

CHARGE, which is funded by a three- year grant from the US Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice assistance, is an innovation project by the District Attorney’s office to solve cold case homicides using investigative genetic genealogy, the same research technique that identified the Golden State Killer.  The CHARGE team, which includes deputy district attorneys, investigators, and a research genealogist, has been successfully in identifying the suspects in several cold case homicides including the current prosecution of Carlin Cornett for the 1971 murder of 7-Eleven clerk Christy Bryant and this 1990 murder of Larry Breen.  Deputy District Attorney Lisa Fox is the lead prosecutor on this case.