Dwight Rhone, 74, was already in custody in connection with a 2023 fatal shooting. He was charged Wednesday with three more counts of murder.
The FBI, the California Highway Patrol and San Diego police investigated a home in San Diego's Southcrest neighborhood after human remains were found Tuesday. A San Diego man previously accused in a 2023 murder was charged Wednesday with killing three more people, officials said.
Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content. Two of those victims were discovered decades ago, and investigators are examining other cases possibly linked to the defendant, Dwight Rhone, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Rhone, 74, was arraigned on three additional murder charges and pleaded not guilty. His attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan credited a deputy prosecutor for the new charges, saying her “persistence and attention to detail helped uncover critical connections between this defendant and multiple victims, including victims whose cases had gone cold. ” The charges are connected to three men — Michael Brown, Ronald Johnken and Herierto Ruiz — according to the release.
Rhone was previously charged with murder in the death of Bernardo Moreno, 54, who was found near a highway interchange on Oct. 18, 2023, with a gunshot wound to the head. His body was found in what the prosecutor’s office described as burned debris.in San Diego’s Southcrest neighborhood, the release said. Additional details about the cause or date of Brown’s death were not immediately available. Johnken was found in a nearby creek in 2002.
The medical examiner attributed his death to blunt force trauma to the head, according to the release. Ruiz was discovered in an alley in the Southcrest neighborhood in 1993. He died by strangulation, the prosecutor’s office said. The release identified two other people linked to the area whom authorities are seeking information about.
The body of Danice Galloway, 33, was found in an alley less than a mile from where Ruiz was discovered, the DA’s office said. Antenogenes Gomez Velasquez disappeared in 2021 and was last known to live on Newton Avenue, the street where Rhone once lived and Brown’s remains were found. Bill Feather is an assignment editor for NBC Los Angeles who covers general assignment and daily breaking news, primarily in Southern California.
Andrew Blankstein is an investigative reporter for NBC News. He covers the Western U.S., specializing in crime, courts and homeland security.
Please follow us on Google to support usUnited States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News: You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
San Diego’s former Ritz-Carlton site could be redeveloped with housing, retail and small hotelCity agrees to negotiate with local hotel developer who was runner-up in previous redevelopment efforts.
Read more »
San Diego's Weather Forecast for June 8, 2026: Warming up this week & potentially more humidWarmer weather rolls in by the second half of the week and we may get a surge of monsoon moisture by week's end making things more humid.
Read more »
San Diego council repeals Balboa Park parking fees, reduces single-family trash feesThe San Diego City Council voted unanimously Monday to end paid parking at Balboa Park by the end of the year and reduce trash fees for single-family homes.
Read more »
San Diego City Council repeals Balboa Park parking fees, reduces single-family trash feesThe San Diego City Council voted unanimously Monday to end paid parking at Balboa Park by the end of the year and reduce trash fees for single-family homes.
Read more »