Three additional murder charges were filed Wednesday against a 74-year-old man already charged in the fatal shooting of a victim whose burned body was found near an Otay Mesa freeway interchange in October 2023.
Dwight William Rhone entered not guilty pleas to the three additional murder charges, as well as special circumstance allegations accusing him of committing multiple murders, during a brief hearing in Chula Vista Superior Court. He also faces multiple other charges, including arson, attempted robbery and taking a victim’s car.
Investigators are also looking at other missing persons cases and those involving unidentified or deceased persons potentially associated with Rhone, officials said.
The new charges include two cold cases, including one homicide that occurred more than 32 years ago. Another cold case involved a body discovered in 2002, while the third case is tied to human remains found in December at a Southcrest residence where Rhone had lived, the District Attorney’s Office said.
Rhone is being held without bail. His attorney, Alternate Deputy Public Defender Matthew Mohun, declined to comment after the hearing. A preliminary hearing, during which evidence will be presented to determine if he should stand trial, was set for July 2027.
“There is a lot of discovery now to be disclosed to the defense, and an additional investigation (is) ongoing,” Deputy District Attorney Jalyn McNee said.
McNee declined to discuss evidence allegedly connecting him to the killings.
She said in addition to the murder charges, Rhone is accused of several economic crimes, including using EBT, CalFresh and Social Security benefits of one of the victims, Michael Brown, whose remains were found in a crawl space beneath the Southcrest home and who was believed to have been killed in 2021 or 2022.
District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release that the additional charges “reflect years of dedicated work” by prosecutors and law enforcement. She said their “persistence and attention to detail helped uncover critical connections between the defendant and multiple victims, including victims whose cases had gone cold.”
Stephan also credited the expertise of San Diego police, the FBI, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and California Highway Patrol for their work on the cases.
“Together we were able to crack these cases, uncover critical evidence and advance our pursuit of justice for multiple victims and their families,” Stephan said.
The victim in the initial case, Bernardo Moreno, was found dead in burning debris near the Interstate 5 and state Route 905 interchange in October 2023. He died from a gunshot wound to the base of the skull, prosecutors said.
Police at the time of his arrest said they suspected Rhone had shot Moreno and set the victim’s body on fire. The body was found after firefighters extinguished a brush fire along the side of the freeway.
The two additional victims include Heriberto Ruiz and Ronald Johnken.
The prosecutor said after Wednesday’s hearing that the body of Ruiz was found in December 1993 in an alley near Acacia Street and 35th Street in Southcrest. His death was determined to be from strangulation, prosecutors said.
Johnken’s body was discovered in Chollas Creek near National Avenue and 33rd Street in Barrio Logan in September 2002. Prosecutors said his death was caused by blunt-force trauma to the head.
“Our commitment to holding violent offenders accountable remains as strong today as it was on the day these crimes were committed,” Stephan said in a statement. “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.”
According to the District Attorney’s Office, Rhone may also be linked to the cases of Danice Galloway, whose body was discovered on May 1, 1989, in an alley near Naval Base San Diego, and Antenogenes Gomez Velasquez, who was last seen in 2021 and had lived at the Newton Avenue home.
Anyone with information about those people was asked to call San Diego police at 619-531-2293 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 888-580-8477.
“This is an ongoing investigation,” said McNee. “We are asking for the public’s assistance in any information they can provide us regarding any of the newly charged murders, as well as the two other people who we have identified.”
The complaint indicates Rhone has a lengthy criminal history dating back to the early 1970s.
Staff writer Teri Figueroa contributed to this report.