Public defender to stay on case of missing wife

Kim Smith

Tuesday, April 25, 2000 | 10:11 a.m.

The federal public defender's office will continue to represent a Boulder City resident suspected in the disappearance of one of his wives.

David Kent Fitch filed a motion in the hopes of getting rid of Assistant U.S. Public Defender Shari Kaufman, who he claims treats him with "contempt and disrespect."

On Monday after meeting with Fitch and Kaufman in a closed hearing, U.S. Magistrate Robert Johnston denied Fitch's motion, saying that some of the allegations Fitch made are untrue.

However, Johnston also announced that Kaufman has turned over the case to fellow assistant public defender Art Allen. Kaufman declined to comment following the hearing.

Although he has not been charged, Fitch is the primary suspect in the disappearance of Maria Bozi, a 46-year-old resident of England.

According to court documents, Fitch and Bozi were married in April 1999 in England. Bozi followed Fitch to Southern Nevada three months later.

Police have learned of no one who one has seen or spoken to Bozi since September. Within days of her last telephone conversation with her English caretaker, authorities say, Fitch began withdrawing large sums of money from her bank accounts using her automated teller card.

In addition to learning that Fitch married another England resident, Patricia Molano Gutierrez, in January, authorities discovered Fitch had purchased chloroform 23 days after Bozi arrived in the United States.

Authorities also found out that Fitch had multiple identities and several instructional books on murder and changing identities.

Fitch was stopped for speeding Feb. 8 while driving Bozi's car. A subsequent search of Fitch's rented storage unit resulted in the convicted felon's arrest on a single charge of being a felon in possession of firearms.

It is that charge that is keeping Fitch confined in the Clark County Detention Center.

Before Johnston closed Monday's hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory Damm told the magistrate that he expects to file additional firearms charges against Fitch.

Since Fitch's arrest, Damm said, authorities have found additional weapons, including two rifles he gave to two minor sons who live in Las Vegas.

In addition, Damm said he believes other charges may be filed as the result of a parallel investigation.

That investigation, Damm said, is into "Bozi's disappearance, and, I believe, her murder."

In his motion, Fitch alleged that Kaufman had shared information with his wife in England that he asked her not to share, thus damaging their relationship.

In addition, Fitch wrote that, "Present counsel has manifested an attitude of profuse cynicism and appears to be proceeding on the assumption that all defendants are lying scum who only deserve to have a prison sentence arranged for them via a plea bargain."

Kaufman told Johnston before the closed hearing that she believes he knows that she does not have a reputation for "throwing defendants to the government."

She and her investigator, whom Fitch also complained about, have always acted professionally, Kaufman said.

Fitch's trial is scheduled for July 10, but because of the likelihood of additional charges, Damm said he expects the trial to be delayed.

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-2321 or by e-mail at kimberly@lasvegassun.com