Dad surprised son a suspect in wife’s disappearance

Kim Smith

Wednesday, March 1, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

Up until Tuesday Burl Fitch thought his son was on an oil rig off the coast of Holland.

The fact that David Kent Fitch, 41, is in federal custody on felony firearms charges in Las Vegas doesn't surprise him. Neither does the fact that his son got married last spring without telling him.

The fact that his son got married again in January and is a suspect in the disappearance of the first wife does kind of shock him, though.

"Oh, God," was Burl Fitch's response when he was told the news.

FBI agents are trying to figure out what part, if any, Burl Fitch's only son had to play in the disappearance of Maria Bozi, a 46-year-old resident of England.

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

In September Bozi's caretaker in England was the last known person to speak to her. She hasn't been seen or heard from since Sept. 4 and authorities believe Fitch may know why.

FBI agents say that in the weeks following Bozi's disappearance Fitch began collecting aliases and withdrawing thousands of dollars from Bozi's bank account.

The case took a more ominous turn when FBI agents discovered that Fitch had purchased chloroform 23 days before Bozi arrived in the states, and he had a collection of instructional books on murder and changing identities.

It also raised authorities' eyebrows when they learned that Fitch married another English resident in January. That wife, Patricia Molano Gutierrez, remains in England.

As for Fitch, he is in the Clark County Detention Center. He was arrested Feb. 8 after officers who stopped him for speeding in Bozi's car found out he had weapons stored in a Henderson storage unit. Because Fitch has convictions for counterfeiting and drugs in his past, he isn't allowed to own or possess firearms.

Burl Fitch, 68, who lives in Texas, said the last time he heard from his son was at Christmas time. He received a card from David and assumed, because of the smudged postmark, that it was from overseas.

The last time he and his wife saw David was in July 1998, Burl Fitch said.

David had been staying with them after returning from an offshore oil rig job when he decided he wanted to go back to the rig for another year. He said David first began working on oil rigs when he found out how hard it is to get a job with a criminal record.

Up until Tuesday, Burl Fitch said he assumed David was doing what he said he always did -- work for four or five weeks on the oil rig and then spend his one or two weeks off in England.

Burl Fitch seemed to take in stride the fact that his son hasn't been on an oil rig.

"It doesn't surprise me. He hasn't told us the truth in a long time," he said.

As for Bozi and Gutierrez, Burl Fitch said he doesn't know anything about them although that summer David was in Texas "there was a lady named Maria that was calling for him quite a bit."

His son always had women in his life, Burl Fitch said. Aside from Bozi and Gutierrez, his son has been married at least three times and fathered at least five children. He also has one grandchild.

"I know about five (children), but there are probably more," Burl Fitch said.

In fact, Burl Fitch said, he wasn't surprised to learn about the identity-changing books.

"I knew he was looking to change his identity. I think it was because of the child support from his previous marriages," Burl Fitch said.

Burl Fitch said he has no plans to contact his son.

"There are spells where we think he's changing his ways, and then there are times where we give up on him," he said. "He's a hard worker when he's around, but you can't rely on anything he says."

Kim Smith covers courts for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 455-4844 or by email at kimberly@lasvegassun.com