A 74-year-old grandfatherly figure living quietly in San Diego doesn't usually attract the FBI. But when investigators dug up the backyard of a Southcrest home, they didn't find old plumbing. They found human bones.
Dwight William Rhone is no longer just a suspect in a brutal roadside slaying. Prosecutors just tied him to three additional gruesome deaths. The trail of blood spans over 30 years. This development transforms a single murder trial into a massive hunt for an alleged serial killer.
If you think cold cases stay cold forever, think again. Law enforcement agencies across Southern California are currently cross-referencing decades of unsolved missing persons reports against Rhone's life timeline.
The Interstate Slaying That Blew the Case Wide Open
The house of cards collapsed because of a fire on the side of the road. On October 13, 2023, emergency crews responded to what looked like burning debris near the Interstate 5 and State Route 905 interchange. Instead, they found 54-year-old Bernardo Moreno. He had been shot in the head. The killer then set his body ablaze to destroy the evidence.
San Diego police arrested Rhone in December 2024 for Moreno's murder. He sat in jail awaiting trial. But homicide detectives kept digging. They noticed weird gaps in Rhone’s history. They looked closer at his former residences.
That skepticism paid off. In December 2025, the California Highway Patrol and the FBI swarmed a property on Newton Avenue in Southcrest. Rhone used to live there. Underneath the house, hidden in the dirt, lay the skeletal remains of Michael Brown.
Tracing a Thirty Year Trail of Violence
The discovery of Brown's body shattered the timeline. Prosecutors realized they weren't dealing with a recent escalation. They were looking at a pattern. On Wednesday, the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office officially amended the charges.
Rhone now faces four counts of first-degree murder. The details of the newly added cold cases show a terrifyingly diverse method of killing.
- December 1993: Heriberto Ruiz was found dead in an alley near the 3500 block of Acacia Street in Southcrest. The coroner determined he died from strangulation.
- September 2002: Ronald Johnken’s body was recovered from Chollas Creek near 3300 National Avenue in Logan Heights. He died from severe blunt-force trauma to the head.
- December 2025: Michael Brown’s remains were uncovered beneath Rhone’s former rental home.
The geographical footprint is tiny. All of these locations sit within a tight radius in South San Diego. For decades, the killer lived right alongside the ghosts of his victims.
The Legal High Stakes and What Happens Next
District Attorney Summer Stephan didn't hold back during the announcement. She made it clear that her office will pursue the maximum penalties available under California law. Because of the multiple victims, prosecutors filed a special circumstances allegation.
This completely changes the legal math. If convicted, Rhone faces exactly two options. Life in prison without the possibility of parole, or the death penalty. Though California currently maintains a moratorium on executions, prosecutors still fight for capital sentences to ensure the highest level of security and permanent confinement.
Rhone appeared in a Chula Vista courtroom on Wednesday. He wore jail scrubs, looked frail, and muttered a plea of not guilty to the new charges. The defense will have a mountain of old forensic files to review. Because of the complexity, the judge set the next major hearing all the way out in March 2027.
Digging Even Deeper into the Past
Don't assume this list of four victims is final. Investigators are actively looking into a fifth case. On May 1, 1989, the body of 33-year-old Danice Galloway was found in an alley on Main Street. She had been murdered. The location matches Rhone’s known stomping grounds perfectly.
Police are also looking for answers regarding Antenogenes Gomez Velasquez. He lived just doors down from Rhone on Newton Avenue and vanished without a trace in 2021 right before his 40th birthday.
If you or anyone you know lived near Southcrest, Logan Heights, or the South Bay area between 1989 and 2024 and remember interacting with Dwight Rhone, call the San Diego Police Homicide Unit at 619-531-2293. Even a tiny detail about a vehicle he drove or a property he maintained could help close another family's decades-long nightmare.
