Page 2 - Ralph Marcus News Today

And to, in fact, ask her to be his wife. >> but patty said no. married someone else. had two children and tried to distance herself from marcus. but marcus continued to pursue her. >> ralph came to me and wanted to buy my ovum for $50,000. he wanted to hire a surrogate to carry the child. just before the end of the meeting, he put his hand on me and he said, "i would rather you carry the child, but i know thats not possible." >> that was the last straw. >> i saw how much it hurt my husband. and ...

On the night of the murder, prosecutors believe marcus and nick met on the dock to plan the car crash. either nick tried to back out or marcus had planned to kill him all along. at some point, marcus strangled him until he was unconscious, then threw him into the river where he drowned. he kept nicks glasses, bent them in half, and threw them on the floor of nicks car to make it appear nick was in the car when it crashed. marcus opened the windows, used the cap from his motor oil bottle, placed ...

Disappear and nobody would ever be able to find him. you can look at that a couple of different ways. yeah, that leads to believe that perhaps theres some involvement. the family would like to think otherwise. its difficult to say. and im not sure we will ever know. >> ralph marcus was tried and convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> i was amazed at the team, the california highway patrol team, the way they put things back together....

Would be involved is what breaks your case open. >> prosecutors believe ralph marcus was angry with nicks mother for the years of rejection going all the way back to high school. >> ralph marcus believed that he and patty should have been star-crossed lovers. she had turned him down from the outset. and toward the time when nick howard was killed, hed actually gotten to threatening her by saying things like, you should know what its like to lose a child. >> ralph marcus plan, according to prosec...

Comcast business. built for business. before his murder, nick howard told his sister he planned to change the beneficiary of his life insurance policies that totaled almost $1 million. but she didnt take him seriously. >> he told me, "im thinking about changing the beneficiary." and then i said, "not ralph." then nick said, why not? he could take $850,000 and he could turn it into 4 million. youd never have to work again. >> and ralph marcus was no

On the night of the murder, prosecutors believe marcus and nick met on the dock to plan the car crash. either nick tried to back out or marcus had planned to kill him all along. at some point, marcus strangled him until he was unconscious, then threw him into the river where he drowned. he kept nicks glasses, bent them in half, and threw them on the floor of nicks car to make it appear nick was in the car when it crashed. marcus opened the windows, used the cap from his motor oil bottle, placed ...

To make romantic advances to her and to, in fact, ask her to be his wife. >> but patty said no. married someone else. had two children and tried to distance herself from marcus. but marcus continued to pursue her. >> ralph came to me and wanted to buy my ovum for $50,000. he wanted to hire a surrogate to carry the child. just before the end of the meeting, he put his hand on me and he said, "i would rather you carry the child, but i know thats not possible." >> that was the last straw. >> i saw ...

This loose piece of -- it was an application for change of beneficiary. it was an ncr copy. you could see where it had been crumpled and it had been folded at one time. it had ralph marcus name on it. and i was a little shocked. >> 37-year-old ralph marcus was an unemployed laborer who had a strained relationship with the howard family. he also had a police record. >> well, we did a little checking on mr. ralph marcus. in addition to his gambling and his flashy lifestyle, he never really had the...

Stranger to insurance fraud. >> it was said that ralph marcus decided pretty early on in his life that only fools worked for a living and rather than get a job, he supported himself gambling and insurance scams. supposedly, he had burned down his own house to receive the insurance proceeds. and then another time had arranged for the theft of a car and a boat to make money off that as well. >> with no forensic evidence linking marcus to the crash, investigators had one last idea. they noticed a l...

Paperwork for nick howard spread out over the desk. as if he was working on the life insurance. >> it was clear the change of beneficiary forms were in nick howards handwriting and were not forgeries. it appeared that nick and ralph marcus planned to defraud the insurance company. >> they had hatched a plan to fake nicks death, collect the insurance proceeds, and take the money down to south america or some location to live off of it. >> but this was all speculation. investigators had no proof o...