Page 3 - Ralph Marcus News Today

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 ...

Could turn it into 4 million. youd never have to work again. >> and ralph marcus was no 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...

>> you never know whats going to be important at a scene, so you collect everything. sometimes its the smallest thing that you didnt think 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 actuall...

I didnt even know this guy. >> over the years, he continued 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 kno...

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 of the scam or that marcus killed nick howard and crashed his car into the river. >> i...

>> and ralph marcus was no 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 ...

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. it was very interesting in cour...

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 ...

>> i believe that marcus befriended nick to, first of all, stay close and to find out things about me. but i think even early on, he had a plan to hurt nick. >> they went to lake tahoe. they went to reno. ralph fancied himself the great baccarat player. he got fancy hotel rooms. he had women come by. >> when questioned, ralph marcus said he knew nothing about nick howards murder and claimed he had an alibi for the night of the crash. >> and he had his dying mother state that he was at home with ...

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 ability to hold a job for very long. >> he was kind of creepy. he just never went away. he wasnt around like 24/7, but he w...