Man owed 71-year-old money and had him killed in 2004 to clear debt, CA officials say
A man accused of orchestrating a 71-year-old’s 2004 killing to clear his own debt has been convicted, California prosecutors say.
A jury found Antoine Nehme, 73, of Victorville, guilty of murder in relation to the death of Dennis Wood, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a March 17 news release.
“I am deeply grateful to the jury for convicting the defendant and to the Ventura County Sheriff’s detectives who never gave up on this case,” Senior Deputy District Attorney John Barrick said in the release. “After two decades, they made justice possible for Dennis Wood’s family.”
Wood was found shot to death inside his Moorpark home during a welfare check April 16, 2004, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a May 15 news release, McClatchy News reported.
When deputies arrived, they found “his body lying in the doorway, with a large pool of blood near his head,” prosecutors said.
An autopsy showed he had been shot three times, prosecutors said. His death was ruled a homicide.
Over the years, deputies said they “periodically reviewed the case.”
Then, in 2010, a suspect from an unrelated Los Angeles murder case accused his co-defendant, Alex Bracamonte, of killing Wood per Nehme’s orders, prosecutors said.
More than a decade later, Bracamonte confessed to killing Wood in a 2023 interview with deputies, according to prosecutors.
“He provided details only the killer would know,” prosecutors said.
At the time of Wood’s death, Nehme owned an Ojai gas station where Bracamonte worked, prosecutors said.
Wood, who “owned a prepaid phone card business” and sold prepaid phone cards to Wood, gave “Nehme $28,700 in cash for an unknown business venture,” according to prosecutors.
“Rather than repay his debt, Nehme arranged for Wood to be killed to wipe out what he owed,” prosecutors said.
Bracamonte was charged in Wood’s death and pleaded guilty in May, prosecutors said.
During Nehme’s trial, Bracamonte testified against him, prosecutors said.
In addition to a murder charge, the jury also found Nehme guilty of ordering the killing of Wood for financial gain, according to prosecutors.
“Additionally, Judge Paul Baelly found all charged aggravating factors were true, including that the crime involved great violence and was carried out with planning, sophistication, or professionalism,” prosecutors said.
Nehme, who is being held without bail, is scheduled to appear in court May 20 for sentencing and “faces life in prison without the possibility of parole,” prosecutors said.
Bracamonte is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing April 30, according to prosecutors.
Moorpark is about a 45-mile drive northwest from Los Angeles.
