The Lobster Trap Murder – How a Boat Trip Ended in Death

[0:01] This podcast is for educational and documentary purposes. It contains graphic details from court records. [0:09] Some listeners may find it disturbing. Listener discretion is advised. [0:17] The ocean doesn’t care what it hides. It’ll keep secrets for days or weeks or even years. But sometimes it gives them back. Five nautical miles off the California coast under the cover of darkness a man is shot twice and still clinging to life he’s bound with rope weighted down with an improvised anchor and then he’s rolled over the side of the small fishing boat into the cold pacific ocean, For nearly two days the ocean will keep him When it finally gives him back The truth that surfaces is worse than anyone imagined, This is the story of James Dow A fisherman, a father And the man federal prosecutors say was lured to his death By people he thought were friends It’s a story that begins in a lobster harbor winds through the dark alleys of debt and suspicion and ends in a federal courtroom where the words murder on the high seas carry the weight of a life sentence. Hi, I’m Steve Rode, and this is True Crime Cases You Haven’t Heard. The Lobster Trap Murder. [1:44] On this show, I take you into the overlooked corners of the true crime world. Cases you’ve never heard of, but should have. Stories that aren’t built for tabloid headlines, but for truth. And for the people left behind. Everything you’ll hear comes directly from court records, official statements, and trial testimony. I don’t speculate. I don’t invent. Every scene is built on what’s in the evidence. And in this case, that evidence will take us from the calm of a Southern California harbor to the chaos of the open sea. [2:25] It will bring us into the mind of a man named Wong Suen Lei, a man prosecutors say orchestrated a calculated killing, driven by debt and by suspicion that his victim might be working with law enforcement. We’ll also hear from Sheila Ritzy, the boat’s owner, who claims she was too scared to stop what was happening, From investigators who pieced together GPS data, security footage, and a body weighted down in the Pacific And from James Dow’s family, who sat through every day of the trial, listening to the details of his last moments, [3:08] This is The Lobster Trap Murder. It’s about what happened that night on the water, why it happened, and how the ocean itself became the unwilling witness. [3:24] Dana Point Harbor sits tucked into the southern edge of Orange County, California, a crescent of calm water carved out from the Pacific. On any given day, the slips are filled with sport fishing boats, sailboats, and in the fall, vessels rigged for lobster season. The smell here is a mix of salt air, diesel exhaust, and the sharp tang of baitfish. On cool mornings, you’ll see lobster fishermen in heavy rubber bibs unloading wire traps baited with fish heads onto the docks. By night, they set out again, their boats gliding past the jetties under low light, headed for the drop zones just outside the harbor. It’s a tight-knit scene. Crews know each other, sometimes trading spots or deckhands, often competing for the same patch of productive water. And like any small fishing community, rumors travel faster than the tide, James Dow was no stranger to this world Friends described him as charismatic The kind of man who could strike up a conversation with anyone at the dock He loved the sea But he also had business dealings on shore that, according to testimony, weren’t always above board. [4:48] Wang Lei, weighing to those who knew him, moved through a different circle, but one that often intersected with Dao’s. He was older, more reserved in public, but with a reputation for keeping score. If you owed him money, you didn’t forget it. And if he thought you’d crossed him, he didn’t forget that either. Sheila Ritzy, the third name in this story, was a link between them She owned the Triumph, A modest center console fishing boat that she used for lobster runs Ritzy had her own struggles, money problems, a history of risky relationships And she told investigators she was friends with Dow But close to Lay, It was through her boat that the night’s events would unfold By mid-October 2019, lobster season was in full swing. Traps dotted the seafloor just outside the harbor, marked by floating buoys bobbing in the swell. The season meant long nights in the water, cash sales at the dock, and for some, opportunities to settle scores away from prying eyes. In this world of part working waterfront and part backchannel economy, James Dow would spend his last night alive. [6:16] On the surface, Lay and Dow were connected through the harbor. But their business ties went deeper than lobster traps. Court records and testimony revealed they were partners in an illegal marijuana grow operation. They pooled money, shared resources, and like many underground ventures, trust was the only contract between them. But when harvest slowed and debts piled up, that trust began to unravel. Lay believed Dow owed him money, not just a little, but enough to feel betrayed. And when Lay started whispering that Dow might also be talking to law enforcement, [7:00] well, suspicion turned into something darker. A shared venture that once tied them together became the very fuse prosecutors said led to murder. [7:17] It’s the night of October 14th, 2019. James Dow spends the evening at Natalie Nguyen’s Fountain Valley apartment. At 11.40 p.m., his phone pings from that location. a small, ordinary data point that will later become part of the prosecution timeline. By 12.27 a.m., Dow sends Nguyen a short video. In it, dock lights shimmer on the black water, and you can hear footsteps on aluminum gangways, the kind that flex and echo under each step. [7:53] The camera tilts briefly towards a small center console fishing boat. The Triumph, moored and ready. That boat belongs to Sheila Ritzi. On the dock, Huang Lei is already there. Witnesses later testify that Lei’s demeanor that night was watchful, not rushed, almost like he was waiting for a signal that no one else could see. In the weeks leading up to this night, Lay had been talking, quietly, to people he trusted. The conversations weren’t about fishing or business opportunities. They were about Dow. Wayne said if he’s working with the cops, I can’t have that, said one witness. Whether it was true or not, in Lay’s world, suspicion alone was enough to mark you as a liability. Dow also owed Lay money, a debt that prosecutors said was both motive and cover for what was about to happen. Lay gestures towards the boat. Dow steps aboard. Ritzy’s already at the helm, the dashlights casting her face in pale green. The deck smells faintly of bait and salt water. Familiar to any fisherman, but tonight, there’s an undercurrent of something sharper. [9:18] They ease away from the dock, the Triumph’s hull sliding silently through the water. Dock lights recede, the harbor mouth opens ahead, and beyond it, the open Pacific Ocean. For James Dow, this is the last time his feet will touch land. Thank you. [9:44] The Triumph pushes past the breakwater. Inside the harbor, the water was glassy and calm. Out here, the Pacific was a slow, rolling swell. The stars are clear overhead, the kind of visibility fishermen love. Ritzy stands at the helm, her eyes on the compass. She doesn’t say much. Later, she’ll tell investigators she kept her focus forward because she didn’t want to watch what was happening behind her. [10:18] Lei and Dow stand mid-deck. The deck lights are now off, leaving only the faint glow from the GPS. Shadows move across the fiberglass. They pass the last visible buoy marking the outer lobster grounds. The smell of bait is stronger out here, fish heads and the wire traps just beneath the surface, swaying in the current. Lei leans closer to Dow, their voices low, nearly lost in the engine noise. A small hand gesture, casual to anyone else, has Dow shifting his weight towards the side of the boat. [11:00] In the darkness, there’s no sound but of the water, the motor, and the quiet rhythm of the boat’s hull, Slapping each wave, The GPS ticks upward in miles And the screen showing nothing but blue around them, To an outsider it might look like a normal fishing trip But the way Lay keeps glancing at the deck The way his hand rests on something near the console, The way Ritzy grips the wheel tighter Each time the boat hits a swell, It’s not normal Not tonight Not tonight. [11:41] The GPS shows they’re five nautical miles offshore. And here, there’s no shorelight, no other boats, just the black, endless surface of the Pacific. Dow stands near the center console, leaning slightly against the side of the boat. The air smells of fuel, salt, and something metallic. Lay steps toward him. The first shot comes fast. Dow jerks, clutching his side, eyes wide. He staggers towards the side of the boat. The second shot strikes his head, a glancing hit, not a kill shot. He’s dazed and still conscious, gasping. From the helm, Ritzy keeps the bow pointed into the darkness, her hands locked on the wheel, and later she’ll testify, I didn’t want to be there, I told him, I don’t want any part of this shit. But I kept my hands on the wheel. [12:37] Lei moves in close, and then there’s the sound of impact. The butt of the gun hitting bone. Dow grunts, tries to raise an arm. Marine-grade rope, thick and unforgiving. Lay works fast, looping it around Dow’s ankle, tying hard knots. On the other end, an improvised anchor, heavy enough to drag a man straight down. Lay drags Dow towards the stern. The prosecution will later say he was calm, controlled, not hurried. [13:12] This wasn’t chaos. This wasn’t self-defense. This was an execution on the high water, the prosecutor says. Dow makes a final choked sound. Lei heaves the rope over the side. The ocean closes over him, and the rope goes tight and then disappears into the black. The smell of spent gunpowder hangs in the cool air, mingling with salt spray. Leigh turns to Ritzy Go! The triumph’s bow swings toward shore The return trip is silent, no conversation Just the low drone of the outboard and a steady slap of small waves under the hull, By 3am they glide back into Dana Point Harbor They tie up without a word And unload, nothing visible The water swallows the truth At least for now. [14:16] By sunrise james dow is already missing his phone is dark overnight messages go unread short bursts of where are you from friends and a longer one from his sister at natalie nguyen’s apartment she wakes to see the last video he sent her dock lights shimmering on black water the sound of footsteps, She plays it again, searching for something she missed. A clue in the background, a voice, anything. She calls him, straight to voicemail. She calls again, and again, and again. Crosstown, Dow’s sister tries his number, pacing her kitchen as the phone is pressed to her ear. She leaves a message, James, it’s me, call me back, please. [15:07] The hours pass. Friends check his usual haunts. Favorite coffee shop, the small garage where he sometimes worked on his car. A buddy’s place where he’d crash after late nights on the water. Nothing. By evening, concern had turned into dread. The family files a missing persons report. Police note his last known location, on the water, well after midnight. That’s unusual. The harbor on this night is calm. Boats rock gently in their slips. Out past the breakwater, the Pacific keeps its secret. [15:47] It’ll be nearly two full days before the ocean gives James Dow back. And when it does, the truth will be worse than anyone dared imagine. [16:03] The call comes in just after sunrise. A recreational fishing boat spots something in the water. Five nautical miles off Dana Point. Exactly where James Dow’s phone signal last pinged before going dark. At first, they think it’s debris. But as they draw closer, they see a man’s body floating, face down, tethered by a length of rope. They radio the Coast Guard immediately. Within the hour, a 45-foot response boat is on scene Divers drop into the water, following the rope down to the green murk On the seafloor, they find the other end tied to an improvised anchor, Heavy metal crudely lashed with fishing rope They cut the rope, freeing the body for recovery. [16:58] Now, you might be wondering how a body weighted with an anchor or a hunk of metal could ever resurface. The answer lies in biology, not mystery. Even bound and dragged down, Dao was wearing a secured life jacket, giving him built-in buoyancy. But as the biological decomposition began, gas is built up inside his body. The process can take a day or two, and sometimes longer, depending on water temperature. In Dow’s case, it was almost exactly 48 hours before the natural buildup combined with the life jacket they left on him overcame the weight, pulling him down. The ocean gave him back, not because it wanted to, but because it had no choice. [17:50] Dow’s wearing a life jacket, zipped and secured, but it’s clear he never had a chance to use it. The Pacific is calm that morning. The horizon is sharp and clear. In the sterile language of the official log, it’s a recovery. But to those on the boat, it’s something else entirely. The first undeniable sign that what happened here was not an accident. Back at the harbor, the dock becomes a controlled scene. Coast Guard Investigator Service agents arrive, joined quickly by the FBI. Murder on the high seas falls under federal jurisdiction. Every piece of clothing, every knot in the rope, every mark on Dow’s body is documented. The rope’s marine wear, fibers frayed from repeated saltwater exposure, will later be matched to a coil found on Sheila Ritzy’s boat. The body of James Dow begins to tell its story. [18:52] The forensic details here mattered. The medical examiner explained that Dow’s lungs were filled with water. Not just his airways, but deep into his lung tissue. That only happens if someone is still breathing when they go under. The frothy, blood-tinged fluid found in his air passages were another marker, the classic sign of active drowning. It meant Dow was conscious enough to draw breath after being shot, after being bound, and after the anchor dragged him beneath the surface. He was alive when the ocean took him. The forensic pathologist will testify the cause of death was drowning with contributing injuries from gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma. [19:41] He was alive when he entered the water. [19:49] Once Dow’s body is recovered, the work shifts from the water to the evidence table in the exam room. Federal jurisdiction means the FBI and Coast Guard Investigative Service lead the case. Their first step? Trace where Dow had been in the hours before his death. They start with his phone. Cell Tower data confirms his last text, the short dockside video sent to Natalie Nguyen at 12.27 a.m. After that, his phone pings only once more at 1.48 a.m., five nautical miles offshore. That exact GPS coordinate becomes the heart of this investigation. Next, they pull harbor security footage. Grainy night vision shows Dao walking the dock towards Sheila Ritzy’s Triumph. Wang Lei trailing just behind him. The footage captures them boarding at 12.34 a.m. And the Triumph’s running lights blink on minutes later. They vanish out of the harbor mouth. [20:59] Agents then turn to the boat itself. The Triumph is seized and searched, stem to stern. In a dock locker, they find marine rope identical to the one recovered with Dow’s body. Same diameter, same marine wear, and the lab analysis later confirms the cut fibers match the rope still attached to Dow when he was found. On the deck, Luminol reveals faint traces consistent with blood. In one of the rod holders, they recover a spent shell casing. Ballistics testing will tie it to a 9mm pistol, Later recovered from a storage unit linked to Ley The most chilling find is in the Triumph’s GPS unit Its memory shows a route logged on the night of October 1415 A straight line from Dana Point Harbor to the exact coordinates where Dow’s phone last pinked and his body was later found, The return track leads straight back to the boat slip. When confronted with this data, Sheila Ritzy admits to being at the helm that night, but claims she acted under duress. She says, he told me to drive. I kept my eyes forward. I didn’t want to see. [22:21] Witness interviews paint a broader picture. Friends recall Lay expressing suspicion that Dow might be working with law enforcement and anger over the money owed. [22:35] One witness said, Wayne said, if he’s talking to the cops, I can’t have that. Piece by piece, the chain tightens. Dow boards Ritzy’s boat with Lei. The GPS shows the route offshore and back. Rope from the Triumph matches the rope used to sink Dow. Ballistics tie the shell casing on deck to a gun linked to Lei. From the investigator’s perspective, the picture is no longer a mystery. It’s a map. And at the end of that map is a murder charge. [23:17] The first arrest happens quietly. On November 22nd, FBI agents take Lay into custody at his Fountain Valley home. They arrive before dawn. Unmarked SUVs, agents in windbreakers, no sirens, no lights. Neighbors wake to the sight of Lay being led away in cuffs. Later that day, federal prosecutors unseal the indictment. Murder on the high seas. A charge that carries the possibility of life in prison. Sheila Ritzy is arrested soon after that. Her booking photo flashes across evening newscast. A middle-aged woman in a plain shirt, eyes rimmed red. She faces the same murder charge. A Fountain Valley man has been arrested, weighted down, and dumped into the ocean. In Dana Point Harbor, the news spreads fast. Fishermen swap theories over coffee at the Dockside Cafe, glancing towards the empty slip where the Triumph was moored. Some are shocked. Ritzy’s been part of the community for years. Others aren’t. They talk in low voices about her money problems, about Lei’s reputation for being intense. [24:39] The Dow family is spared none of it. Each new headline is a fresh wound. The coverage is relentless. Still, shots of Dow smiling on a boat, contrasted with grainy harbor security footage from the night he vanished. Dao’s sister said, Every time I saw his picture on the news, it was like losing him again. And to know they were still out there walking free for a while, that was unbearable. The arrests mark the official shift from rumor to reality. For investigators, it’s just the beginning. The case will now play out in the harsh light of a federal courtroom. [25:25] And for the people who knew James Dow, the wait for justice begins. [25:35] The trial of Lee begins in a U.S. district court for the Central District of California. Federal courtrooms are austere. No drama in the decor, only in the words spoken inside. Lee sits at the defense table in a dark suit. His expression is unreadable. Sheila Ritzy, tried separately, watches from behind the bars during the key days. From the first moments, the prosecution makes their framing clear. The prosecutor says, This case is about control. Control over a debt. Control over a man he suspected. Control that ended with James Dow weighted down at the bottom of the Pacific. They walk the jury through the evidence. Harbor surveillance footage showing Dow, Lay, and Ritzy boarding the Triumph, GPS data tracing their route to the offshore coordinates, the rope matched by fiber analysis, and ballistics linking a shell casing to Lay’s pistol. Then they bring in a witness. One former associate recalls a conversation just weeks before killing. Wayne told me if he’s talking to the cops, I can’t have that. That’s all he said, but I know what he meant. [27:01] The medical examiner testifies that Dow drowned He was alive when he entered the water With gunshot wounds, sure, and blunt force trauma, yeah But injuries that would have left him severely impaired, not dead, The pathologist said he could not have swum or saved himself The anchor would have pulled him under in seconds, When it’s Ritzy’s turn, her voice is quiet She admits she drove the boat But insists she was acting under threat, He told me to keep my eyes forward I didn’t want to see, I didn’t want to hear But I heard everything, The defense counters by attacking witness credibility And suggesting the killing was unplanned The result of a confrontation gone wrong Lay does not take the stand. In closing, the prosecutor leaves the jury with a stark image. James Dow’s last view was the Pacific. His last breath was salt water. And the man who put him there is sitting right here. The jury deliberates for just a few hours. They return with a verdict. [28:22] Guilty of murder on the high seas. [28:28] The day of the sentencing, the courtroom feels different. Trials are about facts. Sentencing is about consequences. Lay sits at the defense table. Eyes forward. He wears a suit again, but today the weight on his shoulders is visible. The judge invites the family of James Dow to speak. Dow’s sister rises, her voice shakes, but every word is clear. You didn’t just kill James. You stole his children’s father, my mother’s son, my brother. You threw him away like trash. She pauses, fighting for composure. He loved the ocean, but you turned it into his grave. [29:18] Other family members speak, each painting their own portrait of Dal. The father who made time for bedtime stories even after long nights on the water. The brother who could make you laugh when you didn’t want to. And the son who called home every Sunday. The prosecutor addresses the court one final time. This was not a moment of rage. This was a deliberate act, planned and executed, miles from shore to ensure that no one could help him. And yet, the ocean gave him back, and with him, the evidence that brings us here today. [30:02] The judge leans forward, hands clasped, his voice is firm and measured. [30:11] The law is clear. The evidence is clear. And the sentence must reflect both the seriousness of the crime and the irreparable harm done. Huang Lei, I sentence you to life in federal prison. Lei shows no outward reaction. Across the aisle, Dao’s family exhales. Not relief exactly, but the release of holding their breath for far too long. In the back row, Sheila Ritzy sits silently. She’s already been convicted in her own trial and faces her own sentence. Outside, reporters cluster on the courthouse steps, microphones ready, cameras rolling, and inside the courtroom, it empties slowly, the echo of the gavel still perceptible in the air. [31:10] Wang Le is now serving his life sentence in a federal prison. According to the Bureau of Prisons, he is at FCI Lompoc in California, a medium security facility surrounded by razor wire and open fields, far from the coastal waters where James Dow took his last breath. His projected release date is simply listed as life. Sheila Ritzy was convicted of second-degree murder for her role in the killing. Prosecutors argued that while she may not have pulled the trigger, she knowingly facilitated the crime by providing the boat and navigating it to the drop location. She’s serving her sentence at a federal women’s prison. Her release date is decades away. [32:02] There are no appeals pending that could overturn their convictions. Both have filed routine post-trial motions, but none have succeeded in changing their legal standing. For the Dow family, these updates are not a source of comfort, so much as closure. They know where Lay and Ritzy are. They know neither will walk free anytime soon. But it doesn’t change the fact that an empty chair still sits at family dinners. And that the man they loved will never come home. [32:37] In Dana Point Harbor, life went back to normal, at least on the surface. Boats still came and went with the tide. Fishermen still loaded traps in the early hours, setting out in the dark. The smell of saltwater and diesel still lingers on the docks. But for those who knew James Dow, nothing about the harbor looks the same. Some friends still avoid slip E-22, where the Triumph once tied up. Others make a point to pass it, pausing for a moment as if to mark the space where Dow was last seen alive. His family chose to hold a memorial on the water. On a calm afternoon, they boarded a charter boat and motored slowly past the breakwater. Out on the open Pacific Ocean, they dropped a wreath of white flowers into the swells. watching it drift with the current. One of his nieces, too young to fully understand the case, asked why they came so far out. Dao’s sister said, because this is where he loved to be, and now a part of him will always be here. [33:52] The trial and convictions brought a measure of closure, but closure is not the same as healing. Dow’s children are growing up without their father. His friends remember the easy way he could start a conversation with anyone on the dock. His mother still keeps a framed photo of him in her kitchen, next to the phone he used to call every Sunday. In the harbor community, the case became a cautionary tale, A reminder that [34:21] the ocean, for all its beauty, can hide terrible things. And that sometimes the danger isn’t in the water at all, but in the people you trust to go there with. [34:37] Every homicide case carries its own lessons. For investigators, for communities, and for anyone listening closely, the lobster trap murder is no exception. For law enforcement, it underscores the importance of maritime forensics. Here, GPS data, rope fiber analysis, and tidal drift models were as critical as ballistics in witness testimony. The ocean is vast and ever-changing. Evidence can vanish in hours. Acting quickly and knowing what to look for made all the difference between suspicion and proof. For prosecutors, it’s just a reminder that narrative matters in court. Jurors don’t need to hear all the facts. They need to see the sequence, feel the setting, understand the decisions made in those moments offshore. The prosecution’s ability to reconstruct the night minute by minute helped them overcome the defense’s claims of accident or self-defense. [35:43] For communities, it’s a sobering truth. Danger doesn’t always announce itself. Dow stepped onto a boat with people he knew, and yet, in less than two hours, he would be dead and anchored to the seafloor. For anyone working on the water, it’s a cautionary tale about trust. Once you leave the harbor, you’re beyond the reach of quick help. The people you’re with are the only ones who can get you back alive. That makes your choice of company the most important safety decision you can make. And for the Dow family, the lesson is deeply personal. That justice, even when served, can’t replace what’s been lost. The ocean gave James Dow joy in life and took him in death. But it also gave back the evidence needed to hold his killers accountable. And in that, there’s a measure of justice, even if there will never be peace. [36:48] This case, like all I cover here, is built entirely from court documents, official records, media reports, and sworn testimony. If you want to see every source for yourself, the transcripts, the filings, the evidence logs, you’ll find them all linked on this episode page at truecrimeunheard.com. If you found this episode valuable, please take a moment to visit Apple Podcasts and leave a five-star review. I appreciate it. It helps more listeners discover these overlooked cases and ensures the stories of victims like James Dow are not forgotten. And now, the listener question I want you to think about. If you were invited on a late-night boat trip by someone you knew, would you go? Why or why not? On the show episode on the site, True Crime Unheard, I want you to post your answer on the episode page for the Lobster Trap Murder. I read every comment. [38:00] I’m Steve Rode, and this has been True Crime Cases You Haven’t Heard. Each week I bring you another real case, built from official records, told with respect, and focused on the people at its heart. Join me next week for another story that deserves to be heard. Until then, stay safe, keep listening. Bye. You.