Marine Charged in 2 Killings, Robbery at Coin Dealership

A 20-year-old Tustin Marine was charged Wednesday with the murder of two people at a Newport Beach rare coin dealership in an execution-style assault and robbery in March that also left the firm’s owner critically wounded, police said.

Lance Cpl. Eric Jon Wick was being held without bail Wednesday at the Newport Beach Jail in connection with the murders of Clyde Oatts and Renee Ratoon King, and the wounding of her husband, the owner of Newport Beach Coin Exchange, Newport Beach police said.

Wick, stationed at the Tustin Marine Corps Helicopter Station, is the son of an FBI agent based in Reno, Nev., and his fingerprints allegedly were found at the crime scene, military sources said.

The Marine, who had been held by military authorities after being arrested last week in Reno, was taken into custody by Newport Beach police Wednesday on a warrant charging him with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, one count of robbery and one count of burglary, Newport Beach Police Lt. Tim Riley said.

William D. King, 37, owner of the coin firm, could not be reached for comment Wednesday on the arrest in the slaying of his 38-year-old wife and his friend, Oatts, 45. Riley said King, who suffered gunshot wounds to the head and chest, is recovering at home.

At the time of the murder and robbery, King, a precious metals trader, was under investigation for allegedly bilking dozens of investors out of $1 million through a Newport Beach telemarketing company, Precious Metals Accumulation Corp., or Premaco, which sold contracts for gold, platinum and silver.

Oatts was a commodities broker at Monex International of Newport Beach. His wife, reached at her Irvine home late Wednesday, said she was glad to hear of the arrest in the case. “I think if that’s who it was (responsible for the crimes), then it’s good.”

Newport Beach police spokesman Lt. Tim Newman said detectives worked closely with the Naval Investigative Service to make the arrest in the case. Military sources said investigators linked Wick to the scene of the crime by fingerprints on a display case at the exchange house.

As the investigation proceeded, Newman said Wick “fled the area and went absent without leave.” Investigators suspected that he had gone to his hometown, Reno, and notified police there.

Newman said Reno police set up a surveillance at Wick’s “last known address” in Reno, “and he was arrested by them on the evening of June 8 without incident.”

The Naval Investigative Service took custody of Wick and eventually transferred him to the brig at the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, Newman said.

It was not until Wednesday that Newport Beach detectives, working with the Orange County district attorney’s office, obtained the arrest warrant for Wick, charging him with the murders. Newman said an investigation is continuing.

Wick, who has been on active duty since May 4, 1988, was a small arms repairman in the Marine Corps, according to Master Sgt. Steve Merrill, public affairs chief at the El Toro base.

“He was an armorer. He would fix rifles and pistols, and was in charge of issuance and custody of weapons,” Merrill said.

Wick was a member of Marine Aircraft Group 16, said Lt. Gene Browne, also a public affairs officer at El Toro.

While military sources said Wick is the son of an FBI agent, no one was available at the Reno FBI office late Wednesday to confirm that relationship. In the Las Vegas office, an officer in charge confirmed that an agent named Bruce Wick works in the Reno office, but Bruce Wick could not be reached for comment.

The attack on King, his wife and Oatts occurred March 14 at the Newport Coin Exchange offices on MacArthur Boulevard. Sources close to the investigation have said that all three were shot in the back or top of the head “execution style.” A shotgun was recovered at the scene, and the area was littered with 9-millimeter ammunition.

Paramedics rushed King to Fountain Valley Regional Hospital and Medical Center after they ignored his pleas to let him die at the scene, the federal source said.

At the time, police said they believed that robbery was a motive in the slayings but were not ruling out other reasons.

A source close to the investigation said in March that King and his attorney had been negotiating with federal authorities concerning indictments on the various mail and wire fraud charges in the Premaco case.

According to affidavits filed by postal investigators, Premaco salesmen hawked their wares to the public through telephone solicitations, promotional mailings, TV ads on Financial News Network and newspaper ads.

Authorities in connection with those investigations could not be reached for comment Wednesday.

Times staff writers Maria L. La Ganga and Carla Lazzareschi contributed to this story.