Arrest Made in Murder of Big Racetrack Winner

An Ontario man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering Newport Beach businessman Robert Unger on the day that Unger won $72,000 at a racetrack, authorities said Wednesday.

Robert Lee Ross, 23, was arrested Monday in connection with the June 1, 1991, shooting death of Unger, 33, in a hotel parking lot near Los Angeles International Airport.

Unger had gone to Hollywood Park racetrack in Inglewood that day and had won more than $72,000. At a cashier’s window, officials said, Unger asked to be paid in cash rather than with a check or combination of check and cash, which is the norm with large payoffs.

Unger and a friend then drove to the Stouffer Concourse Hotel, where the shooting occurred. Police said Ross demanded the money at gunpoint, and Unger was shot to death in an ensuing struggle even before he could climb out of his 1989 Jaguar.

Unger ran a door-to-door sales business from office suites and guest rooms at a hotel in Irvine. Costa Mesa police said Unger recruited young men and women for his business, known as New Reader Service, by placing advertisements in newspapers across the country.

He paid his recruits’ travel expenses to California and room and board.