Anonymous Letter-Writer Claims to Have Killed Reno Man

An anonymous letter to The Times from someone claiming to have murdered a Reno man has given the FBI its first new leads in the Sept. 16 disappearance of the man from his ransacked, bloodstained office.

Reno police said Michael F. Ritter, a free-lance photographer, vanished that night after telling his wife during a telephone conversation that he had to hang up because a man at the door said his car had broken down and he needed to borrow the telephone.

The next morning, Ritter’s business partner found Ritter gone, his car missing, the office ransacked and about $5,100 in cash missing from the office till, police said.

Detectives said at the time that there were three possibilities in the case--a robbery/abduction, a robbery/abduction/murder or fraud by Ritter. The FBI entered the case because of the possibility of kidnaping.

Ritter’s wife, Candy, told reporters that her husband had no business, financial or personal problems.

Newest Clues

“I just know he was abducted,” she said. “He’s as straight as an arrow.”

Investigators said they had no further clues as to what might have happened to Ritter until Thursday, when The Times received a typewritten letter, postmarked Tuesday in San Bernardino, addressed to the managing editor of the newspaper.

“I’m writing this letter in an effort to confess to the killing of Michael F. Ritter,” the letter begins. “It happened early Saturday morning on September 17th. . . . Everything happened so fast that he was dead before I knew what I was doing. . . . I’m enclosing his Visa card to prove that I’m not a hoax, and to help you find out where all this took place. . . .”

The enclosed card, bearing the signature of a Michael F. Ritter on the back, is marked valid through August, 1989. Both the letter and the Visa card were turned over to the FBI by The Times. Investigators declined to say whether the signature appeared genuine and whether any charges had been made on the card after Sept. 16.

‘Loss of Memory’

“I have a loss of memory and cannot recall exactly where he is buried, somewhere in the Southern California Desert,” the letter continues. “I parked his car in a Safeway parking lot, near the Riverside Bus Depot.”

Investigators said Ritter’s missing car--a dark red 1980 Audi 5000, with a Nevada plate reading “395 BWM”--was not found in the lot. The market, now part of the Von’s chain, was part of the Safeway chain until last week. The signs on the store were changed Sept. 21, four days after Ritter disappeared.

“I would also like to offer my most sincere apologies to (Ritter’s) family,” the letter says. “I know it doesn’t mean much, but if there was any way I could trade places with him at this moment, I would gladly do it. . . .

“I’m searching endlessly for my own family and identity. Once I have found my family and had the chance to tell them how much I love them and miss them, I will turn myself over to police. . . .”

The typewritten signature reads, “AMNESIAMAN.” Reno police said Ritter, who formerly had worked as a press photographer for the Reno Gazette-Journal, often worked late at night at the photo lab he operated in a remote warehouse district near Reno International Airport.

They said he went to the lab on Sept. 16 at about 8 p.m., calling his wife shortly afterward to tell her he would be working late.

Interrupted Conversation

Investigators said Ritter suddenly interrupted the conversation, asking his wife to wait a moment while he answered a man at the door. They said that when he returned, Ritter hung up after telling his wife the man had to use the phone.

Reno police did not indicate whether bloodstains found in the office matched Ritter’s blood type.