Former Raiders Player Charged with More Murders

Anthony Wayne Smith, a former professional football player who lived in Marina del Rey, has been charged with three additional murders, the Los Angeles Police Department announced on Friday.

Smith, 44, is also charged with the 2008 murder of 31-year-old Maurilio Ponce, who was beaten and shot several times before his body was dumped about 11 miles west of Lancaster. In April, the jury failed to reach a verdict, and Smith is currently awaiting a retrial.

LAPD detectives on Monday filed murder charges against Smith for the 1999 double-murder of Rickey and Kevin Nettles and the 2001 murder of Dennis Henderson.

The brothers were kidnapped by two men posing as police officers on Nov. 10, 1999 from a carwash in Los Angeles, which the siblings owned. The brothers were later found dead, handcuffed and apparently tortured, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office. 

Henderson was kidnapped on June 24, 2001, along with Terry Ware, who was later released. Henderson was found bound and gagged in the back seat of a rental car. Henderson’s brother lived next door to Smith in Marina del Rey, Gibbons said.

Smith, who was born in North Carolina, played college football at the University of Arizona and was the Raiders top pick in the 1990 draft and the 11th player chosen overall. He played for the Raiders in Los Angeles and Oakland from 1991 to 1998. He was living in Marina del Rey at the time Ponce was killed.