“I’m not aware of how the laws relate to that case, so I couldn’t answer that,” Le Roux said.

“You don’t know whether you could face the death penalty if you were charged with a murder in the United States?”

“I don’t know the law here, so I couldn’t answer that,” Le Roux said. “If you say so.”

When it came to other countries’ laws, though, Le Roux dis- played a rather detailed knowledge. He admitted that he was vul- nerable to criminal charges in the Philippines and Ecuador—the latter “since the cocaine shipment originated there.” He’d commit- ted no crimes in Brazil, he said, because it “lacks a conspiracy law.” As for his adventures in Somalia, he argued, “Somalia lacks any government, so I am not concerned about whatever actions took place there because they are not crimes.”

By this point, Richman had achieved his goal, and the judge seemed to have reached the limit of the latitude he was willing to grant. Richman tried one more gambit. “Isn’t it true that you had a reputation for killing people who stole from you?” he asked.

“That is an exaggeration,” Le Roux said.

“Nothing further, your honor.”

After a brief cross-examination, in which Linda Marks reestab- lished that Le Roux had agreed to have his phone calls and email monitored, the hearing was over. Two marshals shackled Le Roux and escorted him back through the side door.

Outside the courtroom, Oz’s other attorney, Friedberg, seemed almost triumphant, even though the defense team would ultimately lose the motion to throw out the phone and email records. They’d flushed Le Roux out into the open, and if they called him as a wit- ness at Oz’s trial, they could easily establish his murderous past through his own admissions. “Certainly, the phone calls will come into evidence, we always knew that,” he said. “Getting a look at this guy is worth a lot to us.”