California Man Charged With Torturing And Waterboarding His New Wife For Hours

A California man is accused of drunkenly beating and torturing his new bride for hours, keeping her captive and even waterboarding her until she was hospitalized.

Richard David Schlosser, 36, is facing felony charges including torture, false imprisonment and corporal injury of a spouse and criminal threats, according to court records cited by the Daily Pilot in Orange County. He faces a minimum of seven years in prison and the possibility of a life sentence.

Schlosser in January attacked his 65-year-old wife for hours while under the influence of alcohol, Senior Deputy District Attorney Mark Geller told City News Service in Southern California. They had only been married for two months.

“He did this for hours,” the prosecutor said. “He kept her captive in the apartment for hours … He actually waterboarded her.”

Officers went to Schlosser's apartment in Newport Beach after 10 a.m. on January 6, after someone called police to ask them to check on a women there, Newport Beach police spokeswoman Jennifer Manzella said.

Schlosser's wife, who filed for a restraining order against him, alleged that he punched her and gave her a black eye, kicked her, hit her with a candelabra and cut her with scissors. He also allegedly choked her and shoved a towel down her throat. She only managed to call a friend after Schlosser sobered up.

Richard David Schlosser.

The restraining order was dismissed after the wife did not show up for a hearing in February.

Schlosser has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

In addition to the charges he's already facing, Schlosser faces enhancements on prior charges because he was out on $50,000 bail for a domestic violence case from December 2016 involving a 20-year-old woman, the Pilot reported. He pleaded not guilty to charges in that case too. 

Jail records list Schlosser as unemployed. His next court date is in August.

[Photo: Orange County District Attorney's Office]