KEY LARGO, Fla. — A 41-year-old Texas, man suspected of killing his wife was found dead from an apparent suicide after a bizarre incident at sea that began Friday after he stole a boat from friends in the Florida Keys and tried to flee to Cuba.

Noel Sosa-Ruiz reportedly shot himself in the chest as a U.S. Coast Guard cutter approached what appeared to be a stranded boater in distress approximately 11 miles southwest of Cay Sal Island in the Bahamas, according to accounts from the Monroe County Sheriff's Office and the Coast Guard.

The incident began early Friday when a Key Largo family called the sheriff's office to report that a 21-foot Mako center console boat had been stolen from behind their house on Bonito Lane.

A friend of the family told deputies that Sosa, a family friend, had taken the boat and left both a van he had been driving and a note. The note expressed apologies, but added that he had to get away because of a "death warrant," according to Deputy Becky Herrin.

Investigating, Deputy Matt Koval discovered Sosa was wanted in Houston for homicide, according to an October warrant. The Houston Chronicle reported Sunday that Sosa-Ruiz is accused of killing 29-year-old Yodanis Cruz-Rojas, his common-law wife. Investigators said Cruz-Rojas was at work at a dental office last week when Sosa-Ruiz entered the business, fatally shot her and fled, the Chronicle reported.

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