the attorney wrote. “De Meyer, known to have access to weapons, is at large and resides approximately 40 minutes from Leroux’s ex-wife. De Meyer also participated in murders with and for Hunter. He was a consistent member of Hunter’s murder for hire group.” He was, the letter asserted, responsible for the murder of Noimie Edillor, shooting her in the head.

The judge allowed the press in the courtroom to hear his deci- sion on the sealing order, and I took a seat in the back of the court- room, alongside some local reporters and Oz’s wife, who had moved from Israel with their two kids. A few minutes later, Oz arrived in jeans and a black jacket, wearing the same dark, trim beard as when I’d met him in 2015. For a man about to share a courtroom with the ex-boss who’d had him shot at and set up, he appeared buoyant. When Richman showed him a printout of Le Roux’s fake local arrest record, he laughed aloud.

Linda Marks, the prosecutor, had dark, swept-back hair and was wearing a black suit, sitting with another prosecutor at a table across the courtroom. They’d both flown in from Washington.

The judge opened the hearing by noting the request from Le Roux’s attorney to close the courtroom. “Let me turn first to Mr. Oz’s counsel,” he said. “Do you continue to assert your constitu- tional rights to have an open hearing, Mr. Richman?”

“Yes, your honor,” Richman replied. “I find this procedure somewhat baffling.” Le Roux, he pointed out, was a government informant. His name was now public, and court hearings are typi- cally sealed only at the behest of the government, not a witness’s private attorney. “This is a matter that has generated great inter- est,” Richman continued. “There are members of the press in the back of the courtroom, as well as Mr. Oz’s family.” Richman pointed out that Le Roux’s identity had been revealed over a year before and “no harm has fallen on the family. And that document also suggests that the government has taken steps to protect the family.”

The moment had arrived that could decide whether Le Roux would be forced to publicly answer for his past—from the phar-