DANIEL WOZNIAK – Wedding money was the motive.
Samuel Herr (26) and Julie Kibuishi (23) met while attending Orange Coast College. They soon became good friends. She was an aspiring dancer who loved fashion. He was an Afghanistan war veteran working to earn his college degree so he could re-enlist in the U.S. Army and become an officer. Julie often tutored Sam in his studies.
When Steve Herr, Sam’s father, was unable to reach his son all day on May 22, 2010, he drove to Sam’s apartment. He let himself in with a key. Once inside, he found Julie’s partially nude body lying still in death, and called 911.
Police immediately believed that Sam Herr was the culprit and a fugitive now on the run. However, they soon became suspicious when they saw ATM withdrawals from Sam’s bank account and charges to a Long Beach pizza parlor. Days later, a 16-year-old boy was caught using Sam’s card again. When confronted, he told police that Daniel Wozniak had put him up to it.
Daniel Wozniak was Sam Herr’s neighbor and friend.
Daniel was also a part time theater actor, engaged to be married and as broke as they come. But, evidently, he had a plan to fix all of his woes.
Police, however, thwarted that plan when they arrested him at his bachelor’s party, just two days before his wedding.
Daniel Wozniak Reveals His Get Rich Quick Scheme
Under intense questioning, Daniel finally caves. He confesses to the double murder stating, “I’m crazy and I did it.” He reveals that he intended to kill Sam Herr and drain his savings, of the $60,000 or so, in order to alleviate his own financial stresses and pay for his wedding and honeymoon.
He said that he lured Sam, on May 21st, to the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, California, where he fatally shot him twice in the head with a .38-caliber semiautomatic pistol. They following day, Daniel returned and, using an ax and a saw, dismembered Sam’s body. He cut off his head, hands and a tattooed forearm. He then tossed the body parts in Long Beach’s El Dorado Park.
Covering His Tracks
Then, in an attempt to keep police at bay and off his trail, Daniel Wozniak went to Sam’s apartment and, using Sam’s cellphone, lured Julie to the apartment by pretending to be Sam and in need of her help. Once she arrived at Sam’s apartment, Daniel lured her into the bedroom and shot her twice in the head. He then removed items of clothes from Julie’s dead body. He staged the crime scene to make it look like Sam had sexually assaulted Julie and then killed her in a jealous rage. Taking Sam’s passport, Daniel hoped to ensure that the authorities would pin the guilt on Sam and he, and his soon to be wife, would then be home free.
Well That Didn’t Work
In the end, ATM withdraws led the law right to Daniel and the wedding money murderer was arrested and charged. Daniel led the police to Sam’s body, that was identified by a body tattoo that read “Mom and Dad” and told them where to find the missing body parts.
Daniel was sentenced to death.
Rachel Buffett, Daniel’s now ex-fiancee, was charged as an accessory to murder after the fact and, if convicted, would face up to three years in prison. She is accused of repeatedly lying to authorities in an attempt to protect Wozniak.
She, of course, has pleaded not guilty.
credit – newser
