Daniel Patrick Wozniak (born March 23, 1984) is a former Southern California community theater actor and convicted double-murderer on California's Death Row. In May 2010, Wozniak murdered two people as part of a plan to steal money from one of the victims. The money was going to be used to pay for his upcoming wedding and honeymoon. Wozniak murdered his neighbor and friend, PFC Samuel E. Herr, 26, an OEF Army Veteran of the 1- 91 Airborne Cavalry, and Herr's college friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23.
At the time of the murders, Wozniak was in major debt and was also facing eviction from his apartment that he shared with his fiancée Rachel Mae Buffett. Wozniak and Herr lived in the same apartment complex in Costa Mesa, California. After more than five years of court deliberations, Wozniak was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to capital punishment (death) in September 2016. He is incarcerated at California's San Quentin State Prison.
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Crimes and cover-up
Wozniak shot and killed his neighbor, Samuel Herr, 26, on May 21, 2010, at a Los Alamitos theater. Wozniak planned to steal Herr's savings in order to finance his upcoming wedding and honeymoon.
Seeking to misdirect police, Wozniak then used Herr's cell phone to contact Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, who had been tutoring Herr in community college. He lured Kibuishi to Herr's apartment, where he shot and killed her. Wozniak staged the scene to make it appear as though she had been sexually assaulted, suggesting that Herr had committed the murder and that Herr then killed himself.
Wozniak came under suspicion after instructing a sixteen-year-old to withdraw money from Herr's accounts. When the police confronted the boy, he told them Wozniak had asked him to do it. He was apprehended at his bachelor party two days before his wedding, in May 2010.
Wozniak's then-fiancée, Rachel Mae Buffett, was arrested in November 2012. As of late 2017, she was charged with three felony counts of accessory-after-the-fact, for lying multiple times to police investigators. As of April 6, 2018, Buffett's charges were still pending, with a jury trial scheduled for April 13.
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In popular culture
CBS' Dr Phil: "Actress Accused: Was She an Accessory to Murder?" first aired: February 5, 2013. During the show, Steve Herr didn't hide his resentment for Rachel Mae Buffett and her claims of not knowing anything about the murders of his son Sam and Julie Kibuishi. Buffett was charged in 2012 of being an accessory-after-the-fact in the murders by Wozniak, her former fiancé in 2010.
MSNBC's Series Lockup: "Lockup Orange County: Extended Stay: Unholy Trinity" is filmed in the Orange County Jail and features an interview with Wozniak as he proclaims his innocence in the murders. The episode outraged the relatives of Wozniak's victims, as the killer charmed the camera and proclaimed his devotion to the bible and the two people he killed.
NBC's Dateline: "Plot Twist", first aired: January 15, 2016. Rachel Mae Buffett is interviewed by reporter Josh Mankiewicz about her being part of the murder investigation involving both her former fiancé and her neighbor friend, a 26-year-old Army veteran.
ABC's 20/20: "Mystery in Apartment 410," first aired: March 4, 2016. Reports on the May 2010 murders of U.S. Army combat veteran Sam Herr and his college friend Julie Kibuishi. They were killed by former theater actor Daniel Wozniak who first killed Herr to steal $60,000 and then murdered Julie Kibuishi in order to throw the police off his trail.
Crime Watch Daily also profiled the case on an episode which originally aired on June 8, 2016.
Investigation Discovery's The Perfect Murder: "Curtain Call," first aired: August 24, 2016. California college student Julie Kibushi is found murdered on top of her friend Sam Herr's bed. Herr a decorated war hero, was nowhere to be found, local police begin their hunt for the prime suspect Sam. As the investigation grows, police discoveries lead them into a complicated case.
CBS' 48 Hours: "Killer Performance" first aired: October 9, 2016. Correspondent Tracy Smith interviews friends and family members of the victims, along with interviews of the cases prosecutor and other public officials.
Investigation Discovery's Unusual Suspects: Deadly Intent: "Final Curtain," first aired: November 1, 2017. Costa Mesa, CA is a beautiful place to live, but it comes at a cost. The murder of a young girl, Julie Kibushi, and the disappearance of a former Army soldier, Sam Herr, leads investigators down a dark path into the mind of an unassuming killer.
Oxygen: In Ice Cold Blood "Closing Night" the murder of Julie Kibushi and Sam Herr and the subsequent investigation that led to the arrest, conviction, and sentencing of Daniel Wozniak.
References
External links
- Military Justice for All - Sam Herr
Source of article : Wikipedia
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