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Thread: Daniel Patrick Wozniak - California Death Row

  1. #51
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Behind the scenes: Covering the Daniel Wozniak case

    Gayane Keshishyan Mendez is a “48 Hours” producer. Watch the investigation into the murders of Julie Kibuishi and Sam Herr and the case against Daniel Wozniak in “48 Hours”: Killer Performance.

    September 23, 2016 - the date of Daniel Wozniak’s sentencing could not have come soon enough for Sam Herr’s and Julie Kibuishi’s loved ones.

    “Today makes 193,” Sam’s father Steve Herr said. 193 days spent at the Orange County Superior Court over the course of six-and-a-half years since Daniel Wozniak was charged with their brutal murder. There was not a single hearing the Herr and Kibuishi families did not attend to make sure Sam and Julie were not forgotten.

    Of the many unusual cases you’ll see on “48 Hours” this is one is particularly heartbreaking and confounding. “How often do you see a killer frame his victim for another murder, then sever necessary appendages and then sing [in a play],” said Prosecutor Matt Murphy.

    On a personal note, in covering this case over the last six-and-a-half years, it was gripping to watch a spectrum of raw emotion play out in a court of law: the animus between Senior Deputy D.A. Matt Murphy and Assistant Public Defender Scott Sanders -- one fighting for justice for the victims and their families, the other for his client, a confessed murderer; the palpable grief of June Kibuishi over her Valentine’s Day baby, Julie, and Steve Herr’s anger over losing his son and best friend whom he lovingly called “a big galoot.” The irony was the one person who showed no emotion was the killer himself. The one-time actor never appeared to be in a bad mood, bounding into court, albeit shackled, with a big smile befitting a homecoming king.

    One of the things that has been hard to understand for many people who followed the case and watched the chilling videotaped confession Wozniak gave to police back in May 2010, is why, if he confessed, did it take so long to get to trial? Often in cases with the highest stakes, the victims and the crimes become overshadowed by the legal process and the rights afforded even the most vicious killer.

    Wozniak still had a constitutional right of due process and trial by jury. And this was a death penalty case, with a separate penalty phase after the finding of a guilty verdict, so the stakes could not be higher. Sanders was not giving an inch to Murphy, who had never lost a death penalty case. It was a bitter fight ‘til the end, much to the court’s chagrin. The first judge, The Honorable James Stotler took the very unusual step of recusing himself, more than four-and-a-half years into the case, saying he was so upset that he could not be impartial.

    It’s a fascinating case that will force you to think about what justice looks like, depending on where you’re standing. It’s a case that will live with me forever.

    http://www.cbsnews.com/news/behind-t...-wozniak-case/

  2. #52
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Brother of Death Row Double Murderer Dan Wozniak Held for Domestic Violence

    The brother of double murderer Daniel Patrick Wozniak, who is sitting on California's Death Row, was arrested Thursday morning for allegedly punching, grabbing and biting a woman he is in a relationship with, according to the Costa Mesa Police Department.

    A statement from Roxi Fyad, the Costa Mesa police spokeswoman, does not identify the alleged victim by name to protect her right to privacy, but Timothy Allen Wozniak was arrested along with Lisa Gayle Golledge for being alleged accessories to murder in the Dan Wozniak case.

    Prosecutors previously accused Tim Wozniak and Golledge of going to Dan's home after the killings and removing a bag that contained evidence, including a saw that is believed to have been used in the decapitation and dismemberment of one victim, and of lying to police.

    Tim Wozniak, 42, of Long Beach, pleaded guilty Dec. 15 to being an accessory after the fact and was sentenced to time served in jail (about a week and a half) and placed on probation through 2019.

    On Monday night, he was driving with his alleged victim north on Bristol Street near South Coast Plaza, where he is accused of punching the woman in the chest several times, grabbing her wrist and biting her forearm, according to Fyad.

    He continued driving the woman to an Irvine hotel, where a security guard noticed she was distraught and called the Irvine Police Department, Fyad said.

    Irvine cops went to the hotel that night as well as early Thursday, when Wozniak returned and was detained. He was placed under arrest by Costa Mesa police officers just before 3:10 a.m. and was being held in lieu of $25,000 bail for alleged felony domestic violence, Fyad says.

    His brother was sentenced to death on Sept. 23 for murdering his 26-year-old friend Samuel Herr and Herr's 23-year-old friend Juri "Julie" Kibuishi.

    First, Dan Wozniak lured Herr to the theater on the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, shot him twice in the head, cut off his head, left arm and right hand and dispersed the body parts in the theater and a Long Beach park. Then, using Herr's cellphone, he pretended to be the dead man in texts asking Kibuishi to come to Herr's Costa Mesa apartment, where Wozniak would shoot and kill her and pose her body in a way that made it appear she had been sexually assaulted by Herr, who then fled the area.

    After a teen Dan Wozniak recruited to withdraw money from ATMS using Herr's bank card was detained by police, the murder plot was exposed and the killer was arrested at his bachelor party dinner in Long Beach. He'd hatched the whole thing to get Herr's savings because he was broke and needed to pay for his wedding and honeymoon.

    The Dan Wozniak death penalty case also figured into the "snitch scandal" that has rocked the Orange County District Attorney's office and Orange County Sheriff's Department, who have been accused to misusing jailhouse informants to collect damning statements from the 32-year-old, who had already confessed.

    His former fiancee, Rachel Mae Buffett, is accused of lying to Costa Mesa police officers investigating the murders by allegedly "propagating the false story that Wozniak told police about Herr having problems with his family, with the intent to assist Wozniak avoid and escape from arrest, trial, conviction and punishment for the felony," according to the OCDA. She has a pre-trial heading scheduled Jan. 27 and faces up to three years and eight months in prison if convicted.

    On a jailhouse phone, where all calls are recorded, Buffet told Wozniak that she spoke with Tim Wozniak earlier in the day and that Tim confessed to being in possession of the incriminating evidence that Daniel had given his brother before going to the police station.

    Tim Wozniak has since apologized to the murder victims' families and cooperated fully with the prosecution of his brother, according to Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, the prosecutor for Buffett and both Wozniaks.

    http://www.ocweekly.com/news/brother...olence-7765445

  3. #53
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Wozniak in Orange County Jail before his death penalty trial.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkBSP8k9mwg

  4. #54
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Ex-fiancee of convicted killer Daniel Wozniak on trial for lying to police during double murder investigation

    SANTA ANA – Trial began Wednesday for the ex-fiancee of convicted killer Daniel Wozniak, as attorneys presented conflicting portrayals of the actress as either a liar who tried to help her boyfriend get away with murder or a key witness who helped put him behind bars.

    Nearly two years after Wozniak received the death penalty for the killing of his neighbor Samuel Herr, 26, and Herr’s friend, Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, 23, his former fiancee, Rachel Buffett, is on trial for three felony counts of accessory after the fact to the high-profile slayings.

    The killings, driven by Wozniak’s plot to steal money from Herr to fund his upcoming nuptials and dig him out of a financial hole, drew headlines across the country.

    Buffett – a community theater actress and former Disneyland princess who grew up in Seal Beach and Long Beach – has also drawn national attention for appearances on “Dr. Phil” and “Dateline NBC,” where she denied any connection to Wozniak’s crimes.

    Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy, during his opening statements to a Santa Ana jury, spent several hours outlining the complicated machinations behind the murders of Herr and Kibuishi, as well as Wozniak’s arrest and eventual confession.

    Unemployed, facing eviction from the apartment he and Buffeft shared and desperate to pay for the couple’s wedding and honeymoon, Wozniak decided to kill Herr, his neighbor and friend, in order to drain $60,000 in savings that Herr, an Afghanistan war veteran, had earned through combat pay.

    On May 21, 2010, Wozniak lured Herr to a theater at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, where he shot and killed him. He returned later to cut off Herr’s head, hand and forearm, tossing the body parts in Long Beach’s El Dorado Park.

    As a decoy, Wozniak then used Herr’s cellphone to lure Herr’s friend, Kibuishi, to Herr’s apartment, where he shot and killed her and posed the scene to make it look like Herr had killed her in a jealous rage. Wozniak also persuaded a 16-year-old boy to make a series of bank withdrawals from Herr’s account.

    Law enforcement tracked down the 16-year-old and learned Wozniak had put the teen up to it. They later learned that Wozniak had given his brother, Tim Wozniak, a backpack with the murder weapon and Herr’s bloody clothes, which the brother tried to dispose of by throwing them over a fence at his parents’ Long Beach home.

    Some tied to the investigation have previously hinted that Buffett may have had a larger role in the killings.

    In testimony during Wozniak’s capital murder trial, Costa Mesa Police Lt. Ed Everett said that, in his opinion, Buffett “should be sitting next to Mr. Wozniak right now.” Wozniak’s attorneys alleged that Buffet had manipulated him.

    During opening statements Wednesday, Murphy said he is not alleging that Buffett directly helped to plan or carry out the murders. But, the prosecutor said, she knowingly lied during key parts of the investigation.

    “She says ‘I am completely honest,’ ” Murphy told jurors of one of Buffett’s interviews with detectives. “Then over two hours she proceeds to be completely dishonest on point after point. She dodges. She is ambiguous. Some things she says are flat out untrue.”

    Murphy noted that during a performance of a musical the night of the murders, Buffett was visibly upset, crying both during the show and backstage. Later, during interviews with police, Murphy said Buffett told investigators about a “mystery person” she claimed to have seen leaving with Herr the last time she saw him, apparently trying to bolster a false story Wozniak had told police to try to put suspicion on a nonexistent suspect.

    Buffett’s attorney, David Medina, said Wozniak “is a monster, he is a psychopath, he is a pathological liar.” The defense attorney said Wozniak misled Buffett about every part of their relationship.

    “The reason he lied to her is he did not feel worthy of her,” Medina said. “She was out of his league. He was worried she would find out he was a fraud and loser and would leave.”

    Medina told jurors that Buffett ultimately provided police with a “boatload of evidence” against Wozniak, including placing him at the Herr murder scene, helping them find the bloody clothes and murder weapon, and getting him to confess on a recorded call.

    “Was she trying to help him get away from murder or was she assisting Costa Mesa PD in getting him put away?” Medina asked.

    https://www.ocregister.com/2018/09/0...investigation/
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  5. #55
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Jury finds former fiancee of convicted killer Daniel Wozniak guilty of being accessory after the fact

    By SEAN EMERY
    The Whittier Daily News

    Rachel Buffett, the former fiancee of convicted killer Daniel Wozniak, was convicted Wednesday of lying to police in a failed attempt to help her then-boyfriend get away with two murders.

    A Santa Ana jury found Buffett guilty of two counts of being an accessory after the fact in connection to the murders of neighbor Samuel Herr and Herr’s friend, Juri “Julie” Kibuishi.

    Buffett, who had been free on bond, was immediately taken into custody after the verdicts were read. She is due back in court for sentencing on Nov. 8, when she faces up to 44 months behind bars.

    Sitting in the courtroom gallery Wednesday, Kibuishi’s mother and sister dropped their heads and sobbed as jurors announced their decision. The families of both victims attended every day of the trial

    Wozniak carried out the 2010 murders as part of a complicated scheme to steal money from Herr to bankroll his upcoming nuptials to Buffett, to dig the couple out of a financial hole and to stave off eviction from their Costa Mesa apartment.

    Wozniak’s 2016 capital murder trial ended with his being sent to death row. Left unanswered were lingering questions about what role, if any, Buffett played in plotting or attempting to cover up the killings.

    Wozniak’s attorneys argued that Buffett had manipulated him, while the lead investigator in the case testified that she should have been facing trial alongside Wozniak.

    A community theater actress and former Disneyland princess who grew up in Seal Beach and Long Beach, Buffett previously denied any connection to the murders during high-profile appearances on “Dr. Phil” and “Dateline NBC.” She opted not to take the stand during her own trial.

    Prosecutors charged Buffett with two counts of being an accessory after the fact.

    During trial, Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy told jurors that he was giving Buffett the benefit of the doubt in arguing that she was not aware of the plot to kill Herr or Kibuishi prior to the murders, but alleged that she intentionally lied to police during two separate police interviews, one before Wozniak’s arrest, one after.

    “Everybody knows (Wozniak) is a liar, everybody knows he is a horrific murderer,” Murphy said during his closing arguments. “The question is, how much was she in the dark?”

    Buffett’s attorney, David Medina, argued during her trial that Buffett ultimately gave police key evidence, including pointing them toward the murder weapon and placing Wozniak at the scene of Herr’s murder.

    “She did not know what Dan’s involvement was,” Medina said regarding Buffett’s knowledge of the crimes at the time she is accused of lying to police. “She did not know what Dan had done.”

    A week before the couple’s wedding, Wozniak, knowing that Herr was an Afghanistan war veteran who had amassed $60,000 in savings through combat pay, decided to kill Herr, frame him for Kibuishi’s slaying and make it look like Herr was on the run to give Wozniak time and cover to drain Herr’s bank account.

    Wozniak lured Herr to a theater at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos, where he shot Herr in the head and later returned to cut off Herr’s head, hand and forearm. Wozniak tossed the body parts in Long Beach’s El Dorado Park.

    Using Herr’s stolen cell phone, Wozniak posed as Herr and lured Kibuishi to Herr’s apartment through text messages. Wozniak shot Kibuishi to death in Herr’s apartment – located above the unit Wozniak and Buffet shared – then later returned to pose the scene to make it look like Kibuishi had been killed by Herr in a jealous rage.

    Costa Mesa detectives unraveled the scheme within days. They found a 16-year-old boy who had been making bank withdrawals from Herr’s account on Wozniak’s behalf, and who immediately told police Wozniak had put him up to it. They also located the murder weapon and a backpack full of incriminating evidence, including a shirt with Herr’s blood on it, that Wozniak had given to his brother to dispose of.

    During Buffett’s trial, Murphy argued that Buffett must have had some knowledge of Wozniak’s role in the killings when she spoke to police. Acquaintances testified that Wozniak seemed on edge and Buffett overly emotional in the hours and days following the killings. And the prosecutor questioned how Buffett could have missed Wozniak using Herr’s stolen cell phone – an older flip-phone rather than the smartphone Wozniak owned – to text Kibuishi.

    The day Kibuishi’s body was discovered, Vylet Randolph, a friend of the couple’s testified, Wozniak was “freaking out” at his apartment and talking about possibly being the last person to see Herr alive, while an “irritated” Buffett told him “Your messed up memory is messing up my story.”

    During her first interview with police, Buffett told investigators about a mystery friend of Herr’s who she said had left her apartment with Wozniak and Herr the day of the murders, echoing a false claim Wozniak himself had made to police. In the second interview, Murphy estimated that Buffett lied to detectives at least 19 times.

    Among those who testified at Buffett’s trial was Chris Williams, who had lent the couple several thousand dollars, and had gone to their apartment the day of the murder to get paid back. Williams said he was at the apartment when Wozniak and Herr left, spent several hours there with Buffett while unbeknownst to him Wozniak killed Herr, and was there when a “frantic” Wozniak returned.

    Williams admitted that he falsely claimed to have family mafia connections and told Buffett and Wozniak that the money he lent them came from “bad people,” since he didn’t know the couple well and wanted to make sure he got paid back. Buffett’s attorney told jurors that some of the vague comments Buffett made to investigators may have been due to her belief that they had borrowed money from shady sources and her fear of revealing that to police.

    https://www.whittierdailynews.com/20...fter-the-fact/
    In the Shadow of Your Wings
    1 A Prayer of David. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!

  6. #56
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    On September 12, 2019, counsel was appointed to represent Wozniak on direct appeal before the California Supreme Court.

    https://appellatecases.courtinfo.ca....tTICAgCg%3D%3D

  7. #57
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    As of 2020, Wozniak is incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison due to being involved in the Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program.

    https://inmatelocator.cdcr.ca.gov/De...aspx?ID=BB1116
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