Julie Kibuishi and Sam Herr Murder: Where is Killer Daniel Wozniak Today? – Due to the heinousness of the crime, the brutal double murder of Samuel “Sam” Herr and Juri “Julie” Kibuishi has sickened the entire country for more than a decade. This is because, as revealed in ABC’s “20/20,” The Final Act, Sam’s neighbour and friend Daniel Wozniak killed them both in May 2010 to frame Sam for the other murder and to steal his savings. As a result, we now have all the information you require to discover more about the murderer, with a focus on his crime, his confession, the judicial process, and his eventual fate.
Recommended: Julie Kibuishi and Sam Herr Murders
Daniel Wozniak, Who is He?
Daniel Patrick Wozniak, a former community theatre performer from the United States, was found guilty of two counts of murder in September 2016. He was born on March 23, 1984. In order to frame Herr for Kibuishi’s murder and take his battle pay, Wozniak murdered his neighbor and friend, Private First Class Samuel Eliezer “Sam” Herr, and Herr’s acquaintance, Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, in May 2010. Wozniak needed money to pay for his forthcoming wedding and honeymoon because he was heavily in debt. In Costa Mesa, California, Wozniak and his fiancée at the time, Rachel Mae Buffett, shared an apartment building with Herr.
Wozniak went to trial after more than five years of legal proceedings, and he was found guilty on two charges of first-degree murder. In September 2016, he was adjudicated guilty and given the death penalty. He was detained at San Quentin State Prison in California until July 2021 and is currently at the California Medical Facility waiting to be executed.
At a Los Alamitos theatre on May 21, 2010, Wozniak fatally shot his neighbor, Afghanistan War veteran Private First Class Samuel “Sam” Herr, age 26. Wozniak was both unemployed and heavily in debt at the time of the murders. Herr informed Wozniak that he had roughly $62,000 in savings from his combat pay, and Wozniak made the decision to murder Herr in order to get the money.
Wozniak then used Herr’s cell phone to text Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, a 23-year-old college student who had been Herr’s tutor at Orange Coast College, to mislead investigators and place the blame on Herr. Kibuishi was persuaded to go to Herr’s apartment by Wozniak, who then fatally shot her there. Wozniak then constructed the crime scene to give the impression that Kibuishi had been sexually assaulted, so implying that Herr had killed her after the attack and fled the scene. Wozniak continued that evening to take the stage in his hometown theatre show. Wozniak then cut off Herr’s skull and removed his limbs from his body.
Authorities, who at that time believed Herr was guilty of Kibuishi’s murder and were on the run, began a massive search for Herr.
Wozniak was suspected after he gave Wesley Freilich, a sixteen-year-old, the order to take money out of Herr’s accounts. When approached by the authorities, the child admitted that Wozniak had asked him to make the withdrawal on his behalf. Soon after, Wozniak was detained by US Marshals two days before his wedding while attending his bachelor party.
Wozniak confessed after constantly telling the cops he was innocent. At the El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach, Wozniak guided law enforcement to the spot where nearly all of Herr’s dismembered body parts were discovered dumped. Wozniak went to trial after more than five years of legal proceedings, and he was found guilty on two charges of first-degree murder. In September 2016, he was given a death sentence.
In November 2012, Rachel Mae Buffett, Wozniak’s then-fiancée, was detained and charged with three felonies of accessory after the fact on the grounds that she had repeatedly misled police investigators. On September 12, 2018, Buffett was found guilty on two of those counts, carrying a potential penalty of up to 44 months; on November 8, 2018, Buffett received a 32-month prison term. She was released from jail in 2019.
Where is Daniel Wozniak Today?
Even though Daniel was officially charged with two counts of first-degree murder in late May 2010 alone, due to some legal/court delays, he didn’t stand trial for the same until six years had passed. Nevertheless, the evidence bag recovered outside his parent’s house, which contained Sam’s clothes, wallet, and phone, his confession, the fact that he had provided the murder weapon to his brother, his damning online searches, and all of these factors were significant in the case. So, after just a few hours of deliberation and less than a week of testimony, the jury found Daniel guilty of both charges.
Thus, in September 2016, the former community actor received the death penalty; nevertheless, at this time, he is not housed in the San Quentin State Prison’s maximum security facility. The Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program, which permits condemned inmates to move out for a two-year period in order to take advantage of employment possibilities at other institutions, allowed him to be relocated from the state’s only death row facility in July 2021.
Daniel Patrick Wozniak, who is 38 years old, is thus restricted at the very least to the medium-security California Medical Facility in Vacaville. His execution hasn’t been scheduled as of yet.
