Casefile True Crime - Case 195: The Costa Mesa Murders

Episode Date: November 6, 2021

On the evening of May 22 2010, Steve Herr drove over to his son Sam’s apartment in Costa Mesa, California. The 26-year-old college student was supposed to be spending the weekend with his parents but when he never showed up, Steve decided to check on him... --- Narration – Anonymous Host Research & writing – Erin Munro Creative direction – Milly Raso Production and music – Mike Migas Music – Andrew D.B. Joslyn This episode's sponsors: Article – Get $50 off your first order of $100 or more OUAI – Get 15% off your entire purchase with promo code ‘CASEFILE’ BetterHelp – Get 10% off your first month of professional counselling with a licensed therapist Noom – The last weight loss program you’ll need. Start your trial today ZipRecruiter – Post your jobs for FREE For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcast.com/case-195-the-costa-mesa-murders

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Our episodes deal with serious and often distressing incidents. If you feel at any time you need support, please contact your local crisis centre. For suggested phone numbers for confidential support, please see the show notes for this episode on your app or on our website. It was around dinner time on Friday, May 21, 2010, when Julie Kibuwishi received a text message. Can you come over tonight at midnight alone? Very upset. Need to talk. Julie typed a reply asking what was the matter. After making her promise that she wouldn't tell anyone, the sender explained that they were hurting due to some bad family crap.

A short while later, Julie's cell phone lit up again. Where are you? Can you come by? I don't want to be up late. It was approaching midnight when Julie pulled up to the Camden-Martinac apartments in the Californian city of Costa Mesa. The sprawling residential complex consisted of multiple low-rise buildings interspersed with winding walkways and palm trees. After parking her car, Julie headed towards one of the buildings while texting, Hey buddy, I am here. I am walking to your place. Then, as she reached the right floor, she messaged her brother, Taka, to let him know she'd arrived safely at her destination. As Julie typed, she heard a strange sound from the other side of an apartment door.

It sounded like a person sobbing. Signing off her message to Taka, Julie wrote, Sam is crying. It's not good. A few hours earlier, 23-year-old Julie Kibuwishi had been out of town. She said, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. A few hours earlier, 23-year-old Julie Kibuwishi had been out with her brother Taka and his fiance in Long Beach, not far from where she lived in Irvine, Orange County. The trio were dining at a Thai restaurant near Taka's home. It was a special occasion. Taka and his fiance had a very important request to make of Julie.

Julie was born on Valentine's Day in 1987, and others jokingly said that this was the reason she was a hopeless romantic. So, when Julie was asked to be a bridesmaid at her brother's upcoming wedding, she was overcome with the joy. After she happily accepted the offer, Taka handed his sister a tiara. It was both a gift and the finishing touch for her bridesmaid outfit. Julie put it on at once. After dinner, the trio headed back to Taka's home to continue chatting.

Julie wasn't planning on staying long though. During dinner, her red Samsung cellphone had lit up with text messages from a close friend named Sam Hare. The two had met at Orange Coast Community College where they both took anthropology. Julie had tutored Sam in the subject, helping him achieve an A in that class. According to Sam's texts, he was having a rough night. After some back and forth, Julie told Sam she would leave her brother's house to visit him right away. She respected Sam's request to come alone, and after a short drive, Julie arrived at the Camden Martinique apartments in Costa Mesa where Sam lived.

The following morning, Junco Kibuishi stood at the door to her daughter Julie's bedroom. The bed inside had not been slept in, and there was no sign of Julie anywhere else in the house. It wasn't like Julie to disappear without telling her parents where she would be. Family had always been of the utmost importance to her. Born into a close-knit Japanese-American household, Julie was the third of four children and had two older brothers. When Julie's mother Junco was pregnant with her, she was told that her third child would be a boy as well. Julie was therefore an unexpected, though happy surprise to her parents. They named her Juri, but as their first daughter grew older, she was more commonly known to her friends by the Americanized version of her name, Julie.

Now unable to find Julie anywhere, Junco followed up with her friends, but none could shed any light on where she might be. When texts and calls to Julie's cell phone continued to go unanswered, Junco was certain something was wrong and contacted the police. At the same time that Julie's family were worrying about her, a couple who lived in the Orange County neighborhood of Anaheim Hills were wondering where their son might be. Steve and Raquel Herr had been expecting a visit from their only child, Samuel, better known as Sam. He spent many weekends with his parents, who were only a 30-minute drive away from his Costa Mesa apartment. Raquel had spoken with Sam over the phone around lunchtime the previous day, and he hadn't given any indication that he intended to change his plans. The couple tried calling Sam periodically throughout the day, but his cell phone was switched off. This seemed odd. They had never known Sam to turn off his phone. By late evening, Steve Herr was standing at the front door to his son's apartment.

Using a spare key Sam had given him, Steve let himself in to check that everything was alright. The lights were on, but all was quiet. Nothing looked out of place. Sam's apartment was a typical sparsely furnished bachelor pad. His acoustic guitar was perched in its stand in a lounge. Some blankets were folded up at the end of the sofa, and textbooks sat on a bookcase. Everything was neat and tidy. In the kitchen, some washed dishes had been left on a drying rack, and mail sat stacked on a countertop. Empty beer bottles were scattered by the barbecue out on the patio. Despite the seemingly normal scene in front of him, Steve felt strange, as though someone else were in the apartment with him. He called out his son's name, Sammy.

Then, as Steve looked into Sam's bedroom, he was met with a horrifying sight. Alongside Sam's messy and unmade bed was a young woman. She was kneeling, her torso sprawled over the mattress, and her lower legs resting on the floor. Her jeans had been cut at the waistband and down through the seat, before being ripped down around her knees. A message had been scribbled in black marker across the back of a grey top she was still wearing. It read, quote, All yours, fuck you. The back of her head was bloody, as were the sheets beneath her.

Steve saw what he recognized as a gunshot wound in her scalp. Sitting on top of her head in her long matted black hair was a tiara. Steve knew without a doubt that the woman was dead. Panicked, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911. When the operator answered, he cried out in a distraught voice. There's a body in my son's apartment. Steve recognized the deceased woman as his son's close friend and anthropology tutor, Julie Kibuishi. He had met Julie before and thought she was a lovely young woman.

Noting how well she got on with Sam, Steve later asked his son if there was a romantic connection between them. Sam had dismissed the notion, telling his father that Julie was more like a sister to him. But it looked as though some sort of sexual activity had taken place in Sam's room. When police arrived on the scene, they made the same observation. The way Julie's body was posed and the aggressive removal of her pants indicated that she had been sexually assaulted, then brutally executed. An autopsy later revealed Julie had been shot twice in the head. The message that had been scrawled on her back, or yours, fuck you, seemed pointed, as though directed at a particular person. Investigators suspected a love triangle.

Most likely, Sam had been competing for Julie's affections with another individual. Upon searching Sam's room, they found what appeared to be a sex manual, as well as a soldier's handbook. The latter made sense. Prior to enrolling at college when he was 26 years old, Sam Hare had served in the United States Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. He had been sent to Afghanistan and spent much of his time there fighting on the border with Pakistan, in a particularly dangerous region that was constantly under fire. When he returned to the US, Sam exhibited symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, suffering from regular nightmares where he was trapped in a foxhole while insurgents bore down on him. Eager to move on with his life, he enrolled in college so he could obtain a degree. In addition to the books, investigators recovered a clean knife with a wide, partially serrated blade.

Julie's handbag was found in the kitchen with her driver's license and cell phone inside. An examination of Julie's phone revealed how Sam had repeatedly reached out to her the previous night. In a series of text messages, he'd begged her to come over to his place while also insisting that she come alone and tell no one. Investigators noted how Sam had reassured Julie that his desire to see her wasn't sexual, writing in one message, Please, no sex. Sam's cell phone, wallet and passport were nowhere to be found. His car, a white Pontiac, was also missing. Investigators ran a background check on Sam Hare to find out who exactly they were dealing with.

As well as learning that Sam was an army veteran with extensive combat experience, they made another, more disturbing discovery. Eight years earlier in 2002, Sam Hare had been charged with murder. At the time, Sam was 18 years old. He had been friends with another young man named Byron Benito who had gang affiliations. Authorities said that after some gang members suspected Byron of shooting one of their friends, Sam Hare helped them by luring Byron to a secluded industrial estate. According to police, after Sam and Byron arrived there, a group of assailants attacked Byron, stabbing and beating him to death. For his role in the plot, Sam Hare was charged with murder and spent almost a year in custody before going to trial in 2004.

The prosecution argued that while Sam hadn't physically hurt Byron, he had taken him to the side of his death with full knowledge of what would unfold. Unconvinced that these actions proved Sam guilty of murder, a jury ultimately acquitted him. Relieved and determined to start a new life, Sam enlisted in the army and went on to become a decorated veteran. Despite his full exoneration, Sam's history was notable to the detectives investigating him for the murder of Julie Kibuwishi almost a decade later. Similarities between the two crimes were clear. Byron and Julie were close friends of Sam and both had met a violent end after Sam lured them to a predetermined destination. At this point, locating Sam became a matter of public safety. Physically fit and strongly built, Sam was more than capable of defending himself if necessary. Then there was his military combat experience as well as the likelihood that he was armed with a gun.

Investigators had to move quickly. They interviewed everyone who knew Sam, including a number of neighbors who lived in the Camden-Martinac apartments. Due to most of the residents being college students around the same age, the apartments had a thriving social scene and many of the people who lived there were friendly with one another. One man who lived a couple of floors below Sam said he'd seen him the afternoon before Julie was murdered. Sam had helped him move some heavy items, then he'd left Camden-Martinac with a man Sam's neighbor had never seen before. The man was white and wore a black baseball cap. The neighbor's fiance confirmed this sighting, adding that the man didn't live at the apartments and she had never seen him before. Meanwhile, Sam's father, Steve, was struggling with the sudden disappearance of his son.

Determined to track him down, he began carrying out his own private investigation. Sam had previously provided his father with all of his online banking details and passwords in case of an emergency. On Monday, May 24, when Sam had been missing for two days, Steve logged into his son's bank account. Almost right away, Steve noticed that there had been lots of activity. Over the past few days, Sam had repeatedly withdrawn funds from an ATM in Long Beach. Each time, he opted to take out $400, the maximum amount his bank permitted him to withdraw in a day. Overall, these increments had added up to almost $2,000. Steve then drove to Long Beach in the hopes of catching Sam in the act.

He staked out the city's ATMs but didn't see his son. Then he drove around the area's streets and roads, keeping a lookout for Sam's white Pontiac. There was no sign of it. Suddenly, a notification came through on Steve's phone from Sam's bank. Sam's bank card had just been used to order some pizzas from a Long Beach pizza parlor named Echoes. Steve rushed to the restaurant. It sat along a busy six-lane thoroughfare with tables and umbrellas set out along the pavement for outdoor dining. Steve parked in front of Echoes and alternated between watching its glass door entrance and keeping an eye out for Sam's car.

He waited for an hour. Although other patrons came and went, his son never appeared. The case detectives had also gained access to Sam's banking records and were also keeping a watch on account activity. Like Steve, they had noted the repeated withdrawals being made from Long Beach. There had been four separate withdrawals from two different Chase Bank ATMs. The machines had cameras fitted inside and investigators were able to obtain the surveillance footage from both. Upon examining the footage recorded at the exact times Sam's card had been used, detectives were perplexed. Standing before the machine was a teenage boy. He was white and looked very young, dressed in a hoodie and a black baseball cap.

Was this the individual in the black hat that Sam's neighbours had seen him with on the day of Julie's murder? The detectives didn't recognise him and nor did Sam's parents when they were shown a photo. Investigators contacted Echo's pizza parlor where Sam's card had been used to make a purchase and asked for the delivery address provided for that particular order. Once they had it, a full SWAT team descended on the property and a helicopter was dispatched for an aerial view. If Sam Hare was hiding inside, the investigators didn't want to take any chances. The last thing they needed was a hostage situation on their hands. Judging from the noises emanating from the house, a party was in full swing. When the occupants were ordered to open up, the teenage boy who had been caught on the ATMs camera opened the front door.

His name was Wesley and he was 17 years old. He lived there with his mother who was a drama teacher. Wesley was ordered out of the house along with his friends whom he'd invited over to play video games and instructed to get down on the ground. As he lay on the front lawn, officers filed inside to conduct a thorough search, determined that they would flush out Sam Hare from wherever he was hiding. After examining each room, it was clear Sam Hare wasn't in the house, but his debit card was. When confronted with Sam's debit card, Wesley denied having used it or even knowing anything about it. Are you sure about that, one of the officers asked? This card's tied to a homicide. Wesley's demeanor immediately changed. He looked visibly scared as he repeated the words, a homicide. It didn't take long for him to spill what he knew.

Wesley didn't know Sam Hare. He had been withdrawing the money on behalf of someone else. 26-year-old Daniel Wozniak lived at the Camden-Martineke apartments, a couple of floors below Sam Hare's residence. He had held a few different jobs here and there, but his true passion was acting. Daniel's performances in community theatre productions had been positively received, and he was currently starring in the lead role in a several-month-long run of the musical Nine at an alternative theatre company in Orange County. He and Sam Hare became friendly after Daniel and his fiance, Rachel Buffett, a fellow aspiring actor, had moved into the complex several months earlier in February. They shared a circle of friends at Camden-Martineke and socialized regularly. Daniel was the downstairs neighbour who had mentioned seeing Sam leave with a man in a black baseball cap on the day of Julie Kibawishi's murder.

Initially, this had appeared to be a helpful clue in the search for Sam. Now, investigators viewed Daniel's story far more critically. 17-year-old Wesley had since accused Daniel of supplying him with Sam's bank card under the order to drain the account. Was Daniel helping Sam evade authorities? If so, was he aware of what exactly his friend was running from? Detectives called Daniel Wozniak's cell phone seeking an explanation. He answered, but said that he couldn't speak with them that night because he was at his bachelor party. In two days' time, on Friday, May 28, Daniel was getting married, and he had gone out to a Japanese restaurant with a few friends to celebrate. Investigators didn't care. With Sam Hare still a threat to the public, they needed to speak with Daniel right away.

Detective Jose Morales approached the beige single-story building that housed Sonami Sushi. Located on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, the restaurant often hosted parties, with its teppanyaki grill a popular attraction. Detective Morales entered the establishment alone. In his plain clothes, he wouldn't attract much attention. The detective walked through the front door and strolled around the bar area, scanning the room that Daniel Wozniak. He couldn't see him. Then, towards the back of the restaurant in a private banquet room, he spotted him. Daniel was dressed in khaki pants and a Hawaiian shirt, laughing as he drank sake with his friends. Detective Morales radioed for backup, and more officers soon arrived at the scene. They waited until Daniel had paid for the meal, then entered through the restaurant's rear door and filed into the banquet room.

When Daniel looked up and saw them, all of the blood drained from his face. The detectives flashed their badges and patted Daniel down, before snapping a pair of handcuffs around his wrists. Then, he was escorted out of his own bachelor party and into a waiting police car. Once Daniel was seated in an interrogation room at Costa Mesa police station, he seemed more relaxed than he'd looked at the restaurant. Before questioning began, Daniel assured the interviewing detectives, I'm going to tell you everything, I'm sick of covering for Sam. He said he knew nothing about Julie Kibouishi's murder, but had been duped into helping supply funds for Sam Hare's escape. He also admitted that the man in the black baseball cap had never existed. He had invented him to cover up for himself.

Daniel explained that Sam had called him the previous Friday morning, hours before he later attacked and killed Julie Kibouishi. Sam had offered to pay Daniel if he helped him out with the scheme. He was planning to drain his own bank account using a third party, and then intended to file a claim that his debit card had been stolen. His bank would have to refund what had been taken, and he'd get double the payout. The author was tempting. Daniel and his fiancee Rachel had little money. The community theatre shows they loved performing paid nothing, and they both worked odd jobs to get by. Somehow, they'd wound up severely in debt and months behind on their rent. What Sam was suggesting was illegal, but Daniel desperately wanted some cash.

He agreed to participate, and Sam said he would stay clear of the ATMs being used to make withdrawals. That way, no one could say they had seen him there, and his face wouldn't be captured by the machine's cameras. Daniel asked his teenage friend Wesley, whom he'd met through their shared interest in theatre, to make the withdrawals. Daniel told Wesley he was working for a bail bonds agent, and that the card belonged to one of the agent's clients who had gone on the run after posting bail. He wanted Wesley's help to drain the client's account and had shown the teenager how to use the card and withdraw funds in $400 increments. He'd said it was vital that Wesley always wear a hat and sunglasses when he was at the ATM. Because Wesley was underage, Daniel believed he was less likely to get in trouble if he was caught. Daniel insisted that he had no idea where Sam Hare was now.

Setting the credit fraud story aside, the interrogators changed the subject back to Julie Kibuishi. Did Daniel know anything about her murder? After initially saying he didn't, Daniel admitted that he did. Sam had told him all about it. On the evening of Friday, May 21, Daniel and his fiancee Rachel had performed on stage in the community theatre musical they were both in, before returning home for a quiet night watching TV on the couch. The next morning, Daniel was woken by a steady knocking at his front door. He opened it and saw Sam Hare standing outside, looking nervous. When Daniel asked if everything was alright, Sam replied, Not good, we're in trouble.

Sam begged Daniel to get him out of Costa Mesa and handed over his laptop for safekeeping. Daniel told detectives where they could find the device in his apartment. The two got into Sam's white pondiac with Daniel behind the wheel. As they headed southbound down the Interstate 405 freeway, Sam suddenly made an admission. There's a body in my apartment. I shot somebody. I was not happy about it. It was a fit of rage and honestly, she had it coming. She, Daniel asked. Sam told him the victim was his good friend Julie Kibuishi. He had gotten drunk and high on ecstasy the night before and started scrolling through photos of Julie on social media.

Becoming upset as he looked at the images, he started texting Julie, asking her to come over. When she arrived at his apartment, he propositioned her and she refused, so he shot and killed her. Daniel was shocked. He knew Julie from their social circle at Camden Martinique. She often joined the gatherings there as a friend of Sam's and now Sam had made him a partial accessory to her murder by asking for his help. Daniel pulled off the highway and began to shout, What the fuck? What have you got me into? What are you doing? Sam ordered Daniel not to tell anyone and threatened. I know where you live. You wrap me out. I'm going to fucking kill you. And better yet, I'm going to start with your wife. The two struck a deal.

Sam would give Daniel the entire contents of one of his bank accounts, a sum that totaled $16,000 if Daniel would help him conceal his crime and escape. Daniel adamantly denied that he helped Sam in any other way aside from getting him cash and driving him out of town. When asked where exactly he had taken Sam, Daniel said he had dropped him off at the Los Altos shopping centre in Long Beach. Sam took off somewhere unknown, while Daniel drove Sam's car to a quiet street nearby and abandoned it. Investigators informed Daniel Wozniak that they needed one more thing from him, a DNA test, just so they could eliminate him as a suspect. Although Daniel was happy to oblige and allowed a detective to swab his mouth, he suddenly added another new detail to his story. He had been in Sam's apartment on the afternoon of Friday, May 21. He'd only gone in there briefly to use the bathroom, and he might have also quickly ducked out to the patio. If the detectives found his DNA in those locations, that was the reason why.

With Daniel now admitting to visiting Sam's apartment on the day of Julie Kibouishi's murder, the detectives began to push harder. Had he assisted Sam in cleaning up the crime scene? Was there a chance he had seen Julie's body? Did Sam tell him what he'd done with the murder weapon? Daniel answered no to every question, his tone growing louder and increasingly belligerent each time. Having cooperated with investigators every step of the way, Daniel seemed confident that he would be allowed to go home. He stood up, as did the detectives. But his latest admission meant he was now being charged with accessory to murder after the fact. When the detectives informed Daniel that he wouldn't be going anywhere, shock washed over his face. Suddenly growing panicked, he blurted out, I will talk to you about anything if it gets me to my wedding on Friday. That's what I will promise. He repeated his earlier claims, but continued to deny having seen Julie's body in Sam's apartment.

The detectives kept pushing. Eventually, Daniel yelled in a dramatic and booming voice. I don't know what else you want me to say. I don't know. I don't know. He hovered his hand briefly in front of his face as though shaken, then anxiously began running it through his hair. One of the detectives calmly replied, Tell us the truth. You're not that good of an actor. After shaking his head for several moments, Daniel finally declared, Yes, I saw the goddamn body. Is that what you want to hear?

He explained that Sam hadn't actually confessed to him in the car. Instead, he had told Daniel about the murder while they were still at Camden Martinique. Sam had asked him for help cleaning up the crime scene, so Daniel followed Sam to his apartment. Upon entering the bedroom, he saw Julie's body lying by the bed. Moving in for a closer look, he leaned over Julie and examined her. When asked, What did you see? Daniel replied, Saw two gunshots in her head. Daniel Wozniak was taken to a holding cell.

Although he had hoped police would release him in time to attend his wedding, There was no way they were allowing an accessory to murder to walk free. By now, it was Thursday, May 27, and he'd been in custody since late the previous night. He was supposed to be getting married the following day. Inside his cell, Daniel had access to a telephone. He placed a call to his fiance, 22-year-old Rachel Buffett. Rachel hadn't had much sleep the night before. A detective had visited her at home to let her know Daniel was being interviewed

and asked her to answer some questions as well. Rachel agreed to accompany him to the station and was released within a couple of hours. Realising how serious the situation was, she had driven to her parents' house to let them know that the wedding wouldn't be going ahead. Then she paid her future in-laws a visit informing them that Daniel had been arrested. When her cell phone rang a little while later, she had pulled in at a gas station. Hi baby, Daniel greeted her in a flat voice. When Rachel demanded to know what he had done, Daniel explained how he had helped Sam cover some stuff up.

He said he had also helped Sam acquire some, quote, hardcore ecstasy which Sam had been high on when he murdered Julie. Daniel knew his actions were wrong but said they needed the money. Rachel reprimanded Daniel, telling him, we never need money, we need to be good people and to just have each other. Then she added something else. Rachel mentioned how she had spoken to Daniel's older brother, Tim Wozniak, that morning. She'd bumped into him when she was leaving Daniel's parents' house

and told him how Daniel had been arrested. Upon hearing this, Tim seemed agitated and started fiddling with his cell phone. He blurted out something about having evidence. Realizing the significance of this statement, Rachel told Daniel that she was planning to report it to the detectives investigating the case as soon as possible. Daniel was silent for a moment before stating, then, I'm doomed. At midday, one of the detectives who had spent the previous night grilling Daniel Wozniak received a phone call.

It was from the jailer who was currently watching over Daniel in custody. Apparently, Daniel wanted to speak with investigators again. The detective made his way to the holding cell where Daniel Wozniak was being held. Daniel looked distraught and nervous. He had draped a blanket over his head and shoulders, which added to his bereft appearance. Without hesitation, he told the detective, I need to talk to you about something. Once again, Daniel was escorted to an interrogation room where he was read his rights,

but this time he waived them. Staring directly at the detective, Daniel said, I'm crazy, and I did it. Almost two weeks earlier, Daniel was arrested. Daniel was arrested. Daniel was arrested. Daniel was arrested.

Daniel was arrested. Almost two weeks earlier on Saturday, May 15, Daniel Wozniak had been arrested in Costa Mesa for driving while under the influence. He was booked at Orange County Jail where he placed some phone calls to friends, trying to source funds so he could be released on bail. Money was an issue for Daniel. He had two bank accounts, both of which were overdrawn, and owed a couple of months' rent to his and Rachel's landlord.

Now, he was only going to be in more trouble, with bail required and a criminal charged to defend. One of Daniel's friends tried to help him find the cash by phoning other acquaintances who might be willing to contribute some bail money. He got in touch with Daniel's neighbour, Sam Hare, and asked if he'd be willing to assist. Sam refused. Although he had about $62,000 thanks to his meticulous saving of his combat pay, he wasn't that close to Daniel and didn't want to get mixed up in his criminal charges. Daniel had to spend a night in custody but managed to scrape together enough to pay his bail

and was released the next day. That one night behind bars had been enough, he subsequently told his friends. He never wanted to go back there again. When he bumped into Sam Hare at one of Camden Martinique's jacuzzis, he shared his experience with him, complaining about how awful jail had been. Sam was incredulous. He had spent more than a year in LA County men's jail while awaiting trial for murder when he was 18 years old. One night was nothing.

I know all about being in jail, he told Daniel, before explaining how he had been charged in relation to a friend's homicide. It was the first Daniel had heard about Sam's past before he became a soldier and college student. Around the same time, Sam learned that Daniel and Rachel were behind on their rent and facing eviction. He offered to help pay what they owed. Although he didn't want to be responsible for Daniel's bail money, rent was a different matter. He took Daniel to a nearby ATM to withdraw some cash. As he punched in his pin number and his account's total balance flashed on the screen, Daniel watched closely.

The Southern California city of Los Alamitos is home to the Joint Forces Training Base, a military facility that has featured in Hollywood films over the years. Its proximity to the center of American filmmaking has made a convenient backdrop for military-themed movies. In 1942, the base opened the Liberty Theater, where shows were staged and films were screened for servicemen and women. Daniel Wozniak was well acquainted with the Liberty Theater. It was close to his family's home in Long Beach, and he had performed on its stage multiple times. He struck the theater owners as a charismatic and cheerful person who loved to tell jokes and be the center of attention. It was at the Liberty where Daniel struck up a rapport with younger cast member Wesley and became something of a mentor to the teenager.

On the morning of Friday, May 21, 2010, Daniel asked his neighbor Sam Hare to help him with something. He needed a hand moving some items that were stored at the Liberty Theater. Sam was all too happy to assist. When his mother called him at 12.25pm that day, he mentioned how he was in the middle of helping someone out and would call her back soon. He never did. Daniel and Sam drove to the theater in Sam's car. Once there, they headed backstage and towards a ladder that led upstairs to a small attic where the theater's lights were. The two men climbed to the ladder and Daniel directed Sam towards a piece of furniture stating,

I need you to help me move this. Sam began to lift the item. As Sam knelt with his back to him, Daniel pulled out a .38 caliber semi-automatic pistol that he had previously stolen from his parents' house. Daniel aimed the gun at Sam and pulled the trigger, shooting Sam in the back of the head. Sam fell to the floor, shocked and confused. Looking up at Daniel, he said, I need help, something hit me. It felt like an electric shock. Daniel pulled the trigger again, but the pistol jammed. He ejected the stuck round, reloaded the weapon and, with Sam still staring at him, he shot him once more in the temple.

After killing Sam, Daniel grabbed his victims' belongings including his keys, bank cards and cell phone. Then he went back home, leaving Sam's body in the attic of the Liberty Theater. That evening, he headed to a different theater where he was the lead in a production of the musical Nine. His fiancee Rachel co-starred alongside him. One reviewer had previously described Daniel's performance as the best thing about the show, but that night he seemed slightly less polished than usual. Sometimes he paused before delivering lines, causing other cast and crew members to worry that he might have forgotten them. While backstage, Daniel used Sam's cell phone to text Julie Kibouishi. Pretending to be Sam, he wrote, Can you come over tonight at midnight alone? Very upset. Need to talk.

Seemingly wanting to reassure Julie that Sam's motivations were pure, he twice clarified that he wasn't asking her over to have sex. Julie, who was replying in between having a meal with her brother and his fiance, seemed to find this suggestion absurd, writing, LOL, Sam, we are like brother and sis. No sex. She agreed to come over to Sam's apartment at midnight by herself. After the performance concluded, Daniel headed home and waited. Sitting on the couch with his fiancee Rachel, he watched a film and then some lighthearted television. At close to midnight, he tucked a blanket over Rachel, who was dozing, snuck out of their apartment and headed upstairs to Sam's. He claims he was standing outside the front door when Julie Kibouishi arrived, concerned about her seemingly distraught friend. Daniel explained that he was worried too. Sam had just called him upset and said he was going through some stuff.

Me too, said Julie. Daniel told her he had a spare key and suggested they go in to Sam's apartment together to check he was alright. The two walked inside. Daniel directed Julie to Sam's bedroom, asking, oh by the way, did you see this in Sam's bed? As Julie leaned over to see what Daniel was talking about, he pulled out the pistol and shot her in the back of the head, just as he had done with Sam. After firing twice, Daniel posed Julie's lifeless body by ripping her jeans and scribbling a crude message on her back. He wanted it to look as though there had been a sexual assault. The following morning, Daniel headed back to the Liberty Theatre where Sam's body still lay in the attic.

He cut Sam's clothes off with a pair of scissors. Then, using a saw and hatchet that he had borrowed from his fiance's brother, Daniel removed Sam's head, one of his hands, and one of his forearms, which was tattooed. Daniel hoped that removing these body parts would prevent the remains from being identified. As he dismembered his former friend, Daniel began to laugh aloud to himself. He couldn't quite believe what he was doing. Interviewing detectives were unsurprised by Daniel Wozniak's chilling confession. They had long suspected his involvement in Julie's murder went far beyond what he'd originally claimed, and they weren't the only ones. Steve Hare, Sam's father, had started to wonder about Daniel when he began looking into his son's disappearance on his own.

Another friend of Sam's had given Steve Daniel's contact details so he could ask whether he had seen his son. Steve noticed that Daniel's phone number had a Long Beach area code, the same neighborhood where withdrawals were being made from Sam's bank account. When Steve checked the numbers of Sam's other friends, he realized that Daniel was the only one with the connection to Long Beach. Daniel had further provoked Steve's suspicions during a conversation they had over the phone. When Steve asked if Daniel knew of anything that had been troubling Sam, Daniel replied that he'd mentioned having some girl problems, as well as some family issues. The latter raised a huge red flag for Steve. He and his wife Raquel were extremely close to their only child, and Sam had no family problems to speak of. Steve shared his suspicions with investigators, who'd also noticed some strange details surrounding Julie's murder and Sam's disappearance.

Although the crime scene suggested Julie had been raped and her killing was sexually motivated, her autopsy revealed no evidence of a sexual assault. Moreover, there was nothing to suggest that Sam had ever harbored romantic feelings for Julie, or that the two were anything other than close friends. Once the withdrawals from Sam's bank account were definitively linked to Daniel Wozniak, it looked as though Steve's hair's instincts had been correct. Throughout their lengthy questioning of Daniel in the early stages of their investigation, detectives were struck by the way his story kept changing. Their growing suspicions were cemented during a pivotal moment in the interrogation, when Daniel described seeing Julie's murdered body in Sam's apartment. In an attempt to coax information from him, the detectives had lied, telling him that the results of his DNA swab were back already. His genetic material was found on Julie's body. Trying to explain this away, Daniel detailed how he had leaned over Julie while in Sam's apartment. Perhaps his DNA had fallen onto her.

When asked to describe what he saw when he looked at Julie, Daniel said there were two gunshot wounds in her head, but only one wound was visible. Steve's hair and even the seasoned investigators who had attended the crime scene all thought that Julie was shot once, until her autopsy result came through. It was only possible for Daniel to know she had been shot twice, if he was somehow involved in her murder. Daniel had only killed Julie to cover up his true target, Sam. His hope was that Sam would be blamed for Julie's murder. To Daniel's thinking, Sam's previous criminal charge would make him a plausible suspect in another violent attack. Hopefully investigators would assume he raped and killed Julie, then escaped to live on the run. Daniel had known his fate was sealed when his fiancee Rachel told him she intended to tell the police about evidence his brother had.

After killing Julie and Sam, Daniel had given his brother Tim a box, telling him firmly not to open it. Inside was a backpack containing money Daniel had stolen from Sam's apartment, the pistol used to kill both victims, shell casings, Sam's passport and bloody clothing, and the tools Daniel had used to cut up his body. Supposedly, Tim had looked inside the box despite Daniel's strict instructions and subsequently called Daniel to ask about the items. Daniel knew that if the police learned about that evidence, then he was doomed. When investigators asked Daniel what his motivation for the grisly double homicide had been, he replied, money and insanity. Then he gave a strange, high-pitched laugh. Daniel knew that Sam had a significant amount of money and he wanted to get his hands on it. He explained that he was a pathological liar who couldn't bear to tell his fiancee Rachel that he was broke and they were about to be evicted.

He had also wanted to give her the honeymoon of her dreams. Rachel's parents were paying for the wedding, but Daniel wanted to take her on a cruise afterwards. Sure enough, when investigators checked Daniel's computer, they found internet searches for resorts in Mexico. He had also googled how to hide a body and quick ways to kill people. Detectives found Sam's hair's body in the attic of the Liberty Theatre. As Daniel Wozniak had described, he was missing his head and portions of both arms, but he was identifiable by a large tattoo on his chest that Daniel had apparently missed. It depicted a large love heart surrounded by roses, with the words mum and dad inked across the centre. After Daniel dismembered Sam's hair's body, he had placed his head, arm and hand in plastic bags.

Then he stashed those bags in a backpack belonging to Sam. Daniel told investigators that on Saturday, May 22, while Sam and Julie's families were trying to locate them, he had driven to the El Dorado Nature Centre, a 105-acre park in Long Beach. He dug shallow holes in several locations, then placed the plastic bags containing Sam's body parts in separate holes. Daniel covered each one with loose dirt and leaves before leaving to get ready for a social event he was attending that night. The musical he was starring in was wrapping up the next day, so the cast were all celebrating with a party. Search teams headed out to the El Dorado Nature Centre on Friday, May 28. The park was split up into quadrants with each team covering a different area. By the end of the day, police had recovered Sam's forearm and hand.

The following day, Saturday, May 29, would have been Sam's 27th birthday. On what should have been a day of celebration, his father Steve found himself in the position of having to pray that his son's head, the final piece of his body, would be found and brought home for burial. Steve's prayer was answered, with searchers locating Sam's head before the day was out. Steve and his wife Raquel had never believed for a moment that their son had killed Julie Kibouishi. From the beginning, they had been certain that he was the victim of a crime, not a perpetrator. Although Steve already suspected his son was dead, having his worst fear confirmed was devastating. He later told Keith Elliott Greenberg, author of the book Killing for You, that he was haunted by Daniel Wozniak's motivation for killing his son and Julie. Quote, I cannot believe that somebody would do something like this to a young man and a young woman just for a few thousand dollars.

My boy is gone and I'm thinking, what a waste, what a waste. He saved all his money so he could buy a house, go to college and get married, and this guy takes it all away. Julie Kibouishi's family found themselves reliving the last night of her life over and over, thinking of how things might have been different. Julie's brother, Taka, wished he'd poured her more alcohol during dinner so she would have gotten drunk and had to stay over at his place. Her mother, Junco, had given Julie advice about avoiding traffic while heading out to Long Beach, not realizing that she was in danger of anything else that night. Friday, May 28, 2010, was supposed to be the day of Daniel Wozniak's wedding. Sam Hare had been an intended guest, with detectives finding an invitation typed in elegant font amongst the male in his apartment. Instead, Daniel was charged with two counts of first-degree murder for killing Sam and Julie.

He attempted to take his own life shortly after confessing to the crimes, and was taken to hospital, where he made a recovery. Police recovered the evidence that Daniel had given to his brother Tim for safekeeping, and Tim was charged with being an accessory to murder after the fact. Despite Daniel Wozniak's confession, he intended to plead not guilty. It was expected that he wouldn't face trial for at least a couple of years while the prosecution put their case together, but the process ended up taking more than five years. The prosecution team had decided the crimes warranted a death sentence, which contributed to further delays as the defense sought to have that option removed from the table. The prosecution ultimately prevailed. Daniel Wozniak's trial would proceed as a death penalty case. The trial finally began on December 9, 2015. The prosecution informed the jury how Sam Hare and Julie Kibuishi had been brutally killed due to Daniel Wozniak's desire for financial gain. They relied heavily on video recordings of Daniel's confession, and also caught upon several witnesses.

One of these was Sam Hare's father, Steve, who had to describe to the court how he had gone to his son's apartment to check on him, only to discover Julie Kibuishi's murdered body inside. Prosecutor Matt Murphy said the double homicide was, as ruthless as a murder gets, it's as cold-blooded as a murder gets, it's as unnecessary as a murder gets. The defense had no opening argument and called no witnesses to the stand. Within five days, the jury had retired to consider their verdict. It didn't take long. For two counts of murder in the first degree, they found Daniel Wozniak guilty. They also had to carefully consider his sentencing. Death penalty cases were rare in Orange County, only being sought by prosecutors in about 4% of eligible cases. The defense insisted that their client wasn't the worst kind of murderer and deserved a chance for redemption.

But the prosecution argued that if ever a killer deserved the death penalty, Daniel Wozniak did, because he had treated his victims, quote, like trash. Addressing the jury directly, Matt Murphy asked, are they? Sam and Julie's parents also spoke in favor of a death sentence and shared deeply personal memories of their children with the court. After deliberating on the matter for more than an hour, the jury came to a unanimous decision. Daniel Wozniak would be sentenced to death. The heirs and the kibuwishis were given an opportunity to address him directly. When it came time for Junco Kibuwishi to speak, she asked her daughter's killer a question that had haunted her ever since she had learned that Julie had been used as a prop in Daniel Wozniak's scheme. Quote, you took her precious life and then you disgraced her. Why? What did she do to you?

How could you do anything like that to my baby? Reading his victim impact statement aloud, Steve Hare said, You Dan are a coward and a poster boy for the need for an effective death penalty in California. My only regret is that this state won't let me kill this coward myself. Although Daniel Wozniak was the only individual convicted of killing Sam Hare and Julie Kibuwishi, investigators and the victim's families were certain he hadn't acted entirely alone. Both Daniel's brother Tim and his fiancee Rachel Buffett were charged with being accessories to murder after the fact, but some were convinced that their involvement with the crimes went above and beyond that. Like Daniel, Rachel Buffett was an aspiring actor who performed in community theater productions. To earn money, she'd played the part of Ariel from The Little Mermaid at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim. Rachel's small frame and wide blue eyes meant she was perfectly suited for the role of a Disney princess. But those who were close to the couple hadn't seen it as a fairytale romance. They claimed that Daniel had changed after meeting Rachel.

He dropped out of college and his relationship with his family became strained after his parents caught him stealing money. Nevertheless, it was clear that he was crazy about Rachel. It seemed to outsiders as though she called the shots and Daniel would do anything to make her happy. Detectives had taken Rachel in for questioning almost immediately after first arresting Daniel. They were suspicious of the way she'd initially repeated his story about seeing Sam Hare leave the apartment building with a man in a black baseball cap. Rachel had said that she didn't recognize the man, implying she had seen him with her own eyes, despite Daniel now admitting he had made the man up. When queried about her earlier claim, Rachel amended her story to say that Daniel had merely told her about the individual he supposedly saw Sam with, and trusting him, she repeated his version of events verbatim. Rachel adamantly denied knowing that she and Daniel were in financial trouble, insisting that he kept that information from her. But investigators learned that the couple had already been evicted from another apartment building they lived in previously, and had been notified that they faced eviction from Camden Martinique.

It seemed highly unlikely that Rachel hadn't realized they weren't paying their bills. A witness named Chris also shed more light on the matter. He was a jazz singer who met Daniel and Rachel through mutual friends just a few weeks before the murders. Daniel had told Chris that he was broke and asked to borrow $3,000. Chris agreed to lend him $2,000, but said he'd need to be repaid by Friday, May 21. When that date rolled around, Chris headed over to the couple's apartment to collect his money. Daniel and Rachel were both there, as was their neighbor, Sam Hare. After about 10 minutes, Daniel and Sam left together, with Daniel promising he'd pay Chris when he returned.

Chris waited at the apartment for several hours, privately wondering what was taking Daniel so long. He chatted with Rachel while she sat at the computer and looked for jobs on Craigslist. Finally, Daniel reappeared by himself. He handed Chris a wad of cash that he said was $400 and promised to repay the rest soon. Chris noticed that Rachel was glaring at Daniel. Eager to escape the apparent tension brewing between the couple, Chris left quickly after pocketing his money. Chris's story placed Sam Hare in the couple's apartment mere hours before his murder, and indicated Daniel had wasted no time in helping himself to Sam's money. It also suggested some hostility between Daniel and Rachel.

Rachel had told the police about Daniel leaving with Sam that afternoon too, but in her version, he had only been gone for a brief window of time. She had never mentioned Chris at all. At around midnight that night, Daniel claimed his next victim, Julie Kibouishi. Rachel told police she had been asleep when Daniel snuck out to meet Julie. But records of her online activity revealed something curious. About an hour before the second murder, Rachel had sent a Facebook message to none other than Julie Kibouishi. The message was a reply to a friendly message Julie had sent earlier that day, offering congratulations for Rachel's impending nuptials. At around 11.10pm, Rachel replied, promising that the two of them would catch up after her wedding.

Quote, we'll hang out when everything settles in the summer sun. Police suspected that the plot against Julie had only been concocted after Sam's murder. Daniel had been using Sam's phone after killing him and sent a message to Julie in the afternoon, before his later messages begging her to come over. In the earlier text, he wrote that he was helping his neighbour Dan. Perhaps this slip-up linking Daniel to Sam had led to Julie becoming the target for Daniel's cover-up. Police suspected that Rachel had been in on the plan. Perhaps her Facebook message to Julie was a kind of alibi to profess her ignorance. Friends and acquaintances of the couple had noticed both of them behaving strangely in the immediate aftermath of the two murders.

As detailed in the book Killing for You, one of their co-stars in the production of Nine said Rachel seemed sad and distant on the night of Friday, May 21. In one scene that required her to act upset, Rachel actually cried on stage and continued crying afterwards as well. She had never wept during that scene before. At the following night's show, Rachel's co-star asked her how she was. Rachel allegedly replied, My friend is missing. I think she's missing. I think she's dead. I think my friend did it. This conversation took place almost five hours before Julie Kibouishi's body was found by Steve Hare. When Daniel Wozniak called Rachel from custody less than a week later, their entire conversation was recorded. Rachel made it clear throughout the call that she was aware of this.

When she informed Daniel that she was notifying a detective that his brother Tim was in possession of evidence, she made a point of stating, I need to call him and let him know before they catch me on this recording device because it looks like I'm not trying to tell them right away. Daniel tried to convince her to stay quiet, to which Rachel retorted. You realize they're recording this phone conversation anyways. You're being an absolute ass to try and lie again. In a dejected voice, Daniel said, Now I'm really dead. Baby, you're already dead, Rachel replied. Although detectives believed Rachel could be a co-conspirator and not just an accessory, they didn't have enough evidence to back up their theory. They also suspected that Tim Wozniak knew more than he was letting on.

When Sam Hare's father, Steve, saw a photo of Tim in the news, he suddenly remembered something that had happened while he was trying to find his son. Steve had gone to the Long Beach pizza parlor where Sam's card had been used and waited outside for any sign of Sam or his vehicle. He never saw either, but he did notice an agitated looking man inside the restaurant, pacing back and forth while on his cell phone. Upon seeing the photo of Tim Wozniak, Steve realized he had been that man. Prosecutors didn't want to proceed with Tim Wozniak or Rachel Buffett's charges until Daniel's trial was done. In February 2013, while court proceedings were still ongoing, Rachel accepted an invitation to appear on the television talk show Doctor Phil. She said that she was doing so to clear her name, but some believed she was trying to boost her profile with a view to furthering her acting career. Throughout the interview, Rachel insisted she had known nothing about the crimes until her fiance was arrested.

When confronted with the fact that she had told the same story as Daniel about seeing a suspicious individual in a black hat, she insisted she was only guilty of trusting Daniel. Rachel told host Phil McGraw and the studio audience that Daniel had been a pathological liar with secrets she had known nothing about. Discussing the impact of the double homicide, Rachel stated, It's absolutely horrific, but I think I know I'm not the main victim. Sam and Julie were the main victims, and then I think even secondary would be their families. I am after all of that. I realized that. Steve Hare was seated amongst the studio audience and given the opportunity to address Rachel directly. He was horrified by her decision to appear on national television and told her as much. I was aghast when I get a call saying you're going on TV. My son is dead. He was cut up into pieces, and you come on here and go on the TV stations. Poor me. That offends me.

Rachel told Steve she understood his feelings, but denied presenting herself as a victim, pointing out that she hadn't gone to Hollywood in an attempt to sell her story. Not yet. Steve replied. After Daniel Wozniak was convicted, prosecutors finally proceeded with taking Rachel Buffett to court on two felony charges of accessory to murder after the fact. They accused her of lying to and misleading investigators about what Daniel had done and what exactly she knew. Rachel contested the charges, but in November 2018, a jury found her guilty. She was sentenced to two years and eight months in Orange County jail, with credit for time she had already served while awaiting her trial. The final six months would be served on probation. Once again, the victim's families were given the chance to address the court. Steve Hare, who was convinced Rachel's involvement went above what she was charged with, stated,

Rachel knew exactly what she was doing. She could have saved us eight years and six months of grief. Julie Kibouishi's mother, Junco, asked Rachel directly, All these years, have you shown remorse? No. None. Daniel Wozniak's brother, Tim, had also been charged as an accessory after the fact for holding onto the murder weapon and other crucial evidence that Daniel had given him. He struck a plea deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty in exchange for a sentence of 10 days in jail that had already been served and probation. He was also required to enroll and participate in an anger management program.

Although prosecutors were determined that Daniel Wozniak received the death penalty, it is uncertain whether this sentence will ever be carried out. In 2006, the state of California placed a moratorium on capital punishment after a federal court ruled that a three-drug lethal injection may cause inhumane suffering. In the years since, the matter has been pursued at both state and federal levels, but the moratorium remains. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order granting all death penalty inmates a reprieve. More than 700 individuals technically remain on death row throughout the state, despite the indefinite pause on executions. In July 2021, News broke that Daniel Wozniak had been transferred out of death row in San Quentin State Prison and was now serving his sentence at Salinas Valley, a lower security facility. The transfer was made as part of a pilot program by California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Steve Hare wasn't officially notified of the relocation. He learned of it from a blogger who remains in regular contact with Daniel.

Speaking to the Orange County Register, Steve described the decision as a kick in the stomach, quote, It would have been good for them to at least warn me. If I could, I would kill him myself, but that won't happen, so I want the harshest punishment possible. Due to his service in the United States Army, Sam Hare received a military funeral with full honours and was laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery. Steve and Raquel Hare visit their son's graveside every week. Sam was known to be the life of the party, someone who was always smiling and laughing. He was also quick to stand up for what he believed was right. When friends heard that he had been murdered, they knew that whoever had attacked him must have done so from behind. They wouldn't have stood a chance if they tackled Sam front on. But those who were close to Sam also knew his softer side. When Julie Kibuishi told her mother about Sam, she described him as a big teddy bear. As well as being an aspiring fashion designer, Julie Kibuishi was a talented dancer.

It was a hobby she had picked up at the age of five, and she went on to pursue it as a student at Orange County School of the Arts. One of her teachers later said that dancing and music were deeply spiritual for Julie. Her performances were described with the same adjectives that people used to describe her personality. Fun, bright and vivacious. Julie's remains were taken to Japan by her grieving family, in accordance with the Japanese tradition that unmarried children be reunited with their ancestors upon passing. Prior to departing, her family asked the police if they could have the tiara she was wearing on the night she was killed. Her brother Taka had given it to her hours beforehand after asking her to be a bridesmaid at his wedding. Julie was so excited that she put the tiara on right away and wore it for the rest of the night. The precious memento was cremated with her body.

A replica of the tiara is displayed in Junko Kibuishi's bedroom, alongside an urn that contains some of her daughter's ashes. Thank you for watching!