Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Staging a Murder’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘A Killer Among Friends’ delves deep into the mysterious and shocking deaths of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi in California in May 2010. The killings sent shockwaves across the entire community, while the detectives tried to uncover the mystery behind the crimes. An unlikely tip from a teenager eventually led them to the perpetrator, whose chilling confession cracked open the entire case.
Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi Were Found Dead at Separate Locations
Born on May 29, 1983, in Los Angeles County, California, Samuel Eliezer “Sam” Herr came into the lives of Steve and Raquel Herr as a blessing. He grew up and joined the US Army, serving his nation in the Afghanistan War. Around 2010, he was being tutored by a 23-year-old college student named Juri “Julie” Kibuishi at Orange Coast College. She was born on February 14, 1987, in Orange County, California. Passionate about music and fashion, Julie attended the Orange County High School of the Arts. In her free time, she loved to spend time with her parents, brother, and friends.
On May 22, 2010, when Sam’s father, Steve Herr, visited his residence in Costa Mesa, California, he came across a gruesome scene. He immediately dialed 911 and informed the dispatcher that he had found a woman’s remains in his son’s apartment. When the authorities arrived at the scene, they identified the woman as 23-year-old Julie Kibuishi. The autopsy revealed that she had died of gunshot wounds. Initially, the detectives suspected the 26-year-old war veteran of being responsible for the crime as they couldn’t locate him in the house. Later, the case got even more complicated when they found Sam’s torso in the attic of the Liberty Theater at the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. His other dismembered remains were discovered in El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach.
Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi’s Killer Tried to Frame Sam For Julie’s Murder
Right after discovering Julie Kibuishi’s remains in Sam Herr’s apartment, the authorities launched a manhunt to search for Sam as they believed he had committed the homicide and was on the run. The investigation took a turn when they noticed that 17-year-old Wesley Freilich was trying to withdraw money from Sam’s bank accounts. Upon confronting the teenager, the police learned that he was instructed to do so by a local theater actor named Daniel Patrick “Danny” Wozniak, who was also Sam’s neighbor and friend. Four days after finding Julie’s remains, the detectives arrested Daniel on the night of his bachelor party, two days before his scheduled wedding ceremony, and charged him as an accessory to murder. During the interview, Daniel admitted to instructing Wesley to make the withdrawals from Sam’s accounts for him. At first, he claimed that Sam told him that he had shot Julie in his apartment in a fit of rage.
According to Daniel, he then helped Sam escape while claiming that he had no hand in the homicide. He also told the detectives that he saw her remains in the apartment, stating, “I saw the goddamn body. Is that what you want to hear? … I was right over the body. I didn’t touch her. I didn’t do anything … I saw two gunshots in her head.” After the first interview ended, Daniel reportedly called his fiancée, Rachel Mae Buffett, from a jailhouse phone. After talking about the murder weapon being in possession of his brother, Tim Wozniak, the suspect realized that the call was being recorded, and he had incriminated himself. Daniel asked to talk to the detectives and confessed to them, “I’m crazy, and I did it. I killed Julie, and I killed Sam.” He admitted that he called Sam over into the attic of the Liberty Theater, pretending to need his help, and shot him to death.
The killer dismembered his remains using a saw and an axe before disposing of most of Sam’s remains in El Dorado Nature Center, except for his torso. Daniel claimed that he then texted Julie from Sam’s phone and lured her to Sam’s apartment, where he shot her to death in an attempt to frame him for her killing. He also admitted to performing on stage with Rachel in the musical ‘Nine’ just hours after killing Sam. The shooter had also conducted suspicious Google searches before the homicides — “how to hide a body” and “quick ways to kill people.” According to investigative reports, at the time of the murders, Daniel Wozniak was in desperate need of money to finance his wedding and honeymoon with Rachel, as he was unemployed and deep in debt. His reported motive was to steal Sam’s combat pay of $62,000 after killing him.
Daniel Wozniak is Awaiting His Execution at a California Prison Facility
More than five years after the double homicide, Daniel Wozniak’s murder trial commenced in December 2015. By then, his fiancée, Rachel Mae Buffett, had also been arrested and charged with three felony counts of accessory after the fact, as she was accused of lying to the investigators during the investigation. Daniel was eventually convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, and in September 2016, he was sentenced to death for his gruesome crimes. Moreover, on September 12, 2018, Rachel was also found guilty of two counts of accessory after the fact and sentenced to 32 months in prison in November 2018. As of today, 42-year-old Daniel Wozniak is on death row at California Medical Facility in Solano County, California.
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