O.C. prosecutors will seek death penalty in slaying of Army veteran and friend
Orange County prosecutors said Thursday they will seek the death penalty against a stage actor arrested in the bizarre double slaying of an Army veteran and a female friend.
Daniel Wozniak, 26, of Costa Mesa allegedly killed Samuel Herr, 26, of Costa Mesa and later shot Juri “Julie” Kibuishi, 23, of Irvine to make it appear that Herr was the killer, authorities said.
Wozniak was arrested May 26 during his bachelor party at a Huntington Beach sushi restaurant.
“Some murders are committed with such a depraved heart and in such a callous manner that the only punishment that fits the crime is the death penalty,” Dist. Atty. Tony Rackauckas said Thursday.
According to police, Wozniak on May 21 drove his neighbor Herr to the theater at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, where the sometime-stage actor had performed. Police said Wozniak shot Herr and dismembered him, leaving body parts in the theater’s attic and the remainder in El Dorado Park in Long Beach.
After killing Herr, Wozniak allegedly lured Kibuishi to Herr’s apartment. When she arrived, police said, he shot her twice in the head and then removed some of her clothing so police would assume Herr was the killer, police said.
Prosecutors and police said they believe Wozniak killed Herr and Kibuishi for money. He had financial problems, owed money to several friends and was about to be evicted from his apartment.
Wozniak was also planning a wedding that was scheduled to take place one week after the slayings, police said.
In a meeting with reporters after the death penalty announcement, Kibuishi’s mother, father and older brother said they support the district attorney’s decision.
“All the anger in the world is not going to really bring her back,” said Taka Kibuishi, the victim’s brother. “We just want justice.”
Wozniak is charged with two felony counts of murder, with special circumstances of multiple murders and murder for financial gain, making him subject to the death penalty.
He is being held without bail at Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana.
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