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People aren't always as nice as they appear
The groom is scheduled to get married at a Long Beach park--but is
arrested for cutting off a man's head, which was found in another park.
Cops find man's head in park, say he was dismembered in bizarre Orange
County double-murder
By Kelly Puente Long Beach Press-Telegram
05/30/2010
Man's severed head found in El Dorado Park
LONG BEACH -- Police searching a Southern California park have found
the severed head of a man who they believe was killed in a bizarre double
murder-for-profit plot in Orange County.
A search team of the FBI and the Long Beach and Costa Mesa police
departments found a human head that likely belongs to Samuel Eliezer
Herr, 26, about noon Saturday in the El Dorado Park's nature preserve
area near the El Dorado Nature Center, said Costa Mesa police Sgt. Patrick
Wessel.
On Friday, they found Herr's severed right hand and arm in the park about
half a mile apart. Wessel said authorities have now called off the search.
"We believe everything has been recovered at this point," he said.
Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 26, a Costa Mesa actor, has been charged with two
counts of murder for allegedly killing and dismembering Herr, his neighbor,
and then luring Herr's friend, Juri Kibuishi, 23, of Irvine to Herr's apartment,
shooting her and arranging her body to make it look like Herr had sexually
assaulted her.
Wozniak is being held without bail and could face the death penalty if
convicted. Authorities said Wozniak allegedly tried to kill himself while in
custody on Thursday and was treated for a head wound.
On May 21, police said Wozniak lured Herr to the theater in the Los
Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, where he shot and killed him and cut
off his head, left arm and right hand.
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Police said he took the body parts to El Dorado Park and hid Herr's torso in
the theater.
Wozniak then allegedly shot Kibuishi after summoning her to Herr's
apartment with a text message from Herr's phone. Her body was found on
May 22 when Herr's father went to the apartment to check on his son.
Herr was at first a suspect in Kibuishi's slaying. But the investigation
changed course when detectives learned that ATM withdrawals were being
made with Herr's ATM card at various locations in Long Beach.
Police detained a 17-year-old boy after he withdrew nearly $2,000 from
Herr's bank account. The teenager told police he was making the
withdrawals for Wozniak.
Wozniak was arrested in connection with the case on Wednesday.
A stage actor who had recently ended a performance of the musical "Nine"
with the Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton, Wozniak reportedly
had financial problems, owed people money and was about to be evicted
from his apartment.
Authorities said he was supposed to be married in a Long Beach park
Friday, the day he was charged with the murders.
Herr's father, Steve Herr, told the Los Angeles Times he believes his son
was killed for the $16,000 in his bank account.
Steve Herr said his son, an only child, served with the Army's 173rd
Airborne and had been in Afghanistan and Germany, getting out of the
service last summer. He had been attending Orange Coast College on the
G.I. Bill, with the goal of graduating and re-enlisting in the Army as an
officer.
Police: Costa Mesa man beheaded neighbor, killed friend
By SUE MANNING - Associated Press
May 28, 2010
A stage actor shot, beheaded and dismembered his neighbor in a military
base theater, then killed the victim's friend after using the dead man's cell
phone to lure her to his apartment, police said Friday.
Daniel Wozniak, 26, of Costa Mesa, was charged with two counts of murder
Friday, the same day he was supposed to get married to fiancee Rachel
Buffet in a Long Beach park, said Costa Mesa police Detective Sgt. Ed
Everett.
Wozniak's father, Daryl Wozniak, said his son was in a coma after trying to
commit suicide. Everett said the younger Wozniak was being treated at
Western Medical Center, though he did not describe his condition.
Daniel Wozniak, who recently starred in the lead role as Guido Contini in
the musical "Nine" at the Hunger Artists Theatre Company in Fullerton, is
accused of dismembering the body of Samuel Herr, 26, on May 21, leaving
his torso at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base and scattering the
limbs and head in another Long Beach park...