Hello Readers!
Let’s begin by addressing the elephant in the blog: long time, no hear from me, and I am sorry about that.
I wrote the majority of the posts on this site years ago, when Daniel’s trial was taking place, and when he was first transferred to San Quentin’s death row.
I haven’t had much to add to the blog lately because Daniel Wozniak’s life isn’t changing much these days.
He is in prison. For life.
Even though he is now incarcerated at the California State Prison in Vacaville, he is still officially and legally a condemned man.
Daniel Wozniak’s Activities at Vacaville
In Vacaville, he is employed as a tutor, a group leader, and a hospice worker, to name a few of his many jobs behind bars. As a reminder: Daniel is part of a pilot program to house death row inmates in facilities where they can work instead of spending twenty-three hours a day in a cell.
Sam Herr’s parents have expressed some frustration that Daniel isn’t more uncomfortable… or dead.
It’s understandable. I always keep them updated about any changes in Daniel’s incarceration before I post here, and I know it’s not good news for them when his life improves.
I am, admittedly, glad that my friend has been given an opportunity to make something out of his life. I am pleased to hear him talk about the work he’s doing to help the situations of other inmates, most of whom are not murderers and will eventually be released from prison.
But Dan Wozniak didn’t kill my child.
Answers to Some of Your Questions
Death Penalty Postion?
A blog reader (hey, Jude (I wonder if they ever heard that one before)) recently asked me if I could imagine a scenario where a person deserves the death penalty.
My answer is that I am not sure. Probably not, because I would always be concerned about the possibility of executing an innocent person.
Dan Wozniak is not an innocent person.
Can I see why Sam’s and Julie’s loved ones wanted Dan Wozniak to receive the death penalty? Yes! Steve and Raquel Herr know Dan Wozniak will never be put to death by the state of California, but a death sentence still has meaning for them. It sends a message about the level of horror Dan inflicted on Sam and Julie.
Too One-Sided?
I’ve had readers suggest that my blog is too one-sided in favor of Daniel.
I chose to focus on Daniel because his was a “side” only I had the opportunity to represent.
The murders of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi elicited massive amounts of interest and have been covered by dozens of TV shows, podcasts, and news outlets. But I am the only person Dan trusts to be fair to him and open to the possibility that other people were involved in the murders of Sam and Julie. He knows that I am honestly his friend.
“How Can You Call Him Your Friend?”
I understand when readers question how I could be aware of Daniel’s actions and still be his friend.
I have been told a story that doesn’t exonerate Daniel, but it does give other explanations for his motivations and for his actions. My book is based on Dan’s version of events, and much of it is compiled excerpts from the hundreds of letters Daniel has written me since 2015.
My purpose is to organize his claims and compare them to known “facts” so that readers have the opportunity to decide for themselves what they want to believe.
Closest to the Truth
I don’t necessarily believe everything myself, to be honest. However, I don’t believe much of the official story, either… which also came directly from Daniel’s confession. I’m also willing to accept that human memory is faulty and that he does believe everything he’s telling me.
The blog was mostly written during Daniel Wozniak’s trial, but I’ve received a lot more information since then, and I now have the entirety of Dan’s story. It has always been my intention to shift my attention from the blog to writing a book that, by its nature, can be more informative.
It’s taking me a long time to write. Much longer than I would have expected. But, I’m hoping the time I’ve dedicated will eventually lead to a better book.
“Why Do You Ignore the Comments?”
I must apologize to new readers discovering my blog for the first time, and especially to those of you who ask questions in the comment section.
Reading and responding to comments is very challenging for me. First, as you can imagine, many of the people writing comments just want to say nasty things to me. Like, some really bad stuff. This is why my long-time editor Matt is the one who reads all the comments and decides which ones are appropriate to post.
Sometimes, readers have great questions and interesting theories. Everything readers are asking is covered in the book, but I don’t want to just keep giving the same, “You’ll read it in the book,” answer, because I know the book is taking a long time to complete.
Close the Comments..?
Every once in a while, Matt sends me an email nudging me to give some attention to this blog. Sometimes I’ve wondered if I should just close up the comments section, but it seems readers enjoy sharing and discussing theories with each other.
I’d like to know your thoughts on this, because I’m sorry to admit that I’m not likely to improve in terms of comment attention. But I really do appreciate all the readers; both new and those of your who’ve been around for a while, and I can’t tell you how much I want to get the book out to all of you.
So, I’m going to be back to work on that!
Thank you for your comments.
Glad to see the blog got an update. Are there any updates on a possible release for the book? Also you mentioned that Daniel is unlikely to be put to death in California, but if he was sentenced to death then why would that be? (Not an American citizen)
Tonight, OWN is showing the episode of 20/20 entitled “Mystery in Apt. 410,” but I won’t watch it because I saw it in 2017. I’m happy that I’m the only person commenting on your recent post. It shows me that nobody but you cares anything about Daniel Wozniak. I felt compelled to tell you that nobody will publish your book. Too much time has passed and Dan (thank God) is locked away in prison until he’s dead and forgotten (for obvious reasons). He had 15 minutes of fame for murdering two innocent people. They paid with their lives for their misfortune of knowing him. He is immoral, insane and void of any humanity. danielwozniakismyfriend.com, in my opinion, is something I would NEVER admit to if I was in your shoes.
I have been eagerly awaiting your book for a hot minute. Do you have an ETA on when it will be available? I understand if you don’t have time to answer, but if blog editor could possibly provide a time line would be awesome. Thanks so much for your time.
Hi BP. Thanks for reaching out! Editor / content manager Matt chiming in here. The first draft of the book is perhaps three-quarters complete. Once the first draft is done, I’ll do a comprehensive developmental edit. After that, the author will approve or reject my various suggestions, which will result in the second draft. A copy edit will be done on that draft, those suggestions accepted / rejected, and then we have the third draft. At that point, if the author opts to self-publish, I’ll design and create the e-book and print editions of the book, those will be proofread, and then submitted to the various online marketplaces for sale. So there are a lot of steps, but it would be irresponsible to offer a timeline. It all starts with the author finishing the book, which I know she works on around her familial and other obligations and responsibilities, which of course have to take priority. Stick around! We’ll be creating a notification list soon; if you subscribe (for free, of course) to that, you’ll be among the first to get new news about the upcoming book.
I came across your blog because I was curious about the case, but I ended up reading this entire thing from start to finish finding myself equal parts baffled, repulsed, and intrigued at the ways you twist yourself into a pretzel trying to justify your borderline-hybristophilic relationship with Daniel.
No, I don’t think you’re a horrible person. I think you’ve gotten yourself in too deep because you’re a *good* person. And as another loud former theatre kid with tattoos who made very questionable friends, you actually remind me a lot of myself when I was younger and my hair more radioactive (though I believe you are at least a decade older than me). I think a lot of us are drawn to true crime not because we are morbidly fascinated by the ghoulish details, but because we are so empathetic that we have this powerful urge to understand *why* our fellow human beings can be capable of such heinous acts. But that empathy also makes us vulnerable.
You’ve said over and over that you aren’t being manipulated by Daniel Wozniak, and perhaps he isn’t manipulating you in a serious way that involves financial extortion or abuse, and he’s definitely never getting out of prison so you’re not putting your family at risk of physical harm. But you clearly have a lot of cognitive dissonance regarding this man simply because he’s endeared himself to you. You seem to be able to acknowledge his crimes at an abstract level, but you’ve outright admitted in an earlier post that you can’t even visualize him committing these murders — you mentioned something like, when you try to imagine him shooting Julie twice in the head or hacking Sam into pieces, your mind keeps going back to the goofy image of him singing and dancing on stage.
That’s absolutely cognitive dissonance, and no amount of paying obligatory lip service to the victims is going to change the fact that you have to mentally decouple the murderer from his murders in order to stay on his merry-go-round. Dan hugged you with the same two hands that pulled that trigger, the same hands that undressed Julie, the same hands that dismembered Sam.
The way you talk about Rachel is honestly shameful, too. No, I don’t “support” her, I think she was acting shady af, and she knowingly lied to the police, but it’s gross to heap all of the blame upon her for Daniel’s crimes. You even say things like “without Rachel Buffett in Dan’s life, I don’t believe he is dangerous in any way.”
By saying this, you are completely minimizing Dan’s culpability. He WAS NOT just some innocent sap manipulated by an evil femme Fatale. He was the mastermind (and the word “mastermind” is doing some *heavy* lifting here, considering how quickly he got caught due to his own idiotic actions), he confessed to both, and there is overwhelming circumstantial and DNA evidence to support this.
Sending Rachel a birthday card and inviting her to an interview with you?! For the blog where you’ve done nothing but cast aspersions on her character and made baseless accusations?! You’re delusional if you think she’d want to have anything to do with you beyond a defamation lawsuit. Your opinions are colored by your disdain of her (but if she were overly familiar and told cheesy jokes and gabbed about Marvel superheroes for hours with you, perhaps you would be writing this blog about her instead of Dan?) and the way you keep going on to try to make Rachel look like the true villain between the two of them is honestly embarrassing.
Again, I am not defending Rachel, and it’s not outside the realm of possibility that there is more to her than she lets on. But surely you can acknowledge the hypocrisy in wanting to “humanize” Daniel while simultaneously dehumanizing Rachel? You insist that Daniel is not a monster, while implying that Rachel is? I believe you desperately want Rachel to be culpable, because it helps you rationalize your feelings for Dan if he can share some of the responsibility for the murders. You want her to be guilty because it makes him seem less guilty to you, somehow, but blood on Rachel’s hands does not wipe Daniel’s hands clean. And he still hugs you with the same bloody hands, the hands that killed Sam and Julie. How does that not revolt you?
On a more positive note, I did find your descriptions of Matt Murphy’s courtroom theatrics to be entertaining. And it’s interesting to get this kind of insight into the prison system. Here’s a suggestion for the blog, since you’ve been focusing your efforts on finishing your book: as you know from your correspondences with Daniel, having that small window into the outside and a friend to listen to them can mean the world to an inmate. But the advertisements on prison pen-pal sites often tend to be more… romantically-inclined, like e-harmony for prisoners lol. Maybe you could ask Daniel if he knows any inmates that could use a friend, and give a brief “blurb” about them and an address so readers can send letters to them? I think that’d be a nice little way you can use the blog’s publicity to help other prisoners.