Daniel Wozniak Is My Friend? – Page 10 – Daniel Wozniak is a convicted double murderer. This blog is about our relationship.

There’s More To The Story On Social Media

Hey folks, just a quick post this week. There’s a lot going on with Daniel’s case right now.

Most of it is related to the larger issue shaking up the Orange County courts. Daniel’s lawyer, Scott Sanders, has made accusations of prosecutorial misconduct in Daniel’s case, and in numerous other cases spanning the past thirty years. There is plenty on the web and in print about it. I’ve been posting links whenever I find them on the my Facebook page… which I hope you’ll follow!

The Daniel Wozniak Is My Friend Facebook page gets a lot of feedback that doesn’t appear here on the blog. There have been some pretty intense conversations there with people you might be surprised to see.

On that subject… I’ve had a few surprises in the past week.

Steve Herr, father of murder victim Sam Herr, is one of those people I never expected to see posting on my Facebook page. He has been polite and forthcoming. He’s asked valid questions, and I’ve tried to answer them.

My answers may have been misconstrued, though. It is my understanding (Daniel told me — I wasn’t there) that this lil’ old blog actually became a topic of discussion in court last week. More than once.

I didn’t see that coming, so I need a little time to suss it all out and write a proper post about how it feels to interact with Mr. Herr, and also about my own anxieties and thoughts on becoming this involved with the story.

Next week: a full length blog post!

And if you’re on Twitter, please follow my tweets!

This is How Daniel Bought Me Lunch

On Friday September 25th, Daniel Wozniak went to court.

I went, too. I wanted to get my own take on what’s going on with this 754-page motion Daniel’s lawyer, public defender Scott Sanders, filed at the end of August.

The overall goal of this motion as it pertains specifically to Daniel’s case?

Here is what I’m understanding:

Daniel and his lawyer want a different judge.
They want the Orange County District Attorney’s Office removed from the case and have it given over to the Attorney General’s Office (as happened in the Scott Dekraai case).
They want the death penalty removed.

Does 754 pages seems excessive to make just those three points?

It isn’t hard to see that there is a lot more to this motion than just the parts that effect Daniel’s case, but, according to Sanders, it is all connected.

There was a front page story in The Orange County Register this past Sunday all about Scott Sanders and how he is “shaking the Orange County legal system to its bedrock.” That is no exaggeration! I sometimes imagine DA Matt Murphy taking out his frustrations on a Scott Sanders voodoo doll that he might keep in his briefcase.

Inside the Orange County jail, Daniel is receiving much more favorable reactions to all that has been happening in the OC legal system. At least from his fellow inmates. He gets thanked often; there are no dividing lines of race or gang membership when it comes to a dislike for the District Attorney’s Office.

This motion is as important to Daniel as it is to Scott Sanders. Daniel and Scott are a team, working together to help people whose rights are being violated. You could say that this has become a life’s mission for both men.

Daniel can turn a little preachy when he gets going on the topic:

corruption quote

Inside the Courtroom

On the 25th, Daniel appeared first before Superior Court Judge Gregg L. Prickett. The courtroom was unusually full. There were quite a few of the victims’ family members and friends. Sam’s and Julie’s parents seemed to have a solid support group. They all waited so patiently while listening to hours and hours of legal jargon.

The morning was spent on the Defense’s request that the currently assigned judge, John D. Conley, be taken off of Daniel’s case.

Judge Prickett listened to arguments from all sides (including a third party I believe was a representative of Judge Conley) and, in the end, called everyone back on October 2nd to presumably make a decision. If Judge Conley is removed, that will mean a new judge will basically be starting from scratch, which will take even more time.

There was a much shorter hearing in Judge Conley’s courtroom immediately following. The Judge made the obvious ruling that in spite of the previous scheduling, there would be no jury trial beginning on October 2nd.

I don’t think that anyone was surprised by this, but there had to be some extreme disappointment from Sam’s and Julie’s families. In spite of this, they remained calm.

After The Proceedings

As we were all leaving the courtroom, Steve Herr held door open for me. I thanked him and could swear he smelled like Old Spice, a scent that reminds me of my father, and of loss. Maybe it was just my imagination.

Beyond learning more about the legal aspects of the case, and morally supporting my friend, I experienced a myriad of emotions that day.

I find these court proceedings truly interesting. I’m fascinated to see in person what I normally watch on TV.

I was also worried. Daniel was excited about the motion and happy that he had a friend in the crowd, and this caused him to repeatedly look back at me and smile during the hearing. I didn’t want my friend to smile at me, or to smile period. I want him to look serious or contrite or something that doesn’t resemble happy. I feel like that’s the way to go when you’re being accused of murder.

I overheard the reporters from The OC Register discussing Daniel’s mood, and I was afraid that my presence would cause him to be described as “smirking.” I found out later that he was given warnings from the Deputies for looking at the audience. I don’t think Scott Sanders was pleased either. Daniel didn’t mean anything by it, but that doesn’t matter, does it?

It was his smiling that drew the attention of a producer from the show 20/20 to me. After seeing him mouth “thank you” in my direction, she approached me in the second courtroom to ask if I was Daniel’s friend. I said yes, and she asked me if she could take me to lunch. I agreed. On the telephone later, Daniel joked that this was the only way he could “buy me lunch.”

I won’t lie. This was exciting. I love 20/20!

She and I talked a lot about my friendship with Daniel, our thoughts on the case, and all the legal wranglings that had happened that day. We discussed Sam’s and Julie’s families and how painful this whole experience must be for them.

We also talked about my blog. I said that my topics go from jail mail to court proceedings.

She told me that any program they might do on Daniel’s story will try to give a complete picture of him. I would hope so. I guess that includes talking to his friends and maybe even reading their blogs.

What’s Taking So Long: The Motion Commotion

When I visited Daniel on Friday, September 11, he had a large folder with him inside his “visiting cell.”

I knew what it was as soon as I saw it. We’d talked about it… I’d read about it…

This was the 754-page motion that Daniel’s lawyer, public defender Scott Sanders, had filed on Wednesday, August 26, 2015.

I hadn’t been able to get hold of the motion myself. Most of my information about it came from Daniel. He even held up some of the pages — items he found particularly important — to the glass so I could read them.

It’s difficult to get a full picture that way.

I still thought I should write a post about the motion… as much as I knew. And when I was searching the net to confirm the exact number of pages, lo and behold, I came across a Voice of OC article with a link to the entire document!

I won’t lie to you and say that I have read all 754 pages. Not yet, anyway. However, I did go through the table of contents and found all the “chapters” that specifically mentioned Daniel and his case.

Even though every page has “Motion to dismiss – Wozniak” at the bottom, there really wasn’t that much relating specifically to his case. Don’t quote me on this, but I’d say only about 20% of the over 700 pages mentioned his case specifically.

Scott Sanders’ Claims

Here is an “idiot’s guide” to this motion (from my understanding):

There has been corruption in the Orange County Judicial system for the past 30 years.
The motion gives NUMEROUS examples of such corruption.
The accusations state that the Orange County District Attorney’s Office and the Orange County Sheriffs Department have surreptitiously engaged certain inmates to work as jail informants to learn information about other inmates. Therefore, inmates are being questioned without their knowledge or the assistance of their lawyers.
Daniel was purposefully placed in an area of the jail so that an informant would have access to him.
The informant was asking specific questions and working directly with police in order to reduce his own sentence (a third strike).
This informant had been working with the police for years and had been used in numerous other cases.
Daniel’s rights, and the rights of numerous other accused, have been violated by the OCDA and the police.
It also goes into a bunch of stuff about Daniel’s appearance on the MSNBC show LockUp.
The OCSD is accused of leading the show’s producers toward Daniel specifically and that Daniel’s appearance on the show could negatively influence how he will be seen by future jurors.
Mostly the motion contains copious amounts of documentation supporting the many accusations of corruption

This might all sound a bit monotonous, but it’s causing huge ripples in Orange County, where deals are being made and sentences are being shortened in order for the DA’s office keep its bad behavior swept under a rug.

Public defender Scott Sanders actually managed to get the entire Orange County District Attorney’s Office removed from another one of his high profile cases, that of Scott Evans Dekraai, who pleaded guilty to the deadliest mass killing in Orange County history. Dekraai gunned down eight people in a Seal Beach hair salon.

The Attorney General’s Office has appealed the ruling, and the eventual decision could decide if Dekraai will be sentenced to the death penalty.

So, what’s the point of all this? What does it have to do specifically with Daniel’s case?

If you ask DA Matt Murphy or victim’s father, Steve Herr, they will say that none of this should be holding up Daniel’s trial. Murphy claims that the jailhouse informant’s testimony won’t be used against Daniel, so that part is a moot point.

If that’s the case, why has Daniel been in and out of the courtroom repeatedly in the past five years, but still no trial?

What do you think? Do you see this as a violation of Daniel’s basic rights?

How does Daniel himself feel about this massive motion and how it relates to his own future?

I’ll have more information for you, and some quotes and thoughts on the matter from Daniel, in the next post.

Was A Victim Also A Killer?

During one of my earliest visits with Daniel Wozniak, I asked him about something he’d mentioned in a recent letter.

While listing off people who had come to visit him at the Orange County Jail, Daniel had told me that Steve Herr (father of murder victim Samuel Herr) had actually been there more than once.

This surprised the hell out of me.

Why would Steve Herr want to sit across from the man he believes murdered and mutilated his only son?

“He really wants to know the truth,” Daniel told me, “and I don’t think he trusts the justice system because of what happened in Sam’s own murder case.”

“Sorry… what was that again?” He’d lost me. I was pretty sure that Daniel was currently in jail for “Sam’s murder case.”

Then Daniel gave me a brief and completely surprising explanation: In 2002, long before Daniel ever met Samuel Herr, there had been a different murder associated with that name. However, in that case, Herr was the accused.

Daniel went on to surmise that possibly Steve Herr was worried that Daniel would “walk free,” just as his own son did years earlier. He didn’t know many of the details, but the main point was not lost on me.

Sam Herr was once a defendant.

Of course I started Internet searching as soon as I got home. I kept thinking, “as if this case wasn’t crazy enough…” The thing is, I couldn’t find anything about a murder case involving Sam Herr… well, aside from his own murder.

I didn’t believe that Daniel was lying to me, but I thought of myself as pretty sleuth-y, and it was weird that there was nothing to find. Maybe Daniel was confused about this… maybe he misunderstood…

When I eventually questioned him about the story, he didn’t know why I couldn’t find any information. He thought it was odd, but when you get right down to it, Daniel has a lot occupying his mind, so worrying about my inabilities to do a Google search wasn’t his top priority.

It turns out that some of you readers are better Internet detectives than I am.

This morning I got an interesting surprise on this blog’s Facebook page. One of you discovered there actually are a few news articles out there about Herr’s other murder case. These are stories that tell of a very different side to Army vet Sam Herr. Given those leads, I was able to find two articles from The L.A. Times and one from The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Here’s the rundown: When Samuel Herr was 19 years old, he was tried for murder because of his alleged role in the stabbing death of another 19-year-old named Byron Benito.

According to Benito’s mother, Benito and Herr had been close friends. In fact, prosecutors stated that it was Samuel Herr who picked up Benito at his house and then, on the night of January 15, 2002, led his unsuspecting friend to an area behind a mobile home park, where he was attacked and killed by a group of suspected gang members… one of which was Herr.

The police believed that Benito was killed as gang retaliation for another murder, even though he was not associated with a gang himself.

There were some accused who just plead guilty right away, accepting fifteen years to life prison sentences.

That left 11 defendants to face charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. The DA decided to hold two separate trials, seemingly because there were so many being charged, and each defendant had a separate lawyer. Samuel Herr would be part of the second trial.

So… what happened?

All five defendants from the first trial were found guilty and sentenced to life in prison.

The remaining 6, the ones from the second trial, were all acquitted. They walked out the courtroom as free men.

From what I’ve read, an eyewitness who had testified in the first trial didn’t do so in the second.

Was that the big turning point? Is one witness the reason that some people are behind bars and others got off Scott-free?

Who knows what leads a jury to finding someone guilty or innocent? Maybe someone looked at Sam and saw a handsome and charming young man who they refused to believe was a violent gang member and a murderer.

Maybe Sam was innocent.

The articles I read made Sam seem like a cold and calculating murderer. Perhaps you can’t believe everything you read.

I wasn’t in the courtroom. I didn’t hear the evidence. I’m assuming that Sam’s parents were there, though. I’d be surprised if they hadn’t been there supporting their son during his murder trial.

They must have been elated when he was found “not guilty.”

Does that mean now they fear that the judicial system will work to Daniel’s benefit in the same way?

Was justice served in Byron Benito’s case?

I have to wonder if there were some people that were not elated when Sam was acquitted.

Jail Mail, Snail Mail

I grew up in a time before emails, cell phones or texting. I called my high school friends using a land line (also just known as “the phone” back then). I sent people letters and got excited when they wrote back.

Now, I text. I email. I am completely dependent on the electronic world of instant contact. The common question with friends my age is “how did we survive before..?”

We used to wait, that’s how. Just like the Arcade Fire song by that name, people had to wait to communicate.

If your family moved you to a different town, then you and your friends wrote letters. Sometimes you even included pictures you’d taken with your 35mm camera and then had developed at a twenty-four hour Kodak kiosk in the mall parking lot.

Pictures were special.

Not so much anymore. I don’t even think twice about texting a picture of whatever random thing interests me…

“Hey check out this cute picture of my dog in his new sweater!”

“I made a tater-tot casserole. Not too shabby, right?”

“Here’s me drinking a smoothie! #IloveJambaJuice”

Now I’m friends with an inmate. Mail, both sending and receiving, is an extremely important aspect of his life… and pictures mean the world to them.

It must be a small escape from the tiny metal and concrete existence: a smiling face holding a smoothie and reminding them of a normal life.

I try to send something in the mail to Daniel every week. The process of sending and receiving “jail mail” can be much more complicated than a lay person might imagine.

It wasn’t long after we’d been writing back and forth that one of my letters was returned to me with “Contents Not Accepted” stamped all over the front and back.

Inside the envelope, which had been opened and then Scotch-taped closed again, was the greeting card I’d attempted to send to Daniel and an informative guide (with which I had clearly not abided) to sending mail to inmates.

inmate_mail_disposition_form — Click for larger view.

It turns out that my “I’m thinking about you and hope you’re having a nice day,” card broke the infamous “BLACK PAPER NOT ALLOWED” rule.

Some of the mail rules are logical. I get it; you don’t want me to send Daniel weapons or copies of Hustler magazine. Ok. Fair enough.

It’s hilarious that the rules specify “female nipples.” How would a deputy know if a close up nip pic was of a male or a female, or even a human, for that matter? The inmates see male nipples regularly, so I guess that’s why only the female ones are dangerous.

Why no black paper? I ended up sending Daniel a photograph of the same card. That made it through. Why?

Daniel has told me that some deputies are easier going than others. The newer ones are stricter with the rules.

I couldn’t help feeling bad for inmates who have young children. Nothing drawn in crayon or marker. No glitter or glue.

I had another piece of mail returned because I wrote the address with a Sharpie marker.

You know, until I became friends with Daniel, I only bought postage stamps at Christmas time. I’ve discovered that the USPS has some really cool stamps. Miles Davis stamps. Barnum and Bailey vintage circus stamps. Emancipation Proclamation stamps.

I really do try to follow the mail rules. I find it kind of embarrassing when items get sent back. Maybe my mail carrier knows about the nipple rule and wonders what kind of contraband I’m sending. I envision myself chasing after the truck, waving the rejected envelope and yelling, “It was the black paper!”

Even though I know I’m not the only person writing to Daniel, I can’t help worrying that sometimes it might be my fault if he doesn’t get any mail. As is, he generally sends three or four letters to my one.

And his letters are great! My favorites include scripts of conversations Daniel’s had with guards and other prisoners, newspaper articles about his own case with penciled comments in the margins, and “kites.”

Yes, I will share some of the best ones with you in future posts.

I try to send him mail that will make him smile. I include random pictures that entertain me:

dog_sweater_300x300 — My dog with his new tequila-bottle shaped chew toy (Dog Julio).

mad_max_guitar_300x300 — The heavy metal guitar guy from the new Mad Max movie (with flames shooting out of the guitar neck!)

My letters are mostly about my daily life. You’d be amazed at how interesting a trip to the supermarket can be when you spend twenty three hours a day in a cell. At least that’s what Daniel tells me.

Sometimes I worry that my stories might be silly compared to his life.

“Yes, there was a long line at Starbucks!”

Free People Problems.

Recently, Daniel asked me for the lyrics to three James Bond songs because someone at the OC jail claimed he could sing these songs if only he had the lyrics.

Sometimes I send “texts.” Instead of actually sending messages to him throughout a day, I’ll put them in a document and then print it out.

I’ve even sent him print outs of comments left on this blog and the Facebook page.

I use up a lot more printer ink now, but it’s worth it. Getting letters from me makes Daniel happy. It improves his day. It helps him take a mental break from his reality.

And I get to look forward to the mail again.

Crime Scenes Field Trip

We’ve established that I watch a lot of crime shows, but there’s another side to my interest in true crime. I like playing detective. When I was a little girl, I read two Nancy Drew books a week (because that’s all we were allowed to take out of the school library).

Thanks to Nancy Drew, I’ve poured over everything I can get my hands on about the Daniel Wozniak case. Since he hasn’t been to court, there aren’t any trial records. The only information available to the public comes from the DA’s office, the Sheriff’s department, and the media’s coverage of them both.

If you’re thinking I’m about to tell you I have inside information from the “killer” himself, well, I’m sorry to disappoint you. Everything he says is recorded and everything he writes is scrutinized (I’ll talk more about jail mail next week).

But, I actually do ask Daniel questions. It’s not that I think he can answer me, it’s that I want him to be aware that I have them. He’s told me that one day he’ll give me all the answers.

We’ll see…

Visiting Some Of the Scenes of the Crimes

From everything I’ve read, I know that there are three main crime scenes associated with this case:

The Costa Mesa apartment complex where Julie Kibuishi was murdered and where Daniel, his fiancé and Sam Herr were neighbors.
The Liberty Theatre on the Joint Forces Training Base in Los Alamitos. This is where Daniel allegedly shot Sam twice and then left his body in this building overnight, returning the next day to decapitate him and cut off his arm and hand. Sam’s torso was left in the theatre.
The El Dorado Nature Center in Long Beach. This was where Sam’s body parts were disposed of. From what I’ve read, it was during Daniel’s confession that the police obtained information on where to search for Sam’s head and hands.

My friend Matt lives close to the Nature Center. It’s one of his favorite places, so he volunteered to show me around when I decided to visit this “scene of the crime” myself.

The Nature Center

The place is big: over one hundred acres of animal and plant sanctuary in the middle of the city. It’s beautiful. It’s quiet and peaceful. For the most part, people seem respectful of others and the surroundings.

We went on a weekday. Matt says it’s busier on the weekends. It would have been swarming with people on a beautiful Saturday, like the one on May 22nd, 2010.

The El Dorado Nature Center only has one entrance and exit, and there’s no one checking bags when you come in. It’s a park. Even though it has a fence surrounding the grounds, employees told us it has plenty of holes.

Would it be feasible to enter the El Dorado Nature Center from an area other than the main entrance? Yes. It wouldn’t be difficult for a person to sneak onto the grounds, hide body parts in any of the densely wooded areas and then exit, probably without being seen or noticed by anyone.

So yeah, that was the constant weird thought going through both our heads as we walked along the two mile path and snapped pictures of squirrels. I also took shots of a couple areas that seemed particularly plausible dumping grounds.

We didn’t know exactly where Sam’s body parts were found, but we did learn from employees that his parents had visited specifically to be shown those locations.

Imagine being in this serene setting and only being able to feel despair.

When we left, I saw a sign at the exit that I hadn’t noticed when we arrived.

entryway sign at the el dorado nature center — “Welcome to the El Dorado Nature Center. Take only memories, leave only footprints. Enjoy your visit…”

Creepy.

The Joint Forces Training Base

Next, Matt and I headed over to the Joint Forces Training Base, and this is when we started taking some issue with the public story. It didn’t seem like the kind of place a civilian like Daniel could just drive into.

training base front gate — One does not simply drive onto the Joint Forces Training Base!

Maybe Army veteran Sam Herr was with him? Trouble with that is, it was supposed to be Daniel who asked Sam to help him move some furniture in the theatre on Friday May 22nd.

Even if Daniel did have some kind of all-access pass to this training base, there is still the matter of explaining how two men entered this base, but only one man left.

In 2010, were there no security cameras placed around the base?

Also, not to be too graphic, but where was the blood?

We are supposed to believe that on the afternoon of Friday, May 21st, Daniel and Sam went on the base together, Daniel shot Sam inside a theatre building, and Daniel left by himself… and nobody noticed.

Then, the next day, Daniel allegedly returned, mutilated Sam’s body, and exited the base… taking the body parts with him.

Maybe a person could shoot someone twice, move their body around and manage to avoid getting any blood on themselves. But would it be possible to cut off the head and arm and hand of a dead body without getting covered in blood?

I just don’t think so.

Maybe Daniel brought a change of clothes. That would show some scary premeditation.

I’ll be curious to see if those questions get answered during the trial, and I hope the jury wants to know those answers, too.

What’s that expression?

Oh right… the devil is in the details.

Fear and Loathing of…Me?

On Friday, August 14, Daniel Wozniak went to court, again.

I wasn’t there.

I had planned to be there. I prepared in advance to be there. Nothing specific happened to interfere with me being there.

So why wasn’t I there?

That’s a good question. That’s what I kept asking myself as I dilly-dallied around my house until it was too late to go.

I was mad about it. Mad at myself. And the self-bashing escalated when I found out that Steve Herr, the father of murder victim Samuel Herr, spoke in court that day. My understanding is that he essentially asked the judge to get on with it.

Rightfully so. His son was murdered five years ago, as was Sam’s friend, Julie Kibuishi, whom Mr. Herr was the first to find.

There are some people (quite passionate writers, I might add) who have suggested that, because I am admittedly Daniel Wozniak’s friend, I am completely oblivious to the feelings of the victims’ families. That’s not true.

However: do I know what they are going through? Of course not. It would be ridiculous for me, or anyone not in their unenviable shoes, to comprehend their pain.

So I had a chance to personally hear Steve Herr speak in court, and I missed it. It was the opportunity to listen to this grieving father’s own words.

I am writing a blog about my friendship with his son’s accused murderer. How can I be an honest writer without acknowledging his pain?

Clearly, I can’t.

One might ask why I haven’t tried to communicate with the Herr and Kibuishi families. I want to tell a balanced story and show both sides, right?

Of course. However, I suspect that, at this moment, they have enough on their plates to bother with a blogger who is just fleshing out a possible-someday-maybe book. I definitely plan on approaching the loved ones of Sam and Julie in the future. If any relatives or friends of the victims agree to speak with me, I will be honored.

Back to court though: You might be wondering if I was afraid to see Mr. Herr speak. Would hearing the pain in his voice make it difficult to rationalize being friends with Daniel?

Nope. It’s quite the opposite, actually. I didn’t know he was going to speak that day. Had I known, I would have mustered my courage and made it to court. I want to be reminded of the victims and how there lives and Daniel’s will forever be intertwined.

Steven Herr was not the reason I avoided court. I think I didn’t go because I hadn’t sifted out the answers to some legitimate questions. Yet.

Being Challenged

For the past couple of weeks, a number of people posted comments on this site’s Facebook page making accusations and assumptions about my motivation for writing this blog. Some commenters were quite vocal about their dislike of this blog, and of me for writing it. Fans of mine or not, some valid questions were raised amidst the insults .

To paraphrase:

Why did you write to this murderer, especially since you hardly knew him before this all happened? Are you trying to get famous?
What kind of sick person would be interested in a murderer in the first place?
Why have you chosen his side instead of keeping an open mind?
Are you being played and manipulated by a murdering sociopath?

I had my own internal answers for all of these questions, but I didn’t feel like I had a way of verbalizing them.

“What does this have to do with not going to court?” You might ask. “Are you sure this isn’t all an excuse because you don’t like getting up early in the morning?” and “Did you think that the Facebook commenters were going to show up at the OC Court House to yell at you?”

Maybe?

No, I didn’t think that.

But I did start to wonder, “What if the bailiff or the court reporter happens to ask you who you are, or why you’re there?” Hence, this post topic. I didn’t want to miss court again.

Relevant To My Interests

Let’s start with why I wrote to a “murderer” in the first place.

As I’ve said in other posts, I’ve had a fervent interest in the topic of True Crime since long before I’d ever even heard the name Daniel Wozniak. I’m a admitted True Crime junkie.

I think it’s hereditary! My biological mother is the same way. My seventeen year old watches everything from Dateline to Homicide Hunter with me. We call it “watching crime” in my house.

The genre might not be for everyone, but you can’t deny it’s popularity. If I am sick for having this interest, well, I’m not alone.

I can remember watching the TV movie Helter Skelter in 1976. It’s based on the novel of the same name by Vincent Bugliosi, about the investigation and trial of the Tate-LaBianca murders that were orchestrated and directed by Charles Manson.

Side note: On Facebook, I was accused of being a “Manson girl.” For the record, that comparison is not entirely accurate, since it was actually the “Manson Girls” (Leslie Van Houten, Susan Atkins, Patricia Krenwinkel and Linda Kasabian), and two male followers of Manson, who committed the murders. I am just writing about a murder case. I didn’t murder anyone.

In 1986, I was glued to the two-part TV movie series The Deliberate Stranger, starring Mark Harmon as convicted serial killer Ted Bundy. I wasn’t the only one tuning in to get a glimpse into the mind a psychopath. Like many, I was fascinated by Bundy. How could this seemingly intelligent, charming man commit numerous horrific murders? More important – why?

Always Asking

I’m a big on asking “Why?”

When I’m directing plays, I ask “why.” Why do characters act the way they do?

Working on a modernized version of the Greek tragedy Medea (the story of a woman who murders her own children), I spent months researching women like Susan Smith and Andrea Yates. It wasn’t enough to just tell the story. I wanted to show the human being behind the story. The audience wasn’t necessarily going to like Medea, but I was going to make them think about her.

I was still working regularly at the Hunger Artists Theatre Company in 2010 when Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi were murdered.

Like everyone else, I believed exactly what the newspapers said about Daniel Wozniak being the savage murderer of these two innocent victims. Since I had actually just met Daniel Wozniak, spent time with him, joked with him, asked him to audition for my play… well, I won’t deny it: I was enthralled.

I wanted to know more.

I wanted to understand why!

Coming To Writing

Even though my public creative focus was on directing, I’ve always liked writing as well. The thing is, you don’t always have the time to do everything you want to do.

Hunger Artists eventually closed its doors. My kids got bigger and more independent. I found myself with time to write, and so, I did.

I wrote about my life. I wrote about Mary Magdalen. I wrote about anything I found interesting.

A guy I’d met four years earlier was accused of and had confessed to double murder, and yet he still hadn’t been sentenced. That, I found very interesting!

I realized maybe I could write a true crime book. It was close friends who kept telling me that it would be more interesting to write about my own involvement with Daniel. Anyone could report, but I had a connection.

Did I think this would lead to me becoming the JK Rowling of the genre? No. Did I hope that other people would be want to read what I write?

Of course. Just like I wanted people to see the plays I directed.

That is why I wrote the first letter to Daniel and hoped that our brief meeting years earlier would be enough to entice him to write me back.

The purpose of the blog was to have a place to write, and think, and question, and prepare, for a possible future book.

My Own Assumptions

The thing is, I already assumed Daniel Wozniak was completely guilty. The police and the newspapers said he confessed. There. Done. So let’s see if I could find out what kind of person would do these horrible acts?

I am not proud of determining anyone’s guilt solely from what I’d read in the paper.

That wasn’t fair. Innocent until proven guilty, I kept telling myself.

Was I a witness to this crime. No.

Have I ever read or heard a recording of the confession? No.

Do I have any information about physical evidence? No.

Have I seen pictures of the crime scenes? No.

That’s not the kind of person I am. I don’t blindly accept without proof, but that’s what I was doing, and I was going to stop.

Like the judge in Miracle on 34th Street, I was going to wait and see. Keep an open mind.

That is what I’m doing.

Do I think Daniel is a completely innocent man who is unfairly incarcerated?

No. I’m guessing that he had something to do with… something. That’s my hunch, but I do not know if he is a murderer. The trial will hopefully answer some of those questions.

Does having questions mean I’m being manipulated by Daniel Wozniak?

I don’t think my blog accomplishes anything for him, although he does like the idea of it. Not that he has any way to read it.

Maybe he’s a narcissist. He might just like that someone isn’t calling him a monster, for once.

You Might Not Like It, But…

Here is the part where some of you are going to get cranky.

I don’t think he is a monster… at least, I don’t think that of the person I now know.

I like Daniel. He writes a great letter. He makes me laugh. He tells the cheesiest jokes. We talk about life, religion, politics and cartoons. I enjoy our conversations on the phone, and I like visiting him.

I’m not alone in that. Daniel has close friends and supporters in and out of jail.

There are even those who believe he’s not a murderer.

And hey… what if he isn’t?

Jail Visit (Part 2)

I expect the visit to start at exactly two o’clock, but when nothing seems to be happening, of course I’m immediately worried I’m waiting in the wrong place. Which is dumb, because there’s only one place to wait.

After five more minutes, the Deputy who checked me in comes through a door in the back of the booth. She carries a handful of white papers and her walk to the center of the waiting area is determined. She calls out, “Two o’clock visit!”

Bam! My hand pops into the air like my pre-school teacher had just asked who can spell the word cat.

No one else raises their hand.

The Deputy looks at me, and then back at the papers in her hands.

“Rodriguez!”

A couple in their sixties walks up and takes the paper from the deputy.

“Ohhhhhh, I get it now,” I say in a too-loud whisper.

OK. Name is called. Visitor walks up and takes the paper and gets in the line to the metal detector.

Finally, “Wozniak!”

“Here!”

Oh for God’s sake, she’s not taking attendance, I remind myself as I get my paper, say “Thank you,” and get in the line.

Another Deputy starts moving from person to person along the line, comparing picture IDs to the visitor name on the paper. He takes my paper, looks at Daniel’s name, and then back at me.

“You haven’t been here before, right?”

“Correct.”

“So how do you know him?” He seems genuinely curious.

“I actually met him just before his arrest, but I didn’t start writing to him until a couple months ago.”

“Wow. It’s such a crazy story. Do you know where you’re going?”

A weightier question for me than he knew. “Not exactly.”

“After you go through the metal detector, head to the elevator and take it up to J. He’ll be in J4.” He shows me the letter J and number 4 that someone had written on the top of my paper in black Sharpie.

“Thank you,” I smile.

The line moved at a good pace. Most of my stuff was in the locker. I have the key on a red elastic wrist band, my paper and my ID, and I put them in the miniature white plastic basket before going through the detector. I don’t need to remove my Vans, but I mentally note that I should never wear my black combat boots with the metal studs.

I pick up my things and walk over to the elevator to join the other waiting visitors.

So far, so good. In spite of having a dry mouth and pounding heart, I’m doing OK. I really wish I could have taken my water bottle with me. How exactly is a bottle of Arrowhead going to be a security risk? I promise it’s not a Molotov cocktail, or I wouldn’t be drinking from it.

The elevator doors open and everyone stumbles inside. “J” was the next floor up. I wondered what happened to floors “A” through “I.”

Even though Daniel and I had been writing back and forth for a couple of months, standing in that elevator I’m not sure if we’ll have enough to talk about to fill a one hour visit.

The elevator doors open again and two women get off. One has a small boy with her around the age of four. I follow them out.

Directly ahead and to the right are walls of glass. I can see down to the floor where we’d just been. To the left is a hallway, and this is where the other visitors head. There are no signs, just a green arrow. It feels more like an abandoned inner city high school than a jail, and reminds me of when I taught English as a Second Language in downtown Los Angeles.

I follow the hallway for three turns, then finally come to an end at a doorway marked with a stenciled “J.”

Inside, I see a row of metal stools butted up to a large glass window. There are small wall dividers creating semi-private “cubicles.” Each has a steel shelf jutting from the window and a white telephone receiver hanging from a cord coming out from the wall. I wonder if it had actual real wires and such, or is this just a creepy game of “telephone?”

There are signs reminding you your conversations will be recorded. Even though I don’t plan on talking about anything important, that still feels awkward. Invasive, even.

Side note: In TV and movies, people always seem to be able to kind-of hear through the glass. This is not true. Sometimes, you can barely hear the other person even when you have the static-y phone pressed to your ear. I always end up taking out my earrings because they stab into my head.

People aren’t sitting down, even though we all have papers with our cubicle numbers. I ask the woman with the little boy about this and she explains it’s because the inmate doesn’t always get brought to the correct cubicle. “You could be sitting in J4 and the person you’re visiting is locked in at J2. Once they are locked in, they are stuck.”

It’s nice that other visitors were so helpful.

I do that, now. When people are confused, I’m the person who explains how the lockers work, which is harder than you’d think.

“When you put in your quarter, do not take the key out before you close the locker door or you’ll end up with it locked open. Then you have to put the key back in and use another quarter.” Lady in the red shirt—if you’re reading this—thank you again for your assistance.

I see Daniel Wozniak being led by a deputy to his side of J4. He waits patiently for the guard to open up the little cage and lock him inside. Their conversation looks almost amiable.

Daniel wears the ubiquitous orange jumpsuit. I can see a white cotton t-shirt peeking up through the top of the V-neck. His hands are in his pockets. No handcuffs or leg shackles like in court.

He’s a big guy, but he looks thinner than when I’d met him at the theatre. In spite of his height, Daniel doesn’t come off as intimidating at all. He has a friendly and slightly sheepish smile on his face, and he’s sporting the hair style and facial hair of Hugh Jackman in Wolverine.

Yes. You did read that correctly. He’s a huge Hugh Jackman / Wolverine fan and had done this for Halloween (obviously he didn’t go trick or treating, but I could see doing anything to pass the time). I must say, it was pretty damn accurate. Halloween was long over, but he hadn’t changed it yet. He thought it was funny. I did, too.

There was another thing about it that was weird: that day, I’d chosen to wear a Marvel t-shirt featuring Spider-Man, Iron Man, Thor and Wolverine. A bizarre coincidence that we both found pretty entertaining. Ice broken.

Turns out, we have enough to talk about for an unheard-of three hour visit. To this day, that is still the longest visit we’ve ever had. Usually it’s an hour, and that’s it. I learned later that the guard told him he let the visit go on so long because it looked like we were “having a good time.”

I honestly can’t remember everything we talked about, just like you might not remember all the specifics of your dinner conversation with a friend. There was a lot of laughing. It was easy.

I do recall talking about how my son and I had recently been reading To Kill a Mockingbird. I told Daniel that we watched the Gregory Peck movie version from 1962, and we got in a discussion about the possible modern casting if Hollywood were to re-make the movie today. When Daniel jokingly suggested Tom Cruise could play 2015’s Atticus Finch, my response was to threaten him with bodily harm (specifically a jail phone hitting him upside the head). He pretended to cower even though we were separated by thick glass.

This has become a running joke when I visit. He’ll says something sarcastic and immediately pretend to cower and then say, “put down the phone.”

The visit is, dare I say, fun.

I didn’t even notice that four year old boy had lifted my locker key out of my back pocket… until his mortified and extremely apologetic mother finds and returns it to me.

I know the visit is over when the deputy comes back to take Daniel out of his small cage… in order to lead him back to a slightly larger one.

Daniel thanks me for visiting and tells me he’d write soon (this first visit was long before we started also speaking on the phone). I promise that I’ll also write him, and that I’ll visit him again.

I keep watching him as he’s walked down a set of stairs and through a set of doors.

When I can’t see him anymore, I walk back down the hallway and get on the elevator.

Going outside, I feel like it’s sunnier, clearer, and the air smells fresher than when I got there.

I buy an ice cold Diet Coke from a vendor and head back to my car.

Jail Visit (Part One)

November 21, 2014: My first visit to the Orange County Jail. I was totally freaked-out nervous for a bunch of reasons.

Holy crap! This guy is accused of murdering two people.
It’s jail. I feel judged even just visiting the place.
Overwhelming worry that I’d mess something up and they wouldn’t let me visit. Silly as it sounds, I don’t like to let people down. I would’ve felt terrible if Daniel didn’t get a visit just because I couldn’t follow directions.
Self-inflicted high anxiety. I stress out because that’s what I do. You know, maybe there would suddenly be some glitch in the Matrix and Daniel and I would switch bodies and I’d watch him walk away to freedom while I was put back in his cage.
AND… holy crap…. this guy is accused of murdering two people!

Before the big day, Daniel provided me with a basic run-down of the visiting procedure:

Visits are on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 8 am – 5 pm. You need to arrive fifteen minutes before the hour. This is not nearly enough time for my comfort level. I like to be there a least thirty minutes early.
You need the booking number of the inmate you’re visiting. I had that already because it’s same number I use when I send him snail mail.
Bring a picture ID (which you must have on your person at all times)
Quarters! You really only need one quarter. It’s so you can put your stuff in a locker while you’re visiting. I always need at least two quarters, since there’s never been a time when I didn’t forget that my phone is in my pocket, or that I accidentally put my driver’s license back in my purse, so I have to open my locker and use another quarter to lock it again.

Knowing the whens and hows still didn’t help me know what to expect.

This wasn’t actually the first time I’d ever visited someone in jail. I’ve had friends or family members who had done time for petty theft or drug use. There have even been a couple of drunk-and-disorderlies thrown in there.

You visit those people at “Honor Farms” like on Orange is the New Black. You sit at cafeteria-style tables and you can hug your loved one (once upon arrival and once leaving

The Protective Custody unit at the Orange County Jail is a completely different world.

Daniel is in the Intake / Release Center. This is where inmates are housed while awaiting trial. Most people are not there for five years.

There’s something you can’t quite put your finger on: a feeling that you lose some of your “regular person on the street” status in the eyes of the O.C. deputy sheriffs. As soon as you walk in the door, you become someone to be watched, scrutinized, and recorded.

You go through the glass doors and join a check-in line. They do not appreciate it when you excitedly approach the next window before they call you up (I was just trying to keep things moving along… jeeze!).

You talk through a speaker. You can only see the deputy if you push your face against the glass (they don’t like that, either).

I give Daniel’s name and booking number to the female deputy and she seems immediately distrustful.

Daniel’s circumstances do make him a high visibility inmate, so that’s not total paranoia on my part.

“Your ID.”

I open the little door on the secure passageway between us. When my door opens, her corresponding door seals shut, and vice versa.

“If you’re his friend, then where have you been for the past five years?”

“Ummm… We’re reconnecting… you know… from our old theatre days.”

“Do his parents know you’re coming today?”

“Yes they do. He told them in advance.”

“Hmmm… ok.” She puts my ID back in the compartment.

I try to open my side too soon. It’s still sealed because her door isn’t completely closed.

I still make that mistake, even though I’ve visited a bunch of times by now.

Maybe, inside that room, there is access to some giant “release all prisoners” button, and they want to make sure that no “El Chappo types” send in their henchmen to try a breakout.

“Wait over there until the two o’clock visit is called.”

I sit on one of the teal molded-plastic chairs in the waiting area. The place isn’t very crowded. I’ve come to discover that Saturdays and Sundays are busier.

I try to not be obvious with my people watching.

I’m sure people are watching me. Purple hair (at the time). Black clothes. Tattoos. Giant nervous smile plastered on my face. I try to keep my legs from bouncing too much.

Next up on DWIMF – The first time I was face to face (well… face to glass to face) with Daniel since before his arrest.

It would be great if anyone would like to share their own jail visit stories. I’d love to read your comments.

I Went to Court!

Daniel Wozniak has had many court appearances in the past 5 years, and the way things are going, there will be many more.

Today, for the first time, I was in the court room to watch it happen.

Here’s a simplified version of the legal mumbo-jumbo covered today:

Daniel’s lawyer, Public Defender Scott Sanders, had previously filed a motion to remove the Orange County District Attorney’s office from prosecuting Daniel’s case.
Sanders is also the Public Defender for Scott Dekraai, a man facing trial for the deadliest mass killing in Orange County history: The Seal Beach salon killings.
In both cases, which are constantly being linked together by the press, Scott Sanders is claiming prosecutorial misconduct specifically linked to the Orange County Sherriff’s office and the secret misuse of jailhouse informants.
In Daniel’s case, there is also the issue about the TV show LockUp Orange County, which featured Daniel and other inmates in an episode called “Extended Stay – Unholy Trinity.” Sanders claims that the O.C. Sheriffs and the D.A.’s office aimed the show’s producers in Daniel Wozniak’s direction (this has been denied by the producers of LockUp, who say they were just randomly drawn to Daniel and his “actor’s smile.”)
It is my understanding that a similar motion was approved by a different judge in the Scott Dekraai case when the Orange County D.A. was removed from his murder trial this past March.
Today’s hearing was so D.A. Matt Murphy could argue against the motion to dismiss the D.A.’s office (and Murphy) from prosecuting in Daniel’s case. It was a motion to stop Sander’s motion.

Okay, that’s the legal stuff. Let’s talk about me.

A Personal Account

I arrived late. The hearing was set for nine in the morning, and because I got a little turned around in the courthouse (my friends will tell you that this is no surprise; my sense of direction is awful), I didn’t get to Judge Conley’s courtroom until 9:20.

There was a big CLOSED sign in the window, so I was worried I’d messed it all up and wouldn’t be able to watch. But then, three people who looked like “law people” got off the elevator. They had suits and briefcases and one of them was pushing a dolly that was stacked with cardboard file boxes. I decided they looked like they knew more than I do, so I just asked them about the “closed” sign. Together, we came to the conclusion that since I wasn’t a witness or juror… what the hell, go for it!

I quietly sneaked in the first set of doors and peeked through a window. I still couldn’t see if Daniel was even the defendant, so I opened the second set of doors and slipped into the closest seat, in the back row. A deputy looked up at me, but seemed unconcerned by my presence, so I figured it was OK.

I saw Daniel sitting next to his lawyer at the defendant’s table. His back was to me and he wore his usual orange jumpsuit with “Orange County Jail” written across the shoulders. The tag was sticking up from his collar, and I wanted so much to walk right up to him and tuck it in. It’s just a thing I’d do for any of my friends.

I restrained myself.

Although we had talked briefly on the phone over the weekend about me possibly coming to the hearing, Daniel had no idea I’d come in. I’d wondered if he was hopeful that I would show. He probably figured I’d changed my mind or just couldn’t bring myself to wake up that early. Now I was sitting about ten rows behind him. I hoped my friend would somehow realize I had come to support him.

The Families

Just two rows behind Daniel sat the parents of murder victim Samuel Herr. I had seen their pictures many times in print, and I’d watched Steve Herr when he appeared with Rachel Buffett on the Dr. Phil Show, so I recognized him and his wife immediately. There were two other people sitting with them—a couple about the same age as Steve Herr’s parents—who I suspect were also relatives.

The four of them were the only people wearing headsets during the entire proceeding. Why? No idea. If you know, leave a comment!

Directly behind Mr. Herr sat a man who may have been the father of Julie Kibuishi.

Seeing these people in person made my stomach hurt.

As the D.A. mentioned during the proceedings, Sam Herr’s parents have attended every court hearing related to this case over the past five years.

I think I heard: one hundred and four times.

Other Observers

Aside from the family, it looked like the twenty or so other people sitting around the courtroom were likely a mix of law students (young people in business suits) and reporters.

Then there was me. Most of my tattoos were hidden by clothing, but my hair color is always noticeable. Also (and I know it was just in my head) I felt like you could read it on my face: I’m here because I’m friends with “the killer.”

District Attorney Matt Murphy Off Camera

The next hour consisted of the two attorneys arguing for and against the motion to remove the O.C.D.A. from the case.

A side note: Since I’m such a fan of Dateline and other true crime shows, it was pretty cool to see D.A. Matt Murphy in person after seeing him so many times on television.

Truth is, I was a little disappointed. It seems like he tries harder to be interesting when TV cameras are on him. Today? He presented a thirty minute PowerPoint presentation to illustrate his argument against the motion.

To me, he came off like he was cranky. He seemed personally bothered by the accusations against the D.A.’s Office. It was like he really wanted to make sure his own name and reputation would not be smeared. He complained about the many articles written about him and his office and their possible misconduct, claiming that the coverage has been “bitingly negative” against the prosecution.

Even he must have realized how he sounded, because he repeatedly pointed out that he wasn’t concerned about himself or his career. This was “all about the case.”

Eye Contact

When the Judge called for a fifteen minute break, I decided to move to a different seat, where I could see better. Steve Herr stood up at the same time, and he happened to look at me.

I’m sure it was just a “you’re a random human in my eye line” look, but inside it felt like a “how could you possibly be friends with the man who murdered my son” look.

When Daniel was brought back into the court after the break ended, he finally saw me. His eyes lit up and a huge smile appeared on his face.

I almost felt a bit guilty. I would hate for Daniel’s reaction to my presence to cause an observer to think he was flip about the gravity of this situation. It’s like I could read the headline: “Brutal Killer Smiles During Court Proceedings.” It’s no wonder he doesn’t want his parents there.

It was great that he was happy to see me, but I was hoping he’d have a bit more of a poker face. Did the victims’ family members notice? Did they now connect me with Daniel, and see me as someone “on his side?” From then on, I made sure to avoid looking at them for fear of eye contact.

There was another hour of back and forth with the lawyers. During that time, I’m pretty sure Daniel made sure to get a couple more glimpses in my direction. I’m guessing it gave him moral support, and that was good, because he is my friend.

My friend who possibly murdered two people (or at the very least, was involved).

Obviously, there is much more to learn about this case. I hope information will come out showing that Daniel isn’t responsible for the deaths of these people, because the idea that he could be a murderer is painful for me. The man I know is much more than just this heinous act, and I believe that I can hate the sin, but still love the sinner.

Wrapping Up

In the end, Judge Conley denied D.A. Murphy’s motion. So, I guess Daniel’s side “won” this little battle.

When Daniel stood up, he made sure to look at me again before he was taken out of the courtroom. He smiled and winked. I think he mouthed something about trying to call me later. Then, hands cuffed and feet shackled, he was shuffled out by two deputies.

Keeping my head down, I hurried out the courtroom and went directly to the elevators.

Then, I did some nice normal grocery shopping.