dateline – Daniel Wozniak Is My Friend?

48 Hours

Another news show aired an episode about Daniel Wozniak’s case. This time, it was 48 Hours.

I seem to get a bunch of new readers whenever a show airs. People learn about Daniel’s case for the first time, Google him, and then find my blog.

Hi new people. I’m happy to have you here. Welcome.

I hope you’ll read the entire blog from the beginning before you go comment crazy. Try to remember, I wrote the posts before and during the trial. I learned as I wrote. And I’ve probably already answered a lot of questions you might have.

I know the murders of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi are horrible. Daniel Wozniak’s confession of how and why Sam and Julie were killed is disturbing and gruesome. The man shown on that police interview video seems like a monster, but that’s not the guy I visit. In part, I write to make sense of my friendship with him.

Now let’s talk about 48 Hours.

Daniel Wozniak and the True Crime TV Shows

Arguably, Dateline, 20/20, and 48 Hours are the “big three” of hour-long news shows. On January 15, 2016, Dateline’s episode started the trend of covering Daniel’s crime. It was two hours long, it had an interview with Daniel’s ex-fiancée Rachel Buffett (shot years earlier), and most importantly, it was first.

When 20/20 aired their program about Daniel Wozniak on March 4, 2016, I followed along on social media. Many of the commenters complained this was the exact same show seen on Dateline.

The 20/20 episode did have a brief interview with the jurors (I wish there had been more of them). They also had court updates, but overall, I have to agree with the detractors: the story was told the exact same way.

48 Hours On Daniel Wozniak

On October 8, 2016, a month after Daniel was sentenced to death row, 48 Hours aired “Killer Performance,” their version of the Daniel Wozniak crime.

48 Hours had an interview that no one else had. It was an interview with me. They asked me not to make that information public until after the episode aired.

If you’re wondering how you missed the woman with My Little Pony-colored hair, that’s because I wasn’t on the show. The producer sent me a text the day before to let me know my interview didn’t make the edit.

This did not surprise me at all.

I’d seen a promo for the episode a few days before and, quite frankly, it looked like 48 Hours wasn’t doing anything different from the shows that had come before it. I figured if 48 Hours was going to use my interview, there would have been some mention in the promo about hearing from a “friend of the killer.”

Behind the Scenes

From the beginning, I suspected 48 Hours interviewed me as a way to butter me up. I had arranged for the producer of 20/20 to briefly meet Daniel during one of our visits, and the 48 Hours producer was hoping for the same opportunity. Or more.

If you remember from my post, I considered interviewing Daniel myself, as I was the only person he’d allow. Finances and logistics got in the way, but part of me really wanted the world to hear from the person I know. All anyone saw was his expressionless face (except for those poorly timed smiles at me) during his murder trial.

Yes, I know some of you don’t give a flying pig what he’s like. But lots of other people are damn curious about Daniel, and that’s why I wasn’t surprised TV producers were trying to use me to get to him, and 48 Hours worked the hardest.

On the day they shot the interview with me (at CBS Studios in Los Angles), I mentioned how Daniel actually had agreed to let me interview him on camera, and how I couldn’t swing it.

A month or so later, the producer approached me with an intriguing offer. She wanted me to interview Daniel on 48 Hours’ dime.

Wow.

When I brought the idea to Daniel, he had a lot of questions. Mostly, he didn’t particularly like the answers he got back.

He wouldn’t be able to know the questions in advance.
I wouldn’t be able to know the questions in advance.
I wouldn’t be seen on camera at all (I was fine with that).
I wouldn’t get to see the final edit before it aired (I wasn’t fine with that.)

When you get down to it, this wasn’t going to be his friend interviewing him. This was going to be 48 Hours interviewing him. He didn’t like that.

He also didn’t say no.

There were some financial and promotional benefits for me if he did the interview. Even though Daniel Wozniak is quite skeptical there is a positive side to showing himself to the public, he stayed open to discussing the possibility.

Then he let me decide.

I didn’t tell that to the 48 Hours producer (until now, I guess). I was a chicken. It was easier to have her think I didn’t have much say in the decision.

Don’t get me wrong, Daniel did not want to do the interview. He wouldn’t agree to meet with the 48 Hours producer at all, and she really wanted the opportunity to plead her case to him. It would not have made any difference though.

I never found out exactly why Daniel agreed to meet the producer from 20/20, but not the one from 48 Hours.

Eventually, after a lot of thought, there was no interview. I’m sure Daniel was relieved I made that choice.

It makes you wonder how different the entire episode would have been if they’d had that jailhouse interview with Daniel.

Even though 48 Hours did pretty much the same show as 20/20 and Dateline, I felt it was slightly more one-sided than the other programs. I didn’t like how the show made it seem like Daniel had no one supporting him. Daniel did not want his mother or any of his loved ones to suffer even more than they’ve already had to because of him.

The show did include a much too brief interview with the stage manager of the production Daniel and Rachel starred in at the time of the murders. Overall though, I didn’t think 48 Hours added much to the mix of media coverage for this story. Sure, they were able to show clips from Dr. Phil and Lockup, but those shows have been on YouTube for years. As is, I wonder if some true crime fans even bothered to watch 48 Hours (my mom didn’t).

I’m sure there are lots of people who don’t watch every news crime show on TV, so they learned about these murders for the first time from 48 Hours. Some of those viewers have made their way to me. I hope they stick around and read up on this case, because I do not believe the full truth about the murders of Sam Herr and Julie Kibuishi has been told yet.

How I Almost Got An Interview With Daniel Wozniak

I knew the 20/20 producer was only kidding around when she brought up the idea that I might interview Daniel myself. P20 – I do apologize if I caused you any problems when I mentioned this last week.

It’s a silly idea, right? I’m a blogger, not a TV show.

But once that little seed was planted in my mind, I started thinking, “Well what’s the harm of looking into this?” It might be the only chance to get Daniel on camera since I knew he hadn’t wanted to be interviewed by Dateline or 20/20.

This would be different. I’m his friend. It would be more like one of our regular conversations.

I started coming up with reasons in my head why this was a good idea:

I could promise Daniel I wouldn’t make the interview public until after everyone involved in the case had gone to trial.
I really wanted him to have an opportunity to speak to Sam’s and Julie’s families. That would only be for them to see (if they wanted), not made public (unless they wanted).
Since I’m not a journalist, I could share the questions with Daniel in advance and create additional questions at his suggestion… though I would not let him take out any questions.
Daniel would have the opportunity to talk in great detail about the Orange County informant scandal.
I could use the interview to gain publicity for my writing.
The experience would make a great story.

How Do You Interview Someone In Jail?

However, I had absolutely no idea how a person might go about doing an on-camera interview with a jail inmate, but I knew I walking in with my iPhone and filming Daniel through the glass wasn’t going to fly. And I figured I should probably check with him to see if he’d even be willing to consider the idea before I expended too much energy thinking about the details.

Getting Permission To Interview Daniel Wozniak

I decided to broach the subject during one of our visits… Often when I tell Daniel “I want to talk (to him) about something,” he responds with an amused, “Uh oh.” Usually it’s unwarranted. But not this time…

“Hey. One of the producers said something that got me thinking…”

“OK?”

“Maybe you should just let me interview you.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah, I could get a camera and figure out the logistics and I would interview you myself.”

“You? Interview me? On camera? Like a news correspondent?” Daniel burst into laughter.

“It’s not a totally crazy idea.” I was also laughing because it was a totally crazy idea.

“And what would you do with this interview?”

“Well… umm… I don’t know. I could put excerpts on the blog’s Facebook page. Maybe I’ll do a documentary about all of this someday. Ooh, I could use it as part of a multi-media presentation related to my one-woman show…”

“So, you’re actually serious about this?”

“Yup,” I said, grinning at him.

“This is probably not a good idea.”

“No, of course not. But…”

I explained that I wouldn’t make anything public until after all the trials were finished and how this would be a great opportunity to talk about the Orange County informant scandal.

Also, it wasn’t like he was going to say anything to me that couldn’t be overheard by the Orange County Sheriff’s deputies anyway, and I would promise that when the interview was made public, I would air the entire thing. No edits.

And most important: I’m his friend.

When Daniel told me to go ahead and look into it, I took that as a yes.

The Process and the Price

I did a little research and found out that I needed to contact the Public Information Officer for the Orange County Jail. I sent him an email explaining the situation and asking what I should do next.

I found out that before anything could happen, I had to go to the jail and have Daniel sign a form granting me permission to interview him.

It was a “non-visiting” day when I made the trip to the jail’s visitor area. I wasn’t used to the place being so empty.

This reception area is also used for people to claim the property of loved ones who have been recently incarcerated. On that day it was just the “property people” and one lawyer waiting to see her client.

I got in the regular check-in line behind no one and waited for an extra-long time for someone to notice I was standing there. I was told to come to window one and was greeted by one of the deputies. I recognized her from previous visits. She’s friendly. I explained about the form I needed to fill out.

She was rightfully confused and pointed out that I’d never identified myself as the media before.

“We know you. You’re his friend.”

I agreed with her and explained a little about the interview idea. She talked to another deputy and he got me a form to fill out. He took that form to Daniel. Within about 30 minutes he came back to tell me Daniel had signed the form and it would be forwarded to the PIO (Public Information Officer).

I left the jail feeling pretty good about myself. I was going to get the only on-camera interview with Daniel Wozniak.

I felt like I’d won something. I’ll be honest with you guys; my contact with the TV producers had skewed my way of thinking a little. It’s their jobs to care about ratings and landing interviews.

I’m just writing a blog about being friends with a person who did some terrible things. And I guess I want people to understand how I don’t define my friend by his actions.

My reasons for wanting to interview Daniel turned out to be a moot point anyway, because I couldn’t afford to actually do it.

It’s REALLY expensive to film someone at the Orange County Jail. It would have cost me thousands of dollars just setting up all the necessary insurance policies and paying the salaries of all the deputies who would be involved in the filming. Obviously it is a lot easier for the TV shows to pull this stuff off.

I know that I could make back the money I spent if I was willing to sell Daniel’s interview to one of those shows, but that negates the whole reason for having me do it in the first place. So, it wasn’t going to happen. Not now anyway. But Daniel trusted me and when it comes to the two of us being friends, that is what’s most important.

Murderer Musings and the Media: 20/20

All the TV producers have told me the same thing: Once Daniel is sent to an actual prison, he will not be able to do any on-camera interviews. This isn’t the way for every state, I was informed, but it’s the case in California.

This sort of confuses me. I know I’ve seen Charlie Manson interviewed more than once from behind bars. But let’s just assume that’s the situation. It means if Daniel doesn’t agree to an interview while he’s still at the OC Jail, he will miss his opportunity to ever do one.

I don’t think that bothers him. More and more, I think he’d prefer it.

Me? I’m a flip-flopper. Some days I totally want him to do an interview and sometimes I think it’s a terrible idea.

The 20/20 Producer

During the trial, I thought 20/20 had a much better chance of getting an interview than Dateline did. I was rooting for them.

I had a good feeling about the producer from 20/20.

From here on I’ll call her P20. I could have gone with 20/20 P, but I get a kick out of how P20 makes her sound like a Terminator or something.

I liked P20. I felt comfortable talking to her. I never thought she was judging me for being Daniel’s friend. When I would chat with P20 during the trial breaks, I would be much more swayed in favor of Daniel doing an interview.

I bet right now Daniel’s defense attorney, Scott Sanders, is happy it wasn’t my decision.

It was Daniel who put me in contact with Dateline, but P20 found me on her own during the trial. If I remember correctly, she was unaware of my blog at the time. She told me she’d noticed Daniel “looking at” me in the courtroom, so she approached me during one of the breaks.

Occasionally Daniel might have glanced in my direction, possibly acknowledging my presence as a supportive friend.

Soon after meeting her, I agreed to have lunch with P20. I blogged all about it.

I chatted with P20 often during the trial. We’d text about new developments and she’d ask me how Daniel was handling everything. And when her producer boss and Jim Avila (the 20/20 host for the episode about Daniel’s case) came to court one day, she introduced them to me. The 20/20 people discussed the possibility of doing an interview with me, but mostly they were hoping I would connect them with Daniel. So, I did.

P20 asked me if she could come along on one of my visits to the jail and meet Daniel and talk to him in person (off the record, of course). Now I didn’t just spring her on Daniel one day, I wanted to ask his permission first. He hadn’t been accepting any media visits, but we discussed it for quite a while, and I was able to get him to agree to a quick meeting. P20 would come to a visit with me, but she was only to stay for a few minutes. She’d introduce herself, talk to him a little about the show, and then she would leave us to our regular visit.

P20 Visits Daniel

The next week, we met out in front of the check-in for the Orange County Jail visiting center and I “showed her the ropes,” as they say. I felt sort of responsible for her, like when you bring one friend to another friend’s party, but the two of them don’t know each other.

I took her to the check-in line and we waited until we were called up to window two. We put our IDs in the glassed-in pass-through, and I explained how we had to completely close the door on our side or the deputy wouldn’t be able to open the door on the other side.

I taught her how to use the lockers. I often teach people how to use the lockers these days. I’m an OC Jail visiting expert now.

P20 and I waited for Daniel’s name to be called when it was time for the two o’clock visit. I took our paper and led her to the line for the metal detector. When we were on the elevator I got to amaze her with my knowledge about how the elevator doors open up on opposite sides depending on which floor you’re on.

We exited on floor 1M (J Mod) and I walked us down the winding corridor to the room with the visiting cubicles. Daniel wasn’t on his side yet, so I wowed P20 with another impressive fact:

“Sometimes we get here before they do.”

When I saw Daniel heading up the stairs, he seemed a little more reserved than usual. His hands were in his pockets and there was slightly less pep in his step. He was smiling politely. We sat down across from each other, and picked up our phones, and I “introduced” P20 to him by pointing up at her. He nodded a greeting.

I wanted to ask him if he was ready for this. I was concerned that I’d pushed him into doing something he hadn’t wanted to do. Instead, I just stood up and handed her the phone. She sat down on the round metal seat and started telling him how much she appreciated this opportunity to meet him.

It’s odd to only be able to hear one side of a conversation.

On our side, P20 went into what seemed to be a prepared spiel. She explained to Daniel about not being able to do an on-camera interview in California’s prisons. She told him that 20/20’s viewers would really be interested in hearing his story. I heard her say that Daniel could refuse to answer any question he didn’t want to answer. She said that 20/20 wasn’t trying to be the judge or jury… they just wanted to present all sides. She only had a few minutes and was clearly hoping to win Daniel over.

He nodded in understanding.

Then Daniel was doing all the talking. He was enthusiastically gesturing toward me through the glass. “Right… uh huh… sure,” P20 responded.

I was super curious and a smidgen nervous about what he might be telling her.

“That one there is totally bonkers,” I imagined him saying. “Did you know she’s actually writing a blog about me?”

This continued for a few more minutes and I noticed myself looking at my watch. I wanted to make sure P20 didn’t overstay her welcome. Soon after she thanked Daniel again for agreeing to meet with her and the two of them said their goodbyes.

P20 handed me the phone and reiterated how much she appreciated me bringing her along.

“So?” I said into the receiver as soon as she was in the hallway.

“So, what?”

“So what did you talk about? Are you going to do an interview? And why exactly were you repeatedly pointing at me?”

“I told her that you’re my contact. All communication with me needs to go through you.”

“Huh?”

He hadn’t agreed to an interview. He’d agreed to think about it (which I took to mean no) and he wanted to emphasize to her just how much I know about the story and what a good source of information I am.

I suddenly felt like his wingman at a bar. He wasn’t interested in the girl who was talking to us, but she really should check me out because I’m a great catch.

Daniel wanted P20 to just interview me because he wasn’t talking to anyone else.

The 20/20 Episode and After

On March 4, 2016, 20/20 aired its report of Daniel’s crime. The title was “Mystery in Apartment 410,” and neither of us was interviewed for the show. I would have done it, if they’d asked me, though. Oh well. The episode was only an hour (compared to Dateline’s two hours), and 20/20 had an interview with some of the jurors.

I still occasionally communicate with P20. I even texted with her during the airing of the show. It was good, but I wanted more of the jurors, myself.

I didn’t ask P20 what she thought of Daniel after meeting him. She volunteered that he came off as a regular nice guy. But if she thought he was a sociopath, would she even tell me? Probably not.

She did kid around that maybe I should just do an on-camera with interview Daniel myself…

Murderer Musings and the Media: Dateline

When I got that first text from one of my theatre friends telling me that the lead from our most recent production had just been arrested for double murder, I knew that this dreadful crime was exactly the kind of story I would see on my favorite true crime TV shows.

In fact, in the past year I’ve noticed just how many of the ID Network show titles seem frighteningly appropriate for Daniel’s crime:

Nightmare Next Door
Fear thy Neighbor
Unusual Suspects
Murder Among Friends
Killer Confessions
Happily Never After (Because of the wedding connection)

The Dateline Producer

I wasn’t surprised at all when Daniel told me that a Dateline producer had already contacted him. I’m going to call her DP (Dateline Producer) to make it easy for you to keep track (there will be other producers mentioned in future posts).

When I started writing this post, I wanted to check back with Daniel on the chronology of his initial contact with DP. He figured it out by remembering who is “cellie” was at that time. He thinks she wrote to him before I sent my first letter, but she came to visit him after Daniel and I became friends.

When someone from the press visits an inmate, the person must identify themselves as press to the deputies at reception. The media person fills out a request form listing their name and their reason for trying to visit. Then, that form is brought to the inmate for approval.

Inmates don’t have to talk to the press and can refuse visits of any kind. But Daniel did meet with DP and I think she hoped she had an exclusive interview on her hands.

Some of you may have noticed that Daniel was not interviewed on the two-hour Dateline episode that aired in January of 2016 (titled “Plot Twist” -which I did think was pretty clever). That is not because they didn’t want him. It was Daniel’s choice to not be interviewed.

Daniel on Lockup

I don’t know if he ever really considered doing an interview with Dateline. His public defender, Scott Sanders, didn’t want him talking to the media, and Daniel’s experience of being on the TV show Lockup was eye-opening for him. Daniel does NOT trust the media.

Now, you could ask, “What’s he worried about? How can the media make him look worse than he already does?”

Let’s be realistic here. I don’t think anyone reading this believes Daniel is an innocent and persecuted victim. No one’s going to end up seeing him interviewed and then suddenly be convinced that he’s actually a monster. It’s very unlikely that being on TV would make people dislike him more, right?

Although Lockup really did an effective job of making Daniel look like an ass.

But Dateline is not Lockup. 20/20 is not Lockup. 48 Hours is not Lockup.

I’ve been repeatedly reminded of that by producers from each of these shows. I agree with them. I’ve told that to Daniel often. He would probably call me naïve, but I think these shows want honest portrayals.

I just don’t know if it makes any difference. Maybe Daniel would come off as the guy I know: funny, kind-of-dorky, genuinely remorseful, and hopeful that he can try to do something good with the rest of his life.

But would anyone believe that was the real him? Or would they think he was just “acting” for the camera? For that matter, I’m betting some of you reading this think he’s just “acting” for me too.

So, what would be the point of Daniel doing an interview? That is a question I have been pondering a lot lately, and the two of us have discussed the topic ad nauseam.

What does any of this have to do with me? Nothing really. But during the trial, Daniel decided to make me his “go to” for the media. He now only talks to these producers through me. I was genuinely surprised when he made that decision. I’ll tell you that story in the next post.

Originally Daniel was communicating with DP directly though. He gave her my contact information when I started writing the blog.

The two of us met once for coffee and talked about me possibly being interviewed for her show. DP said she was interested in examining all aspects of the story. She wanted to hear about the Daniel I knew.

I liked her. She was friendly and professional. I admit that I was pretty excited to have coffee with an actual real Dateline producer. After that, we would text occasionally, and I waited to see what would happen.

During the first days of the trial, I saw DP in the courtroom. I was confused when she didn’t acknowledge me. She wasn’t rude per se, she just acted like we’d never met before. I had a feeling that DP didn’t want to be seen talking to “Daniel’s friend” in front of Sam’s and Julie’s families. I talked to Daniel about my theory on the phone after court one day, and he decided that he wasn’t going to talk to Dateline anymore. That had not been my purpose, but it was interesting to see how he reacted when he thought his friend was being snubbed.

Dateline did have an interview with Rachel, though. I was very interested in hearing her side of things. But that brings up an interesting question: Did we, the viewing audience, get a true picture of Rachel Buffett from her Dateline interview? I don’t know her, and the OC Sheriffs didn’t let Daniel watch the show, so he couldn’t give his take on it.

Anyone who knows Rachel want to comment here?

The producers of 20/20 and 48 Hours were also in the courtroom regularly. Daniel could still do an interview if he wanted to, but he doesn’t.

Why Would Daniel Want To Be Interviewed?

Daniel doesn’t believe that any good will come from him being interviewed on TV. He has apologized to Sam’s and Julie’s families in writing, and feels it wouldn’t make things any easier for them to see him on TV.

Daniel also wants to protect his own family, whom he loves very much. He has no desire to answer questions about his upbringing, which he doesn’t blame at all for how his life turned out.

And let’s not forget that Rachel hasn’t been to trial yet. You know that any interview with him would be filled with questions about her. If Daniel gives a “no comment” response about Rachel, people will just assume the answers. Daniel has his reasons for not wanting to publicly comment on Rachel right now (I can only guess what they are).

I suppose I can’t argue with any of that, but I still have. Sometimes I think an interview would be a good idea.

Maybe there is a tiny part of Daniel that still wants to be heard. I know that he cares deeply about the OC informant scandal. He could talk about that for days. But it’s not what you think; he doesn’t discuss the topic in reference to helping his own case… although I’m sure there is plenty of appeal material there that will one day come into play.

Maybe there is a part of me that wants people to have the opportunity to see the Daniel I see. Perhaps then, less people will want to kill him (or at least they will stop telling me to get cancer because I’m friends with him).

Either way, it’s not really my decision. I have influence, but I’m just not sure what to do with it.

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.

Daniel Wozniak Answers My Questions (Part One)

It wasn’t long before I got a 12 page letter from Daniel (double-sided on white college ruled paper – he ran out of the yellow legal pad). He’s always quick to write back as, obviously, he has a lot of free time.

The letter started with a “Game of Thrones” reference – wondering if I’d be more a “sylph of Westeros” or one of “the Wilding Free Folk.”

Definitely Wilding.

He addressed the idea of me writing about him right away. He said there are a lot better topics out there, but he has “no control over what gets written, or by whom,” but he “will never deny another individual their right to express and use their artistic creativity.”

Daniel can get a tad verbose at times. Words are often written in ALL-CAPS and underlined.

I get it. He doesn’t want his whole life to be defined by a single “horrific act of violence,” and any writing about him is sure to focus on that.

Let’s call it like it is though: Daniel Wozniak’s name will forever be connected with the violent murders of two college students (not to mention the decapitation of one).

There is no escaping it. There shouldn’t be.

This didn’t keep him from answering my questions, as long as I was “asking out of curiosity, as a friend.”

Friend? Yes. Curiosity? Hell, yes!

Daniel and Rachel

Then he went into the topic of his ex-fiancé.

If you’ve read anything about Daniel, you know the name Rachel Buffett. She was a pretty young theatre actress who was once employed as a Princess at Disneyland. I’m guessing Cinderella or Aurora (aka Sleeping Beauty).

Rachel and Daniel were supposed to get married on May 29, 2010, but that was canceled when he was arrested at his bachelor party.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Everything I’ve read in the press says that Daniel was murdering for money. He wanted to give his blonde, home-schooled beauty the wedding and honeymoon of her dreams.

I met Rachel. She was in the musical Nine with Daniel at our theatre. Honestly, she made no impression on me at all. Not positive. Not negative. I can’t even remember if I thought she was good or not. Did I also ask her to audition for my play? No idea.

I find her much more interesting now. I’ll be talking a lot more about Rachel in future posts.

Daniel Loses Rachel

So, according to Daniel, he and Rachel remained close for the first couple of months he was in jail. She wrote. She visited. After his arrest, he knew the two of them “would never be together,” still he thought they would be friends. That didn’t happen.

Here is the story Daniel told me:

Rachel and a male friend of theirs came for a jail visit. Without warning, Rachel walked up to the dividing glass, flipped him the bird with both hands and told him she never wanted to see him again. With that, she walked out of his life and stopped writing and taking his calls (inmates have to call collect).

He says he still doesn’t know what changed and “not knowing exactly why…literally drove (him) to the brink of honest insanity at one point.”

As you get to know Daniel, you learn quickly that “not knowing” something drives him crazy.

This happened before Rachel Mae Buffett was arrested herself for three felony counts of accessory to murder. Rachel is on bail awaiting trial.

When I had coffee with a Dateline NBC Producer (oh, you know there will be a post on that, too), she asked me if I thought Daniel was still in love with Rachel. I said no.

I asked him once if he thought he and Rachel would still be married now (you know, if they’d actually gotten married and there were no murders).

He said no.

Don’t tell him I said this, but I agree.

Existential Crisis

(post 8)

I haven’t posted for a while. I’ve been going though a bit of an existential crisis, you might say.

I wrote my first letter to “Pat” in August of 2014. I started this bog about 5 months later. I still haven’t told him that it exists.I am going to, though.

When I began writing to this man who is in jail, I had one goal in mind. I saw him only as a crime and I saw myself as the next Truman Capote. (Side Note: Yes, I’m totally aware that there have been a gazillion true crime books published since In Cold Blood came out in 1966, but Truman Capote is cool.)

By the time I started actually posting in this blog, though, he’d already become more than that. Pat isn’t just a topic. He’s my friend.

There are probably tons of people who would think that I’m “nucking futz” for calling an accused murderer my friend. I wonder about it myself, so I don’t blame them.

The thing is, they don’t know Pat.

I think I do.

I sure as hell hope I do.

I really want to believe I do.

Because this all became very real on Friday when I had coffee with a Dateline NBC producer to talk about Pat!