An accused serial killer lured in his victims by telling them he needed their help digging up buried treasure in the Washington wilderness, where he ruthlessly slaughtered them and ransacked their bodies.
Richard Bradley Jr., 40, had been sitting in jail for one of his alleged slayings for two and a half years when he was hit with three more murder charges over the past two weeks.
Bradley was initially charged in May 2021 for allegedly killing and burying 44-year-old Brandi Blake at the 160-acre Game Farm Park in Auburn.
While exhuming her body, authorities found nearby the remains of three others, which were later identified as Bradley’s other victims: 36-year-old Emilio Maturin, Michael Goeman, 59, and Goeman’s 31-year-old son Vance Lakey, according to court documents obtained by The Seattle Times.
All four were killed after they unwittingly fell for Bradley’s demented scheme — and shortly after each had come into a substantial amount of money, prosecutors allege.
Bradley reportedly told each he needed help digging up a stash of gold in the wooded area, killed them and pocketed whatever possessions they had on hand, as well as their cars, which he was seen driving in the days following their disappearances.
Maturin was the first to vanish, with his girlfriend reporting him missing in September 2019, two weeks after he was last seen alive.
She told detectives she overheard Bradley telling Maturin that “he needed help digging up some buried gold in Auburn,” a suburb of Seattle.
Although he was skeptical, Maturin followed his accused killer to the large park in his brand-new BMW and carrying a pound of heroin, some meth and $15,000 in cash, according to court documents.
Several hours later, Auburn police found an unregistered BMW parked near a large field at the park and waited for the driver to return. When they attempted to stop the driver, the car took off.
Bradley was arrested after a car and foot chase and charged with eluding police.
He allegedly waited another two years to strike, but this time targeted two people.
Goeman had received a large inheritance shortly before he and his son were shot to death in March 2021, their bodies discovered on an unmaintained road not far from the park.
Bradley was considered a person of interest in the deaths at the time.
He was charged that May with second-degree arson after prosecutors said he offered a man $1,000 to set fire to the father and son’s impounded SUV.
Blake went missing just two months after the father-son pair — and shortly after she won $20,000 at a casino.
Her body was found in a shallow grave that same month, and Bradley was charged with her murder via blunt force trauma.
Bradley, who is scheduled to stand trial next month in Blake’s death, now faces a total of two counts of premeditated first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder and second-degree arson.
He has not yet entered a plea for the new murder charges.
With Post wires
