Alleged Serial Killer in Washington State Lured Victims with Tale of Buried Gold
An alleged serial killer in Washington state, Richard Bradley Jr., has been hit with new murder charges after authorities revealed that he may have used the same scheme to kill all four of his victims by telling them he needed their help finding buried treasure.
Bradley, 40, has been awaiting trial on murder charges in the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake since his arrest in 2021. Now, he has been charged in the deaths of three more people, with one victim identified from ribs buried on Bradley’s 160-acre Game Farm Park in Auburn, matched using DNA to his mother.
According to authorities, all four victims were killed after they came into money and fell for Bradley’s tale that he needed their help digging up buried gold in a wooded area of his farm. He then killed his victims and stole their possessions, including their cars, which he drove around.
The scheme came to light in murder charges filed this month in the death of Emilio Maturin, who was 36 when he was last seen alive in July 2019, and Michael Goeman, 59, and Goeman’s 31-year-old son Vance Lakey. Bradley has also been charged with arson for allegedly offering a man $1,000 to set fire to Goeman and Lakey’s Dodge Durango after it had been impounded. Their bodies were found in the same area as Bradley’s farm.
According to prosecutors, Goeman had received a substantial inheritance just before he and his son were killed; Blake had won $20,000 at a casino and was known to carry large amounts of drugs and cash before her death; and Maturin always took his cash and drugs with him whenever he left home.
The investigation into Bradley began after Maturin was reported missing by his girlfriend in August 2019. She told detectives that she had overheard Bradley saying he needed help digging up some buried gold, prompting Maturin to visit Bradley in a white BMW with a pound of heroin and $15,000 in cash. He never returned, and his girlfriend tracked his phone to Bradley’s farm. Police later spotted the parked BMW and waited for the driver, leading to Bradley’s arrest after a car and foot chase.
Bradley is scheduled to stand trial next month in the death of Brandi Blake and 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 charges.