January 09, 2024
Richard Bradley Jr. of Kent, Washington, was arrested on May 21, 2021, and charged with premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the murder of 44-year-old Brandi Blake, whose body was discovered that same year on Game Farm Park, an area spanning 160 acres, in Auburn.
Bradley Jr. allegedly lured the woman out into the isolated area and murdered her, burying he body in a shallow grave on the park. Autopsy revealed that the victim had died due to injuries sustained from blunt force trauma to the head.
It was later revealed that Bradley Jr. had lured Blake out by telling her he was going to dig up some gold he had buried on the land and asking her to come with him. After she stopped communicating with her family, they had reported her missing.
Brandi Blake had recently won $20,000 at a casino and usually carried large sums of cash around with her as opposed to putting it in the bank.
Police believe Blake Jr. knew this and that it was likely the motivation for the crime.
At the time, investigators were unaware that the murder was not an isolated incident, rather one in a string of serial murders at the hands of an accused Kent, Washington serial killer, seemingly motivated to kill for monetary gain.
Police searching the area where Blake’s body was found soon discovered three human ribs belonging to who they would come to find was another victim of the same killer.
These ribs were sent for analysis and linked to a man named Emilio Maturin, who had not been seen since the summer of 2019 and had been officially reported missing by his girlfriend on August 2, 2019. She had tracked his cell phone to the Game Farm Park to look for him, but decided to drive back home after feeling uneasy about being there.
Maturin’s girlfriend later told investigators that she had heard a conversation between Bradley Jr. and Maturin, in which Bradley had asked for help digging up some buried gold in the Auburn area. Although Maturin didn’t seem convinced of the buried treasure story, it seemed he went along with Bradley Jr. anyways, never to be seen alive again.
Maturin’s girlfriend reported that the two had left in Maturin’s new BMW, which was later found off Stuck River Drive, nearby the crime-site. On July 19, 2019, police surveyed the empty vehicle waiting for Bradley to show up. They waited until Bradley climbed into the vehicle before attempting to apprehend him, however he drove off, before abandoning the vehicle and attempting to escape on foot. The vehicle was purported to contain a large amount of Heroin, which Bradley claimed, “belonged to his friend.”
He was charged with eluding law enforcement.
In April 2021, the bodies of a father and son, Michael Goeman, 59 and Vance Lakey, 31, were found shot to death in a rural area just outside of Auburn. Goeman had recently received a large inheritance before he and his son were found dead. They had used $3,500 of the inheritance to buy a brand new vehicle, paying for it upfront in cash. Bradley was likely aware that the family had recently come into money. Media outlets report that before Goeman received the inheritance, he and his son were living in a tent. They then began sleeping in the newly purchase SUV.
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office reported that Goeman had died as a result of a gunshot to the head. Lakey was found with multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Police considered Bradley Jr. as a suspect in their deaths as he had purportedly offered a third-party $1000 in cash to burn Goeman's vehicle after the father and son went missing. The vehicle, a Dodge Durango, was impounded at the time.
Richard Bradley Jr, now 40-years-old, who has been incarcerated for two years at this point on murder and arson and other charges, was charged last month with the murders of Goeman, Lakey and Maturin.
Police determined that Bradley Jr. had killed his victims much in the same way- by luring them out with the story of digging up stashed gold, before killing them and stealing their vehicles and possessions. According to documents Emilio Maturin was driving a brand new BMW containing class A drugs and cash.
Bradley pleaded not guilty at an arraignment on Dec. 14, 2023. He is scheduled to go to trial in January 2024 regarding Blake's murder.
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