Richard Bradley Jr. — The Alleged Buried-Gold Serial Murders
Richard Walter Bradley Jr. became the focus of an extraordinary serial-murder investigation in Washington state after prosecutors connected him to the deaths of four people in and around Auburn between 2019 and 2021. Bradley has been accused of using a remarkably similar method to isolate his victims: prosecutors say he approached people who had access to substantial amounts of money, drugs, valuable vehicles, or recently acquired wealth, told them a story about gold that had been buried or hidden in the Auburn area, and persuaded them to accompany him into secluded woodland. Once there, according to the prosecution's allegations, the victims were killed and Bradley subsequently took possession of their vehicles and other property.
The four people prosecutors have accused Bradley of killing are Emilio Raul Maturin, Michael Goeman, Vance Lakey and Brandi Blake. Because publicly available reporting and charging documents do not establish an exact calendar date of death for every victim, the dates below use the most specific reliably established date or period rather than assigning an unsupported precise date. Bradley has been described publicly as an accused or suspected serial killer; the murder allegations should be distinguished from convictions unless and until the charges are resolved in court.
The Buried-Gold Story
According to King County prosecutors, the central feature connecting the four killings was Bradley's alleged story about buried gold. Prosecutors said Bradley would tell a prospective victim that he had gold hidden in the ground and needed assistance recovering it. The story provided a reason for someone to accompany him to an isolated area carrying tools and without attracting immediate suspicion.
Investigators came to believe the promise of gold was not simply an unusual coincidence. Evidence surrounding the victims included shovels or digging tools, secluded wooded locations and Bradley's alleged possession of vehicles belonging to people who had suddenly disappeared or been killed. Prosecutors argued that the underlying motive was financial: the victims had money, valuable property or vehicles that Bradley allegedly took after killing them.
Emilio Raul Maturin
Emilio Raul Maturin, 36, disappeared in July 2019. The last known events surrounding his disappearance became extremely important years later when investigators compared his case with the deaths that followed.
According to the probable-cause allegations, Bradley came to the Kent-area home where Maturin was staying on July 19, 2019. Maturin's girlfriend later told investigators that she heard Bradley tell Maturin that he needed help recovering buried gold in Auburn. Maturin was reportedly skeptical and questioned why Bradley wanted his assistance. Bradley allegedly responded that Maturin was someone he could trust.
Maturin ultimately left with Bradley. Reports based on the charging documents state that Maturin had approximately $15,000 in cash with him as well as drugs, and that the men departed in Maturin's recently acquired white BMW. His girlfriend never saw or spoke with him again.
Using electronic location information, Maturin's girlfriend tracked his telephone toward Auburn's Game Farm Park or Game Farm Wilderness area. She went toward the location in an effort to find him but became frightened and left. Maturin was formally reported missing on August 2, 2019.
The circumstances became even more suspicious because Auburn police encountered Maturin's BMW on July 19, the same day he disappeared. Officers observed the vehicle near the wilderness area and later saw Bradley enter it. When police attempted to stop the BMW, Bradley fled, first in the vehicle and later on foot. He was ultimately arrested. At that time, however, authorities did not have Maturin's body and the evidence necessary to establish that he had been murdered.
Maturin's disappearance remained unresolved until the investigation of another victim produced a crucial discovery. In May 2021, detectives searching Game Farm Park for Brandi Blake recovered three human rib bones approximately 30 feet from the area where Blake was buried. The bones did not belong to Blake. DNA testing later established that they belonged to Maturin. The identification, completed in 2022, transformed his missing-person investigation into a homicide case and provided prosecutors with a physical connection between two alleged victims.
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