Accused Washington Serial Killer Lured Victims Into Scheme to Find Buried Treasure. They Were Found in Shallow Graves

A Seattle man is accused of murdering at least four people in an elaborate scheme that began by luring them with gold and then allegedly killing them after they got roped in, according to a report.

Richard Bradley, Jr., 40, has been in custody for two and a half years after he was charged in May 2021 with premeditated first-degree murder in connection with the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake. Bradley allegedly killed Blake and then buried her body in a shallow grave, the Seattle Times reported. 

At the time that police were investigating Blake’s death, Bradley was also charged with second-degree arson after he allegedly set fire to a car belonging to father-son duo Michael Goeman, 59, and Vance Lakey, 31. 

Court docs obtained by the Seattle Times reportedly say that prosecutors on Thursday added two counts of second-degree murder to the Goeman-Lakey case, more than two years after Bradley was identified as a person of interest in connection with their deaths in March 2021. 

Bradley on December 5 was hit with another murder charge in relation to a fourth person’s death. He received a premeditated first-degree murder charge in connection with the death of Emilio Maturin, 36, after police discovered three human bones near Blake’s shallow grave that they identified as Maturin’s. 

The bodies of Goeman and Lakey were found nearby as well in April 2021. 

For all four victims, Bradley allegedly lured them into his plot by asking them to help him dig up gold, killing them, and then taking off with their possessions, according to charging documents reviewed by the Seattle Times. 

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Thomas O’Ban II reportedly wrote in the charging docs that Bradley was spotted driving off inside cars belonging to the victims after they were reported missing.