AUBURN, Wash. — A Kent man awaiting a murder trial after three bodies were discovered in 2021 was charged last week with additional counts of murder.
Richard Walter Bradley was arrested on May 21, 2021, after the bodies of Brandi Blake, Michael Goeman and his son Vance Lakey were discovered in Auburn between April 21 and May 26, 2021.
Bradly was originally only facing one count of first-degree murder for the death of Blake, but last week Bradley was charged with three more counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of Goeman, Lakey and another man Emilio Maturin. He pleaded not guilty on Dec. 14. He is being held without bail.
Goeman and Lakey's bodies were found off an unmaintained county road in Auburn on April 21 and April 28, 2021, respectively. Blake's body was found in Game Farm Park in Auburn on May 26, 2021. Three unrelated rib bones were discovered near the area where Blake's body was found in 2021. Investigators were able to use DNA forensics to match the ribs to Maturin, who had been missing since August 2019, according to court documents.
Prosecutors allege Bradley used the same scheme for all the killings. Court documents said Bradley would lure the victims to wooded areas in Auburn by telling them he needed help digging up gold, before murdering them and leaving their bodies.
An associate of Bradley’s told police that Bradley had offered to pay him to break into a tow lot storage area and burn Lakey’s vehicle, which had been impounded. The associate told police he cut the fence of the tow yard but decided not to go through with the arson, according to probable cause documents.
A homeless man who lived at Game Farm Park later saw Bradley at the park with a shovel and a car matching Blake’s vehicle, according to probable cause documents. Several weeks later, the man gave police information that helped them find her body.
Bradley also faces several charges for illegally possessing firearms and arson.
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