Washington State ‘Serial Killer’ Targeted Casino Jackpot Winner

Posted on: December 21, 2023, 05:59h. 

Last updated on: December 22, 2023, 11:11h.

Philip Conneller @casinoorgphilc Read More
Expertise: Gaming Business, Regulation, Tribal Gaming.

A Washington State woman allegedly killed by suspected serial killer Richard Bradley Jr. may have been targeted because she won a $20K jackpot at a local casino.

Richard Bradley Jr., Brandi Blake, Michael Goeman, Vance Lakey, Emilio Maturin, Washington.
Richard Bradley Jr., pictured in a mugshot, is accused of luring four people to their deaths with the promise of hidden gold. (Image: Washington State Department of Corrections/ K5)

Bradley was jailed in 2021 after being charged in connection with the death of 44-year-old Brandi Blake, whose body was found buried in Game Farm Park in Auburn, Wash.

This month, prosecutors filed three additional counts of murder against Bradley. Prosecutors accuse him of also killing father and son Michael Goeman, 59, and Vance Lakey, 31, in 2021, as well as Emilio Maturin, 36, in 2019.

Each victim was flush with cash when they were killed and were willing to flash it around. And each was lured by Bradley to a secluded, wooded area with the promise of literal hidden gold, according to state prosecutors.

Gold Digger Killer

Bradley allegedly told the victims he needed help digging up a stash of gold he had stolen and buried, and he offered them a cut. He then shot them dead and stole their vehicles and whatever possessions that were inside, prosecutors said.

Blake was reported missing in May 2021, shortly after her win at an unnamed casino. She was last seen leaving a convenience store with Bradley on May 5.

Investigators found her body in the park face down in a shallow grave. A shovel, a pickaxe, the electronic room key for the hotel she was staying at, and three human rib bones that didn’t belong to Blake were found nearby.

DNA technology identified these as belonging to Emilio Maturin, an alleged Mexican drug dealer whom Bradley had befriended several years earlier. Maturin was known for carrying his drugs and cash with him wherever he went, according to prosecutors.

Father and Son Murder

At the time of Blake’s disappearance, Bradley was already a person of interest in the fatal shootings of Goeman and Lakey, whose bodies were found just days apart on an unmaintained county road in Auburn in April 2021.

Goeman had received a large inheritance just before he and his son were killed, according to prosecutors.

In May 2021, Bradley was charged with second-degree arson for allegedly offering a man $1,000 to torch Goeman’s SUV after it was impounded by police.

Bradley has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the death of Brandi Blake and is scheduled to stand trial next month. He hasn’t yet entered a plea on the other three murder charges.