‘Serial killer’ allegedly lured victims to death with claim of digging up gold

Richard Bradley Jr, 40, was charged with three counts of murder this month, in addition to prior charges of murder and arson

Richard Bradley Jr (pictured) is accused of luring victims to their deaths by asking for help digging up gold (Washington State Department of Corrections/ K5)

A Washington man charged with four murders allegedly lured his victims to their deaths by asking for help digging up a stash of buried gold, according to prosecutors.

Richard Bradley Jr, 40, of the Seattle suburb of Kent, was charged with three counts of murder this month, in addition to prior charges of murder and arson.

The suspected serial killer is also accused of killing a father and son in Auburn in 2021 and killing another man in 2019 who was identified from DNA extracted from his rib bones.

According to the Seattle Times, Mr Bradley was previously charged with the murder of 44-year-old Brandi Blake, who he allegedly lured to a 160-acre Game Farm Park in Auburn then buried in a shallow grave.

Blake died from blunt force injuries.

When detectives located Blake’s body, they then found three human ribs nearby that have since been matched to Emilio Maturin via DNA evidence provided by his mother, according to prosecutors.

Mr Bradley was charged with premeditated first-degree murder in connection with Maturin’s death on 5 December.

Per the Times, on Thursday prosecutors amended prior arson charges against Mr Bradley on Thursday, adding two counts of second-degree murder.

Richard Bradley Jr, 40, was charged with three counts of murder this month, in addition to prior charges of murder and arson (Washington State Department of Corrections/ K5)

Mr Bradley has long been considered a person of interest in the fatal shootings of Michael Goeman, 59, and his son, Vance Lakey, 31, in March 2021.

In May 2021, he was charged with second-degree arson for allegedly offering a man $1,000 to torch the father and son’s Dodge Durango after it had been impounded, according to court records.

Goeman and Lakey’s bodies were found in the same general area as the other victims off an unmaintained county road outside Auburn, according to prosecutors.

According to the Times, Mr Bradley is accused of using the same method to kill all four victims, telling them he needed help digging up a stash of stolen gold and luring them to a wooded area.

He then allegedly killed them, stole their vehicle and whatever possessions were inside.

Senior Deputy Prosecutor Thomas O’Ban said that Mr Bradley was seen driving the victims’ vehicles in the days after they went missing.

All four victims were connected to sources of money or drugs. Goeman had received a large inheritance just before he and his son were killed, Blake had won $20,000 at a casino, and Maturin always took his cash and drugs with him when he left the house, according to charging documents in the murder and arson cases, cited by the Times.

Mr Bradley is now being held without bail in the King County Jail and is being represented by defence attorney Peter Geisness in all four murder cases.