"steve, before you find out by the news, sam was dismembered." that... that's when i just went off the end, deep end. i was angry. i was angry. >> reporter: the police were able to find all of sam's body parts except his hand and head. >> the next day, the saturday, was his birthday, and i was praying for them to find sam's head. a father has to pray on his son's birthday tth go ahead and tell me how i feel. >> reporter: sam's head was found in the park under scattered leaves on his 27th birthday. his hand was never found. >> it is beyond ghoulish. if there's a word in the english language that sums that up, i a hero's burial with full military honors. his alleged killer, daniel wozniak, was immediately charged with two counts of first-degree murder. daniel's brother, tim, and rachel buffett would also be arrested not for murder but as accessories after the fact-- tim for hiding that backpack; and rachel, cops say she lied to them... >> is that your true name, mr. wozniak? >> reporter: ...either to protect daniel or to cover her own tracks. >> we always felt rachel was a part of this. she was living with him. >> reporter: do you think that rachel was involved in this from the beginning? >> yes. yes, that she knew about it. she knew about it before this happened. >> i absolutely feel like i was duped by dan. >> reporter: while awaiting trial, rachel-- by then, out on bail-- made that appearance on "dr. phil," telling everyone she didn't know a thing. >> did you know that he had any all? >> not until after the police did. >> reporter: steve herr was not about to let rachel buffett go on national tv without confronting her. >> i was aghast when i get a call saying you're going on tv. my son is dead. he was cut up into pieces, and you to come on here and... and go on the tv stations, "poor me," that offends me. >> i understand. and maybe i made a bad judgment call by coming on here, but i didn't come out when everything first happened and said, "oh, look at this horrible situation. i'm the victim." you know, you didn't see me selling my story to hollywood to make a movie. >> not yet. >> reporter: no hollywood version could be worse than what you're about to hear. coming up... ...you'll see the killer describing how and why he did to folks out there whose diabetic nerve pain... shoots and burns its way into your day, i hear you. to everyone with this pain that makes ordinary tasks extraordinarily painful, make sure your doctor hears you too! i hear you because i was there when my dad suffered with diabetic nerve pain. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands, don't suffer in silence! step on up and ask your doctor about diabetic nerve pain. tell 'em cedric sent you. [?diggy? by spencer ludwig] >> hi. my name is dan wozniak. davidson, orange county... >> reporter: this is the face daniel wozniak presented to the world... >> goddamn! i'll just say orange county. >> reporter: ...a happy, fun- loving actor... >> yay! >> reporter: ...hamming it up alongside fianc?e rachel buffet. a real nice guy. but that is not who he is, says prosecutor matt murphy. so, what's the real face of daniel wozniak? >> the real face of daniel wozniak is dark and manipulative and flat-out evil. planned and executed two savage murders. why? to pay for his honeymoon. >> reporter: desperate to impress his bride, the groom-to- be set his sights on friend and neighbor, sam herr, who he knew had saved all that money as a soldier. >> who would've known that because he had built up a certain amount of money that that was going to cost him his would've had him spend all his money and be penniless. he'd still be alive. >> reporter: wozniak told the police that he lured sam to the attic of this theatre pretending he needed help moving something. sam being sam obliged, says mom raquel. >> he loved to help people, but he also was very naive. he just trusted people. >> reporter: he trusted wozniak enough to turn his back on him. that's when the actor shot him. >> reporter: wozniak stole sam's phone and credit cards, then left his body in the attic, then-- unbelievably-- performed his starring role in "nine" that night. kara kessener was the stage manager. how did he seem? >> he seemed just like any other he seemed fine. he did a great job. >> ( singing ) >> reporter: this is the actual performance. castmate deborah kennedy: >> i remember getting goosebumps and going, "yeah, daniel, nail it." >> reporter: it was that good? >> yeah. >> ( singing ) ( applause ) >> reporter: after the performance-- by then, about 10:30 p.m. on friday night-- daniel and rachel returned to their apartment. then, he turned to covering up his crime, texting julie on sam's phone, pretending to be sam. >> that just kind of killed me when i found out that, you know, that she thought it was sam that was texting her. and, of course, she was the one, the first one to go and help him. >> reporter: julie, wearing the tiara she was to wear in her brother's wedding, went to sam's door. she followed him in. >> reporter: he led her into the bedroom. >> reporter: he then wrote "all yours, 'eff' you," and cut her pants off. >> he wanted to set up sam. he wanted to make sam look like a rapist and a killer so the police would be looking for him. >> reporter: why? >> because the man has no heart and he has no soul, and he loved the idea of how clever he was. >> reporter: his murderous plot didn't end there. the next morning, saturday, he returned to the theatre where sam lay dead and began the devil's work of hacking his body apart, an act he tells the >> how tragic was this murder plot? a greedy groom, the pursuit of ill-gotten gain, dismembers a young man and discards him like a piece of garbage. >> reporter: the prosecution deemed the crime so heinous, it warranted the death penalty. but wozniak's defense team was not rolling over. in spite of his confession to police, wozniak pleaded not guilty. incredibly, it would take five and a half years to go to trial. >> no victim's family should have to be put through that. none. >> they're in contempt of court, from my perspective. >> reporter: the families blame defense attorney scott sanders for filing numerous motions accusing prosecutors and the sheriff of misusing informants to elicit damning evidence against his clients... >> you've got an informant. he's talking. >> reporter: ...even though prosecutor matt murphy told the court he was not going to present evidence from any while the families waited, daniel wozniak made the most of his newfound celebrity... >> i want people to know that i'm a good guy. >> reporter: ...appearing on the show "lockup." >> i enjoy long walks on the beach. i'm an aries. ( laughs ) >> for five-and-a-half years, i have watched that man come into court wearing an orange jumpsuit, bounding in with a smile on his face like tigger the tiger. >> reporter: what is up with that smile? >> daniel wozniak's smile is a point of manipulation. you know, he gets things that way. >> reporter: do you feel like sam and julie have been forgotten in all... >> yes. >> reporter: ...of this? >> unless we mention their names, for five years, for over 100 hearings, their names are not mentioned. we've addressed the court a number of times. this case is about samuel herr and julie kibiushi. you've got to put their names. >> reporter: last december, finally, their names would be spoken. >> sam herr and julie kibuishi. daniel wozniak murdered them both, and, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to get to a penalty on trial for the double murder of julie kibuishi and sam herr. if found guilty, a jury could sentence him to die. not good enough for this prosecutor. >> the death penalty is not enough for daniel wozniak on this. for justice to be done in this case, personally, i'd prefer proof of hell. i'd prefer proof that there's... that there's something that is awaiting him after he dies. there are searches on google. >> reporter: matt murphy presented the evidence, painting a chilling portrait of a killer wio >> "how to hide a body," "quick ways to kill people," and sandals resorts. this is a guy who's planning to murder two human beings so he can have an awesome honeymoon down in... in mexico. >> reporter: then, there was the physical evidence: the gun he stole from his own father to kill his victims and that backpack jammed with evidence. >> now, from a forensic, cold, sterile analysis of evidence, it doesn't get any better than that >> reporter: the prosecution put on 23 witnesses over four days, including wesley freilich, who was arrested but never charged for his role in daniel wozniak's scheme. what was it like to see daniel in court? >> disturbing. he was smiling at me. the man that murdered two people just sat there and just gave you this little... just, like, this, like, acknowledged little smirk. just... >> i thihi wozniak, the play, you know? it's just this continuation of him being on stage. >> reporter: the defense declined to put on any witnesses. after a five-day trial, daniel wozniak's fate was in the hands ? lots of vitamins a&c, and, only 50 calories a serving... good morning, indeed. v8. veggies for all. once i started building the tree, ancestry helped me find out that military service goes into my family pretty far back. that makes you more proud to be an american and more proud to be a veteran. i served in iraq in tikrit in 2009. when i took the ancestry dna test, i mean a few results came up that were really shocking. 11% of me comes from the part where i had served. we all come from such different backgrounds that you never know. get the deeper story of you at ancestry. to turn knorr rice sides into something new, just saut? some chicken. stir in knorr rice sides with fresh tomato and basil and you've got knorr creamy bruschetta chicken. knorr rice sides. >> reporter: steve herr knows that nothing can bring his son, sam, back. >> he is gone. i want justice now. my life. the justice for it runs my life. >> and has the jury reached a unanimous verdict? >> yes. >> reporter: after waiting five and a half years... >> the people of the state of california plaintiff vs. daniel patrick wozniak. >> reporter: ...it takes the jury just two hours to reach a decision. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action, find the defendant, daniel patrick wozniak, guilty of the crime of... >> reporter: daniel wozniak sits emotionless as a jury finds him guilty of murdering sam herr and julie kibuishi, a verdic is a relief. but it's not enough for the herr and kibuishi families. >> what he did to sam-- and then, of course, what he did to julie-- it warrants the death penalty. the quicker, the better. >> reporter: just two weeks later, the same jurors are back in the same courtroom for what's called the penalty phase. they will have to determine whether wozniak should be given life in prison or be sentenced tried seven other death penalty cases in his career, says his strategy is simple. >> it is: get kibuishis and the herrs on the witness stand so that the jury can understand their pain. ladies and gentlemen, he knew that sam and julie were loved. now, you get to think about those people, and you get to think about those moms and what they have gone through. and you get to assign a weight to that. and that's the beautiful thing about a penalty phase, because it is sam and julie's show. and it's about the families now. it's not about him. >> reporter: six people testify on behalf of sam and julie, but not one of wozniak's family members ever showed up to support him. the only one to speak about wozniak's character is a convicted felon, a friend he made in jail. >> by all accounts and everything that we did in the investigation, he has very nice parents, and that might be why they're not here. they're nice people. they gave him every possible advantage, which, to a certain that makes this case so heinous. >> when you're making a determination about death... >> reporter: wozniak's defense attorney, scott sanders, tries to shift blame to rachel buffett, wozniak's former fianc?e. but, remember, she's not been charged with committing or planning the murders, just as an accessory after the fact. >> you'll see very soon, she's the smarter of the two by far. >> their strategy is: try to get as much attention away from daniel wozniak and what he did. >> reporter: pin it on rachel as much as they can. >> yeah. >> reporter: it takes a week before the case goes again to the jury. matt murphy recalls what he was feeling at that moment. are you optimistic? >> oh, gosh. no. i.... they call it p.a.p.v. psychosis. >> reporter: what is that? >> post argument, pre-verdict psychosis. every prosecutor turns into woody allen underneath their skin when a jury is out. everybody is neurotic, and they're self-doubting and self- you're terrified that you did something to screw it up. >> reporter: to everyone's surprise, the jury comes back quickly, in just a little over an hour. >> we, the jury in the above entitled action, determine that the penalty to be imposed upon defendant daniel patrick wozniak to be death. >> it's been a long five and a half years we kind of waited for this day. >> reporter: and it wasn't over yet. before the judge could formally sentence wozniak, sanders demanded more time to explore the informant issue and argue against the death penalty. >> good afternoon. >> reporter: it would take eight more months before the families finally got their chance to address the court and the man who murdered their children. steve herr stood surrounded by combat veterans who had served with sam. >> you, dan, are a coward and a poster boy for the need of the effective death penalty in my only regret? that this state won't let me kill this coward myself. thank you. >> reporter: next, it was julie's mother's turn. >> you took her precious life, and then you disgraced her. why? what did she do to you? how could you do anything like that to my baby? >> reporter: judge conley then read his decision. >> it is the order of this court that you shall suffer the death penalty. >> reporter: the trial of daniel wozniak finally ends, but the feelings of loss only deepen. >> this is her sheet. i can still scent... >> reporter: what do you miss? >> i miss my boy. it's an honor to be a father. it's the best thing in the world. >> reporter: forever the herr and kibuishi families will be linked, always remembering, never forgetting their beautiful children, sam and julie. captioning sponsored by cbs captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> a new season, two cold cases. a young mother vanishes. one year later, an accidental butt dial to 911. will it solve the mystery of millionaire. >> i slit her throat. >> the clues, this sketch and this letter. >> i want 3 breaking news off the top tonight...milwaukee police say the second man they'd been searching for...was found dead. cbs 58s amanda outside mpd headquarters downtown with the newest information.amanda? eric... donald lewis was found dead on the property of his own business...the jazz cafe...at 24th and fond du lac. lewis' family spent the day outside his business...hoping he would be found.they were hanging up posters...trying to find someone who knew where he was.then...tonight...the sad news from police.lewis was found dead...his body was hidden on the property.we 3 3 celetine lewis, wife he doesn't leave his business and his doors open. "his truck was stl in e cell phone was in his truck. andrae lewis, son "i feel like it has something to do with something outside of this building. but at the same time, no one to blame. so go to where everything started from. and i feel like that's we catch the bad end because we just the owners." again...police do have a person of interest in custody. we will stay on top of this story and give you the latest breaking news tonight...the search for a suspect...police in palm springs are looking for man who shot and killed two officers and injured a thir. third.detectives say the three officers were trying to defuse a family dispute.the police chief said the officers were having a calm discussion with a man...but that man decided to pull out a gun and start shooting. 3 (sot bryan reyes, palm springs police chief)the officers were at the front door, trying to just urge the suspect to comply, it was a simple family disturbance. and simple family disturbance. and he chose to open fire. fire. we were sitting here watching tv and we hear a couple, bang, bang, bang, and it went crazy, it was rapid fir. fire.officer jose gill vega was a 35 year veteran set to retire in december.27 years old officer lesley zerebny just came back work after giving birth four months ago. the third officer is alive...and was able to help the investigation. a late night boating accident...leaves investigators checking to see if the boaters had too much to . drink.milwaukee police tell us the boaters were speeding on lake michigan last night just before crashing in to a break wall at mckinley marina. witnesses were able to rescue the men and bring them ashore. they were rushed to the hospital, and will be okay.the o-w-i investigation remains ongoing. milwaukee detectives are looking into a string of shootings... including a deadly encounter near 19th and . capitol. 9-30 last night.a 24 year old man was found behind a home there...medics tried saving his life...but he died right th. there.there were other shootings overnight...just before 1-30...a 55 year old man showed up at a hospital after police say he was shot near 15th and melvina.an hour later...a 47 year old man was shot near 24th and auer...an ongoing feud is believed to be the reason for that one.both of those men will be okay...and police are looking for suspects in all three "the list is not complete...." those words from city leaders to neighbors about the work to make their community safer. safer.dozens met with alderman bob donovan and the public safety committee.reducing neighborhood gun violence was a top priority.folks also expressed frustration over parking...and the recent spike in accidents involving young car theives...plus a lack of police presence...and response in certain areas. 3 i challenge to find ways to figure this out. i mn officers out there? where are we going to find the money to pay for them? they are overworked. i think we need more beat officers in the streets." today's meeting was the first of many public safety hearings in milwaukee...more are listed on your screen...the next one is at obama high school.to see a more complete list visit our website...cbs58.com

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