The bodies of two men were found just days apart in a wooded area of Algona in 2021. Now the King County Prosecutor says they were two of four victims of a suspected serial killer.
The alleged killer lured at least two of his victims with, literally, a pot of gold.
It was a fantastical tale. The suspect allegedly told them he had buried some gold after a previous heist and he needed their help digging it up. Instead, prosecutors say he killed them and stole everything they had.
Tina Lakey said the story is still upsetting.
“It is,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. “Like they, they should still be here.”
Tears still come easily for Lakey, nearly three years after she got the worst news. Her 59-year-old father, Michael Goeman, and 31-year-old brother, Vance Lakey, had been found dead in a remote, overgrown area just off West Valley Highway in Algona. That was back in March, of 2021.
Lakey had worried because they were living together on the streets.
“I actually had a dream about something like this happening to them,” she said.
Now the King County Prosecutor believes they were the second and third victims of this man, 40-year-old Richard Bradley. The convicted felon has been in jail since May of 2021 for allegedly murdering 44-year-old Brandi Blake. It was Blake, prosecutors said, he lured with the tall tale about a buried pot of gold. Turns out, he allegedly used the same trick in 2019 to snare 36-year-old Emilio Maturin.
All four of his victims carried large sums of money, and drove a nice car, all of which Bradley allegedly stole.
“Him and his wife had been pulled over driving my dad’s Durango,” said Lakey. “And that is part of the reasoning of the suspicion of them being in it.”
Lakey was asked what should happen to Bradley.
“He needs to never get out,” she said.
In fact, she doesn’t mince words when talking about what should become of the suspected killer.
“I will never forgive him, absolutely not,” she said. “That’s God’s job. That’s God’s job. That’s not my job.”
KIRO 7 also spoke by telephone to the sister of Brandi Blake. Lisa Blake describes Brandi as a “good person, kind, caring, would do anything for anyone.”
“I will miss her beautiful smile every single day for the rest of my life,” she said,
Bradley is set to go on trial for Brandi Blake’s murder next month.
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