The courtroom fell silent. The victims' family and friends wiped away tears as Judge John Conley sentenced the former Costa Mesa community actor, 32, to death for killing Irvine resident Juri "Julie" Kibuishi, 23, and her Army veteran friend Samuel Herr, 26.
A jury had recommended in January that Wozniak be put to death for the two killings and gruesome cover-up that included beheading Herr and staging Kibuishi's body to look like she had been sexually assaulted. Had jurors or Conley chosen to spare Wozniak the death penalty, the alternative would have been life in prison without parole.
Wozniak will be taken to San Quentin State Prison, where he will remain until his execution date.
Kibuishi and Herr's families embraced one another as they exited the courtroom after the sentencing. Conley's decision gave them some resolution, they said, after six years and four months of court hearings and delays. However, they said, the pain of having their children ripped away will never cease to haunt them.
"This will never heal and go away," Kibuishi's mother, June Kibuishi, said. "Julie will never come back to us. All our family can do is try to move forward one step at a time. We have waited six years for this day.
"At least we can close this most horrible chapter of our lives."
In 2010, Wozniak was so desperate for money to cover his rent and fund his upcoming wedding and honeymoon that he hatched a plot to kill Herr, his neighbor in the Camden Martinique apartment complex off Pinecreek Drive.
Wozniak sought to steal $62,000 that Herr had saved from his military service in Afghanistan. He was only able to acquire $2,000 before his arrest.
Wozniak was convicted by a jury in December of first-degree murder for killing Herr and Kibuishi. - LA Times
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