Notorious Double Killing and 2 More Local Murder Cases Headed to Court

Seal Beach and Los Alamitos have had three slayings in the last few years, and the murder defendants from all three cases are scheduled to be in Orange County Superior Court today.

A man accused of shooting his wife of 69 years, a mother accused of killing her toddler, and an actor accused of a double execution are all scheduled to appear in court today for pretrial hearings, which are essentially status updates in the run-up to the actual trial.

DEATH IN THE THEATER

Daniel Patrick Wozniak, 27, could face the death penalty if he is convicted of shooting his neighbor Samuel Herr inside the Liberty Theater at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base last year in order to steal Herr’s savings account. According to the Orange County district attorney’s office, Wozniak shot Herr and then went to Herr’s apartment in Costa Mesa and lured Herr’s friend Juri “Julie” Kibuishi to the apartment by pretending to be Herr via text message. Police allege that once Kibuishi arrived, Wozniak shot her twice and staged a sexual assault.

At that point, Herr became the prime suspect in Kibuishi’s death.

According to investigators, Wozniak returned to the Liberty Theater the next day and dismembered Herr, leaving his legs and torso and dumping Herr’s head and arms at the El Dorado Park Nature Center in Long Beach. Investigators also accuse Wozniak of giving Herr’s ATM card to a 17-year-old and asking the boy to withdraw $2,000 for him. The teen was arrested, and Wozniak became the prime suspect in the slaying.

Costa Mesa police arrested Wozniak five days later during his bachelor party at Tsunami in Huntington Beach.

Wozniak has pleaded not guilty to two charges of murder and several enhancements relating to the use of a firearm and murder for financial gain.

2-YEAR-OLD VICTIM

Linda Wilborn could face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murdering her 2-year-old daughter Millicent and severely beating Millicent’s twin brother at their Seal Beach home in February of last year.

According to police, Wilborn, a 31-year-old mother of four, called 911 to report that her daughter was hurt. Millicent was rushed to the hospital,  where she died from a ruptured heart. Doctors found that the toddler had fresh and old fractures to her ribs, and an examination of her brother revealed a fractured skull, according to the district attorney’s office.

Her surviving children were placed in protective custody, and Wilborn remains in jail after pleading not guilty to one count of murder and several counts of child abuse.

VICTIM: AGE 86, DEFENDANT: AGE 88

Roy Charles Laird, 88, could face up to 50 years in prison if convicted in the November shooting of Clara Laird, 86, his wife of 69 years. Police allege that Laird walked into his wife's room at the Country Villa Healthcare Center in Seal Beach and shot the bedridden woman once in the head. Laird family members have described him as a devoted husband and caretaker who sought to end his wife's suffering as she battled dementia. He pleaded not guilty and was allowed into a monitored, locked facility by the court for fear that he was a danger to himself.