William Richard "Bill" Bradford (May 18, 1946 – March 10, 2008) was an American convicted

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

er and suspected serial killer and serial rapist who was incarcerated in

San Quentin State Prison San Quentin State Prison (SQ) is a California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison for men, located north of San Francisco in the unincorporated place of San Quentin in Marin County. Opened in July 1852, San Quentin is the ...

for the 1984 murders of his 15-year-old neighbor Tracey Campbell and barmaid Shari Miller. In July 2006, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department released a compilation of photos found in Bradford's apartment in the 1980s, depicting 54 different women in modelling poses. As Bradford had used the promise of a modelling career to lure his known victims, and taken pictures of Miller before murdering her, police believe many of the photos depict Bradford's other victims in the moments before their deaths. Bradford died at the Vacaville prison medical facility on March 10, 2008, of natural causes.

Crimes

In July 1984, while out on bail and awaiting trial for rape, Bradford met Shari Miller, a barmaid at a Los Angeles establishment called "The Meet Market". Bradford told her that he was a professional photographer and offered to help her build a modeling portfolio. He took her to a remote campsite in the deserts north of Los Angeles (which was the site of the alleged rape for which Bradford was awaiting trial), photographed her in a variety of modelling poses, and then strangled her. After killing her, Bradford sliced off her tattoos and removed her blouse. He then transported her body to a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

parking lot, where he dumped the corpse in an adjoining alley. When the body was found, there was no identification on it, leading Miller to be labeled "Jane Doe #60". Shortly thereafter, Bradford convinced his 15-year-old neighbor Tracey Campbell that she could be a model and took her out to the

desert A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

campsite, where he likewise photographed and strangled her. Bradford left the body there, covering the face with Shari Miller's blouse.

Arrest

Bradford came under suspicion when investigators learned that he had been the last person to see Tracey Campbell alive. This, coupled with his pending rape trial, compelled police to obtain a search warrant for Bradford's apartment; inside, they found the photos of Miller and Campbell, along with an assortment of 54 other photos of unidentified women. Police recognized the photos of Miller as "Jane Doe #60" and arrested Bradford on suspicion of murder; using a rock formation visible in one of the photos of Miller, police were able to locate the camp site in the desert where the murders had occurred. Upon searching the site, police found Campbell's decomposed body behind the rock formation. Shortly thereafter, Bradford pleaded no contest to the rape charge he was awaiting trial for and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Trial and conviction

Bradford was put on trial in 1988, during which he fired his lawyer, opting to act as his own counsel. During the phase of the trial in which Bradford acted as his own attorney, he offered no

evidence Evidence for a proposition is what supports this proposition. It is usually understood as an indication that the supported proposition is true. What role evidence plays and how it is conceived varies from field to field. In epistemology, evidenc ...

or arguments as to his innocence. The prosecution identified Bradford as a serial killer during the course of the trial, but offered no information on murders aside from those of Miller and Campbell. In his closing statement, Bradford implied that he had murdered several other women in addition to Campbell and Miller: "Think of how many you don't even know about. You are so right. That's it." The jury found Bradford guilty of both murders and sentenced him to death.

Time on death row

In 1998, Bradford dropped all of his

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

s, claiming that life in San Quentin had become unbearable. Having no legal representation for the past 10 years, Bradford hired a lawyer to help speed the process of his execution, and began writing poems about life in San Quentin. His poetry attracted attention from the press, who dubbed him "Death Row Poet". Five days before his scheduled execution, Bradford said that he had changed his mind, professing his innocence and declaring that he wanted the execution process to be halted.

2006 events

In 2006, Los Angeles police suddenly voiced new interest in the Bradford case, releasing a data sheet depicting

head shot A head shot or headshot is a modern (usually digital) portrait in which the focus is on the person. The term is applied usually for professional profile images on social media, images used on online dating profiles, the 'about us page' of a cor ...

s taken from the photos in Bradford's apartment. Detectives claimed that they believed the women could all be Bradford's victims; since the photos' release, at least one woman, "#28", has been identified, as Donnalee Campbell Duhamel, a woman whose decapitated corpse was found in a

canyon A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosion, erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tenden ...

in Malibu in 1978. It has been determined that Duhamel met Bradford in a

Culver City Culver City is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,779. Founded in 1917 as a "whites only" sundown town, it is now an ethnically diverse city with what was called the "third-most ...

bar, "The Frigate", a few days before her body was found. Investigators have also revealed that several of the women have since been identified as Bradford's ex-wives, though no indication has been given that they are dead, or that Bradford is suspected of murdering them. Another identified photograph is that of Nika LaRue, the sister of actress

Eva LaRue Eva Maria LaRue (; born December 27, 1966) is an American actress and model. She is known for her roles as Maria Santos on '' All My Children'' and Det. Natalia Boa Vista on ''CSI: Miami''. Early life LaRue was born in Long Beach, California ...

. Nika LaRue is number three in the series of released pictures. Both sisters spoke with the Sheriff's Department and were able to give additional information. An episode of Eva LaRue's series ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

' ("

Darkroom A darkroom is used to process photographic film, to make prints and to carry out other associated tasks. It is a room that can be made completely dark to allow the processing of the light-sensitive photographic materials, including film and ph ...

")'' is based on this case. The "vast majority" of the women in the photos remain unidentified, and are all viewed as possible rape and/or murder victims. Police are encouraging that the photos be distributed nationwide, as Bradford spent time in Michigan, Florida, Texas, Oregon, Illinois, Kansas and Louisiana, and faced criminal charges in several of those states. In 1978 he faced criminal charges for

sexually assaulting Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...

his wife in Michigan, and in 1980 was accused of sexual assault in Valparaiso, Florida. Bradford was also linked to the murder of a 23-year-old man named Mischa Stewart, who was last seen leaving a gay bar in Santa Monica on the night of October 8, 1982. Stewart's body was found in an alley the following morning, and his cause of death was determined to be

ligature strangulation Strangling is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxia (medical), hypoxic state in the brain. Fatal strangling typically occurs in cases of violence, accidents, and is one of two mai ...

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