Man found guilty in grisly 2023 killing of Pleasanton woman found near Alameda shoreline
The man accused in the grisly 2023 killing of a Pleasanton woman was found guilty Monday, the Alameda County District Attorney's office said.
Joseph Roberts, 43, faced a second-degree murder charge in the killing of 27-year-old Rachel Elizabeth Imani Buckner. The DA said the jury returned a quick conviction, having deliberated for less than a day and that the second-degree murder charge was "the maximum charge he faced due to the circumstances of the case."
According to the DA, Buckner and Roberts met in 2019 at Golden Gate University Law School. They also lived together in Pleasanton.
The DA said police reports show officers went to the apartment on various occasion for welfare checks and domestic violence calls.
On July 20, 2023, Alameda police said they received a call about an object along the shoreline near the Bay Island Farm Bridge. Officers soon discovered that the object was a garbage bag with dismembered human remains inside.
According to the DA, when Buckner disappeared, Roberts never reported her missing despite living together; his DNA was also later found on the duct tape used to seal the bag, the DA said.
"Today's verdict brings justice not only to Rachel Elizabeth Imani Buckner but also to her daughter, her immediate and extended family, and our community," DA Pamela Price said. "The condition of her body when it was found shock our humanity. This tragedy will leave her family and our community forever traumatized whenever her murder is mentioned."
Roberts faces 15 years to life in prison and will be sentenced on June 14, 2024.