Man Was Found Guilty of Killing His Girlfriend and Her Body Parts Were Found in a Trash Bag Along a Trail
The California man whose girlfriend’s body parts were found in a trash bag on a trail has been found guilty of killing her.
In a press statement on July 2, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office said that Joseph Roberts, 43, was given a sentence of 15 years to life in prison for killing Rachel Elizabeth Imani Buckner, 27.
He got credit for 300 days of time served before being sent to San Quentin State Prison, and he had to pay back $19,818.
His sentence comes almost two months after he was found guilty of second-degree murder in the case.
A previous news release says that on July 20, 2023, the Alameda Police Department received a report of a suspicious situation. When they arrived, they found a woman’s body parts in a black garbage bag on a waterfront trail on Bay Farm Island in Alameda.
On August 29, 2023, the body parts were confirmed as Buckner’s. When PEOPLE looked at his online jail records, they showed that he was caught on September 6, 2023, almost a week later.
Authorities say they were able to link Roberts to the crime after discovering his DNA on a piece of duct tape that was used to seal the bag.
Earlier, the DA’s office said that he and Buckner met at Golden Gate University Law School in 2019 and lived together in an apartment. The Los Angeles Times says that they were also engaged when Buckner died.
The apartment was the scene of several safety checks and calls about domestic violence, according to police records. “Even though Ms. Buckner was living with Mr. Roberts when she went missing, the evidence shows that he never told anyone that she was missing,” the DA’s office said.
DA Pamela Y. Price said in a statement after Roberts’ sentencing, “While we hope this sentence will bring closure, no punishment will ever undo what Joseph Roberts did to Rachel and the lasting effect it will have on her family.”
“Words are inadequate to describe what Rachel Imani Buckner’s family must be feeling in this moment after their loved one was tragically taken from them in such an unthinkable way,” Price said.
Buckner’s mother wrote in a GoFundMe page after her death that she was a “beautiful and radiant light” who “had an infectious spirit that you could not help but smile when around and gravitate towards.”
The tribute said Bucker “was an accomplished woman on her way to being an exceptional professional” and “was at the beginning of her life and her journey and had so much more life to live.”
“Imani is survived in life by her grandmother, mother, her older brother, her younger brother, her young daughter, her Aunt Sis, and a number of other beloved extended family members,” the tribute says.