Fresno County serial killer sentenced to life in prison for murdering three men
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Buford King received life without parole for three first-degree murder convictions.
- Prosecutors removed the death penalty after King pleaded guilty to murder charges.
- A tip in 2019 led to charges in Lee's disappearance; detectives later found Shelest's body.
A 40-year-old Fresno County man, who was convicted of killing three men, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole Friday.
Buford King sat quietly as Judge Alvin Harrell III delivered his punishment for killing Donnie Lee, 62, Aleksey Shelest, 35, and Alberto Contreras, 51.
King received life sentences for the three murders and for using a gun in two of the deaths.
Prosecutors Liz Owen and David Olmos took the death penalty off the table in exchange for King pleading guilty to the first-degree murder charges.
King’s defense attorney’s argued King, who served in the military, was abused as a child and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder after being stationed in the Middle East.
Judge Harrelll acknowledged that while King may have been abused as a child or may suffer from PTSD, he isn’t the only one, nor is it a defense for murder.
“There are many people who have suffered consequences from horrendous situations, but I don’t recall them being involved in behaviors such as this,” Harrell said.
Several family members of the victims were in the audience Friday, including Lee’s daughter Jessica Brumley who spoke during the sentencing hearing.
She recalled some of her favorite memories about her father such as learning how to drive a stick shift, playing softball and riding horses.
Lee was reported missing by family members in 2016, but King wasn’t charged with his murder until 2019 when detectives got a tip about King’s involvement in Lee’s disappearance.
Fresno County sheriff’s detectives said during a preliminary hearing that Lee was killed with a shotgun blast to the head and then buried in the Yokuts Valley area of eastern Fresno County.
“I will never be the same after learning how he was shot and buried as if his life had no meaning,” Brumley said through tears. “That pain and trauma will never fully go away. My heart hurts for the other families that had to hear the horrendous acts of violence their loved ones had to go through.”
Owen sympathized with the family members of the victims, calling their experience a nightmare.
“These family members have gone through years of not knowing where their family members were and then learning about what happened to them in gruesome detail,” Owen said. “I do hope that knowing that this individual will not be in our community ever again gives them some closure.”
Fresno County Sheriff’s detectives believe King, a resident of Yokuts Valley, was driven to kill by a sense of outrage, believing his victims had hurt women or children.
King’s ex-girlfriend told detectives King confided in her that Shelest was also buried on the property and that King believed Shelest had assaulted a woman. Detectives later discovered the body of Shelest.
King’s first victim was Contreras, who was strangled to death in 2010 after King suspected he had been assaulting a young woman inside an apartment in Visalia.
Detectives testified during King’s preliminary hearing that King asked to be let into the apartment and when Contreras refused, he kicked down the door. The two men got into a scuffle, King hit Contreras several times in the face, then choked him until he was unconscious.
King fled the apartment only to return to get rid of the body. He found an orchard where he was going to bury it, but first he did something unusual with his corpse. He propped it up on a tree stump and used it for target practice, shooting his victim in the face and chest.
“That was really messed up,” said Anita Gonzalez, Contreras’ sister.
Contreras’ sisters Gonzalez and Alicia Lupercio also attended King’s sentencing hearing. They fondly recalled Contreras as a loving brother who loved to cook for the family.
Not knowing where her brother was located was agonizing for the family, Gonzalez said, especially for their mother. Sadly, she died in 2012 before his body was discovered.
“She died not knowing that happened to him,” Gonzalez said in tears. “It was very hard for her.”
