Fresno County man accused of being a serial killer in cases dating to 2011. Are there more?
A Squaw Valley man who has been charged with the murders of three men who each went missing several years ago is being called a serial killer by the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Undersheriff Steve Wilkins said Wednesday that Buford King, 35, fits the federal definition of a serial killer because he has killed more than two people in separate events.
King is accused of allegedly killing Donnie Lee, 62, Aleksey Shelest, 35, and Alberto Contreras, 51. Lee’s and Shelest’s bodies were found in March, buried nine feet deep on King’s Squaw Valley Road property.
It took detectives and heavy equipment operators from the county’s public works division six days of digging to find the remains.
Several weeks later, Contreras’ body was unearthed in the 16000 block of Avenue 264 in Visalia.
Asked if King may be responsible for more deaths, Wilkins quickly replied.: “That is a definite possibility.”
Lee’s daughter Jessica Brumley said she was relieved by the news that a suspect has been arrested in her father’s case.
“It has been a long road and I am glad it’s over,” she said. Brumley said she always had a sinking feeling the King was somehow responsible for her father’s death.
“We have heard so many stories but we always knew what happened and who was involved,” she said.
Sheriff’s officials were tight-lipped about the causes of death, only saying that the coroner has ruled the deaths as homicides.
King has been in the Fresno County jail since February for allegedly shooting another man and for possessing explosives at his home on Squaw Valley Road.
Detectives have long believed King, an Army veteran who served in Iraq, was a key suspect in the disappearances of the three men. Lee, who lived on King’s property in a trailer, disappeared on Nov. 1, 2016. Shelest was last heard from on May 18, 2016. Contreras was last seen in January 2011.
King lived in Visalia from 2009 through 2011.
It’s unclear where King moved from before settling in the Squaw Valley area, said sheriff’s spokesman Tony Botti.
And the only connection between the four men is that they were friends, Wilkins said.
King was expected to be arraigned on the murder charges on Wednesday but the hearing was continued until Aug. 12. He made a brief appearance in court, wearing an inmate’s yellow jumpsuit , indicating he is a high-risk inmate.
This story was originally published July 31, 2019 at 11:13 AM.
