Man found guilty of killing, dismembering fiancée and hiding remains in trash bag

ALAMEDA, Calif. (TCD) -- A 43-year-old man faces 15 years to life in prison for killing his fiancée in 2023, hiding her dismembered remains in a black garbage bag, and dumping them near a shoreline.

Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price announced May 13 that a jury found Joseph Roberts guilty of the second-degree murder of Rachel Elizabeth Imani Buckner. He will be sentenced on June 14.

According to an initial press release from the Alameda Police Department, on July 20, 2023, officers and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office Coroner’s Bureau responded to the shoreline near the Bay Farm Island Bridge in reference to human remains found inside a bag. Officials were unable to name the victim at the time, but they ruled her death a homicide.

In late August 2023, using DNA evidence, investigators identified the victim as Buckner. Prosecutors said officials also found Roberts’ DNA on duct tape used to secure the trash bag.

Roberts and Buckner reportedly lived together in Pleasanton, California, and had met at Golden Gate University Law School several years before. KNTV-TV reports that Buckner had recently graduated from law school before her death.

According to the district attorney’s office, local police had responded to the couple’s apartment multiple times for welfare checks and domestic violence reports. Despite the fact that they lived together, Roberts never reported Buckner missing after her disappearance.

Price said, "What happened to Rachel Elizabeth Imani Buckner is unimaginable. The condition of her body when it was found shocks our humanity. This tragedy will leave her family and our community forever traumatized whenever her murder is mentioned."

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