Pleasanton Man Found Guilty Of Killing Girlfriend: Reports

PLEASANTON, CA — An Alameda County jury convicted Joseph Roberts of second-degree murder for killing his girlfriend, 27-year-old Rachel Imani Buckner, and dismembering her body, according to numerous reports. Roberts, 42, faces 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on June 14.

Buckner’s body was found wrapped in plastic and duct tape on July 20, 2023 near the Bay Farm Island Bridge in Alameda. Her head, hands, and feet were dismembered from her body. Over the next few months, investigators found a great deal of circumstantial evidence suggesting that her boyfriend Roberts, with whom she was living in an apartment in Pleasanton and studying law at Golden Gate University, was responsible.

Investigators found Roberts’ DNA on the duct tape wrapping her body, and on a small bone fragment near the bath drain, near large bottles of cleaning chemicals, according to Bay Area News Group reports. Neighbors testified smelling cleaning products coming from their apartment days after the murder. Roberts also reportedly ripped out all the carpeting in their apartment. Furthermore, cell phone evidence placed him in Alameda in the same spot where the body was discovered, according to SFist.

Roberts’ attorneys argued that this evidence all amounted to “conjecture,” according to Bay Area News Group reports. Roberts’ blood was never found anywhere on Buckner, and his DNA was not found anywhere on her torso, which was reportedly never swabbed.

Still, after three days of deliberation, the jury voted to convict Roberts. Pleasanton police received 17 separate reports of loud arguments, bangs, and thumps coming from the apartment they shared, according to prosecutors. However, each time, nothing was done, and Pleasanton police left shortly after, according to SFist. Prosecutor Colleen Clark accused the department of being “charmed” by Roberts and letting him get away with obvious lies and inconsistencies, like claiming that two cell phones were his, then shortly after saying that one belonged to Buckner, according to the Bay Area News Group.

Buckner, who grew up in San Ramon and played basketball at Dougherty Valley High School, reportedly became more and more estranged from family and friends as she dated Roberts, according to testimony. Roberts gained some notoriety as an anti-#MeToo advocate, penning an op-ed in USA Today about how he was falsely accused of sexual assault by sorority sisters at Savannah State University. Betsy DeVos, the Secretary of Education under President Trump, mentioned Roberts as she advocated rolling back protections for alleged campus sexual assaults, according to the Bay Area News Group.

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