Rachel Mae Buffett is an American former Disney princess performer and community theater actor from Southern California. She became a nationally known figure after her fiancé, Daniel Wozniak, committed a double murder in 2010.
Buffett was later convicted of lying to police to protect him.
Who is Rachel Buffett?
Rachel Buffett is a California native who once worked as a costumed Disney princess performer at Disneyland. She also performed in local community theater productions in Orange County.
Her public profile changed dramatically after 2010. That year, her fiancé Daniel Wozniak murdered two of their neighbors, Samuel Herr and Julie Kibuishi, to fund their upcoming wedding.
Buffett was not charged with the killings themselves. However, prosecutors said she lied to investigators to protect Wozniak, and a jury later convicted her of being an accessory after the fact.
Early Life of Rachel Buffett
Buffett grew up in the coastal Orange County area, spending time in both Seal Beach and Long Beach. Reporting describes her as a creative child with an early interest in performing.
She pursued that interest through Disneyland, where she worked as a princess character performer, playing roles including Ariel. Buffett also became active in local community theater around Costa Mesa.
It was through theater that she first met Daniel Wozniak, a fellow local actor. The two later performed together in productions, including the musical Nine.
Detailed information about Buffett’s parents and siblings has not been publicly confirmed. Some reporting mentions she may have had academic interests tied to psychology, though this has not been verified in detail.
Rachel Buffett Age
Buffett was reported as 23 years old at the time of the 2010 murders. She was 25 when arrested in November 2012, and 31 at both her 2018 conviction and sentencing.
Those figures point to a birth year of 1987. Buffett would be approximately 38 or 39 years old as of 2026, though an exact birth date has not been independently confirmed through current reliable sources.
Buffett’s height measurement is 5 feet, 6 inches, 167 cm, or 1.67 m. Her weight measurements are 55 kg or 121 lbs.
Rachel’s blonde hair and dark brown eyes were perfectly synchronized with her princess characters.
Rachel Buffett Ethnicity and Nationality
Rachel Buffett is an American citizen, born and raised in California. Her specific ethnic background has not been detailed in reliable published sources.
What is documented is her deep roots in Southern California’s Orange County community, where both her Disney theme park work and her community theater career took place.
Rachel Buffett Career
Disney Princess Performer and Community Theater
Before the case that made her infamous, Buffett worked as a live Disney princess performer at Disneyland, portraying characters including Ariel. That job earned her lasting media shorthand as a former Disney princess in coverage of her later criminal case.
Alongside the theme park work, she built a life in Orange County’s community theater scene. It was there she met Daniel Wozniak, a fellow local actor with whom she became engaged.
On the night of the first murder in May 2010, Buffett and Wozniak performed together onstage in the musical Nine. Prosecutors later noted this timeline detail during the criminal proceedings against both of them.
The Wozniak Murder Case and Buffett’s Arrest
On May 21, 2010, Wozniak killed his neighbor, Army veteran Samuel Herr, to steal roughly $62,000 in combat pay Herr had saved. He dismembered Herr’s body and disposed of the remains in a Long Beach park.
Wozniak then used Herr’s phone to lure Herr’s friend, 23-year-old Julie Kibuishi, to Herr’s apartment, where he shot and killed her. He staged the scene to make it look like Herr had killed Kibuishi and fled.
Police arrested Wozniak within days after he made withdrawals from Herr’s bank account. Buffett was initially questioned as a witness and denied any knowledge of the killings.
In November 2012, prosecutors charged Buffett with three felony counts of accessory after the fact, alleging she repeatedly lied to investigators. She was released on bail while the case moved through years of court proceedings.
Conviction, Sentencing, and Public Attention
While the case was pending, Buffett publicly maintained her innocence, appearing on The Dr. Phil Show in February 2013 and later on Dateline. Wozniak went to trial separately and was convicted of first-degree murder, receiving a death sentence in September 2016.
On September 12, 2018, a jury convicted Buffett on two of the three accessory counts. Judge Sheila Hanson ordered her jailed immediately following the verdict.
At sentencing on November 8, 2018, Buffett received 32 months, reduced for time already served and good behavior. She read a statement in court expressing regret and sympathy for the Herr and Kibuishi families.
The victims’ parents responded skeptically to her statement in court. Buffett was released from custody sometime in 2019, after which she stepped away from public life.
Rachel Buffett Boyfriend
There is no publicly confirmed information about a current partner or relationship for Rachel Buffett.
Her engagement to Daniel Wozniak ended with his 2010 arrest, and reporting from 2025 indicates no evidence of any continued contact between the two.
Rachel Buffett Today
Buffett has largely stayed out of the public eye since her 2019 release from custody. Reports from 2025 describe her as having no public social media presence under her own name.
She has not given recent interviews about the case. Meanwhile, Daniel Wozniak remains incarcerated at Salinas Valley State Prison, having been moved there in 2021 under California’s Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program after California’s 2019 moratorium on executions.
The case continues to draw renewed attention whenever true crime programs revisit it. ABC’s 20/20 and Dateline have both featured episodes examining the murders and Buffett’s role in the aftermath.
At this time, her estimated net worth is around $500k.
The Bottom Line
Rachel Buffett was convicted on September 12, 2018, of two counts of accessory after the fact in the 2010 murders carried out by her then-fiancé, Daniel Wozniak. She served part of a 32-month sentence before her 2019 release.
Before the case, she worked as a Disney princess character performer at Disneyland and built a career in Orange County community theater, where she met Wozniak. That background became part of the case’s national media coverage.
Buffett has kept a low public profile since 2019, with no confirmed recent projects or public statements. She appeared on The Dr. Phil Show and Dateline while proclaiming her innocence during the years the case was pending.
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