Who killed Brooke Buchler? Louisiana woman allegedly killed by 2 men who nearly beat her alleged rapist to death
SIDELL, LOUSIANA: Nine months ago, a Louisiana woman was found dead at an abandoned Navy base, just a day after she was reported missing. Authorities have now drawn up a timeline of her death that alleges that the two men suspected of killing her, did so after she found out that they had nearly beaten to death a man whom she had accused of raping her before.
Identified as Brooke Buchler, the deceased woman had confided in several people that a man she knew had raped her, reports The Times-Picayune. In what has been assumed was a retaliation to Buchler's claims, two men identified as Dylan Craddock, 27, and Cody Matthews, 33, allegedly "severely beat the [man] inside of Buchler's apartment and relocated [him] to another location in Slidell," police wrote.
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Who was Brooke Buchler?
Brooke Buchler, 25, was a waitress from Slidell, Louisiana who was reported missing on August 22, 2020. WWL-TV reports, her body was found the very next day, dumped at the former Naval Support Activity building in Bywater, Louisiana, with a shot in the head. She also had a large metal pipe caught in her hair, revealed police reports according to the outlet. "Lying face down on the ground, the female was unresponsive and had blood on her face and right arm," the report reveals, adding there was also "one bloody handprint on the door frame where the victim was located."
Speaking with the local channel CBS-8, Buchler's mother Cristin Naquin said after her daughter's funeral "I don't know if she knew how much she meant to so many people. I think we were all kind of blown away by the people that came out." A boy who identified as Buchler's brother Brennan told the outlet she was like a "second mother. It was just me, mom and her in the house and mom worked."
Why was Brooke Buchler killed?
Just two days before Buchler went missing, she had told several people on August 20 about her alleged assault at the hands of someone she knew. The police report also reveals that Buchler was with Craddock and Matthews at a hotel in St Bernard Parish on August 21, a day before she vanished. "As a result of the allegation, Dylan Craddock and Cody Matthews severely beat the [man] inside of Buchler’s apartment" before moving him, the report said.
Police now believe Buchler was killed by Craddock and Matthews because she knew they attacked the unidentified 27-year-old man whom she had accused of raping her. Court documents obtained by the outlet revealed that Buchler was allegedly killed in New Orleans after a jailhouse phone call where Matthews allegedly told someone that he "was present when Craddock killed Buchler."
The man nearly beaten to death was stabbed before being dumped in a marshland in Slidell. Although he managed to survive and made it to a hospital, he hasn't been very cooperative, said police. There's been no confirmation on how or why that man was in Buchler's apartment the night he was beaten up, but Slidell PD said he was an 'acquaintance' of Buchler with her friends confirming they were in a short-term romance after allegedly meeting on Tinder and were possibly living together.
Who killed Brooke Buchler?
Craddock's cell phone records show him talking to Buchler on the morning of August 21. He was also near where Buchler was that night, said police. The next morning he told his mother he was 'making a drop' and left his phone with her, as an alibi, police believe. But both the men had week-old photos of them at the abandoned building where Buchler's body was found, police said. The two men were initially arrested in St Tammany Parish where they allegedly beat up the man accused by Buchler, and were charged on September 3 for attempted murder and kidnapping of the man.
Both Craddock and Matthews have been individually charged with second-degree murder, said police. Craddock is currently detained at Orleans Justice Center on a $1 million bond, while Matthews remains in custody at the St Tammany Parish Jail on a bond of $625,000. Matthews has even tried bargaining a plea deal in exchange for revealing the location of the murder weapon. They have both pled not guilty to the charged of attempted murder and kidnapping and are currently awaiting separate trial charges.