5 chilling details about Diane King's murder

The murder of Diane King in 1991 raised a big storm within the society and created a widely-followed investigation and case process. On February 9, 1991, Diane was found shot in her car outside the couple's Fredonia Township home, sending shock waves through their community.

Initially, the case was dead-ended, but it ultimately focused on Bradford as the killer. He was charged with her murder in early 1992. The case's details were examined in season 3, episode 12 of Oxygen’s Killer Relationships with Faith Jenkins. The episode aired on November 2, 2024, at 8 p.m., shedding light on the factors leading to Bradford’s life sentence and current status.

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5 shocking facts about the murder of Diane King

1) A chilling pre-murder Facebook post

Before her murder, Diane King posted a mysterious post on social media. She had expressed her safety concern, mentioning she did not feel comfortable about the attempt to break into her house. Those close to her were worried because of her post.

Her fear was mounting, but the post was one of her last communications before death. This added a haunting layer to the case, capturing her friends and the local community.

2) The scene unveiled a brutal find

Diane King was discovered in her car in the parking lot right outside her house with numerous bullet wounds. The police didn't find much in terms of evidence to indicate the killer at first, and it was only that car, which was located a few steps from the door of her house, that helped them to work out the timeline and how she died.

The investigators recreated the scene from the available forensic evidence, but the crime scene itself was vicious and would have its mark on the scene's first respondents.

3) Suspicion of her husband, Bradford King

Diane King's husband, Bradford King, a professor of criminal justice, was also a suspect. Bradford initially protested innocence but ultimately implicated himself when his different statements were considered inconsistent with his actions. Friends and family members have said that Diane had been talking about her husband as someone to watch out for during the crime.

Therefore, detectives have dug deep into Bradford's life and motives to find a basis for a case built around circumstantial evidence mostly pointing toward him.

4) Evidence of domestic tension

The testimonies from friends and colleagues of Diane King portrayed occurrences whereby Diane would confide to them about her distressed relationship with Bradford, the presence of intimidation episodes among which would continue to remain a feature of the case in an attempt to postulate motive by the prosecution.

Bradford's co-employees were shocked while trial disclosures revealed allegations over control as well as emotional distress whenever the marriage was perceived through a dark tale, just as the public had understood when they were together in life.

5) Grim disclosure of a luminol test

In the course of the police investigation, officers ventured their way into the couple's house using a luminol test on the bathroom and its vicinity, which revealed trace proof of blood traces within that bathroom. The whole bathtub was shining bright with the luminol to indicate that evidence had possibly been cleaned up before finally disposing of the body of Diane King.

This further implicates Bradford since it hints at an attempt to mask the crime. This frightening discovery was a turning point in the investigation, leaving an unpleasant picture in the minds of people dealing with the case.