FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — A convicted killer learned his sentence on Friday while coming face-to-face with one of his victims’ daughters.<\/p>\n
“You truly are an evil man,” Jessica Brumley, the daughter of Donnie Lee, said.<\/p>\n
Buford King pleaded guilty to three Yokuts Valley murders between 2011 and 2016. Investigators say he killed Donnie Lee, Aleksey Shelset, and Alberto Contreras.<\/p>\n
King used one of the bodies for target practice and buried the victims in holes in what prosecutors described as a “nightmare.”<\/p>\n
“I have never heard of anything like this,” Fresno County Superior Court Judge Alvin Harrell III said.<\/p>\n
Judge Harrell sentenced King to 50 years to life in prison, plus life without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n
“That pain and trauma will never fully go away,” Brumley said.<\/p>\n
King’s defense attorneys pointed to what they called “huge PTSD” from serving two tours in Iraq.<\/p>\n
“I think he is truly remorseful, and I think he had (long enough) to think about what he has done,” attorney Curtis Sok said.<\/p>\n
Sok then issued a written statement claiming, without evidence, that two of King’s victims were actively abusing young boys when he shot them. Sok and co-counsel Michael McKneely claim King is a “vigilante” who “intervened” and now accepts his sentence.<\/p>\n
“Those allegations were never adjudicated in court and in several instances could not be independently verified by investigators,” the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office wrote in a statement.<\/p>\n
“I do hope that knowing that this individual will not ever be among our community again will give them some form of closure,” prosecutor Liz Owen said in court.<\/p>\n
King gave up his right to appeal as part of his plea agreement with prosecutors.<\/p>\n
For news updates, follow Gabe Ferris on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Instagram.<\/a><\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2026 KFSN-TV. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n