Fresno County man gets life sentence for three murders, 2011-2016 killings

Families tied to three Yokuts Valley killings finally saw a Fresno County courtroom close a case that began more than a decade ago and left a deep mark on rural Fresno County. Fresno County Superior Court Judge Alvin Harrell III sentenced Buford Jonathan King, 40, to 50 years to life in prison plus life without the possibility of parole after King entered a plea agreement on March 3.

The sentence brought King face-to-face with one victim’s daughter, who told him, “You truly are an evil man.” Prosecutors said the case was a nightmare, and court and law-enforcement accounts said King admitted to using one of the bodies for target practice and burying the victims in holes, details that helped make the case one of the most disturbing homicide investigations in recent county history.

The three victims were Albert Contreras, Aleksey Shelest and Donnie Lee. Investigators said Contreras was last seen in January 2011 and reported missing in July 2011. Shelest was last heard from on May 18, 2016, and reported missing on May 28, 2016. Lee was last seen on November 1, 2016 and reported missing later that month. The killings stretched across years and across the same rural landscape east of Fresno, with burial sites later found in Yokuts Valley and Visalia.

Sheriff’s investigators said the case remained unsolved until March 2019, when King’s girlfriend came forward after a jail visit and told detectives she feared for her safety. She said King threatened to kill her if she tried to leave, described multiple holes dug on his property and a neighboring property, and gave investigators information that led them to buried remains. Detectives later tied the case to King, whom the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office said met the FBI definition of a serial killer.

King was arrested in August 2017, when deputies filed three counts of murder and set bail at $3 million. Sheriff’s officials said he was an Army veteran who served in Iraq and was acquainted with all three victims. Search efforts at his home on the 37000 block of Squaw Valley Road turned up explosives-related materials, and investigators later said the criminal allegations King raised about abuse were never adjudicated in court and could not be independently verified in several instances.

For Yokuts Valley, formerly known as Squaw Valley until the 2023 place-name change, the sentence marked the end of a long and grim chapter. The case now closes in court, but the years of fear, missing-person reports and recovered remains left a lasting scar on the community.