LINCOLN — Emotional moments unfolded inside a Lancaster County courtroom Monday afternoon as a jury found 28-year-old Joesef Barraza guilty in the murder of Carly Schaaf, a 23-year-old woman who went missing in May of 2021. Family members quietly wiped away tears as the guilty verdicts were read aloud.
Barraza, who was also convicted on three counts of sexual assault, including one related to Schaaf and two involving other women, now faces life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for August 14.
Schaaf was last seen on May 17, 2021. After a virtual court hearing that morning and ahead of a scheduled job interview, she told someone she was meeting a friend for a run. Instead, she took an Uber to Barraza’s apartment—and was never seen alive again.
Her body was discovered three weeks later, on June 10, in a wooded area near Pawnee Lake. She had been wrapped in Barraza’s comforter and partially covered with sticks. An autopsy concluded her death resulted from acute intoxication by diphenhydramine and methamphetamine, along with asphyxia from possible smothering. Plastic bags were found around her head.
Prosecutors argued Barraza drugged Schaaf with the intent to sexually assault her and then smothered her. They pointed to digital evidence, deleted messages, and disturbing videos found in his iCloud that showed similar behavior toward other women. Testimony also revealed Barraza had admitted to a fellow inmate and his own mother that he had “taken a life.”
Barraza’s defense claimed Schaaf may have overdosed or taken her own life, citing personal struggles, substance use, and unstable living conditions. They argued that the suffocation claim was speculative and that the plastic bags were used only to conceal the body.
But prosecutors maintained the evidence—especially the disturbing pattern of behavior, deleted digital traces, and his confession—supported a clear case of premeditated sexual assault and murder.
Jurors began deliberating just after 11 a.m. Monday and returned a unanimous verdict before 3 p.m. Barraza is expected to appeal the conviction.
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