December 23, 2025 • 30 mins
On Christmas Eve in 2008, Bruce Pardo dressed up as Santa Claus and set out to kill his ex-wife and all of her relatives. He used semi-automatic guns and a self-made flame thrower to accomplish his goal, killing 9 people in total.
Emily and Shane are diving into this horrific massacre, analyzing Bruce’s motives and plans to accomplish such a huge tragedy.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hi, guys, Welcome to a new episode of Legally Brunette.
I will be your host Emily Simpson with my co host,
my Christmas co host, Shane Shane. So, we wanted to
do a case today that had something to do with Christmas,
because it is it's Christmas time. Do you love Christmas time?
I love Christmas time?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yes, I do that.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
You don't. You're all stressed out.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
It's more work than it is fun.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
For you for parents. For me, well, I think for
parents in general, it's tough for me. Oh, just for you, Okay,
all right. So first, before we get into a true
crime story that has to do with Christmas, we are
going to just do a little update on Nick Reiner.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Nick Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago, and
his medication was changed or adjusted at some point before
the killings of his parents. This is according to three
different sources with direct knowledge of the case. A sealed
medical order was signed Friday by the judge overseeing the
case's initial stages. That sealed order may have to deal
(01:04):
with Reiner's mental health condition and treatment. The sources have
declined to discuss the contents of the order as of Friday,
the weapon use and the slangs had not been found.
This is two of the sources have said. However, we
don't know how legitimate that is.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Maybe it seems to be likely him, but what what
concrete evidence is there that actually says it is him,
or at least.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Well when he checked into the hotel. I believe that
in the hotel there was blood everywhere.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah that's right. Yeah, who's blood his parents' blood.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I mean, there isn't any DNA confirmations or anything, but
obviously in order for them to go look for him
that evening after when after the or not that evening,
but it was when they found soon after they found
the bodies.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They had that had something. I want to know what
that was.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, well we don't know that. But you made a
good point, you said, maybe they pulled up ring footage
and saw him coming in, you know, into the house
and leaving.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, lots of good points.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Good for you, all right. Michael Douglas and Rob Reiner
talked about parenting sons with drug issues. This was a
People article, so Michael Douglas says he and Rob Reiner
had had conversations about the challenges of parenting sons with
drug addictions. In the CBS News special Rob Reiner Scenes
from a Life that aired Sunday, December twenty one. Douglas,
who is now eighty one. Did you know that Michael
(02:18):
Douglas was eighty one now?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah? He had a song with substance abuse problems.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Child, Yeah, so I guess. Michael Douglas recalls how he
and Reiner had spoken about trying to help a child
in the throes of addiction. With this terrible tragedy, we're
realizing how much pressure he was dealing with in his
personal life with his son, said Douglas. I also had
a son who had drug issues, and I'm happy to
say he has overcome them and he's living a prosperous life.
(02:43):
But we talked a lot about that. What can you
as a parent do? What you can't do? A source
told people that the Reiners tried everything to help their
son and never gave up hope. In a September twenty
twive interview with NPR, Robin mentioned that Nick hasn't been
doing drugs for over six years. He added of his son,
he's in a really good place. Well, I mean, I
(03:04):
don't know if that's accurate. Maybe he was doing drugs
and he wasn't aware of it, or maybe he just
didn't want to talk about it, or.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Or maybe for a short period of time he was
in a good place. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So, Romy Reiner, who's a sister, allegedly had been living
in fear of her brother Nick. This was a Daily
Mail article.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Is Nick the youngest of the siblings? Uh?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Do we know the daughter is Roma? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
One well placed source told the Daily Mail that Romy
often felt scared of her brother and what he might
be capable of, so much so that she allegedly told
police he should be a suspect almost immediately after discovering
her parents' bodies. There's a little more probable cause for you.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Wow, if my parents will wound up dead, I would
not think question my sister. I mean like, I would
not think that unless there was like a real reason
to think she is a killer.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well yeah, but if you find your parents dead, neither
one of you were going to say that it was
you or your sister. You're going to look for outside
people were.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ut each other's alibi. Where was I? Again, Let's get
a story straight.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It feels like Romi has been scared of Nick since
she was a child, The insider said, even before his
drug addiction, his outbursts were frightening because they seemed to
come out of nowhere. She tried to stay out of
his way as much as she could, but it wasn't easy.
Nick was so volatile that she didn't think it was
a good idea for him to be living in Robin
Michelle's guest house, which he once smashed up in a
cocaine fueled fit of rage. She didn't even like the
(04:31):
idea of him living across the street from her, but
she knew that they moved him in so that they
could keep a close eye on him and give him
a roof over his head. Well that didn't turn out
so well, no for them, all right. So that's what
we know so far in the Nick Reiner case. We
do know that he plans to plead not guilty by
(04:52):
reason of insanity, which we talked about last time.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh, we we do know that though I read that
well last time, I think we said that that was
the likelihood.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I That was my guess when we talked about it.
That was my speculation that he would because he you know,
he has Alan Jackson and Alan Jackson, what does that mean, well,
Alan Jackson is not going to show up to make
a plea deal.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So he's going to go to trial, and to go
to trial, he's going to plead not guilty by reason
of insanity and that he's going to work hard to
establish that. And like we talked about before, when it
talks about Conan O. Bryan's party, remember there's been reports
that you know, Nick was at that party and that
he was acting crazy, he was scaring people, and he
was going up to people and asking them strange questions
(05:33):
like are they famous? And then I also read that
that several people had wanted to call the police at night,
like they were so kind of put off by his behavior.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
In his behavior, like was he aggressive? I think he
was called the police. It would have to be like
kind of I think.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I think I think maybe it was scary. Maybe it
was just he was so off putting to people that
that his presence was scary.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And you're talking about a lot of I wonder if
he made any threats there, like if people are like, oh,
many cities and they kills parents. I didn't take it seriously.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
No, I think people would have spoken up about that. No,
there's been no reporting of that, but I did read that.
I think a few people had wanted to call nine
to one one or call the police, and Conan O'Brien,
I read, had deterred people from doing that. Oh he did, yes,
which I don't know if he how he sits with
that right now, I don't know, because maybe if the
(06:23):
police had been called and they had come and they
had intervened, I don't know if they would have removed him,
if they would have put him in jail for I
don't know her Arausman or I mean, who knows what
would have happened, But there could have been a completely.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I know one thing, that Christmas party was not interrupted.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
It was not interrupted. It went on. The show must
go on, all right, So let's move into the case
that we're going to talk about today. It's called the
covena Christmas massacre. It's actually it's really a traumatic and
tragic case that happened on Christmas. But let's go through this.
(07:00):
So let's just do a brief synopsis first of this case.
It happened on Christmas Eve, December twenty fourth, two thousand
and eight, forty five year old Bruce Pardo arrived at
his former in law's home in Covina, California, where a
Christmas party was underway. Pardo arrived dressed as Santa Claus
and was carrying multiple semi automatic handguns. When his eight
(07:20):
year old niece opened the door because she saw Santa
Claus outside, she went to the door, opened it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Whose house is it?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
His former in laws? He was getting divorced and the
divorce had just been final like a couple weeks before,
Like he just find like signed off on a fly.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Now he goes to his in laws or former in
law's home.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Right, and he knows that his ex wife is there.
He's dressed up as Sanna. When the eight year old
niece opens the door, believing that Sanna had arrived, Pardo
immediately shot her in the face. He then opened fire
on all the party goers inside the home before deploying
a homemade flamethrower style device, sprang fuel throughout the house
and igniting a massive fire. Were killed, some by gunshot
(08:01):
and others trapped by the fire.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You know how many people were there? Did he kill all?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah? No, he killed nine and they were about there
were like thirty people there. It was a big I
guess this family, the Ortega, has had just like this
lovely Christmas party every year for family, and they invited
all their neighbors, and their neighbors said that they were
just this.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, I'm betting he knew that they had this annual party.
It was, you know, say betting, you're betting. I'm betting
that you're betting, Bette.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Okay, yeah, you're betting right, because he did dramatically Burnette.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm sorry, what betting?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Betting? Betting that he knew, Yes, he knew that they
had the annual Christmas party and that the whole family
would be there, and then his sex wife would be there, right.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And then he knows that he's so unwelcome. They did
to dress up as Santa Claus.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, well, he's got bigger problems than dressing up as
Santa Claus. So Pardo accidentally burned himself in the process
of this massacre and fled the scene, though he.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Had done me suit was flammable.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Yeah, yeah, I should have gotten a non flammable one,
though he had done months of planning, renting two getaway cars,
and booking a flight. He was later found dead by
suicide with ten thousand dollars in his pocket and he
was found in his brother's home. His brother's name was
Brad and this was in Silmour, California. But they honestly,
they did not know that he died by suicide when
they initially found his body. They thought he Initially they
(09:23):
thought he was another victim of this violence that happened
that night because apparently when he went into his brother's house,
he shot the ceiling and shot the place up and
then shot himself. And I guess he was burned so badly,
and there were gunn you know, there was expired.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And he was dressed like Santa.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
They thought, they initially thought he was a victim. Right,
So let's talk about Bruce's planning, because he put a
lot of planning into this. So investigators believe Pardo had
been planning the attack for months following his divorce, planning.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Could there be in I went into a house dressed
a and I shot her one up and then I burned.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It because he built these like this flame thrower thing
that he He was very intelligent. He was highly educated.
He worked for I be no, he worked he like
out of college. He was like an engineer or something,
and he worked for like Aerospace at NASA. He was
like a rocket scientist.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Did he work on the Challenger shuttle. He apparently caught
himself on fire. That's what I'm saying. I beg to differ.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, I'm saying I'm talking about all the planning that
he did to build his flame thrower. He also had
two rental cars and he booby trapped the rental cars
for who For the police when they found his Santa
suit in the car, it was booby trapped. So when
they opened the car door and like pulled the Santa
Suit out, it ignited like another flame thrower and blew
(10:46):
the car up. Oh so, like there was a lot
of planning that went into.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
This, but that was okay, well we'll get into it.
But that was not his getaway car that was to
blow up.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yes, there's another getaway car. We're going to get into this.
So according to court doc documents, Sylvia Pardo this was
his ex wife. They did not have any children together,
filed to dissolve the two year marriage in March, citing
irreconcilable differences. The couples reached the settlement on December eighteenth.
This is a week before.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
They say two years. No children, You're not tied that closely. Yeah,
any had to kill everyone. Well I yeah, I mean
that is just imagine it was what their pre tenures.
Imagine if they had kids, he would have killed the
kids too.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Probably so Sylvia in this. So in their settlement, Sylvia
received the dog. Maybe that's what pushed him over the edge.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I would push you over the edge. Damn. If he
gets that dog, he gets my dogs.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That's it. Sylvia received the dog, some jewelry, and ten
thousand dollars in the settlement agreement. Bruce Pardo got the
couple's home. A court ordered Bruce Pardo to pay seventeen
hundred and eighty five dollars a month and spousal support.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
After two years.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
He made a lot of money. I read his salary
was one hundred and twenty two thousand for.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
His two years. Well, anyway, that doesn't just fire yea,
and I think.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Her salary was like thirty thousand, and you know if
it was, I believe this is the way I understood it.
I believe he was initially ordered to pay seventeen hundred
dollars a month in spousal support. Then he lost his job.
He was fired from his job because he was making
false time cards. He was saying he was working more
hours than he actually won.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I'm a very intelligent person.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Well, okay, you can be intelligent and con people and
kill people at the same time.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
He got caught in both crimes. Apparently he tried to
commit time theft, Yes, an arson, he got caught, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
A murder, Yeah, murder. So he was fired. So I
believe the seventeen eighty five was an initial spousal support payment,
but then after he was fired. The way I read
it was that it just turned into a ten thousand
dollars like lump payment, like lump settlement. But he told
the judge he didn't have ten thousand dollars. All we
know is after that final hearing date on December eighteenth,
(12:58):
where he lost the dog ten thousand dollars and had
a final divorce decree, he was pushed over the edge.
So allegedly, like we just talked about, Bruce had lost
his job and had trouble making payments. Police and media
reports cited the divorce as the central motive for the attack,
specifically targeting his former wife's family for revenge. So in
(13:20):
July of two thousand and eight. This is during the proceedings,
Like while the divorce is still going on, Parto began
purchasing guns and hundreds of rounds of heavy ammunition. He
even started building a device to spray highly flammable rating
fuel in his in law's home. This is what police said.
He also purchased a custom Santa suit.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Like he didn't just get.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
On Amazon and get any Santa suit. He got a
custom Santa suit.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You look good on your way out.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
That discreetly hid the firearms. Where do you get a
custom like he had it made so he had like pockets.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Inside as he's like, take all this stuffing out to
make me look jolly and put all this ammunition. Yeah,
he seemed to enjoy this too much.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
He spent more on trying to create a war act
like he was going into war. Yeah, and at the
end of the day, I mean, not to make it
light and not to make light of it, but he
just wanted to shoot up a bunch of people and
then run away. But it's almost like you took pride
and revenge and I'm gonna burn him and I'm gonna
build this, I'm gonna blow this bomb, like he made
it more sophisticated than he needed to be.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Well, I don't understand why people don't want to get
revenge in a way where you just move on with
your life and have like a better life.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
A revenge body. Yeah, that's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Like, why don't you just go to the gym and
get really fit, get like a hot wife, and you know,
get a better job, and why don't you try to
make yourself you're.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Talking to me, Oh that's you. Yeah, yeah, go to
the gym, get a hot life.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, you have the hot wife, but you don't go
to the gym. So Parto had parks one of his
rental cards near the house of his ex wife's divorce attorney.
So that's the other rental cards next to the divorce
attorney full of supplies and maps of the Southwest in Mexico.
Police speculated the attorney might have also been a target.
You think he parked the other rental car by her
(15:04):
attorney's house. Pardo had also made plans to visit a
friend in Iowa and had purchased a Christmas morning plane
ticket from Los Angeles to Moline, Illinois. He was also
carrying cash strapped to his body. I don't know why he.
I guess he thought that his Santa suit wasn't going
to burn up, and that he was just going to
go get on a flight in his Santa suit with
(15:26):
ten thousand dollars like strapped to him, and nobody's gonna
say anything because he was dressed like Santa.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't know, made's Christmas d Maybe thought there'd be
a lot of Santa's at the airport, so it was
just going to blend in with the other Santas, I guess. So.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So, as investigators dug into Pardo's background, another disturbing detail surface.
Now he had been married previously, so the wife and
the family. Her name was Sylvia, and Pardo had a
prior son from a previous relationship who years earlier nearly
drowned under his supervision, suffering catastrophic brain damage. So I
(16:00):
read that he had been married previously and they had
a son, a toddler at the time. I don't know,
he was like a year or something, very young, and
she left to go shopping and she left the son
in his care. Clearly he did not pay attention, and
this toddler ended up in a pool and she comes home.
I actually read two different accounts. I read one account
that said she came home and he was holding the baby,
(16:21):
like he had found the baby drowned and he had
picked the baby up and was holding him. And another
thing I read said that when she came home, he
was just sitting on the couch drinking a beer, watching
TV and had no idea what the child was and
then they found him in the pool. At any rate,
those are two different accounts, But at any rate, we
know that he had had a child with his first marriage.
A toddler had drowned under his care and it did
(16:43):
not die, had fallen into the pool, had been in
the pool for so long they had to take him.
He went to the hospital and then he ended up
being in a type of He had severe brain damage
from that incident and he was in a vegetative state.
Basically he was alive, but he was going to be
in a wheelchair. Why are we bringing this up because
it goes into They dug into his past, I guess
(17:05):
to try to find motive and like psychologically what was
going on with him, and they were, you know, they're investigating.
So they found out that he did not tell his
current wife, Sylvia was current his most current ex wife
that he had this son. So they'd been married for
two years.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Really yes, and she did not know about the son.
So she found out about the son when she was
helping him with his taxes, and apparently she's.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Just like, who was his child?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
He was claiming this child as a dependent but he
wasn't paying any child support or medical costs. He totally
like left the wife and left the sun and never
saw them or having.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Well, yeah, but they're lucky he didn't kill them.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, they were lucky. They weren't at the Ortelles that
night on Christmas Eve. So the child had survived this,
but was left severely disabled and part of later cut
off all contact and support, keeping the child's existence a
secret from his wife, Sylvia for years. Allegedly, when Sylvia
found out that Bruce had abandoned his brain damaged son
but continued to claim him as a tax ride off,
(18:07):
their marriage began to disintegrate. I mean, can you imagine
you marry someone and then you find out by helping
them with their taxes that they have a secret child
who is brain damaged because you were neglectful, and then
you didn't tell your new spouse about them.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So then that obviously now she's like, I don't want
to be with this guy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
But he's intelligent.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Hem just telling you that he's educated and he worked
as like a rocket science and so.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
So what good does that do at the end of
the day.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So the night of the massacre, we know that he
dresses in his custom Santa suit that had room for
all that. I believe he had four semi automatic weapons
with him. He goes to the door, the niece answers
it she's eight years old. He shoots her in the head,
and then the rest of the family. I believe their
tradition was they would play poker every night right before midnight.
So the family was sitting around a poker table playing poker,
(19:01):
and he opens fire on them with the rifle, with
the gons, the semi automatic weapons. But he also is
carrying a present that's wrapped up like he has it
on a cart like he's pulling it into the house,
and that is his his homemade flame thrower gas ignited
explosive device. So that's when they think what happened is
(19:22):
when he ignited all that gasoline all over the house,
that there were candles lit in the house and then
once that hit the candles, like the entire house exploded
and it was it's I saw photos of the home.
I mean it's complete, there's nothing left.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So there were so I think he had more excitement
in planning this whole thing. Yeah, like he enjoyed, like,
I'm going to get them, I'm going to dress up
the Santa. I'm going to ruin their night. I'm going
to make it on Christmas Eve, you know, and I'm
just gonna like tear I'm going to burn their house
down as well.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah, and he didn't care who it was. He didn't
care if his kids or a girl, or adults or teenagers.
He didn't care.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
So, so don't answer the door on Chris's Eve if
you if you're in the midst of a divorce.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
All right, So let's talk about the victims of the massacre.
First of all, Sylvia Pardo, who was his ex wife,
was forty three years old and she died. Joseph Ortega
was her father and Alicia Ortega was her mother. They
were seventy nine and seventy and they were the owners
of the homes and they died too. They died too,
so they were at so that's four.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
This was the eight year old girl, the ex die.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The eight year old girl did not die. Yeah, she survived,
So she's a survivor. So the victims who died, there
were nine people who died. Sylvia, who's forty three, was
his ex wife, her parents, Joseph and Alicia, and it
was their home. Michael Ortiz who was seventeen at the time.
That was a nephew, Charles Ortega, who was I believe
(20:55):
Sylvia's brother, and then five and then Sherry I believe
was his wife and she died. And then James, another brother.
He was fifty two, he died, and then his wife, Teresa,
and then another aunt I believe, Alicia. The woman that
called nine to one one was Sylvia's sister. Her name
was Latsia, I believe, and I actually listened to the
(21:17):
nine to one one call because it was her daughter
that answered the door. And somehow a lot of people
I saw interviews with some of the family members, and
I mean a lot of people survived. They escaped, They
jumped through windows and people ran they're running around the yard. Yeah, well,
oh yeah, absolutely. I mean someone comes in the house
and starts shooting I'm going, I mean, I have children,
I'm gonna go for the show.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Then unless you're running though, whether you're running to get
your kids and run out the door, out the window, whatever,
you're running. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
The survivor, Katrina, she was the one who was eight
years old at the time she was shot in the face.
She became an outspoken advocate against gun violence during her
high school years, notably participating in a student walk out
in twenty eighteen. She attended Tufts University, graduating in twenty
twenty three with a degree in psychology and entrepreneurship. As
(22:04):
of December twenty fourth, she has a linked En profile.
It indicates that she is a senior recruiter at a
private equity firm in the Los Angeles area. But can
you imagine, I mean, she was shot in the face, right,
and she she lived. And also I saw a video
of her speaking and talking about the walkout and things
like that. She has no scars on her good face,
she looked completely normal.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I mean, she didn't go without a lot of trauma
and physical trauma.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Well, absolutely, can you imagine the people that survived that evening.
I mean, her mother, Latisia, lost her sister, her two brothers,
her parents, her nephew, and then she ended up adopting
or I don't know if it was officially adopted, but
she ended up taking in her sisters one of her
sister's children and raising it because they lost their parents
(22:50):
that night. So Latisia became the matriarch of the remaining family,
focusing on keeping their tight knit family traditions alive. She
worked through her anxiety and nightmares with therapy and faith,
telling the media in twenty thirteen that we have to
keep moving in our everyday moments. So that's Latisia. Can
you imagine she lost her parents, sisters, her brothers, and
(23:12):
a nephew and she all in one night and her
daughter was shot in the face. That's Latusia. So Selena
and Salk.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, some guy was upset from a two year breakup
and he had to pay some ten grand.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, ten grand and the dog and yeah they were
together two years. I mean they didn't have children together.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It matter if they're together twenty years, at least twenty years.
You'd understand if he was emotionally, you know, more disturbed.
Goes back to him being a terrible father to his
other child. I mean, this guy was never any good, right.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
But it's so interesting to me because there were a
lot of people who gave interviews about this case because
it was huge. Can you imagine this happened on Christmas?
Even nine people are dead now exploded, and he dressed
up like Santa Claus, and I mean it was all
over the news and there were so many people that
came forward and said, like, he was just just this normal,
lovely person.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Intelligent, Yes, he was intelligent.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
He was well educated, he had a good job, he
made good money. I don't know, it's it's what that's
my question is is that something inside of you that
you always have, Like, is there just some evil nugget
in you?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I think he was able to hide it. I mean,
is him neglecting his child? I mean that's weird. And
then and then he was able to hide it from
her this whole time, right, I mean that right, there
is strange.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Right, But there are men out there who are crappy
fathers who leave their kids and never see them and
don't want to have anything to do with them. But they
don't plan an elaborate, sophisticated massacre on Christmas Eve. So
my point is, I guess what I'm trying to say
is he was he just always innately evil and it
was just always in there. Or can someone who's actually
(24:54):
psychologically normal for most of their life just something makes
them snap, Like Betty Broderick, Like she just seemed like
this normal housewife that just was like taking care of
her husbands and kids, and then her husband and kids,
and then her husband leaves her and she just snaps
and she drives to his house and murders him and
his new wife in their sleep.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, it makes me think twice about getting up and
leaving you. He will snap. You're a seemingly normal housewife.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Seemingly normal. Thank you for that, all right, there's some
cultural and looking Sam, I thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think he wanted to sucker punch him. He wanted
to really catch him off guard and see their faces
while he shot him. That's why you wanted to infiltrate,
like get inside the house, is Santa Claus.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yeah, you're saying he's such as sick.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Oh, anyone could have rung the doorbell and shot and
I mean don't know what he did, but I think
he really wanted to get inside that house and have
a last laugh at him. Yeah, it's sick.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah. Well, you know, well his original plans were foiled
because he did plan to take off that night or
the next day, right, but he got third degree burns
and he had to he had to, you know, go.
He went to his brother's house. His brother's named Brad,
and he ended up shooting himself because he knew he
couldn't get away a third degree burns on him.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
His third degree is the worst, worse than second degree.
In first degree, I always get confused.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, third degree is as bad as it gets.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, because you have first degree, you don't have third
degree murder. You have first agree murders the worst kind.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Right, but burns are its opposite. Third degree burns are
worse than first degree. I don't even know if they
call it first degree. I don't know. I just know
third degree burns as like as badly as you can
be burned, Like your skin's like literally melting half of you.
So he caught himself on fire and he had third
degree burns. I guess the Santa suit basically like melted
on him. So he could not escape. So he ended
(26:42):
up going to his brother's house.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Couldn't change clothes, he couldn't he couldn't get it like this.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
He couldn't get away with his getaway plan. He couldn't
take his flight and he had his ten thousand dollars
strap to.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Him to get from the house to He didn't use
his getaway cars or anything. He just went from his
that house to the to his brother's house.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
He had an elaborate scheme of getaway cars. So I
assume when he finally did after he caught the house
on fire in the house blewide.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It sounds like he had a very colorful escape plan,
but it was probably poorly execute and probably over the top.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Well, as he was leaving the house after he shot
people and caught the house on fire, he passed a
neighbor on the sidewalk and told him Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
He filed the animals. So what he said he.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Really Yes, I saw an interview, a news interview of
a neighbor that was that watched him walk.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Away from the house they saw like a Santa Claus
on fire, wishing him a half Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Said Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, got to move on.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah. So after they investigated is when they realized that
he ended up killing himself. So he did shoot himself
in the mouth, but it was hard to tell that.
Initially they thought that he was possibly another victim that
happened on the same night. So let's talk about homicide
rates increasing during the holidays. Do you think they increase
or decrease homicide? Well, crime in general increases, but what
(28:11):
about homicide.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I'm guessing you're gonna say yes.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, surprisingly, there is no evidence to support that homicide
rates increase during the holidays in the United States. However,
robbery and larceny are shown to go up in December.
Even if homicide counts don't spike dramatically across the season,
certain risk factors associated with violent incidents can increase around
the holidays. Alcohol use tends to increase on holidays, which
(28:36):
is correlated with violent incidents. Yeah, that's violent. Domestic violence
results stress around the holidays. Yeah, domestic violence reports often
arise during major holidays, and some of these incidents can
unfortunately escalate to lethal outcomes. So I don't know, do
you get stressed with the holidays?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Do you think the holidays are fun?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Financially it can be stressful, yeah, you know, trying to
make sure you're living up to the expectations that kids
might have. Then you got your spread thin. When you
got all these you know, family members all over the place,
and everyone wants to do things your spread thin. It's tough.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You know what I did this holiday? I declined every
holiday invitation I got yes because I just didn't feel
like going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
It's very festive of you.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
It's a lot of work when you get those invites
in for holidays, and then you got to get your
hair and makeup done.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
You don't have to get your hair makeup.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Done, well, I choose to, but then it's like then
you have to figure out what you're gonna wear, and
you end up buying something new, and then I don't.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Care what you gonna wear every day anyway.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, but it has to be something different, not something
I already wore. And I know it's stressful, so I
just said no. I said no to most things this year.
So I just sat at home and watched while real No,
I watched some Christmas movies. All right, Thank you guys
for listening to our Chrismas episode. Thank you for listening,
(30:02):
and again, you can follow us on our own feed
legally Brunette, and also please leave us a review I
like to read them. Be nice, cheers and Merry Christmas.
Hi, guys, Welcome to a new episode of Legally Brunette.
I will be your host Emily Simpson with my co host,
my Christmas co host, Shane Shane. So, we wanted to
do a case today that had something to do with Christmas,
because it is it's Christmas time. Do you love Christmas time?
I love Christmas time?
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Yes, I do that.
Speaker 1 (00:22):
You don't. You're all stressed out.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
It's more work than it is fun.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
For you for parents. For me, well, I think for
parents in general, it's tough for me. Oh, just for you, Okay,
all right. So first, before we get into a true
crime story that has to do with Christmas, we are
going to just do a little update on Nick Reiner.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Nick Reiner was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago, and
his medication was changed or adjusted at some point before
the killings of his parents. This is according to three
different sources with direct knowledge of the case. A sealed
medical order was signed Friday by the judge overseeing the
case's initial stages. That sealed order may have to deal
(01:04):
with Reiner's mental health condition and treatment. The sources have
declined to discuss the contents of the order as of Friday,
the weapon use and the slangs had not been found.
This is two of the sources have said. However, we
don't know how legitimate that is.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Maybe it seems to be likely him, but what what
concrete evidence is there that actually says it is him,
or at least.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
Well when he checked into the hotel. I believe that
in the hotel there was blood everywhere.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Yeah that's right. Yeah, who's blood his parents' blood.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
I mean, there isn't any DNA confirmations or anything, but
obviously in order for them to go look for him
that evening after when after the or not that evening,
but it was when they found soon after they found
the bodies.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
They had that had something. I want to know what
that was.
Speaker 1 (01:46):
Yeah, well we don't know that. But you made a
good point, you said, maybe they pulled up ring footage
and saw him coming in, you know, into the house
and leaving.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, lots of good points.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Good for you, all right. Michael Douglas and Rob Reiner
talked about parenting sons with drug issues. This was a
People article, so Michael Douglas says he and Rob Reiner
had had conversations about the challenges of parenting sons with
drug addictions. In the CBS News special Rob Reiner Scenes
from a Life that aired Sunday, December twenty one. Douglas,
who is now eighty one. Did you know that Michael
(02:18):
Douglas was eighty one now?
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah? He had a song with substance abuse problems.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Child, Yeah, so I guess. Michael Douglas recalls how he
and Reiner had spoken about trying to help a child
in the throes of addiction. With this terrible tragedy, we're
realizing how much pressure he was dealing with in his
personal life with his son, said Douglas. I also had
a son who had drug issues, and I'm happy to
say he has overcome them and he's living a prosperous life.
(02:43):
But we talked a lot about that. What can you
as a parent do? What you can't do? A source
told people that the Reiners tried everything to help their
son and never gave up hope. In a September twenty
twive interview with NPR, Robin mentioned that Nick hasn't been
doing drugs for over six years. He added of his son,
he's in a really good place. Well, I mean, I
(03:04):
don't know if that's accurate. Maybe he was doing drugs
and he wasn't aware of it, or maybe he just
didn't want to talk about it, or.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Or maybe for a short period of time he was
in a good place. Right.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
So, Romy Reiner, who's a sister, allegedly had been living
in fear of her brother Nick. This was a Daily
Mail article.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Is Nick the youngest of the siblings? Uh?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Do we know the daughter is Roma? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
One well placed source told the Daily Mail that Romy
often felt scared of her brother and what he might
be capable of, so much so that she allegedly told
police he should be a suspect almost immediately after discovering
her parents' bodies. There's a little more probable cause for you.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
Wow, if my parents will wound up dead, I would
not think question my sister. I mean like, I would
not think that unless there was like a real reason
to think she is a killer.
Speaker 1 (03:54):
Well yeah, but if you find your parents dead, neither
one of you were going to say that it was
you or your sister. You're going to look for outside
people were.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
Ut each other's alibi. Where was I? Again, Let's get
a story straight.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
It feels like Romi has been scared of Nick since
she was a child, The insider said, even before his
drug addiction, his outbursts were frightening because they seemed to
come out of nowhere. She tried to stay out of
his way as much as she could, but it wasn't easy.
Nick was so volatile that she didn't think it was
a good idea for him to be living in Robin
Michelle's guest house, which he once smashed up in a
cocaine fueled fit of rage. She didn't even like the
(04:31):
idea of him living across the street from her, but
she knew that they moved him in so that they
could keep a close eye on him and give him
a roof over his head. Well that didn't turn out
so well, no for them, all right. So that's what
we know so far in the Nick Reiner case. We
do know that he plans to plead not guilty by
(04:52):
reason of insanity, which we talked about last time.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Oh, we we do know that though I read that
well last time, I think we said that that was
the likelihood.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
I That was my guess when we talked about it.
That was my speculation that he would because he you know,
he has Alan Jackson and Alan Jackson, what does that mean, well,
Alan Jackson is not going to show up to make
a plea deal.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
So he's going to go to trial, and to go
to trial, he's going to plead not guilty by reason
of insanity and that he's going to work hard to
establish that. And like we talked about before, when it
talks about Conan O. Bryan's party, remember there's been reports
that you know, Nick was at that party and that
he was acting crazy, he was scaring people, and he
was going up to people and asking them strange questions
(05:33):
like are they famous? And then I also read that
that several people had wanted to call the police at night,
like they were so kind of put off by his behavior.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
In his behavior, like was he aggressive? I think he
was called the police. It would have to be like
kind of I think.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
I think I think maybe it was scary. Maybe it
was just he was so off putting to people that
that his presence was scary.
Speaker 2 (05:56):
And you're talking about a lot of I wonder if
he made any threats there, like if people are like, oh,
many cities and they kills parents. I didn't take it seriously.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
No, I think people would have spoken up about that. No,
there's been no reporting of that, but I did read that.
I think a few people had wanted to call nine
to one one or call the police, and Conan O'Brien,
I read, had deterred people from doing that. Oh he did, yes,
which I don't know if he how he sits with
that right now, I don't know, because maybe if the
(06:23):
police had been called and they had come and they
had intervened, I don't know if they would have removed him,
if they would have put him in jail for I
don't know her Arausman or I mean, who knows what
would have happened, But there could have been a completely.
Speaker 2 (06:35):
I know one thing, that Christmas party was not interrupted.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
It was not interrupted. It went on. The show must
go on, all right, So let's move into the case
that we're going to talk about today. It's called the
covena Christmas massacre. It's actually it's really a traumatic and
tragic case that happened on Christmas. But let's go through this.
(07:00):
So let's just do a brief synopsis first of this case.
It happened on Christmas Eve, December twenty fourth, two thousand
and eight, forty five year old Bruce Pardo arrived at
his former in law's home in Covina, California, where a
Christmas party was underway. Pardo arrived dressed as Santa Claus
and was carrying multiple semi automatic handguns. When his eight
(07:20):
year old niece opened the door because she saw Santa
Claus outside, she went to the door, opened it.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Whose house is it?
Speaker 1 (07:26):
His former in laws? He was getting divorced and the
divorce had just been final like a couple weeks before,
Like he just find like signed off on a fly.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
Now he goes to his in laws or former in
law's home.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
Right, and he knows that his ex wife is there.
He's dressed up as Sanna. When the eight year old
niece opens the door, believing that Sanna had arrived, Pardo
immediately shot her in the face. He then opened fire
on all the party goers inside the home before deploying
a homemade flamethrower style device, sprang fuel throughout the house
and igniting a massive fire. Were killed, some by gunshot
(08:01):
and others trapped by the fire.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
You know how many people were there? Did he kill all?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Yeah? No, he killed nine and they were about there
were like thirty people there. It was a big I
guess this family, the Ortega, has had just like this
lovely Christmas party every year for family, and they invited
all their neighbors, and their neighbors said that they were
just this.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Well, I'm betting he knew that they had this annual party.
It was, you know, say betting, you're betting. I'm betting
that you're betting, Bette.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Okay, yeah, you're betting right, because he did dramatically Burnette.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm sorry, what betting?
Speaker 1 (08:36):
Betting? Betting that he knew, Yes, he knew that they
had the annual Christmas party and that the whole family
would be there, and then his sex wife would be there, right.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
And then he knows that he's so unwelcome. They did
to dress up as Santa Claus.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, well, he's got bigger problems than dressing up as
Santa Claus. So Pardo accidentally burned himself in the process
of this massacre and fled the scene, though he.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Had done me suit was flammable.
Speaker 1 (09:01):
Yeah, yeah, I should have gotten a non flammable one,
though he had done months of planning, renting two getaway cars,
and booking a flight. He was later found dead by
suicide with ten thousand dollars in his pocket and he
was found in his brother's home. His brother's name was
Brad and this was in Silmour, California. But they honestly,
they did not know that he died by suicide when
they initially found his body. They thought he Initially they
(09:23):
thought he was another victim of this violence that happened
that night because apparently when he went into his brother's house,
he shot the ceiling and shot the place up and
then shot himself. And I guess he was burned so badly,
and there were gunn you know, there was expired.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
And he was dressed like Santa.
Speaker 1 (09:44):
They thought, they initially thought he was a victim. Right,
So let's talk about Bruce's planning, because he put a
lot of planning into this. So investigators believe Pardo had
been planning the attack for months following his divorce, planning.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Could there be in I went into a house dressed
a and I shot her one up and then I burned.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
It because he built these like this flame thrower thing
that he He was very intelligent. He was highly educated.
He worked for I be no, he worked he like
out of college. He was like an engineer or something,
and he worked for like Aerospace at NASA. He was
like a rocket scientist.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Did he work on the Challenger shuttle. He apparently caught
himself on fire. That's what I'm saying. I beg to differ.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
No, I'm saying I'm talking about all the planning that
he did to build his flame thrower. He also had
two rental cars and he booby trapped the rental cars
for who For the police when they found his Santa
suit in the car, it was booby trapped. So when
they opened the car door and like pulled the Santa
Suit out, it ignited like another flame thrower and blew
(10:46):
the car up. Oh so, like there was a lot
of planning that went into.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
This, but that was okay, well we'll get into it.
But that was not his getaway car that was to
blow up.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Yes, there's another getaway car. We're going to get into this.
So according to court doc documents, Sylvia Pardo this was
his ex wife. They did not have any children together,
filed to dissolve the two year marriage in March, citing
irreconcilable differences. The couples reached the settlement on December eighteenth.
This is a week before.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
They say two years. No children, You're not tied that closely. Yeah,
any had to kill everyone. Well I yeah, I mean
that is just imagine it was what their pre tenures.
Imagine if they had kids, he would have killed the
kids too.
Speaker 1 (11:28):
Probably so Sylvia in this. So in their settlement, Sylvia
received the dog. Maybe that's what pushed him over the edge.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
I would push you over the edge. Damn. If he
gets that dog, he gets my dogs.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
That's it. Sylvia received the dog, some jewelry, and ten
thousand dollars in the settlement agreement. Bruce Pardo got the
couple's home. A court ordered Bruce Pardo to pay seventeen
hundred and eighty five dollars a month and spousal support.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
After two years.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
He made a lot of money. I read his salary
was one hundred and twenty two thousand for.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
His two years. Well, anyway, that doesn't just fire yea,
and I think.
Speaker 1 (12:03):
Her salary was like thirty thousand, and you know if
it was, I believe this is the way I understood it.
I believe he was initially ordered to pay seventeen hundred
dollars a month in spousal support. Then he lost his job.
He was fired from his job because he was making
false time cards. He was saying he was working more
hours than he actually won.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I'm a very intelligent person.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Well, okay, you can be intelligent and con people and
kill people at the same time.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
He got caught in both crimes. Apparently he tried to
commit time theft, Yes, an arson, he got caught, yeah.
Speaker 1 (12:36):
A murder, Yeah, murder. So he was fired. So I
believe the seventeen eighty five was an initial spousal support payment,
but then after he was fired. The way I read
it was that it just turned into a ten thousand
dollars like lump payment, like lump settlement. But he told
the judge he didn't have ten thousand dollars. All we
know is after that final hearing date on December eighteenth,
(12:58):
where he lost the dog ten thousand dollars and had
a final divorce decree, he was pushed over the edge.
So allegedly, like we just talked about, Bruce had lost
his job and had trouble making payments. Police and media
reports cited the divorce as the central motive for the attack,
specifically targeting his former wife's family for revenge. So in
(13:20):
July of two thousand and eight. This is during the proceedings,
Like while the divorce is still going on, Parto began
purchasing guns and hundreds of rounds of heavy ammunition. He
even started building a device to spray highly flammable rating
fuel in his in law's home. This is what police said.
He also purchased a custom Santa suit.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Like he didn't just get.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
On Amazon and get any Santa suit. He got a
custom Santa suit.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
You look good on your way out.
Speaker 1 (13:43):
That discreetly hid the firearms. Where do you get a
custom like he had it made so he had like pockets.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Inside as he's like, take all this stuffing out to
make me look jolly and put all this ammunition. Yeah,
he seemed to enjoy this too much.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Yea.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
He spent more on trying to create a war act
like he was going into war. Yeah, and at the
end of the day, I mean, not to make it
light and not to make light of it, but he
just wanted to shoot up a bunch of people and
then run away. But it's almost like you took pride
and revenge and I'm gonna burn him and I'm gonna
build this, I'm gonna blow this bomb, like he made
it more sophisticated than he needed to be.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Well, I don't understand why people don't want to get
revenge in a way where you just move on with
your life and have like a better life.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
A revenge body. Yeah, that's what I would do.
Speaker 1 (14:29):
Like, why don't you just go to the gym and
get really fit, get like a hot wife, and you know,
get a better job, and why don't you try to
make yourself you're.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Talking to me, Oh that's you. Yeah, yeah, go to
the gym, get a hot life.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
Yeah, you have the hot wife, but you don't go
to the gym. So Parto had parks one of his
rental cards near the house of his ex wife's divorce attorney.
So that's the other rental cards next to the divorce
attorney full of supplies and maps of the Southwest in Mexico.
Police speculated the attorney might have also been a target.
You think he parked the other rental car by her
(15:04):
attorney's house. Pardo had also made plans to visit a
friend in Iowa and had purchased a Christmas morning plane
ticket from Los Angeles to Moline, Illinois. He was also
carrying cash strapped to his body. I don't know why he.
I guess he thought that his Santa suit wasn't going
to burn up, and that he was just going to
go get on a flight in his Santa suit with
(15:26):
ten thousand dollars like strapped to him, and nobody's gonna
say anything because he was dressed like Santa.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I don't know, made's Christmas d Maybe thought there'd be
a lot of Santa's at the airport, so it was
just going to blend in with the other Santas, I guess. So.
Speaker 1 (15:38):
So, as investigators dug into Pardo's background, another disturbing detail surface.
Now he had been married previously, so the wife and
the family. Her name was Sylvia, and Pardo had a
prior son from a previous relationship who years earlier nearly
drowned under his supervision, suffering catastrophic brain damage. So I
(16:00):
read that he had been married previously and they had
a son, a toddler at the time. I don't know,
he was like a year or something, very young, and
she left to go shopping and she left the son
in his care. Clearly he did not pay attention, and
this toddler ended up in a pool and she comes home.
I actually read two different accounts. I read one account
that said she came home and he was holding the baby,
(16:21):
like he had found the baby drowned and he had
picked the baby up and was holding him. And another
thing I read said that when she came home, he
was just sitting on the couch drinking a beer, watching
TV and had no idea what the child was and
then they found him in the pool. At any rate,
those are two different accounts, But at any rate, we
know that he had had a child with his first marriage.
A toddler had drowned under his care and it did
(16:43):
not die, had fallen into the pool, had been in
the pool for so long they had to take him.
He went to the hospital and then he ended up
being in a type of He had severe brain damage
from that incident and he was in a vegetative state.
Basically he was alive, but he was going to be
in a wheelchair. Why are we bringing this up because
it goes into They dug into his past, I guess
(17:05):
to try to find motive and like psychologically what was
going on with him, and they were, you know, they're investigating.
So they found out that he did not tell his
current wife, Sylvia was current his most current ex wife
that he had this son. So they'd been married for
two years.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
Wow?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
Really yes, and she did not know about the son.
So she found out about the son when she was
helping him with his taxes, and apparently she's.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
Just like, who was his child?
Speaker 1 (17:33):
He was claiming this child as a dependent but he
wasn't paying any child support or medical costs. He totally
like left the wife and left the sun and never
saw them or having.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Well, yeah, but they're lucky he didn't kill them.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Yeah, they were lucky. They weren't at the Ortelles that
night on Christmas Eve. So the child had survived this,
but was left severely disabled and part of later cut
off all contact and support, keeping the child's existence a
secret from his wife, Sylvia for years. Allegedly, when Sylvia
found out that Bruce had abandoned his brain damaged son
but continued to claim him as a tax ride off,
(18:07):
their marriage began to disintegrate. I mean, can you imagine
you marry someone and then you find out by helping
them with their taxes that they have a secret child
who is brain damaged because you were neglectful, and then
you didn't tell your new spouse about them.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
So then that obviously now she's like, I don't want
to be with this guy.
Speaker 2 (18:29):
But he's intelligent.
Speaker 1 (18:30):
Hem just telling you that he's educated and he worked
as like a rocket science and so.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
So what good does that do at the end of
the day.
Speaker 1 (18:38):
So the night of the massacre, we know that he
dresses in his custom Santa suit that had room for
all that. I believe he had four semi automatic weapons
with him. He goes to the door, the niece answers
it she's eight years old. He shoots her in the head,
and then the rest of the family. I believe their
tradition was they would play poker every night right before midnight.
So the family was sitting around a poker table playing poker,
(19:01):
and he opens fire on them with the rifle, with
the gons, the semi automatic weapons. But he also is
carrying a present that's wrapped up like he has it
on a cart like he's pulling it into the house,
and that is his his homemade flame thrower gas ignited
explosive device. So that's when they think what happened is
(19:22):
when he ignited all that gasoline all over the house,
that there were candles lit in the house and then
once that hit the candles, like the entire house exploded
and it was it's I saw photos of the home.
I mean it's complete, there's nothing left.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
So there were so I think he had more excitement
in planning this whole thing. Yeah, like he enjoyed, like,
I'm going to get them, I'm going to dress up
the Santa. I'm going to ruin their night. I'm going
to make it on Christmas Eve, you know, and I'm
just gonna like tear I'm going to burn their house
down as well.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
Yeah, and he didn't care who it was. He didn't
care if his kids or a girl, or adults or teenagers.
He didn't care.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
So, so don't answer the door on Chris's Eve if
you if you're in the midst of a divorce.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
All right, So let's talk about the victims of the massacre.
First of all, Sylvia Pardo, who was his ex wife,
was forty three years old and she died. Joseph Ortega
was her father and Alicia Ortega was her mother. They
were seventy nine and seventy and they were the owners
of the homes and they died too. They died too,
so they were at so that's four.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
This was the eight year old girl, the ex die.
Speaker 1 (20:33):
The eight year old girl did not die. Yeah, she survived,
So she's a survivor. So the victims who died, there
were nine people who died. Sylvia, who's forty three, was
his ex wife, her parents, Joseph and Alicia, and it
was their home. Michael Ortiz who was seventeen at the time.
That was a nephew, Charles Ortega, who was I believe
(20:55):
Sylvia's brother, and then five and then Sherry I believe
was his wife and she died. And then James, another brother.
He was fifty two, he died, and then his wife, Teresa,
and then another aunt I believe, Alicia. The woman that
called nine to one one was Sylvia's sister. Her name
was Latsia, I believe, and I actually listened to the
(21:17):
nine to one one call because it was her daughter
that answered the door. And somehow a lot of people
I saw interviews with some of the family members, and
I mean a lot of people survived. They escaped, They
jumped through windows and people ran they're running around the yard. Yeah, well,
oh yeah, absolutely. I mean someone comes in the house
and starts shooting I'm going, I mean, I have children,
I'm gonna go for the show.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
Then unless you're running though, whether you're running to get
your kids and run out the door, out the window, whatever,
you're running. Right.
Speaker 1 (21:43):
The survivor, Katrina, she was the one who was eight
years old at the time she was shot in the face.
She became an outspoken advocate against gun violence during her
high school years, notably participating in a student walk out
in twenty eighteen. She attended Tufts University, graduating in twenty
twenty three with a degree in psychology and entrepreneurship. As
(22:04):
of December twenty fourth, she has a linked En profile.
It indicates that she is a senior recruiter at a
private equity firm in the Los Angeles area. But can
you imagine, I mean, she was shot in the face, right,
and she she lived. And also I saw a video
of her speaking and talking about the walkout and things
like that. She has no scars on her good face,
she looked completely normal.
Speaker 2 (22:26):
I mean, she didn't go without a lot of trauma
and physical trauma.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Well, absolutely, can you imagine the people that survived that evening.
I mean, her mother, Latisia, lost her sister, her two brothers,
her parents, her nephew, and then she ended up adopting
or I don't know if it was officially adopted, but
she ended up taking in her sisters one of her
sister's children and raising it because they lost their parents
(22:50):
that night. So Latisia became the matriarch of the remaining family,
focusing on keeping their tight knit family traditions alive. She
worked through her anxiety and nightmares with therapy and faith,
telling the media in twenty thirteen that we have to
keep moving in our everyday moments. So that's Latisia. Can
you imagine she lost her parents, sisters, her brothers, and
(23:12):
a nephew and she all in one night and her
daughter was shot in the face. That's Latusia. So Selena
and Salk.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, some guy was upset from a two year breakup
and he had to pay some ten grand.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
Yeah, ten grand and the dog and yeah they were
together two years. I mean they didn't have children together.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
It matter if they're together twenty years, at least twenty years.
You'd understand if he was emotionally, you know, more disturbed.
Goes back to him being a terrible father to his
other child. I mean, this guy was never any good, right.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
But it's so interesting to me because there were a
lot of people who gave interviews about this case because
it was huge. Can you imagine this happened on Christmas?
Even nine people are dead now exploded, and he dressed
up like Santa Claus, and I mean it was all
over the news and there were so many people that
came forward and said, like, he was just just this normal,
lovely person.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
Intelligent, Yes, he was intelligent.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
He was well educated, he had a good job, he
made good money. I don't know, it's it's what that's
my question is is that something inside of you that
you always have, Like, is there just some evil nugget
in you?
Speaker 2 (24:22):
I think he was able to hide it. I mean,
is him neglecting his child? I mean that's weird. And
then and then he was able to hide it from
her this whole time, right, I mean that right, there
is strange.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Right, But there are men out there who are crappy
fathers who leave their kids and never see them and
don't want to have anything to do with them. But they
don't plan an elaborate, sophisticated massacre on Christmas Eve. So
my point is, I guess what I'm trying to say
is he was he just always innately evil and it
was just always in there. Or can someone who's actually
(24:54):
psychologically normal for most of their life just something makes
them snap, Like Betty Broderick, Like she just seemed like
this normal housewife that just was like taking care of
her husbands and kids, and then her husband and kids,
and then her husband leaves her and she just snaps
and she drives to his house and murders him and
his new wife in their sleep.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Yeah, it makes me think twice about getting up and
leaving you. He will snap. You're a seemingly normal housewife.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
Seemingly normal. Thank you for that, all right, there's some
cultural and looking Sam, I thank you.
Speaker 2 (25:31):
I think he wanted to sucker punch him. He wanted
to really catch him off guard and see their faces
while he shot him. That's why you wanted to infiltrate,
like get inside the house, is Santa Claus.
Speaker 1 (25:41):
Yeah, you're saying he's such as sick.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Oh, anyone could have rung the doorbell and shot and
I mean don't know what he did, but I think
he really wanted to get inside that house and have
a last laugh at him. Yeah, it's sick.
Speaker 1 (25:52):
Yeah. Well, you know, well his original plans were foiled
because he did plan to take off that night or
the next day, right, but he got third degree burns
and he had to he had to, you know, go.
He went to his brother's house. His brother's named Brad,
and he ended up shooting himself because he knew he
couldn't get away a third degree burns on him.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
His third degree is the worst, worse than second degree.
In first degree, I always get confused.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yes, third degree is as bad as it gets.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
Yeah, because you have first degree, you don't have third
degree murder. You have first agree murders the worst kind.
Speaker 1 (26:21):
Right, but burns are its opposite. Third degree burns are
worse than first degree. I don't even know if they
call it first degree. I don't know. I just know
third degree burns as like as badly as you can
be burned, Like your skin's like literally melting half of you.
So he caught himself on fire and he had third
degree burns. I guess the Santa suit basically like melted
on him. So he could not escape. So he ended
(26:42):
up going to his brother's house.
Speaker 2 (26:43):
Couldn't change clothes, he couldn't he couldn't get it like this.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
He couldn't get away with his getaway plan. He couldn't
take his flight and he had his ten thousand dollars
strap to.
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Him to get from the house to He didn't use
his getaway cars or anything. He just went from his
that house to the to his brother's house.
Speaker 1 (26:59):
He had an elaborate scheme of getaway cars. So I
assume when he finally did after he caught the house
on fire in the house blewide.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
It sounds like he had a very colorful escape plan,
but it was probably poorly execute and probably over the top.
Speaker 1 (27:14):
Well, as he was leaving the house after he shot
people and caught the house on fire, he passed a
neighbor on the sidewalk and told him Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
He filed the animals. So what he said he.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
Really Yes, I saw an interview, a news interview of
a neighbor that was that watched him walk.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
Away from the house they saw like a Santa Claus
on fire, wishing him a half Merry Christmas.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Said Merry Christmas.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, got to move on.
Speaker 1 (27:45):
Yeah. So after they investigated is when they realized that
he ended up killing himself. So he did shoot himself
in the mouth, but it was hard to tell that.
Initially they thought that he was possibly another victim that
happened on the same night. So let's talk about homicide
rates increasing during the holidays. Do you think they increase
or decrease homicide? Well, crime in general increases, but what
(28:11):
about homicide.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
I'm guessing you're gonna say yes.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, surprisingly, there is no evidence to support that homicide
rates increase during the holidays in the United States. However,
robbery and larceny are shown to go up in December.
Even if homicide counts don't spike dramatically across the season,
certain risk factors associated with violent incidents can increase around
the holidays. Alcohol use tends to increase on holidays, which
(28:36):
is correlated with violent incidents. Yeah, that's violent. Domestic violence
results stress around the holidays. Yeah, domestic violence reports often
arise during major holidays, and some of these incidents can
unfortunately escalate to lethal outcomes. So I don't know, do
you get stressed with the holidays?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Yeah? Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (28:57):
Do you think the holidays are fun?
Speaker 2 (28:59):
Financially it can be stressful, yeah, you know, trying to
make sure you're living up to the expectations that kids
might have. Then you got your spread thin. When you
got all these you know, family members all over the place,
and everyone wants to do things your spread thin. It's tough.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You know what I did this holiday? I declined every
holiday invitation I got yes because I just didn't feel
like going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (29:24):
It's very festive of you.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
It's a lot of work when you get those invites
in for holidays, and then you got to get your
hair and makeup done.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
You don't have to get your hair makeup.
Speaker 1 (29:33):
Done, well, I choose to, but then it's like then
you have to figure out what you're gonna wear, and
you end up buying something new, and then I don't.
Speaker 2 (29:39):
Care what you gonna wear every day anyway.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
Yeah, but it has to be something different, not something
I already wore. And I know it's stressful, so I
just said no. I said no to most things this year.
So I just sat at home and watched while real No,
I watched some Christmas movies. All right, Thank you guys
for listening to our Chrismas episode. Thank you for listening,
(30:02):
and again, you can follow us on our own feed
legally Brunette, and also please leave us a review I
like to read them. Be nice, cheers and Merry Christmas.
Popular Podcasts
Two Guys, Five Rings: Matt, Bowen & The Olympics
Two Guys (Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers). Five Rings (you know, from the Olympics logo). One essential podcast for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Bowen Yang (SNL, Wicked) and Matt Rogers (Palm Royale, No Good Deed) of Las Culturistas are back for a second season of Two Guys, Five Rings, a collaboration with NBC Sports and iHeartRadio. In this 15-episode event, Bowen and Matt discuss the top storylines, obsess over Italian culture, and find out what really goes on in the Olympic Village.
iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina are here and have everyone talking. iHeartPodcasts is buzzing with content in honor of the XXV Winter Olympics We’re bringing you episodes from a variety of iHeartPodcast shows to help you keep up with the action. Follow Milan Cortina Winter Olympics so you don’t miss any coverage of the 2026 Winter Olympics, and if you like what you hear, be sure to follow each Podcast in the feed for more great content from iHeartPodcasts.