Cops: Santa Slayer Planned To Flee Country

Bruce Pardo Had Cash, Ticket To Canada, But Was Burned In Attack, Police Say; 9 Dead

(CBS/AP)  Law enforcement officials in Southern California say the gunman who killed nine people in a Christmas Eve bloodbath at a his ex-in-laws' Covina home intended to flee to Canada but was severely burned before he killed himself.

Police said Friday that 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo brought four handguns with him and emptied them. He then used a homemade device to spray racing fuel around the home and the vapor was ignited by a pilot light or candle. He suffered third-degree burns on both arms when it exploded.

Authorities say Pardo's Santa suit actually melted onto his body before he fled.

After Pardo shot himself to death at his brother's home, authorities found $17,000 on his body a plane ticket for a flight from Los Angeles to Canada.

Authorities confirmed that nine bodies were recovered from the gutted home and coroner's operations at the scene have ended.

The victims are believed to have ranged in age from 17 to 80, but coroner's Chief Ed Winter says all the bodies remain unidentified because they were charred to the point they were not recognizable. Pardo's ex-wife and former in-laws are believed to be among the dead. Winter says it is not known whether the victims died from gunshots or fire.

Pardo arrived at the house of his former in-laws, James and Alicia Ortega, during their annual Christmas party on Christmas Eve, The CBS Evening News reported Friday.

The bloodbath began about 11:30 p.m. when an 8-year-old girl attending the party answered a knock at the door. A man dressed as Santa and carrying what appeared to a present pulled out a handgun and shot her in the face, then began shooting indiscriminately as partygoers tried to flee.

The gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the house up in flames. Police said Pardo had recently worked in the aerospace industry.

Pardo then drove to his brother's house, where he shot himself. Police found explosives in his rental car there. The car blew up while they were trying to defuse the bomb, but no one was injured, Evening News reported.

"He intended to commit this crime and then flee the country," Covina Police Chief Kim Raney said. "He didn’t anticipate injuring himself to the point where, obviously, he took his own life."

Pardo had also recently lost his job at military defense supplier ITT, Evening News reported.

He had volunteered, as he did every year, to be an usher at his church's Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve, Evening News reported.

Pardo reached a Dec. 18 settlement with his ex-wife. His lawyer and a fellow church usher were among those who said they had never seen anything to indicate he was capable of such a brutal crime.

Pardo's attorney, Stanley Silver, said his client seemed cheerful when he left a message two days before the shooting and was trying to pay $10,000 to finalize the divorce proceedings.

"All of my dealings with him were always pleasant and cheerful," Silver said. "I'd never encountered him when he was ... angry or unpleasant at all."

Left: The bizarre incediary device police say murder and arson suspect Bruce Pardo used in a Christmas Eve rampage that killed nine people. Pardo apparently combined the tank from an compressor with a smaller tank of high-octane racing fuel. They say he added a hose and sprayer to the device, but they were burned up in the fire.

The body of his ninth victim was found Friday morning when investigators resumed searching what was left of the two-story home on a cul-de-sac in Covina, 25 miles east of Los Angeles.

Pardo, 45, had no criminal record and no history of violence, according to police, but he was angry following last week's settlement of his divorce after a short marriage.

A court summary of the divorce case shows that Sylvia Pardo filed for a dissolution of marriage on March 24, 2008. The summary indicates she and Bruce Pardo reached a settlement on Dec. 18 and were separated after about two years of marriage.

Court documents show Sylvia Pardo got the couple's dog, the wedding ring and $10,000 in the settlement agreement, while he got the house. In June, the court ordered Bruce Pardo to pay $1,785 a month in spousal support and put him on a payment plan of $450 a month for $3,570 that was unpaid.

Two people wounded in the attack are expected to recover: the 8-year-old who was shot and a 16-year-old girl shot in the back. A 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when jumping from a second-story window and was recovering.

[jlewsp4]

"How sick is that for people who do not believe in God or pretend to believe in God would stoop so low as to do!

A person who does not believe in God has nothing to loose."

-I do not believe in god whatsoever and I have everything to live for. I have a strong moral center and I am the most considerate and thoughtful person you will ever meet. I have no gold streets or 72 virgins to look forward to, consequences are more real to me than they are to the diluted religious. ..And it''s "lose", ***.

[seer57]

That story about homer simpson makes me want to cry but I am afraid to cry on my Colt combat commander .45.... Might get rusty you know.

[protection_9]

The storm troopers had no record of violence!

The storm troopers used to wipe out many Jews with their flamethrowers. This Santa probably did not believe in God. Thou Shalt not Kill!
He probably just wanted what he wanted with no regard to others as it proves by his actions.
Imagine shooting a little girl in the face. How sick is that for people who do not believe in God or pretend to believe in God would stoop so low as to do!

A person who does not believe in God has nothing to loose.

[protection_9]

The storm troopers used to wipe out many Jews with their flamethrowers. This Santa probably did not believe in God. Thou Shalt not Kill!
He probably just wanted what he wanted with no regard to others as it proves by his actions.
Imagine shooting a little girl in the face. How sick is that for people who do not believe in God or pretend to believe in God would stoop so low as to do!

A person who does not believe in God has nothing to loose.

[paidgopshill]

Now the BAD NEWS: It was decided by only one vote.

That means FOUR out of NINE justices STILL don''''t understand the constitution.

They said they "can''''t find anything in the law" that says the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

They said they "can''''t find anything in the law" that says "the people" means "the private, individual citizens acting freely and independently without being required to join any organization which would then have the power to disenfranchise them of their constitutional rights by refusing their membership, and without being required to exercise their rights in any particular place or in any specific manner."

Apparently they can''''t find the words "the people" anywhere else in the Constitution to find out what it means.

Posted by txgrouch2008

Obviously the handiwork of Bill Clinton! Thank heavens we compassionate conservatives have our heads screwed on right and appoint only strict constitutionalists! Our judicial picks would never have ruled in favor of an abomination like Santa Clara County v. Southern Pacific Railroad Company!

[protection_9]

That flamethrower the man who was dressed up as Santa used looks like the ones they used to exterminate the Jewish people with!

[protection_9]

In Homer Simpsons home one day one man dressed like Santa visited his house with the intentions of you know what against Marge and Bart and Sally. But in Homers Simpsons world he has the right to use his gun for protection in his home so when Santa came through his front door without consent, Homer not knowing what was on his mind pulled the trigger on his glock and Walla Bernard Geotz was born! Homer after it was all done went and held his family close to him and the family held him as well and wept. They knew that what Homer did was to protect the security of the family. The Simpsons were never the same but none of them were crippled with the disease of helplessness that this gang would of inflicted on them had homer not owned a gun legally for the protection of his family!

They went on in life to make cartoons for the whole world to enjoy!
A happy ending that would of been tragic if not for the decision of the father to defend his family buy owning a gun legally and using it responsibly!

The names have been changed to protect the people whos lives have been destroyed and maimed so that people who have no compassion or empathy do not adulterate them a second time!

Homer Simpson, with the support of his family, plans to give full support to the NRA because of the true life experience that he has went through of not being a victim but a victor for justice when it came to the life of his family in his home.

[protection_9]

This man dressed as Santa probably just wanted what he wanted with no regard to others as it proves by his actions.
Imagine shooting a little girl in the face. How sick is that for people who do not believe in God would stoop so low as to do!"
People either do not believe in God or they pretend to.

[rosieodminge]

Police said Friday that 45-year-old CHURCH USHER Bruce Jeffrey Pardo brought four handguns with him and emptied them. He then used a homemade device to spray racing fuel around the home.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by newster1





Guess the 10 day wait didnt work, kind of like DC''s handgun ban didnt work! Maybe conflict resolution, and evaluating the parties in a devorce would have helped?

Cant ban/regulate homemade flame-throwers and pipe-bombs!

This guy was a nut, and I pray for the families and victims.

[nothappyatall]

Police said Friday that 45-year-old CHURCH USHER Bruce Jeffrey Pardo brought four handguns with him and emptied them. He then used a homemade device to spray racing fuel around the home.

[rosieodminge]

Common Sense Point #3: Crime is deviant behavior. A gun is an inanimate tool not deviant behavior and crime is deviant behavior not an inanimate tool. You can%u2019t prevent deviant behavior by regulating tools because tools are incapable of behavior and the number of tools available to the world%u2019s deviants is endless.



Even if you could legislate guns out of existence, deviants could, would and have used other things that gave them a power advantage over their victims%u2014knives, clubs, rocks or even sharp sticks%u2014all of which are very legal and very accessible.

Commons Sense Point #4: The Trump Card. The strongest point of all consists of a mere 27 words and is absolute in its nature. It trumps all statistics ever concocted by man and all arguments ever made%u2014and not one of the 27 words is a number%u2026 %u201CA well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.%u201D #4, my friends, is absolute, unambiguous and supersedes all arguments and all statistics.



Now go forth soldier, well armed with common sense, the absolute truth of the II Amendment and ready to fight the good fight.

[rosieodminge]

Common Sense Point #1: Thugs ignore gun laws. To think that thugs who ignore laws against murder, robbery, rape and assault will, by some stretch of lunacy, obey gun control laws is the purest form of lunacy. Does anyone think that a gang planning a bank robbery will trash those plans because they would first be required to register their guns before the job went down?

Common Sense Point #2: Thugs prefer unarmed victims and avoid potentially armed citizens. Amazing bit of deductive reasoning isn%u2019t it? Anti-gunners hope you never discover that truth on your own. Think about it though from the shoes of Mugsy and Bugsy. Who would you rather confront, an armed citizen or an unarmed one? Where would you rather focus your life of crime? In areas where guns are outlawed or where guns are prevalent? Who would you rather prey on, the defenseless or the armed? And where is violent crime more prevalent? Washington D.C. where gun laws are strictest or Florida where gun laws are more relaxed?

[rosieodminge]

http://armedcanadian.blogspot.com/inde
x.html

For my Canadian friends, who are the most gun lovin group in the world!

http://www.liberalswithguns.co
m/

For my left leaning friends, its okay to be armed and be a smelly hippie;0)

[rosieodminge]

http://www.pinkpistols.org/

For my friend erasmus606

and this is for you anti-bush, anti-war, anti-anything red, white and blue, its okay to like guns and protect your family!

http://guntards.net/about/

[rosieodminge]

The democrats know gun control is a sad bit of social politics that will have only one result for them, and after 18 years of taking it in the rump, they are on board with the right wingers, thats right ladies, they love their guns too!

http://rightdemocrat.blogspot.co
m/2008/12/nevada-democrats-form-gun-owne
rs-caucus.html

[rosieodminge]

http://www.claremont.org/projects/projec
tid.12/project_detail.asp


Uh oh! Looks like all your sad psuedo medical facts are going the way of the dodo!

Even Obamalamadingdong knew to keep his pearly whites tight on the issue of guns, Americans would no sooner part with their AR''''s than we would allow Iceland to easily invade Canaduh!

[rosieodminge]

One loves to possess arms, though they hope never to have occasion for them.
--- Thomas Jefferson to George Washington, 1796

[rosieodminge]

[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation...(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.
---James Madison,The Federalist Papers, No. 46.

[ofbyfor3]

The REAL beauty here is -G-A-M-E-- O-V-E-R... the stench pulled the same gig with her other 2 ex-husbands, no more lap dancing judges for spousal support ...no more Joe''''s to pay for her implants.

It''''s nice to know justice does exists... real justice... the final act of scene 4 retake 5 ...

Posted by ms1-1-1 at 02:56 PM : Dec 27, 2008

TROLL! Or you are simply one SICK being. Can''t even call you a ''human'' being.

[differnet]

God have mercy on his soul, because no one on earth could.