Christmas Eve Massacre in Covina

COVINA, Calif. – A ninth body was found Friday morning at the charred site of a Christmas Eve massacre where a recently divorced man dressed as Santa shot indiscriminately at partygoers and destroyed his former in-laws' house with a homemade blowtorch.

The attacker, Bruce Pardo, reached a Dec. 18 settlement with his ex-wife, who along with her parents was believed to be among the dead. 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."

Pardo left the scene of the killings and was found dead Thursday, of a single bullet to the head, at his brother's house.

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.

Eight bodies were recovered Thursday from the destroyed house; it was not yet known where the gunfire or the flames killed them. None of the dead or missing has been identified.

The bloodbath began about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when an 8-year-old girl attending a Christmas Eve 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, 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.

Pardo's attorney said the man had trouble making the payments after he lost his job in July, but spousal support was waived in the settlement signed earlier this month.

Investigators seeking further information about Pardo's motives have begun searching his home in the suburban Los Angeles community of Montrose.

Christmas lights decorated the roof of Pardo's home and plastic nutcracker soldiers and striped candy canes poked out of the neatly trimmed lawn. A black Cadillac Escalade and a white Hummer were parked in the driveway.

Neighbors frequently saw Pardo working on his lawn and walking his dog, a big, brown Akita. Pardo served regularly as an usher at evening Mass at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Jan Detanna, the head usher at the church, was stunned when told about the violence.

"I'm just — this is shocking," Detanna told the Times. "He was the nicest guy you could imagine. Always a pleasure to talk to, always a big smile."

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.

David Salgado, a neighbor, said he saw the 8-year-old victim being escorted to an ambulance by four SWAT team members as flames up to 40 feet high consumed the house.

"It was really ugly," Salgado said.

Another neighbor, Jan Gregory, said she saw a teenage boy flee the home, screaming, "`They shot my family.'"

When the fire was extinguished early Thursday, officers found three charred bodies in the living room area.

"They were met with a scene that was just indescribable," police Chief Kim Raney said. Investigators found five more bodies amid the ashes later in the day. Coroner's Lt. Larry Dietz said the ninth body was found Friday morning.

Following the shootings, Pardo quickly got out of the Santa suit and drove off, witnesses told police. He went to his brother's home about 25 miles away in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles. No one was home, so Pardo let himself in, police said.

Police were called to the home early Thursday, and officers found Pardo dead. Two handguns were found at the scene, and two more were discovered in the wreckage of his former in-laws' house.

A car that Pardo apparently parked near his brother's home exploded Thursday evening and more ammunition was found in it, Los Angeles police Sgt. Francisco Wheeling said. She had no immediate details on what set off the explosion. No one was hurt.

___

Associated Press writers Daisy Nguyen, Anthony McCartney, Solvej Schou, Shaya Tayefe Mohajer and Gillian Flaccus contributed to this report.

YA MAN I SAW THAT ON THE NEWS. REAL MESSED UP STUFF.

Yeah, a real nightmare before Christmas...some real fucked up scandalous shit.

The bloodbath began about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when an 8-year-old girl attending a Christmas Eve 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.


I THINK THATS THE MOST FUCKED UP SHIT I HEARD ABOUT....

Yeah, that was the most shocking part of all...ruthless ass dude man. From what the news says, she survived...here's the video with the news on it.

http://cbs2.com/video/?id=87547@kcbs.dayport.com

This is some outrageous type shit. Man....

it makes me sicc when people do stuff like this. There's better ways to handle shit then like this, especially when kids are involved. How cold do u gotta be to shoot a 8 yr old n the face that he most likely has known or met at sum point and time? Atleast she's gona be aight though, that has to be Covina's worst mass murder no?

IF THERES A HELL HES IN IT.

dstrm300 wrote:it makes me sicc when people do stuff like this. There's better ways to handle shit then like this, especially when kids are involved. How cold do u gotta be to shoot a 8 yr old n the face that he most likely has known or met at sum point and time? Atleast she's gona be aight though, that has to be Covina's worst mass murder no?

Yeah, I would assume this has to be Covina's worst mass murder. Shit is just sad when this type of shit happens...dude should of just sprayed himself and saved the drama for everybody else. If a muthafucka wants to kill himself, why take everyone else with him? Makes me think of the Chris Bennoit story...the very famous WCW wrestler...I used to always watch dude on the tube when I was younger...I actually liked him. Then to hear he killed his WHOLE family then go hang himself in the basement afterwards...makes me lose ALL respect for dude.

Paid_In_Full wrote:

dstrm300 wrote:it makes me sicc when people do stuff like this. There's better ways to handle shit then like this, especially when kids are involved. How cold do u gotta be to shoot a 8 yr old n the face that he most likely has known or met at sum point and time? Atleast she's gona be aight though, that has to be Covina's worst mass murder no?

Yeah, I would assume this has to be Covina's worst mass murder. Shit is just sad when this type of shit happens...dude should of just sprayed himself and saved the drama for everybody else. If a muthafucka wants to kill himself, why take everyone else with him? Makes me think of the Chris Bennoit story...the very famous WCW wrestler...I used to always watch dude on the tube when I was younger...I actually liked him. Then to hear he killed his WHOLE family then go hang himself in the basement afterwards...makes me lose ALL respect for dude.

steriods made him crazy

Yeah it sure did! Too crazy mannn...

yea that Crhis Benoit story was crazy too. I couldn't even strike my kids to hard to kill them is staight evil. Speakin of evil did yall hear about the pastor from the Dino that got beat up, robbed and put n a coma. That's foul 2, it's sad to see what the world is comin to.

Yea this was some very sad shit. I didn't know the 8 yr old lived though...I figured the 8 yr died, all I heard was shot in the face. Thats good to hear though that she survived.

Paid_In_Full wrote:

dstrm300 wrote:it makes me sicc when people do stuff like this. There's better ways to handle shit then like this, especially when kids are involved. How cold do u gotta be to shoot a 8 yr old n the face that he most likely has known or met at sum point and time? Atleast she's gona be aight though, that has to be Covina's worst mass murder no?

Yeah, I would assume this has to be Covina's worst mass murder. Shit is just sad when this type of shit happens...dude should of just sprayed himself and saved the drama for everybody else. If a muthafucka wants to kill himself, why take everyone else with him? Makes me think of the Chris Bennoit story...the very famous WCW wrestler...I used to always watch dude on the tube when I was younger...I actually liked him. Then to hear he killed his WHOLE family then go hang himself in the basement afterwards...makes me lose ALL respect for dude.

Yea he was one of the most respected wrestlers in the bussiness. Its crazy how somebody like that can just snap like that. Such a selfish evil move when people take out their family and themselves like that.

she's a rider 4 sho, I kno older cats that got shot once n the right spot and died. My lil cuzzin Jarrod got shot on 10th this summer once n his thigh and died but the docs brought him bacc. It only takes one n the right spot so God had to be watchin over her.

Man haven't you guys ever notice that all the mass murderers and psycho path columbine murderer types are always either white or asian specially white guys these guys always are quite anti-social and harmless but then they come up with these massive shooting it makes me keep my distance from people with these psycho minds im not saying that there isn't any in every race but there tends to be more whites and asians that do this type of shit

I was shocked when I heard Chris Benoit killed all his family and then committed suicide yeah I believe it was the steroids too.

Asian? LOL, there was only one asian dude who was on some massacre shit...that's the Virginia Tech killings.

Paid_In_Full wrote:Asian? LOL, there was only one asian dude who was on some massacre shit...that's the Virginia Tech killings.

Yeah but Ive heard stories about asian gangs killing entire families