Posted on 12/27/2008 9:37:19 AM PST by Maelstorm
COVINA, Calif. - A man who carried out a Christmas Eve massacre and arson dressed as Santa at the home of his former in-laws apparently intended to flee the U.S., but his plans were dashed after the inferno he created severely burned his arms and melted his red costume onto his body, police said Friday.
Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, a laid-off aerospace worker, apparently shot some of his nine victims execution-style in a plot to destroy his ex-wife's family after a costly divorce that was finalized last week. He had an airline ticket for a Christmas morning flight to Canada and $17,000 in cash on his body, some attached to his legs with plastic wrap and some in a girdle, Covina police Chief Kim Raney said. He did not know the Canadian destination.
Armed with four guns, wearing the Santa suit and carrying a fuel-spraying device wrapped like a present, Pardo showed up at the home at 11:30 p.m. Wednesday as a party of about 25 people was under way.
Raney said Pardo, 45, fired a shot into the face of an 8-year-old girl who answered the door and at first fired indiscriminately, then apparently targeted relatives of his ex-wife as other guests fled.
"There's some information that he stood over them and shot them execution-style," Raney said.
Pardo retreated to the front door and retrieved a device that mixed carbon dioxide or oxygen with high-octane racing fuel, police said. Fleeing guests saw him spraying the fuel inside the house when the vapor was ignited, possibly by a pilot light or a candle, and exploded.
"Mr. Pardo was severely injured during that explosion," Raney said. "He suffered third-degree burns on both arms and it also appears that the Santa Claus suit that he was wearing did melt onto his body."
(Excerpt) Read more at startribune.com ...
yup - annual party on hubby’s side that usually falls between Christmas and New Year’s.
At least no one is supposed to dress up in a Santa suit!
“First step in that descent into the abyss: outsourcing.”
Reviewing his actions, it seems he blamed it on his wife and her family, not his employer, or outsourcing.
Yup, and the nitwit media lemmings use the same approach against the sectors of the economy which don't meet their approval: "big oil", "big pharma", "big tobacco", "big fill-in-the-blank". And some actually question whether we're becoming a nation of idiots...
Oh, but that would be hard to take, especially if he was a decent husband to her. Things like that can make people jump the rails.
You win.
When you put on the Santa suit, spark up the flamethrower and start shooting children in the face, setting in motion an event that culminates in a blood-soaked inferno, you've pretty much nullified the "feel sorry for me because I got screwed in the divorce" argument.
How about my friend who found out when she was 8 months pregnant that her husband was cheating on her -- and that the mistress was also pregnant?
They gave birth within 2 months of each other. My friend lost her home and had to move back home with her parents. IIRC, the cheating husband moved in with the mistress for a while, and then moved in with a third woman who already had one child, and she got pregnant too.
So the guy married the third woman, quit his job and took a lower-paying one, and went to court to try to get his child support payments to the wife and mistress lowered since his new job didn't pay as much and since he now had 2 children to support by his current wife.
How would you like forking over $2000 a month to a cheating ex-wife who took his house to pay for children that were not his own?
God Bless the American Family Court System./s
Trent is correct.
“And the favoritism of the courts go unreported.”
I, One, Want to know more about what the courts did to this guy.
I don’t think I’ve heard of too many divorces in which both parties felt they’d been treated fairly. As emotionally charged as most divorces are, and since most involve some degree of betrayal, I think it would be difficult for most people to have an amicable divorce.
IMO the larger problem is how accepted divorce has become in our society. Disposable marriages, so to speak.
How do you shoot an 8 year old in the face. I hear she is home...poor kid. At least she survived.
He was burned badly...which is why he is dead and not in Canada-I hope those burn hurt really bad...a little taste of what came next for this monster-hell.
How do you shoot an 8 year old in the face...Self-centered, self-obsessed, self-indulgent, self-deranged.
How can you defend this guy?
I would say the job loss had much to do with it. At my job just before Christmas over 1000 people were laid off...it was horrible. Many were desperate and even suicidal. I kept my job so far.
He married her...guys my wife says she has one word to add to this discussion-get a prenuptial agreement! Also, if you listen to the news, he was after the kids-the daughters. There is no excuse for this behavior. He deserves the hellfire he is surely enjoying as we speak.
I have no understanding of a guy that shoots an 8 year old kid...he kills his ex-it’s wrong and awful...but he shot an 8 year old. Nothing can excuse this.
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