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Santa gunman was in bitter divorce, lost job
http://www.startribune.com ^ | December 26, 2008 | By CHRISTINA HOAG

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: badsanta; evil; horror; pardo; santa
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

He lost his job after she had already filed.

As the details emerge, it appears he presented a false front to this woman, and she recently stumbled upon some sobering truth.

That can happen both directions between men and women.


61 posted on 12/27/2008 10:43:26 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: LdSentinal
How can you fork over $2,000 a month without a job?

I did $2,400/mo without a job.

For years. Never missed a payment.

62 posted on 12/27/2008 10:43:57 AM PST by null and void (Petroglyphs. The original cliffs notes...)
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To: GOPJ
"A woman so morally bankrupt that she'll leave a man when he's down was probably chosen for her looks. Again, the man needs to grow up - even if it means ( in the case you describe) that "growing up" means he realizes he's lucky the bimbo left and that he now has a chance to find a good woman."

A man so morally bankrupt that, although he has a disabled child from a previous relationship (child fell into a pool at thirteen months and nearly drowned while he was babysitting)abandons the child but continues to claim him as a tax deduction.

http://jewelry-blogstore.com/2008/12/27/santa-killer-had-disabled-son-escape-plan-bruce-jeffrey-pardo/

63 posted on 12/27/2008 10:44:02 AM PST by Mila
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To: Scotswife
He got to keep the house - she got $10,000

Lucky man. He gets to pay a mortgage without a job.

She moved into her parents house paying no rent.

64 posted on 12/27/2008 10:44:14 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: Drew68

Maybe it’s me, but I think you missed the point I was trying to make regarding the slanted coverage of the ROP.


65 posted on 12/27/2008 10:44:19 AM PST by xmission (www.iwilldefendtheconstitution.com)
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To: LdSentinal; Cringing Negativism Network
Guy loses his job. His confidence crumbles - and he is no longer the man his wife married. She divorces him, and he goes insane.

And he's forced by the courts to pay $2,000 a month to support an ex-wife and children that were not his own. How can you fork over $2,000 a month without a job? And he lost his dog in the divorce settlement as well.

Poor guy. He was such a sweetheart, and the bitch gave him such a raw deal:

Bruce Pardo, 45, saw his marriage fall apart this year when his wife discovered he had abandoned a brain-damaged son years earlier but continued to claim the boy as a tax write-off, the L.A. Times reported.

Sylvia Pardo was appalled by the news, according to a source close to the police investigation. Pardo had not told her he had a son confined to a wheelchair, who was about 5 when they married in 2006, according to the L.A. Times.

When his wife sought a divorce, Pardo evicted her from their home, piling her belongings on the street, the newspaper reported. The couple reached a "full settlement" in their divorce about a week before the slaughter, ending a marriage the divorce judge said nothing could save.


66 posted on 12/27/2008 10:45:22 AM PST by Amelia
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To: null and void
For years. Never missed a payment.

How?

67 posted on 12/27/2008 10:45:31 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: dragnet2
And the favoritism of the courts go unreported.

68 posted on 12/27/2008 10:46:01 AM PST by MaxMax (I'll welcome death when God calls me. Until then, the fight is on)
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To: Amelia
When his wife sought a divorce, Pardo evicted her from their home, piling her belongings on the street, the newspaper reported.

So? If your wife sought a divorce, would you throw her a parade?

69 posted on 12/27/2008 10:47:02 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: LdSentinal

And he gets any equity that goes along with that.

Usually the wife gets the house - and my guess is you would have complained about that too - yes?

Where would you rather she had moved?

As it turned out - staying with mom and dad didn’t work out so well for mom and dad either.


70 posted on 12/27/2008 10:47:19 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: Maelstorm
At his home in Montrose, Christmas lights decorated the roof and plastic nutcracker soldiers and striped candy canes were attached to a fence that edged a neatly trimmed lawn.

Usher at his Catholic church. Aerospace engineer, friendly outgoing guy who loved his dog, kept a neat yard and even decorated for Christmas. Sounds like a model citizen. I would ask what happened to make him crack, except for the fact that he plotted it all out and planned to escape to Canada. Psychologists will have a field day with this nut.

71 posted on 12/27/2008 10:48:15 AM PST by giotto
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To: wombtotomb
"This is a really bad nightmare version of ‘trading Places"

They already made that movie


72 posted on 12/27/2008 10:48:22 AM PST by Kid Shelleen (Barack the Messiah: Never in the field of US politics have so many waited so long for so little.)
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To: earlJam
Uh... what exactly is a "high powered shotgun"?

In any MSM story involving firearms, "high powered" is a scare word, much like "assault," that they are required under union rules to sprinkle liberally throughout the story.

It does not refer any particular caliber, muzzle velocity, penetration capability, or magazine capacity.

The only thing you can deduce for sure from the term "high powered" in a MSM story, is that the writer, and his/her/nonspecific-gender editor disappoves of the weapon.

Similarly, the only thing you can tell for certain from a politician being labeled "conservative" is that the writer, and his/her/nonspecific-gender editor disappoves of the politician. That is why, to the MSM, George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are all "conservative."

73 posted on 12/27/2008 10:48:35 AM PST by Pilsner
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To: LdSentinal
So? If your wife sought a divorce, would you throw her a parade?

Would you abandon your disabled child? Could you respect or love someone who did?

Especially if said child was arguably disabled due to your own negligence.

Just for the record, I do not have and do not want a wife.

74 posted on 12/27/2008 10:49:49 AM PST by Amelia
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To: Scotswife
And he gets any equity that goes along with that.

With property values dropping, congrats to him again.

Usually the wife gets the house - and my guess is you would have complained about that too - yes?

If he paid for the house, yes. The wife usually gets the house because the family courts are heavily biased in favor of women.

Where would you rather she had moved?

Las Vegas, apparently she had a thing for luxurious vacations.

75 posted on 12/27/2008 10:50:38 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: LdSentinal
How?

Silicon Valley home equity.

76 posted on 12/27/2008 10:51:21 AM PST by null and void (Petroglyphs. The original cliffs notes...)
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To: Scotswife

Yes.

Somehow I think the “sobering truth” was something worse than using his disabled son as a tax dodge.

The guy was obviously a thug. Wonder if she somehow got wind of something he did, obviously he was capable of horrible evil.

Terrible situation.

I worry about more violence in SoCal - at some point I’d like to move somewhere nobody knows the meaning of the word “tagger”. For the time being though, my job has me staying here - my very wonderful boss, pays me too much to quit. :)

Ironically, at some point my own job will be outsourced. I’ve watched so many co-workers walked out, it’s mind numbing. I guess that’s why I focus on the job part.

This story is like one of those ink-blot tests.

I think everyone sees something different.


77 posted on 12/27/2008 10:52:27 AM PST by Cringing Negativism Network ("Free Trade" = Fire Americans. Buy another company then fire more Americans.)
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To: Amelia
Would you abandon your disabled child? Could you respect or love someone who did?

No, but if you're required to pay a large amount of money without a job and threatened with prison time, I understand why he snapped.

78 posted on 12/27/2008 10:52:29 AM PST by LdSentinal
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To: LdSentinal

“If he paid for the house, yes. The wife usually gets the house because the family courts are heavily biased in favor of women.”

So - are you aware of which it is in this case? Or are you making assumptions?

“Las Vegas, apparently she had a thing for luxurious vacations.”

And he had a thing for using an abandoned disabled son as a tax write off.


79 posted on 12/27/2008 10:52:31 AM PST by Scotswife
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To: LdSentinal

“No, but if you’re required to pay a large amount of money without a job and threatened with prison time, I understand why he snapped.”

Wow.

Just. Wow.


80 posted on 12/27/2008 10:53:17 AM PST by Scotswife
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