It was on December 24, 2008 in Covina – a suburb of Los Angeles – that the Ortega family was to celebrate a quiet Christmas Eve. Altogether, there were 25 family members and close friends who had gathered at the home of the Ortega family’s elders to celebrate Christmas.
When eight-year-old Katarina Yuzefpolsky spotted a figure outside the window, she went closer to see who it could be who had arrived at the house.
To her great joy she saw that it was not just anyone; it was “Santa Claus” who came walking towards the house.
Beaming with joy, she exclaimed loudly: “Look, it’s Santa Claus!”, before running to the front door to greet him. Little did she know what awaited her.
When she opened the door, her former uncle stood, Bruce Jeffrey Pardo (45), outside. He was dressed in a Santa Claus costume from head to toe. But instead of carrying a sack of gifts for family members big and small, he had brought loaded guns and equipment to carry out a horrific massacre.
Killed instantly
The eight-year-old probably didn’t realize what was really going on before Pardo brutally shot her in the face. She survived, amazingly.
While panic spread among the family present, Bruce Pardo stepped coldly into the house, and walked purposefully towards the other family members.
He had with him a petrol tank – wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper – as well as four 9mm handguns.
In all, nine family members aged 17-80 had to pay with their lives on this fateful Christmas Day in 2008.
Revenge on ex-wife
Katarina’s mother, Leticia, was the sister of Bruce Pardo’s ex-wife. Terrified, she saw the eight-year-old being shot, but she still managed to get hold of the badly injured girl. Together they fled as fast as they could from the house.
Pardo, on the other hand, had surprised many of the terrified Christmas guests, who tried as best they could to protect themselves and their loved ones.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the next victims were the two brothers of his ex-wife. According to later testimony, distraught family members yelled “RUN” before being overtaken by Pardo’s bullets.
IN MEMORY: Many mourned the loss of the nine killed by Bruce Pardo. Photo: Nick Ut / NTB Scanpix
Finally divorced
Sylvia Ortega Pardo had married Bruce Pardo in January 2006, having known each other since 2004. The marriage had been turbulent and conflict-ridden, and she had decided that she wanted to move on with her life without Bruce.
She had received good help and support from her family, and when the divorce was legally confirmed on 18 December 2008, she was primarily looking forward to starting the rest of her life. Without Bruce.
One of Sylvia’s cousins, Irma Chapa Ortega, escaped the massacre with horror, but in court she told how her loved one had been brutally executed by the vengeful man.
Killed the parents
While Sylvia’s two brothers had been shot dead when they tried to stop Pardo, the rest of the family had taken refuge under the dining room table.
BURNT UP: Bruce Pardo had rigged his car so that it caught fire when the police tried to investigate it. Photo: Reuters / Patrick Buchanan / NTB Scanpix
After shooting and seriously injuring the eight-year-old in the hallway, and killing Sylvia’s two brothers, he continued his unimaginable spree by shooting and killing Sylvia’s 80-year-old father, Joseph, and her 70-year-old mother, Alica. In addition, he killed Sylvia, who had sought refuge with her parents.
Set the house on fire
He then unpacked the petrol can he had brought with him, and used a compressor to spray petrol all over the house. He then set fire to the family home. As the flames consumed what was, he planned an explosion with the gas tank he had with him.
GASOLINE: One of the tanks Bruce used to set fire to the crime scene and kill the family. Photo: Reuters / NTB Scanpix
He then left the house and got into the car wearing the Santa costume. He changed into other clothes and left the scene.
While severely injured or killed members of the Ortega family lay inside the house, some of the other victims of the horrific incident had managed to escape.
A 16-year-old girl was shot in the back but survived. Another 20-year-old woman broke her ankle when she jumped out of a second-floor window.
A third member of the extended family had managed to escape to the safety of some neighbors and then alerted the police.
Huge fire
It would take 80 firefighters almost two hours to put out the raging fire, which completely destroyed the family’s home. According to American media, the flames are said to have been up to 15 meters high.
TOTAL DAMAGE: The house of the Ortega family burned down. Photo: Nick Ut / AP / NTB Scanpix
When the fire was finally extinguished, the intense heat must have been so intense that the coroners had to resort to dental and health records to identify the nine victims of Bruce Pardo.
In addition to the gunshot wounds, police concluded that 17-year-old Michael Ortega, one of Bruce’s nephews, had been killed when the gas tank exploded.
Fired himself
Bruce Pardo had planned for himself to get away with the terrible crime he had committed. He had bought plane tickets and planned his escape well. However, he had not expected how violent the fire he had started would be.
THE GIVEAWAY CAR: Bruce Pardo’s Santa costume, which he wore when he killed his family. Photo: AFP Photo / NTB Scanpix
As he was wearing a Santa costume, which was mostly made of fairly synthetic materials, he himself had suffered severe second and third degree burns when the scene went up in flames.
Flee to his brother
He therefore drove home to his brother’s house, about five miles away from the crime scene. The damage from the melted goblin suit had begun to take its toll on the cold-blooded killer to realize that the game was lost.
He was unable to carry out his planned escape and instead shot himself in the head with one of the weapons he had used to kill his family.
When the police arrived at the scene, they found the Santa costume in the car he had been using, cans of petrol, and empty gun and ammunition cases, as well as the dead Bruce Pardo in his brother’s apartment.
SUICIDE: The body of Bruce Prado is taken away from his brother’s apartment after he took his own life. Photo: Gene Blevins / AP / NTB Scanpix
As a result of Bruce Pardo’s cold-blooded massacre, 13 children were orphaned after the massacre on Christmas Eve. Two others lost one of their parents.
Sources:
Associated Press
Chicago Tribune
Wikipedia
Los Angeles Times
Huffington Post
NBC
USA Today
