Church searches for answers after `Santa Claus massacre’

COVINA, Calif. (RNS) This Los Angeles suburb remains numb from the Christmas Eve murders carried out by a distraught ex-husband who dressed as Santa Claus and allegedly killed 10 people at the home of his ex-wife’s family. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo killed 10 people at the Covina home of his ex-wife’s parents before torching the house […]

COVINA, Calif. (RNS) This Los Angeles suburb remains numb from the Christmas Eve murders carried out by a distraught ex-husband who dressed as Santa Claus and allegedly killed 10 people at the home of his ex-wife’s family.

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo killed 10 people at the Covina home of his ex-wife’s parents before torching the house with a homemade flame-thrower, officials say. Pardo, who was badly burned in the attack, later killed himself at his brother’s home in Sylmar, Calif.


Pardo, a 45-year-old unemployed engineer, was a volunteer usher at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Montrose. At the 10 a.m. Mass on Sunday (Dec. 28), a priest read a brief statement on the massacre written by the church’s pastor.

“We pray for the victims, those who died, those who are wounded, for their families and their loved ones, even for Mr. Pardo,” the statement said. “May God have mercy on their souls.”

It remained unclear which, if any, church was attended by Pardo’s ex-wife, Sylvia Ortega, who was living with her elderly parents. All three are presumed dead, along with seven others presumed dead or missing as officials try to identify the badly burned bodies.

At the curb in front of the home’s rubble, a memorial of flowers and cards grew over the weekend. By Sunday afternoon, traffic to the site of the burned home was averaging about 60 cars per hour. Families left candles bearing images of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary; a half-dozen rosaries were gently placed on a brick post at the house’s curb.

Teddy bears and other plush dolls also were left there to comfort an 8-year-old girl shot in the face by Pardo when she ran towards him at the front door on Christmas Eve. Pardo later shot a 16-year-old girl in the back as she fled the house. Both girls were released from a hospital late Saturday and are now recovering at home.

Outside the ruins of the house, workmen in pick-up trucks parked and walked to the charred rubble, studying the flowers, rosaries, cards and dolls, some making the sign of the cross. As two men left the memorial and climbed back into their truck, one of them said quietly, “Santa Maria.”

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