Texas Wine and True Crime
We review Texas wines and discuss Texas true crime.
Texas Wine and True Crime
Nightmare Before Christmas: The Covina Massacre Unveiled
What if a Christmas celebration turned into a nightmare of unimaginable horror? Get ready to uncover the chilling tale of the Covina Christmas Massacre, where a family gathering was shattered by the sinister actions of Bruce Pardo, disguised as Santa Claus. Armed with a grim arsenal, Pardo unleashed terror on his own family in Covina, California, transforming a joyful Christmas Eve in 2008 into a night of unspeakable tragedy. Join me, Brandy, as we dissect the harrowing events of that fateful night and seek to understand the twisted motives that drove Pardo to such a heinous crime.
In this gripping episode of Texas Wine and True Crime, we revisit the tragic story of the Ortega family, whose lives were forever changed by Pardo's calculated assault. Through a vivid recounting of the events, we explore the impact of this catastrophe on the surviving family members and the broader community. Our discussion not only captures the terror experienced by the victims but also delves into the relentless pursuit of justice following the massacre. Tune in for a compelling narrative that combines suspense, reflection, and an unyielding quest to make sense of an act that defies comprehension.
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Speaker 1:Wine and true crime lovers I'm Brandi, and this is Texas. Wine and True Crime Lovers I'm Brandi, and this is Texas Wine and True Crime. Thank you for being here, friends, for this week's episode of the Covina Christmas Massacre. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone listening, sharing in 2024. It was a good year. We were ready for 2025 and it is here, so welcome to 2025. I hope it's treating you well already. But just a huge thanks to all of you for supporting the show and being here with us and Happy New Year, all right.
Speaker 1:So January 25th we are going to be at Cristobal Winery in Cristobal, texas. So this will be Saturday, january 25th. You don't want to miss it. Grab your tickets. You can find them on our website. You can find them on Cristobal Winery's website. So take a look, grab your tickets and we'll see you on January 25th. So January Winery of the Month we are so excited to welcome Texas Wine Collective. We'll be featuring their wines throughout the month of January, so you will hear more on our upcoming episodes this month. So tonight I am actually sipping on a little old-fashioned. All right, friends, it's time to sip some wine, some whiskey or water whatever you're drinking and let's talk some crime.
Speaker 1:So this week we are hopping over to Covina, california, to discuss the Covina Christmas Massacre. Now, this involved the Ortega family, who was celebrating the holiday season on Christmas Eve 2008 in Covina, california. Now there were approximately about 25 people in the home around 11 pm celebrating when suddenly there was a knock at the door. So an eight-year-old girl hears the knock, she opens the door and there in the doorway she sees Santa Claus. But this isn't Santa. This is 45-year-old Bruce Pardo, the girl's uncle.
Speaker 1:Now, in one hand, bruce is carrying a present, but this isn't a present of goodwill. This is a handmade flamethrower that he plans on using in this attack. Now, in the other hand, he is carrying a pistol. He is also carrying additional firearms on him, along with $17,000 in cash that is strapped to him underneath his Santa suit. So this tells us a few things. This tells us that he's planning to run, that he's planning to flee after this, whatever is about to happen. So he is, and he's armed with multiple firearms. And there are 25 people in this home. So as soon as that little girl answers the door, he immediately opens fire and shoots her. So this was his niece. So his niece opens the door, he fires at her, he hits her, he walks into the house and opens open fires on all the other party goers. There were several of the victims that are found with very close contact wounds. So he not only was shooting people from far away, he was actually walking up to them and shooting them directly, touch to touch. So they police believe that he was there for a reason.
Speaker 1:You show up as Santa on Christmas Eve and you walk into a house and start assassinating people, All right. Well, after the scene is absolutely chaotic, people are running for their lives trying to escape the home. After he is done shooting, he begins to unwrap the present he brought, which was a makeshift flamethrower with liquid that would detonate and light the house on fire. But there was already flames going on in the home. So you have the stove going. I'm sure maybe there was a fire in a fireplace. So because of a fire that was already present in the home, the thing blows up. So before he's even able to start the fire himself, the makeshift piece catches fire. There was a huge explosion in the home and the house quickly went up in flames. I mean huge explosion. Very quickly Several people were able to escape the fire, but unfortunately there were multiple lives lost.
Speaker 1:Perdue was severely injured during the explosion, so he had the piece in his hand, remember, and he was going to be using it and light his own fire and probably get it away from himself somehow. I mean, he had a plan with this, but he suffered third degree burns on both of his arms and both of his legs and we know now that the heat and burns were so intense that it actually melted his Santa suit to his skin. We're going to talk just a little bit later about what they found when they were looking for Bruce Pardo, and part of that is that Santa suit. So they believe he was probably peeling it off of his skin trying to get off him. So they know that he probably was severely injured on this attack that he was attempting and then maybe he would go and seek help, maybe he was going to go to a hospital. So they're going to be thinking about all these things when they start going through the house.
Speaker 1:Pardo was able to leave the scene. So you have he knocks on the door, eight-year old lets him in. He immediately shoots her, opens fire, open fire on the party. Then the explosion happens. He's able to get out. Some people were jumping out windows from the top floor. There were people. It was chaos. So he was able to leave the scene. He hopped in his car, started driving what we know now to his brother's house about 40 miles north of Covina.
Speaker 1:Now, one person, the one person that was able to really escape and get to a neighbor's house very quickly was they called police. So police had been on their way and they knew this was Bruce Pardo. So even though the house had exploded and it took 80 firefighters and an hour and a half to put this fire out, so they couldn't get in for at least an hour and a half. So they had to talk to neighbors, they had to start asking questions and to find out who did this, and so Bruce Pardo's name comes up very early, before they really even enter the house. So now they've got Bruce Pardo on their radar. So they start talking to the neighbors and they find out that one neighbor actually saw Pardo walking on the sidewalk near the Ortega home and said hi to him.
Speaker 1:So he is talking to this little, this young man. I would say not little. He was a young man, maybe in his, you know, 19, 20, 21. And he's saying that he was just walking by and he knew who he was and he thought he was dressing up as Santa because he knew the family had lived in the neighborhood. But that was really the only person that had like an interaction with him, as he's going into the house, so he is seen, he is identified and now they're looking for him.
Speaker 1:Well, he is eventually found deceased at his brother's home. Now, although his brother did not know he was actually going to be heading there. Now, although his brother did not know he was actually going to be heading there, he decided to end his life and not be held responsible. And well, really, was it being held responsible for what he had just done or was it because of his injuries, which police believe probably had a lot to do with him, to make that decision? Because what they end up finding is that he had a couple of rental cars. One was loaded with clothes, with maps, he had a plane ticket to leave. I mean, there were things found, there's things found in his house.
Speaker 1:Because of the they found a pipe bomb in one of the rental cars and because of that and because of what had just happened at the home, they wanted to know does this guy have anything in his house? And we've got to get neighbors out. So they immediately find out where Bruce Pardo was living and they immediately evacuate neighbors. So they knew this guy was dangerous and he had a mission, but they really didn't know what that was and why Bruce Pardo would have done something like this. Also found were those remnants of that Santa suit I mentioned. There was hundreds of rounds of ammunition, multiple handguns, I mean. This guy was locked and loaded in order to pull this off. So this was clearly a planned attack on a family on Christmas Eve. But why so? Once police get in, they're starting talking to neighbors. They're starting to pinpoint. You know who.
Speaker 1:This was what the relation to the family is. Is he married to someone, which he was? He was actually married to Sylvia Ortega Pardo and she is the daughter of the homeowners of that house in Covina. So basically, bruce and Sylvia. The marriage had fallen apart. They had just finalized their divorce one week before this crime on Sylvia Pardo.
Speaker 1:But after getting married in 2006, she realized that she had really chosen the wrong guy. She chose the wrong man. She wanted to divorce him. She told friends and family that he was distant, he was cold, he kind of acted a little strange. It made her uncomfortable. Acted a little strange. It made her uncomfortable.
Speaker 1:There is also speculation that part of her filing for divorce was that she found out about a child Bruce had but never disclosed to her. Now I don't even think or believe that he was actually a part of this child's life. I mean we know how this is right, like maybe he did have something to do with the child early on. Mean we know how this is right, like maybe he did have something to do with the child early on and then he meets another woman and then he doesn't you know, he doesn't want to pay child support because I don't know, I don't really know much about where the mother of the child was living and all of that. But she ends up finding this out. He didn't disclose any of it to her, whether he was involved or not involved in the child's life. He wasn't disclosing any of this to her. So people believe that maybe that was part of why she had decided to end the marriage.
Speaker 1:Now Bruce was ordered by a court to pay Sylvia, his ex, approximately $1,700 a month in alimony and $10,000 in back pay. Now because she had children from previous relationships and the couple shared no kids together. He basically tells the court why should I have to pay for her lifestyle at her parents' house? She's living at her parents' house. He tells the court. She had bought a very nice car, she gambles, she takes trips, she lives the high life. And he says I can't afford this.
Speaker 1:He was unemployed at the time of this. He had lost his job as an electrical engineer. He was broke, but he had $17,000 in cash strapped to him. So you owe her 10 in back pay, $1,700 a month, I don't know. I mean, we're talking about someone who went in and shot an eight-year-old and then shot the whole place up and then lit it on fire. So the intention and motive in his mindset is psychopathic. So it seems a little hard to say that it's easy just to pay her. Just pay her the 10 grand. You have 17 on. You Pay her the 10. Okay, $1,700 a month, like now you've got to go find a job. But instead he thought it was better just to shoot up her entire family. And then, unfortunately, he was burned and took his own self out. So, like I said, he had been fired from his job as an electrical engineer, he was broke. He just was very upset that he had to pay her what he had to pay her and he didn't think that she deserved it.
Speaker 1:Nine people were killed in this attack. Sylvia Ortega Pardo 43. This was Bruce Pardo's ex wife, alicia Ortega, 70,. Sylvia Pardo's mother, joseph Ortega, 80,. Sylvia Pardo's father, charles Ortega, 49,. Sylvia Pardo's brother, cherie Ortega, 45,. Charles Ortega's wife, cherie Ortega, 45,. Charles Ortega's wife James Ortega, 51,. Sylvia Pardo's brother, teresa Ortega, 52,. James Ortega's wife, alicia Ortega Ortiz, 46,. Sylvia Pardo's sister, michael Ortiz, 17. The damaged bodies the victims, were unrecognizable because of the flames. They had to be identified by medical records and dental records, and then they realized that most had suffered gunshot wounds before the fire was actually set. But this is because a court ordered him to do something he wasn't willing to do and instead killing family members on Christmas Eve. Until next time, friends, stay safe, have fun and we'll see you more in 2025. Thank you, bye.