Bad Santa: Bruce Pardo and the Covina Christmas Massacre

Shortly after 11:30 p.m., dispatch began receiving calls from neighbors of Joseph and Alice Ortega. One neighbor screamed, “Come immediately! They’re burning down someone’s house!”

As first responders raced to the location, 911 calls continued to pour in. Some callers reported shooting, in addition to the burning home.

Upon arriving, one officer described the scene as pure chaos. “When I arrived, to describe it as apocalyptic would be accurate.”

After the fire had been put out and the smoke had cleared, the destruction, devastation, and death left behind was indeed apocalyptic.

Searching the scorched home, police found nine members of the Ortega family dead and burned beyond recognition.

In addition to three injured victims, the nine murdered victims were Joseph Ortega (79) and his wife Alicia (70), Sylvia Ortega Pardo (43), Charles Ortega (50) and his wife Cheri (45), James Ortega (52) and his wife Teresa (52), Alicia Ortega Ortiz (46) and her son Michael (17).

Almost an entire family was completely wiped out during a time known for peace and love. How did this tragedy even unfold?

Around 11:30 p.m., there was a knock at the door. Eight-year-old Katrina, daughter of Leticia Ortega, ran to the door and flung it open. Upon seeing the visitor, she excitedly exclaimed, “Santa Clause! Santa Claus!”

But just seconds later, a gunshot blasted through the party noise. Little Katrina had been shot in the face...by Santa Claus.

Without any time to process what had just happened, the family was under attack. The man dressed as Santa Claus walked into the home and began shooting at anyone in his path.

Some had no time to run. Others tried to hide behind couches and under tables, but it was no use. The man was on a mission, and no one was safe.

Even after being shot and wounded, the Ortega brothers, Charles and James, managed to get up and try to subdue the gunman. During the struggle, they realized who the man was. It was their ex-brother-in-law, Bruce Pardo.

But their injuries would prove to be fatal and the brothers were unable to fend Pardo off. They both collapsed while Pardo continued moving through the house, shooting anyone he could.

Once he ran out of bullets, Pardo pulled out a homemade flamethrower and began spraying the house with 18 gallons of gasoline. Unaware of an open flame somewhere inside the house, an explosion occurred leaving him severely burned.

Pardo ran out of the house and towards his rental car. Due to his extensive injuries, he abandoned his original plan of escape. Pardo drove his rental car to his brother’s house, where he was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

During the investigation, it was discovered that Pardo’s rental car contained the remnants of his burned Santa suit and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

The car was also booby-trapped to explode upon the Santa suit being removed. And while the car did explode, no one was injured.

Bruce Pardo was 45 years old and recently divorced from Sylvia Ortega. They had married in 2006 but the marriage quickly fell apart. Pardo was a narcissist and financially controlling.

During divorce proceedings, the court ordered Pardo to pay almost $2,000 in monthly spousal support. Pardo had also been recently fired from his job as an electrical engineer for billing false hours.

The divorce was finalized a week before the holiday...along with Pardo’s plan for revenge. He was a man obsessed and could only think of one thing: revenge on Sylvia and everyone she loved.

After the investigation, police concluded that Bruce Pardo had no intentions of committing suicide. He had a detailed plan of escape. Pardo had multiple rental cars on the ready, supplies, maps of the American Southwest and Mexico, and cash strapped to his body.

He had also purchased a plane ticket from Los Angeles to Moline, Iowa. Police also believe Pardo had intentions of driving to his ex-wife’s divorce attorney’s home and killing him.

Leticia Ortega Yuzefplosky is the only remaining member of her immediate Ortega family. She lost both her parents and all of her siblings. In addition, she lost two sisters-in-law and one nephew.

Her daughter, Katrina, physically healed from being shot in the face but it took everyone in the family years to heal emotionally.

And the healing continues to this day.

Leticia became the reluctant head of the family and worked hard to maintain the family’s traditions. Most importantly, she worked to save Christmas.