Ep. 91-Santa Gunman Bruce Pardo

Holiday lights can hide dark plans. We walk through the Covina massacre with clear eyes, tracing how Bruce Pardo went from “civil” in court filings and friendly at the bakery to building a fuel-spraying device and hiding guns in a custom Santa suit. Job loss, a painful divorce, and the performance of normalcy collide with an obsession to punish, turning a family party into a crime scene and a neighborhood into a lesson on how grievance spirals when it meets access and intent.

We break down the choices that shaped this tragedy: the oversized costume made “extra jolly,” the quiet gear purchases, the timeline leading to Christmas Eve, and the tactical ruthlessness inside the house. You’ll hear how a device ignited early, melting the suit into Pardo’s legs, how he escaped on adrenaline, rigged a getaway car, and died by suicide at his brother’s home with cash strapped under plastic wrap. We also sit with the aftershocks that don’t make headlines: a landlord billing the family of a murdered tenant weeks after her death, creditors who showed mercy, and the way systems either cushion grief or crush it under policy.

This story isn’t just true crime; it’s a study in warning signs, social blind spots, and the hard question of what responsibility looks like for neighbors, businesses, and institutions when stress peaks and rituals give cover to rage. If you care about holiday safety, mental health red flags, and how communities can build better guardrails, you’ll find practical insights and tough reflections here. Subscribe, share this episode with a friend who follows true crime and social policy, and leave a review with your take on the most important warning sign we ignore.

Source Material:

The Associated Press, June 1, 2009, Santa gunman led 2 lives to plot killings, https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna28462082

Girardot, Frank C., January 5, 2009, Rent demanded from family of Covina massacre victim- Crime Survivors Resource Center Official Site, https://crimesurvivors.org/rent-demanded-from-family-of-covina-massacre-victim/

ABC News, December 27, 2008, Suspected, Santa Shooter planned escape to Canada,https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=6534372&page=1

CNN, 2008, Police: Santa shooter planned to kill divorce attorney, mother, https://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/12/30/santa.shooting/index.html

Transcript

Names, Holidays, And Stress

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Holiday stress. It's real. And it can be real bad. Add to that some regular day-to-day stress. And bad things can happen. This is true. For one, Bruce Pardo. This is hold my sweet teeth.

SPEAKER_01 1:06

I'm Pearl. It's a Holly jolly good morning.

SPEAKER_00 1:09

I'm Holly.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

I figured you'd run with it.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Gotta use my name in there when I can. Right. I've had like two people in the past like a few weeks go, oh, your name's Holly. Holly, were you born during the holidays? I'm like, no, I was born in spring in May. It was just a popular name at the moment. Right.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

I've had like the dumbest questions about my name. Right. And most of those came from other kids in school. Like something dumb.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Like, was your mom wearing pearls when you were born? No. Does she like oysters?

SPEAKER_02 1:53

Also, no. It's my freaking great-grandma's name, y'all.

SPEAKER_03 2:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 2:01

And at least I wasn't named Verly. Sorry, Dad. So there's that. Imagine, imagine the fun people would have had with that name. Right. We could have been Pearly Girly.

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Oh gosh. Yes. Thanks, Mom. Dodge that one. Woohoo.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

And then, like, I never hear anyone else, at least not my age, with my name. And then I go to the fair once and I had ordered some food. And the girl who yelled my name, she's like, my name is Pearl too.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

I was like, oh my God, hi. Like, so yeah, that's every time I see, you know, somebody's like, Oh, my name's Holly. I'm like, oh my God, me too. Because there's not a lot of Holly's.

SPEAKER_02 2:51

There really isn't. You'd think there'd be more.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

It was like a small spike in like the 60s and 70s of Holly's, and then it just kind of like died down. It was like the unique name of the those years. Yeah. Yeah. Crazy stuff. And it was, you know, from like breakfast at Tiffany's, because like her name was Holly. So the character name.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Have you ever been uber stressed during the holidays? That is a joke.

SPEAKER_00 3:20

Not a real question. My maniacal laughter. I just posted the other day that 2026, I'm gonna be in my villain era. Yeah. That's funny.

unknown 3:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:35

I just I used to get hives. I I never like lost my whole ass shit.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

I think I did once.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Um, I mean, family fights, typical stuff.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Nothing, nothing too extreme.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Yeah. Yeah. But everybody gets stressed around the holidays, especially when it comes to money, unless you're like uber-rich. But yeah. Some of us just take that stress a little better than others, I suppose. And I guess some people just take it out on other people.

Introducing Bruce Pardo

SPEAKER_02 4:11

And their whole families. And their whole families. Like, that seems to be the theme of holidays. Right. Familia side. Hopping in every day. Yup.

unknown 4:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 4:23

So we're back in old California. I said that all messed up on purpose. California knows how to holiday. That's right. In a bad way. So we're going to talk about the Santa shooter from 2008. Bruce Pardo.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

Shot Santa?

SPEAKER_02 4:50

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:51

He dressed as Santa. As Santa. Okay. Well, there's a difference there.

SPEAKER_02 4:57

Yes. So 45 years old. Guess what? Me too.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

But you ain't out there.

The Slow Build To Violence

SPEAKER_02 5:07

Is this the breaking point? The breaking age? Maybe. Who knows? He was living his life like he didn't have a single worry. Despite the fact that he had a pending divorce, everyone, like including his neighbors and stuff, said that he still seemed to be really upbeat. And even his wife's attorney, or his ex-wife's attorney, described him as civil throughout the entire nine-month process. Even the owner of a bakery that Pardo would eat at the day of the shooting described him as totally normal. Like he literally would go there all the time. So he had like his usual order and everything. Like they saw him frequently. So they would know if he seemed like something was off. And it didn't. So over the six months leading up to the shooting, Bruce was silently preparing. He was buying weapons and ammo and even began to build a little contraption to spray his in-laws' home with racing fuel.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

Oh. The the fast accelerant.

SPEAKER_02 6:39

Yes. The stuff that if you light a candle within a hundred-mile range, you could blow up the city. Right. It's like ridiculous. So he was gasoline.

SPEAKER_00 6:54

He was going for the big stuff.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

No, yeah. He he was prepping heavy. Pardo would have other stressors than just his divorce. He had lost his job at ITT electronic systems and radar systems. He was literally earning a six-figure income from this place. So it wasn't like he lost his$40,000 a year job. He lost his mega money job. And he was desperately searching for work and wasn't finding what he needed. To top that off, this is about the same time that the divorce started to happen. His wife had moved out, was living with her family. And while she's filing for divorce, she's already got a judgment for spousal support. So he's having to pay for her. Right. So these debts are just piling up and he's got no job. In September of 2008, Papardo orders a custom-made Santa suit from a local costume maker, and his name is Jerry. Papardo tells Jerry, I need this suit for a holiday party by November 8th. And I need it to be extra large because I want to be extra jolly. So this suit's gonna be like made much bigger than his body.

unknown 8:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

This suit would actually set him back an additional$300. Like he has money to be blowing on stuff like this. But here we are. But he had a plan. And it's something that like haunts Jerry after the shooting occurs. It literally sends chills through his body. He says when he saw the news report that the Santa shooter had carried guns inside his Santa suit, he just froze.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

He's like, oof, I gave him the room for that.

SPEAKER_02 9:21

Yeah. But it wasn't Jerry's fault. No, Jerry had no idea. But he still jolly. He still felt some type of way. Right. Which I don't blame him, because I probably would too. So Pardo's divorce would be final on December 18th. His ex-wife, Sylvia, would get to keep her diamond wedding ring ten thousand dollars and the majority of their furniture, as well as their dog, Saki. Pardo would retain the home and the cars.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

I mean, I guess that's how they, you know, they decided to separate.

Divorce, Job Loss, And Planning

SPEAKER_02 10:09

Split it up. Yeah. Pardo was supposed to make sure that Sylvia's lawyer received a cashier's check by the following day. So divorce final on the 18th, check to be delivered to X's attorney for the$10,000 the following day. But Pardo tells his own attorney that he didn't have it and he was gonna have to try to come up with the cash. So he's like, I'm I need a little time. I just spent$300 on a Santa suit. Right. Five days later, he's in that same bakery eating his lunch in a corner booth, staring out into the street, watching like last-minute Christmas shoppers bustle around trying to get all their stuff done. And the cafe owner recalls speaking with Pardo, but had no idea what was about to happen that day. He said he shook Pardo's hand and he wished, and Pardo like literally wishes the owner a Merry Christmas and says, you know, Merry Christmas to you and your family too. And the owner replies back to him, like you too. Yeah. He says that Pardo just cracks a little smile and then tells him goodbye and leaves. He's like doesn't thank him or anything like that. He just, and he's like, again, hindsight, he's like, that's why he smiled like that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:50

He had that plan in his head already. He was just sitting there finalizing and going over it.

SPEAKER_02 11:56

Right. Just watching people and running through what he was gonna do. Pardo's neighbor would see him leaving in a car they had never seen before. Later, realizing that car was most likely one of the cars that Pardo rented in order to use for his getaway. Uh-huh. Okay. So a mere hour and a half later, it's about 11:30 p.m. Pardo pulls into his former-in-law's driveway in Covina. This is like a 20-mile drive from his own house. He knocks on the door. He has four guns tucked into his suit. And he's holding a present that isn't a present at all. It is that spraying device disguised as a gift. The door gets opened by an eight-year-old little girl who would obviously be filled with excitement to see Santa. Right. So her face lights up and he shoots her in that face. What the actual he walks through the door, guns blazing, shooting at anyone and everyone inside the home. But then he zeros in on his ex-wife's family members. There were even reports that at one point he had knelt down so that he could shoot people who had ducked under a table that they had been playing cards at. Like he was on a rampage.

The Santa Suit And Setup

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Yeah, he was taking no prisoners.

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Not at all. Sylvia's one of Sylvia's sisters, Letitia, ran to a neighbor's house with that eight-year-old that got shot in the face. Luckily, she did not die. She was only wounded at hit her in the side of the face. So she um is not one of the ones who one of the ones who passed away. And she calls 911 from this neighbor's house and tells them that she's sure it's her former brother-in-law that's in this Santa scene shooting up the house. When the spray of bullets ends, Sylvia, her parents, her two brothers and their wives, her other sister, who we're gonna talk about in a few minutes, and her sister's 17-year-old son were all deceased. A total of nine out of 25 guests that were in that house at this holiday party. The teenager now, his name is Michael, wasn't shot, but actually perished in the fire. He had been upstairs on a computer and passed away when the house exploded due to the vapor from the fuel. Oh wow. Police later reveal that they're pretty sure Pardo also planned to kill his own mother. What a monster. So apparently, during said divorce, his mom was on his ex-wife's side. Well, they remained close friends, and he was pissed. Well, he's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Obviously. Like, bro, let it go. Right. She don't want you, she's not into you. Things are happening. Let it go. Yeah. Well, he couldn't.

SPEAKER_01 15:59

This is this is him letting it go, all right. Man child.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Yeah. This is the world's worst temper tantrum. Yeah. Ever. Yeah. We were just talking about the other day.

SPEAKER_00 16:11

Man child. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:14

So his mom was actually supposed to be at this holiday party.

SPEAKER_00 16:18

So he was really.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

But she didn't feel good, so she didn't go. So the fact that she may have fallen ill saved her life. It seems like his plans had changed. Like it didn't seem completed the whole plan. Yeah. Because that homemade device had ignited earlier than he expected. Right. This caused his Santa costume to melt into his flesh and give him third-degree burns on his legs. Good. Should have been his whole fucking body. Right. Somehow, despite the severe pain that he, there's no, I mean, there's no way he wasn't in severe pain. Right.

SPEAKER_00 17:12

But he was good running on pure adrenaline.

Christmas Eve Attack In Covina

SPEAKER_02 17:14

That one like second degree burn on my freaking hand, and I thought I was dying. Yeah. I was like, ah. So and I'm tough. And he and he's not, obviously.

SPEAKER_00 17:24

He was in a zone and he was running on adrenaline, so he did probably didn't feel it. Right off, yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:31

So he's able to get out of most of the Santa suit. And he takes out the lights that are on the street before he drives away. He goes to his brother's house. It's like 40 miles away from his in-laws. He parks his rental car there. And he booby traps it. Yeah. He literally has a tripwire, black powder, and it's meant to ignite and detonate hundreds of rounds of ammo if anyone should trigger it.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

Yeah, it reminds me of when Walter White at the end of Breaking Bad when he like rigged his car and the machine gun came out and it was like you know, shooting up.

SPEAKER_02 18:27

That's what it reminds me of. Well, later this car does get set off and it explodes and all that, but luckily no one gets hurt. He then breaks into his brother's house. And he commits suicide by shooting himself in the head once.

SPEAKER_00 18:47

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 18:47

Inside his brother's house.

SPEAKER_00 18:49

You just couldn't take it, so you committed. Why didn't you do that in the first place? Right. Not that I'm saying I don't have a suicide or anything. But it's like you just killed a bunch of innocent people that you should have let just let it go. Elsa.

SPEAKER_02 19:04

Yeah. Yeah. That rage, man. That rage. So when police find his body, they also find$17,000 strapped to his legs, his legs.

SPEAKER_01 19:22

Burnt.

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Apparently. They're wrapped in saran wrap to his legs. Yikes. He's also got some of that money in a girdle around his midsection.

SPEAKER_00 19:37

He's probably like, if I'm going out, I'm taking the money with me, so she if she lives, she can't get any of it. You know? That's probably his thought.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

Then there's two different reports here and stuff that I read. One said he also had a plane ticket to Illinois, which doesn't make any sense to me. Like, why would you just flee to Illinois? Maybe it was a maybe he had a layover. In Illinois. Maybe. And his ultimate destination would be Canada.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Canada da da da.

Fire, Casualties, And Aftermath

SPEAKER_02 20:08

Yeah. There is a second getaway car that's later located outside of his ex-wife's attorney's house. So police believe if Pardo had not been burned, the attorney would have been part of this list of victims. Right. Now we're gonna talk about Alice, who was Sylvia's sister that was shot. And her son, her son was Michael, the boy who died in the fire. Yeah. So to add insult to injury for this for the victim's family, the sister, Alice, who perished as a result of her death, she broke the lease she held at an apartment in Upland. Y'all get mad because this is stupid. It was broadcast foothill apartment homes. They billed her survivors saying she owed over two thousand dollars for insufficient notice to vacate, um, as well as twelve days of rent and other fees for the weeks after she died in the month of January.

SPEAKER_00 21:47

That is cuckoo bananas.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

Like how she has two daughters who end up having to be with their father after this tragedy. And literally the apartment managers had lit immediately after all of this started seeking rent from Alice's family in January. Yes. Scott Nord, who's the attorney for the surviving victim, said, quote, I got a call from the landlord after everything happened saying Alice didn't pay her rent. I asked, Have you seen the news? Her kids just lost their mom. The apartment management company responded with a three-day notice to pay rent or vacate the apartment. Nord asked them, Do you really want to enforce this? And the only response they got was our lawyers say we can. Wow. What assholes. Yeah. And even he was like, other creditors said, don't worry about the debts, like pretty much wiped that debt. Yeah. And even like she had two cars that were financed through like Toyota Motor Credit. And they just they repossessed the cars, but they didn't ask for any money. They just took the cars back, and that was that.

SPEAKER_00 23:21

Right. Which is what mostly most companies do. Like when my mother passed away, she had some stuff like that, and you know, tried to settle all up, and there was a loan company that was like, Well, she has a balance and it'll have to be paid. I said, Well, good luck. Go get a Ouija board. Yeah. Because I'm not paying it. So therefore, I know, and a lot of them just assume everybody has life insurance to pay for this stuff. No. I'm like, you have insurance that covers things when people die. So go ahead and file that claim.

SPEAKER_02 23:54

Yeah, it's like, ain't got it. But I think it's so insensitive. I I get it. You're a business and you're losing whatever money. But at the same time, would you want that to happen to your mom? Absolutely not. They wouldn't. No. No. Like, are you gonna call yourself when your mom dies and she owes you money? Like right. I just don't get it.

SPEAKER_00 24:18

I literally told them over the phone, I was like, go get a Ouija board. Good luck. Yeah. And it was just like silence. So crazy.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

Yeah. So basically Nord ended up helping figure out a way to get help the family get out all their her stuff out, but they did have to fight the apartment complex over that too.

Getaway Plans And Suicide

SPEAKER_00 24:37

Yeah, because they were probably like, oh, you can't come in here and get her stuff because we have a eviction.

SPEAKER_02 24:42

Yeah, it was like ridiculous. So I just thought that I'd add that in there because that was really freaking sad.

SPEAKER_03 24:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:49

It wasn't bad enough that she was murdered. But her family in their time of grief, like immediate not very long, weeks after this.

SPEAKER_00 25:00

And it wasn't like one person. It was several. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:03

Like they were grieving a lot of people. Yeah. I mean, these those kids lost their grandparents, their aunt, their cu, you know, their cousins, their it's like, what the hell?

unknown 25:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:15

Their uncles? Like they they lost a lot of people all at once. I was like, how insensitive can you be? Oh, they can't. Apparently, very. Yeah, very. I would not want to be part of that company and be one of the people they told I have to tell them this. I'd be like, you better ask someone else because it ain't gonna be me.

unknown 25:37

Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:39

Not me. But yeah, don't go crazy and annihilate the world just because you're stressed out, bro.

SPEAKER_00 25:47

Let it go.

SPEAKER_02 25:50

Let it go. Don't be a ho ho. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

Don't be a ho ho ho.

SPEAKER_02 25:54

Shooter.

SPEAKER_00 25:58

Indeed. That was crazy. Yeah. And then he goes and kills himself. Like, yep. You coward.

SPEAKER_02 26:07

And there they speculate that it was just be like, since he was in so much pain, obviously can't go to the doctor that he just decided, okay, well, I guess I'm off in me too now. Because it's either get caught or die. Yeah. So yikes. Yeah. Crazy stall. People be crazy. Holidays make them crazier. Muy loco. Yes. And fleas never die. Fleas never die. I don't know why every time I hear fleas navidad, I think fleas never die.

SPEAKER_00 26:47

Well, that was like the other day reading somebody's post and they were talking about the Ferrero Roches, and they were like, was it Ferrari roaches? Yes, Ferrari roaches. I'm like, I will never not call them that.

SPEAKER_02 27:01

They are forever Ferrari roaches. That is that is funny. The things we come up with. That's right. And not just us, the things we as people come up with.

SPEAKER_01 27:14

But you know who came up with something really good? Patty Salzetta. That's right. Our theme music. Yes, yes, she did. She did wonderful. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 27:24

And if you guys have silly things that you forever call something that's not its actual name, share with us. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 27:33

And our friend Carly shared a photo of her baby at Bass Pro shop with the Santa. Right.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

Louisiana Santa's.

unknown 27:42

Yay!

SPEAKER_02 27:44

It was the cutest. I love it. I said, Oh, I need to make my adult children go. That would be fun.

SPEAKER_00 27:50

Yeah. Do like a recreation. Like, go.

Collateral Cruelty: The Lease Bill

SPEAKER_01 27:55

Go to the Bass Pro. I'll have to get their last one they did and be like.

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Find clothes. Find clothes that look like this, and y'all make sure you sit this way. Right. Exactly. That would be fun.

SPEAKER_00 28:10

Do a recreation Santa Photo.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Rihanna's gonna be like, I am not wearing a gigantic red and green glittery bow in my hair.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Yes, you are. With her Hannah Montana stuff on. Like, yes, you are. You will.

SPEAKER_02 28:24

You will. You will do it and you will love it. Yes, you'll do it for your mom because you love me. That's right. Dang it.

SPEAKER_00 28:33

Well, at least I hope.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:35

If you guys have any Christmas traditions or anything, or you make your adult children do things that they don't want to, but it's cute. Tell us. Tell us. Let us know.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

You can email us at hold my sweet tea podcast at gmail.com or message us on social media.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 29:00

Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube. We're everywhere you want to be. Go tell your mama them. And get us some more subscribers to the good old you of tubes. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

We're almost there. We're getting there. We're so close.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Yeah. Seven more.

SPEAKER_00 29:18

To hit that hundred.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

Right.

SPEAKER_00 29:21

Just seven more of you. Go subscribe.

unknown 29:24

Seven.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

Y'all draw straws. And as always, hold my sweet tea is a drunken bee production. And you guys remember to stay safe out there. Stay away from fat jolly sanas. Just because we're dipping doesn't mean you can't keep dipping.