| For Immediate Release Case # TBA
September 4, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MAN WHO FLED TO COLORADO CHARGED WITH SHOOTING-MURDER OF FATHER IN IRVINE HOME
IRVINE – A man who fled and was arrested in Colorado was charged today with murdering his father by shooting him in their Irvine home. Steven Joseph Bruno, 21, Irvine, is charged with one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison. The Orange County District Attorney’s Office will be requesting the defendant be held without bail in this case. The defendant was arrested in Logan County, CO, and waived extradition at a hearing today. He will be brought back to Orange County at a date to be determined.
At approximately 9:00 p.m. on Aug. 30, 2012, Bruno is accused of murdering his 60-year-old father, Ernest Bruno, in the victim’s home by shooting him following a dispute over money. The defendant is accused of then locking his father’s body in a bedroom and fleeing the scene in the victim’s car.
At approximately 1:30 p.m. the following afternoon, family members went to the victim’s home and called 911 after discovering a large pool of blood inside. The Irvine Police Department (IPD) responded to the scene and located the victim in the locked bedroom.
IPD provided a description of the defendant and the vehicle in which he was believed to have fled to law enforcement partners. At approximately 5:30 p.m., Bruno was arrested by the Logan County Sheriff’s Department in Colorado in a car stop.
The investigation by IPD is ongoing. Senior Deputy District Attorney Howard Gundy is prosecuting this case.
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