| For Immediate Release Case # 12ZF0147
September 17, 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 INDICTED FOR SHOOTING-MURDER OF FATHER IN IRVINE HOME
IRVINE – A man who fled and was arrested in Colorado was indicted today by the Orange County Grand Jury for murdering his father by shooting him in their Irvine home. Steven Joseph Bruno, 21, Irvine, was indicted on 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. Bruno was brought back to Orange County this past weekend and is being held without bail. He is expected to be arraigned on the indictment tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-5, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
The Orange County District Attorney’s Office issued a press release regarding this case Sept. 4, 2012, with the following information:
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 follow 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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