Post by WaTcHeR on Dec 31, 2006 12:24:34 GMT -5
12.31.2006 - EL CAJON – A sheriff's deputy charged with killing his wife during an argument shot her once in the face with his service handgun in front of their 4-year-old son, a prosecutor said in court Tuesday.
Deputy Lowell Bruce, 40, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and child endangerment in connection with the Dec. 14 fatal shooting of his wife of 11 years, Kristin Marie Maxwell-Bruce, 38.
Superior Court Judge William J. McGrath ordered Bruce jailed in lieu of $2.5 million bail and scheduled a Jan. 10 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
The judge appointed the county Public Defender's Office to represent Bruce, who told police that the shooting was accidental.
If tried and convicted, Bruce faces a maximum penalty of 56 years to life in prison, prosecutor William Gentry said.
The shooting capped an argument Bruce had with his wife sometime after he got home from work around 8 p.m., Gentry told the judge. He said the argument broke out in the bedroom of the Alpine home the couple shared with their two children and Maxwell-Bruce's parents and grandfather.
The prosecutor said Bruce shot his wife once in the mouth, shattering her jaw, while their 4-year-old son was in the room.
He said Maxwell-Bruce lived long enough to talk briefly with a 911 operator, but declined to say what she told the operator.
She died in the parking lot of a nearby school, where paramedics had taken her to wait for a helicopter.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061219-1637-bn19bruce.html
Deputy Lowell Bruce, 40, pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and child endangerment in connection with the Dec. 14 fatal shooting of his wife of 11 years, Kristin Marie Maxwell-Bruce, 38.
Superior Court Judge William J. McGrath ordered Bruce jailed in lieu of $2.5 million bail and scheduled a Jan. 10 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial.
The judge appointed the county Public Defender's Office to represent Bruce, who told police that the shooting was accidental.
If tried and convicted, Bruce faces a maximum penalty of 56 years to life in prison, prosecutor William Gentry said.
The shooting capped an argument Bruce had with his wife sometime after he got home from work around 8 p.m., Gentry told the judge. He said the argument broke out in the bedroom of the Alpine home the couple shared with their two children and Maxwell-Bruce's parents and grandfather.
The prosecutor said Bruce shot his wife once in the mouth, shattering her jaw, while their 4-year-old son was in the room.
He said Maxwell-Bruce lived long enough to talk briefly with a 911 operator, but declined to say what she told the operator.
She died in the parking lot of a nearby school, where paramedics had taken her to wait for a helicopter.
www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20061219-1637-bn19bruce.html