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Death Toll Hits 8 in 'Santa' Slayings

Engineer carried firestarting device disguised as a gift

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Dec 26, 2008 3:01 AM CST

(Newser) – The death toll in the Christmas Eve massacre by a California man dressed as Santa Claus has now risen to at least eight as more details of the rampage emerge, the Los Angeles Times reports. Bruce Jeffrey Pardo first shot in the face an 8-year-old girl who answered the door at his former in-laws' home, then opened fire on his relatives, ex-wife and a crowd of holiday guests.

Before fleeing, Pardo used a home-made incendiary device wrapped like a present to set the house ablaze. Pardo, whose wife divorced him last September, was found dead in an apparent suicide hours later. The one-time engineer was described by acquaintances as "the nicest guy" and a reliable church usher. Victims are being identified, but police believe they include his wife and her parents. The 8-year-old girl survived.

[Images (4)]

[Videos (1)]

A firefighter stands near a crime scene where a man in a Santa Claus costume killed at least eight people during a Christmas party in Covina, Calif., yesterday. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Firefighters, bomb squad personnel and police officials stand near a crime scene where a man in a Santa Claus costume killed at least eight people in Covina, Calif., yesterday. (AP Photo/Hector Mata)

Bruce Jeffrey Pardo is seen in an undated photo provided Thursday, Dec. 25, 2008, by the Covina, Calif. Police Department. (AP Photo/Covina Police Department)

Firefighters work outside a blazing house in Covina, Calif., late Wednesday where a man dressed as Santa opened fire at a Christmas party, (AP Photo/On Scene Video via AP))

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Police say the man who dressed as Santa Claus and opened fire at a party took his own life. (CNN Video)

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Death Toll Hits 8 in 'Santa' Slayings