I Want to See Good in 2009

by Pat Brown

It is the start of a new year and this is my first post for Women in Crime Ink in 2009. I began pondering about what to write, and my head began to hurt. Did I want to think about the horrible Christmas Eve massacre enacted by Bruce Pardo (pictured on the right) who took out nine beautiful people ? Or would I prefer to just think about the guy on the left and all of the beauty he brings into people's lives through his movies?

Yes, I know I am a criminal profiler, and these stories are part and parcel of my work. I should want to write about them today, but I just don't. Maybe it is the glass of Chianti I just consumed that is making me feel ambivelent. Maybe I just need a break from mayhem. Maybe I just want, for once, to start the new year with some optimistic thoughts, a bit of happiness, something that makes my heart sing. And, I have ultimately decided, I am going to do just that! So, readers of true crime, I am here today to introduce you to the sweetest movie of the year, a family picture you can take your grandmother to see (if she can read the subtitles) that helps us remember that, in this world, there are men, yes, men, who would lay down their lives for their women rather than stab them to death because they became inconvenient.

The movie is Rab Ne Bani di Jodi, a Bollywood megahit from India. A middle-aged man who is no less than a bespectacled nerd, shy, and not much of a ladies man (well, he admits to his new wife he has never so much as even been on a date) ends up marrying the beautiful young Taani after her fiance dies on their wedding day in a bus crash. Surinder (Suri for short) is the stand-in, the man her dying father requests she marry so that he knows she is safe in the world without him. She agrees to her father's wish, and Suri becomes her husband. However, Taani is grieving and unhappy so Suri sleeps in the attic to allow her time to recover. He does not force himself on her. He then tries everything in his power to make her happy again and, at the climax of the movie, is even willing to leave her his home (the one he had before he married) and go quietly out of her life if she cannot be happy with him.

Suri is a regular man with a heart of gold who see's "his God in his wife," and therefore loves her, and worships her. What a fine concept for marriage!

Is that not inspiring? And what of Veer-Zaara? In this Hindi movie, Veer, a Hindu man, tells the Muslim girl he has fallen in love with (and who is about to return to Pakistan to marry the man her father has chosen for her, a political match, a cold, controlling sort of man) that Zaara should always remember that "across the border is a man who would die for her." Eventually, he rushes to save her and spends seventeen years in jail protecting her name. What a guy! I want one of him!

And, finally, the longest running Indian movie of all time, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge Dilwane (known as DDLJ) which just reached its 650th week showing in Mumbai! Now THAT's a run! Two Brits born of Indian parents, Raj falls in love with Simran on a Swiss holiday but she is going to go to India to get married. Raj follows her there and attempts to win the family's heart. He dearly loves Simran and he hopes her father will see his great love for his daughter and consent to their marriage. He is a good young man who would not break the hearts of the family by eloping with the daughter. What morals!

Okay, so this is all fairy tale and make-believe, or is it? Shahrukh Khan, the star these three movies and dozens more, King Khan as he is called in Bollywood, the most famous movie star in the world (except we have no clue who he is in the United States) inspires us not only with his acting but his own life. He is a married man, a Muslim married to a Hindu woman, raising their two children with respect for both religions. He doesn't do sex scenes in his movies nor does he ever kiss a co-star. There are no rumors of adulterous affairs because, after all, as Shahrukh asks, "Why can't I be in love with the girl I'm married to?" I am sure his wife, Gauri, appreciates the sentiment because there is no shortage of fangirls and fanwomen the world over who would give anything for a date with the King of Bollywood.

While wars rage aound us and men kill their wives and mothers kill their children, there are still pockets of beauty that exist in men, in women, and in the imaginations of us all. If we as a human race can understand the sentiment of Raj ne Bani di Jodi, then perhaps we are not doomed. Perhaps if we all are able to see God in others, then 2009 will be a better year.

Happy New Year to all of you at Women in Crime Ink, contributors and readers. May you all have a Suri, a Veer or a Raj in your life this year and let's encourage the next generation to become like them.


And, for a little more sweetness, the music video from RNBDJ or for Shahrukh at his most romantic, a music video from Veer-Zaara or for Shahrukh showing undying love, check out this one from KKKG. Oh, and for very sexy Shahrukh, check out this one from Om Shanti Om.

Enjoy! Happy New Year!

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The Christmas Killer

by Connie Park

On Christmas Eve, when families gathered together to enjoy the holidays and to celebrate the season, the small suburb of Covina, 25 miles from Los Angeles, received news of a devastating tragedy right in their neighborhood: a "Santa Gunman" had killed nine family members and torched their house to the ground. This year's Christmas celebration turned into a tragedy that the Ortega family will never forget.

At approximately 11:30 p.m., 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, dressed in a Santa Claus suit, showed up at the doorstep of his former in-laws' home, where his ex-wife, Slyvia Pardo, and her three children by a prior marriage, had been living for the past year.

This Santa Gunman wasn't there to deliver presents or to spread joy. Bruce Pardo (pictured above) was armed with 4 pistols and a flame thrower containing racing fuel. This man came to seek revenge on his ex-wife. It was apparent Pardo didn't care who got in his way or who he was going to hurt or kill. He was a cowardly man who shot an 8-year-old girl in the face when she opened the door to Santa. Pardo also fired a gun into the back of a 16-year-old girl. He continued shooting towards the 25 family members and friends who were at the house and then sprayed racing fuel all around the house, setting the home on fire.

Next, Pardo drove to his brother's house in San Fernando Valley and killed himself. At three in the morning on Christmas Day, the mass murderer's brother, Brad Pardo, found Jeffrey dead with a gunshot wound to the head. Police discovered $17,000 strapped to Pardo's body and a plane ticket to Canada. Unfortunately enough, this Christmas present of Pardo killing himself didn't come soon enough for the Ortega family.

Police stated the vehicle found outside Pardo brother's house was tripwired to set off 500 rounds of ammunition. A second vehicle was recovered in Glendale, California on December 28, but no explosives were found. By early Christmas morning, the house was engulfed in flames and 9 family members were killed. According to the authorities, the bodies were so charred that they were not able to make any identifications at the scene.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Bruce and Sylvia married in 2006. However, Sylvia filed for divorce after discovering that for the past several years, Bruce Pardo had been claiming his brain-damaged son from a previous relationship as a tax exemption. Also, in July 2008, Pardo lost his job in with ITT. He had accumulated extensive debt. The final divorce settlement ordered Pardo to pay $10,000 to Sylvia and to give back the diamond ring and custody of the dog.

From the scene, it was apparent that Pardo had been planning the massacre for several months. He rented the Santa Claus suit earlier in September asking for a extra large suit to hide "big presents."

The 9 family members who were killed were Sylvia Pardo; her parents, Alicia and Joseph Ortega (70 and 80 years old); Teresa and James Ortega (51 and 52); Cheri and Charles Ortega (45 and 50); and Alicia Ortiz and her 17-year-old son, Michael. As a result of this tragedy, 16 children were left without one or both parents. The 8- and 16-year-old girls miraculously survived the shooting and are recovering from the injuries.

The facts and evidence of this multiple homicide-suicide will be documented. But the question of why Pardo resorted to that level of violence—rather than, say, simply taking his own life instead of embarking on a complicated killing spree—will remain incomprehensible.

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