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Deputy prelim hearing delayed until April 17
By Neal Putnam
The Alpine Sun
EL CAJON — The attorney for an Alpine
sheriff’s deputy who is charged with killing his wife has won a
delay in his preliminary hearing until April 17, because not all
of the law enforcement reports and medical reports have been
received.
Lowell Bruce, 40, appeared in green jail clothing
Friday, Jan. 5 before El Cajon Superior Court Judge Laura
Halgren and waived his right to have a speedy preliminary
hearing which had been set for this week.
Both his attorney, Stewart Dadmun, and Deputy District
Attorney William Gentry said they are awaiting reports from the
medical examiner and other documents from the sheriff’s
department.
Kristen Marie Maxwell-Bruce, 38, was shot in the face
Dec. 14 around 11 p.m. in the couple’s home in the 700 block of
Camino Scarpitta in Alpine. She died at 11:48 p.m. after
paramedics had taken her to a school parking lot where a
helicopter could land to take her to a hospital.
Bruce has pleaded not guilty to murder and child
endangerment. The latter charge was filed by Gentry because the
couple’s 4-year-old son was in the room at the time of the
shooting. Bruce told deputies he accidentally shot his wife. The
couple also have a 7-year-old boy, and both children are in the
custody of the victim’s parents, who also lived with them.
Bruce remains in county jail in lieu of $2.5 million
bail. He had been a deputy at the Las Colinas Women’s Detention
Facility.
Preliminary hearing set for liquor store shooting suspects
EL CAJON — A March 6 preliminary
hearing was set on Jan. 3 for an Alpine man and an El Cajon
resident who are charged with killing two people at a liquor
store during a robbery.
Both Anthony James Miller, 21, of Alpine, and Jean
Pierre Rices, 25, of El Cajon, waived time for a speedy hearing
before El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos. Both have
pleaded not guilty to killing Heather Mattia, 22, and Firas Eiso,
23, on March 1, 2006, at Granada Liquor. Both were shot in the
back of the head.
One reason the hearing was delayed is the issue of
mental competency of Rice, whose attorney says he may not
mentally understand the court proceedings against him in an
unrelated bank robbery case. Rices’ attorney opposes a finding
of mental competency by one doctor and requested that Rice be
evaluated by another psychologist.
Another doctor was appointed, and his finding will be
heard by a judge in San Diego Superior Court on Jan. 30. The
competency only involves the bank robbery case in which criminal
proceedings have been suspended. The lawyer for the bank robbery
case is different from the one defending Rices on murder
charges.
Both men are charged with special circumstance
allegations that could result in the death penalty being sought
by the District Attorney’s office. Miller and Rices are alleged
to have committed multiple murders with the slayings occurring
during a robbery and burglary. Rices is charged with robbing
four tellers at a Washington Mutual Bank in Lakeside on July 31,
2006. Miller and Rices are being held in county jail without
bail.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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