Alpine ex-deputy
gets 15 years
in prison for shooting wife
By Neal Putnam
The Alpine Sun
SAN DIEGO — A former sheriff’s deputy who killed his wife at
his Alpine home was sentenced Sept. 10 to 15 years in state
prison, which the judge says was the maximum term, and not 21
years as another judge had indicated was the maximum.
The parents of Kristin Maxwell-Bruce and others
repeatedly urged San Diego Superior Court Judge Michael
Wellington to impose 21 years to Lowell “Sam” Bruce, 42, for
shooting his 38-year-old wife in the face on Dec. 14, 2006.
Wellington told them he can’t do that because the maximum
sentence is 15 years, not 21 years, which another judge had
written on a court document.
Both the prosecution and defense agreed the maximum
sentence was 15 years. When Bruce pleaded guilty to voluntary
manslaughter in August 2007, El Cajon Superior Court Judge Allan
Preckel wrote on the form the maximum sentence was 21 years.
“Judge Preckel didn’t have (all) the facts,” said
Wellington. Preckel was removed from hearing the case after
questions arose about a series of e-mails he received from
people, and with the appearance of bias.
Wellington said Preckel incorrectly thought he could
sentence Bruce to 11 years for manslaughter and add 10 years
consecutively for use of a gun. Wellington said 10 years can be
added consecutively if the charge is first or second-degree
murder, but that does not apply to the crime of voluntary
manslaughter.
Wellington imposed 11 years for manslaughter, and added
four years consecutively for the personal use of the gun. He
noted the law prohibited him from adding any more years.
Jim and Kay Maxwell, the victim’s parents, are raising
the couple’s two young sons, and will soon move from Alpine.
They angrily criticized Bruce and the legal system, but said
they did not blame Wellington for the sentence he imposed.
“You can’t blame the judge (Wellington). You have to
blame the system,” said Jim Maxwell afterwards. “His hands are
pretty much tied. I’m not happy with it. He didn’t get justice.”
Jim Maxwell praised Preckel’s efforts and thanked him
for “trying to bring some balance.” He also praised Judge
Herbert Exarhos, who rejected the plea bargain entirely.
The Maxwells also asked Wellington not to give Bruce
credit for the time already spent in jail against his sentence,
but the judge said he had to do that. Bruce was given credit for
641 days he has actually served plus 96 days off for good
conduct.
Wellington ordered Bruce to pay $5,713.85 to the
victim’s compensation crime fund, some of which was used for
counseling for his two sons, who are now six and nine years old.
Bruce was fined $200.
The Maxwells said they opposed Bruce’s guilty plea to
manslaughter and preferred he stand trial for first or
second-degree murder, where he could have faced a life sentence
if convicted. They said he should also have been charged with
child endangerment. They said that their objections were
overlooked by the former prosecutor and the District Attorney’s
office.
Jim Maxwell, 66, said the sentence was “a slap on the
hand compared to the years he has sentenced my wife to.” He
added: “We will be missing our only daughter and raising her two
boys for the rest of our lives. His two boys will also be
sentenced... to miss the one thing they need the most in their
lives--their loving mother.”
Kay Maxwell said Bruce “has shown no remorse” and
questioned “Why didn’t he consider his children?” before pulling
the trigger. “I’m not sure when victims lost their rights. There
can never be enough justice for their loss.”
Wellington said the Maxwells appeared to be angry and
bitter, but he added, “How can they not be? It’s hard to see
clearly through tears.”
“We live in a nation of laws. For centuries, we have
different types of homicides,” said Wellington, who described
the Bruce shooting as “a classic voluntary manslaughter.”
Kristen Maxwell-Bruce asked her husband that night to
put their sons to bed, take the laundry out of the dryer, and do
another chore. Instead, she found Bruce watching football on TV,
and they argued, according to Bruce’s attorney, Henry Coker.
According to testimony in the preliminary hearing,
Bruce’s clothing was removed from the closet and placed on the
floor before the shooting. “She was upset. She decided to kick
him out of the house,” said Coker.
Coker claimed Kristen Maxwell-Bruce found Bruce’s gun
in a walk-in closet and she grabbed it. “He grabbed the gun from
her... and it went off,” said Coker.
Afterwards, Jim Maxwell said his daughter would have
never grabbed the gun, as she was afraid of guns. He also said
the shooting did not happen in the closet. The couple’s son was
in the bedroom at the time, and told an investigator this: “My
daddy shooted my mommy with a black gun.”
Wellington said he thought Bruce “intentionally fired
his gun...in a rash reaction.”
Bruce made his first public statement towards the end
of the 90-minute hearing. He said he loved his wife and missed
her daily.
“Jim and Kay, I’m deeply sorry... I am so sorry I
panicked. My failure has deprived two boys of their mother,”
said Bruce. “She was a special person.”
Coker told the judge his client did call 911 after the
shooting and admitted to the dispatch operator “I just shot my
wife.”
Cheryl Nolan, an attorney who has known Bruce since the
10th grade, told the judge “I truthfully believe in his
remorsefulness. He’s deeply sorry.” Nolan said, “He’s not
someone who will re-offend and will not return to prison.”
Carol Kisthardt, a friend of the victim, made a photo
album that included pictures of Kristen Maxwell-Bruce during her
lifetime. She said it was a gift to her two sons “to give them a
sense of who their mother was.”
Wellington looked at the photo album, and told
Kisthardt it was a wonderful gift.
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