Investigators believe that Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, the man who arrived at a holiday party dressed as Santa Claus before murdering his ex-wife's family, planned to flee to Canada with $17,000 stuffed in his underwear.
Police found the money on Pardo when they discovered his body at his brother's home. Pardo was burned, most likely when he used a homemade fire extinguisher to burn down the house where he killed his ex-wife's family. The psychotic Santa was apparently enraged over the terms of his recent divorce.
Police said that as Pardo was spraying racing fuel around the home, its fumes were probably ignited by a candle. He suffered severe burns to his arms before he could flee the house, and investigators said that his Santa suit was melted to his body. Pardo fled to the home of his brother, where he killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
Pardo began his massacre when an 8-year-old girl attending the party answered the front door to the house, and he shot her in the face with a handgun. The young girl survived the attack.
