When Bruce Cleland first laid eyes on Rebecca Salcedo, he was immediately taken aback by her beauty and charm. However, their whirlwind relationship came to an abrupt end not too long after that when he was brutally slain in an incident that appeared to be an attempted carjacking. However, the investigation that was being conducted by the police concluded that the evidence pointed to a more personal motivation for the crime. The episode of “Scorned: Fatal Fury: Murder Stripped Down” on Investigation Discovery focuses on the cold-blooded plan to have Bruce murdered for the purpose of gaining financial benefit. If you are interested in discovering what took place, you can rest assured that we have you covered.
Bruce Cleland Murder
How Did Bruce Cleland Die?
Bruce Cleland was a reserved and timid individual who had a strong connection to his parents. After completing his undergraduate studies at Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, Bruce went on to pursue his education at Stanford University in the same state. At the time of the event, he was working as a Software Designer for a company, and he made a significant amount of money in that capacity. Rebecca Salcedo, then 43 years old, was selling spices at the time when they first met at a swap meet in December 1995. In the end, they tied the knot in a civil ceremony, but in January 1997, they followed it up with a wedding in a church.
The pair went out to eat at a restaurant for dinner on July 25, 1997, and then they went to Rebecca’s uncle’s place for drinks afterward. They departed from there at approximately one in the morning, with Rebecca behind the wheel. After some time had passed, a taxi driver was driving through a remote neighborhood when he came across her lying on the ground and Bruce lying in a pool of blood in the driveway of a house across the street. When the police arrived, he had been shot four times in the head and once in the back, but the car was still running. He had also been shot in the back.
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How Did Bruce Cleland Die?
Rebecca Salcedo stated that as they were driving home, a light on her dashboard indicated that the rear hatch wasn’t closed. This information was provided to the authorities. Therefore, she came to a stop and stepped out of the car to shut the door. On the other hand, Rebecca stated that she was struck in the head by an unknown person, which knocked her unconscious, before she awoke to find Bruce dead. It looked that he was shot in the face for the first time while he was still in the automobile. After that, the murderer shot him in the back while he was attempting to flee, and then he shot him twice more in the head.
Even though the authorities were investigating the possibility of a carjacking, the fact that the couple’s possessions were still inside the vehicle gave the impression that the assailant was waiting for them to arrive before carrying out the murder of Bruce. In addition, there was cause for concern regarding the path that Rebecca pursued. It was around a four-mile detour from their normal route to their house in Whittier, California. Additionally, it was later revealed by the authorities that Rebecca’s disposition was something to be concerned about. They stated that she gave off the impression of being “relaxed, lazy, and indifferent.”
Rebecca said that she had been hit in the head, but the paramedics who examined her discovered no evidence of injury despite her assertions to the contrary. Following that, the authorities investigated the private lives of the couple. During the first stages of their relationship, Bruce showed his affection for Rebecca by giving her a number of pricey presents. The authorities found out at the time that she had been telling her acquaintances that she intended to marry Bruce for his money, have a child with him, and then begin collecting child support from him. Rebecca had even used his credit card without his knowledge in order to pay for her plastic surgery procedures.
After the pair tied the knot in a simple ceremony in October 1996, Bruce proceeded to purchase a house in the Whittier neighborhood. On the other hand, Rebecca was the one who resided there while Bruce stayed with his parents up until the time of their wedding in January 1997. During that time, she was having sexual encounters with other men, and she required Bruce to give her a call before she would allow him to visit. The authorities also discovered that at one point, Rebecca had asked her sister if she knew someone who might kill Bruce and make it appear as though he had been killed in an accident.
After a few months of being married, Bruce moved back in with his parents, and Rebecca moved in with her cousin Alvaro Quezada in Whittier. Both of these moves took place shortly after the wedding. They were seen by witnesses to be “extremely affectionate towards one another,” and it was further alleged that they “constantly hugged and kissed” one another. In April of 1997, Rebecca gave Bruce a draft of a separation agreement that she had prepared. According to his parents, he was thinking about getting a divorce at one point; but, by July of that year, he had changed his mind and decided that he wanted the marriage to succeed, which is what led to the dinner on July 26 of that year.
The phone records that were retrieved later revealed that Rebecca made multiple calls from the restaurant to either Alvaro or Arturo, Rebecca’s father. Following the meal, they made their way to Arturo’s residence. Then, according to the data, Rebecca contacted Alvaro a couple times around one in the morning on the fateful day, and information obtained from cell towers placed him in the area of the crime site ten minutes before the killing. The authorities suspected that the victim had been murdered by Rebecca and Alvaro, along with his brother Jose Quezada.
It seems that financial gain was the motivation for Bruce’s death; at the time of his passing, he held close to one million dollars in life insurance policies. The authorities were under the impression that Rebecca was interested in obtaining not only his pay but also his retirement account. It was believed by the authorities at the time that Jose was the one who fired the shots, and Alvaro was the getaway driver. In the end, the police were able to apprehend all three suspects for their roles in the crime.
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Where Are Rebecca Cleland, Alvaro Quezada and Jose Quezada Today?
Rebecca Cleland, Alvaro Quezada, and Jose Quezada were all found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder in June of 2000, and they were all given life terms without the possibility of parole as a result of their convictions. But their convictions were overturned in May of 2003, so Rebecca and Jose are free now. In January 2007, when she was 37 years old, Rebecca was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release after being found guilty of the same accusations more than three years after the initial incident.
Regarding Jose, his second trial resulted in a mistrial, but he was ultimately found guilty in a third trial and given the same sentence as Alvaro and Rebecca. According to the inmate records, he is still being held at the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, which is located in the state of California. His brother, Alvaro, is currently spending his time at Folsom State Prison in Represa, which is located in the state of California. In the end, Rebecca will spend her time behind bars in the California Institution for Women in Corona, which is located in San Bernardino County.
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