48 Hours - Melissa Rocuba's Final Moments

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

A woman dies after an “accidental” shooting in her bedroom. Eight years later surveillance audio upends the case. Anne-Marie Green reports. To learn more about listener data and our privacy pra...ctices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 At the end of the day, I put my son to sleep and I went to bed. And I remember my phone going off and it was my father. It was been an accident, your mom's okay. The ambulance is on the way. And I was like, whoa. And I just ran out the door. I lived right next door. I had no idea what happened until I got over there.
Starting point is 00:00:40 As soon as I walked in, you could see right here, she was laying on the bed. The blood was just all over the floor, the side of the bed. Where's your dad at this time? He was on the phone somewhere, maybe downstairs, and I couldn't really see what he was doing. And then I grabbed a towel off the floor, and I held a towel on her head. I just remember yelling to him to please help me,
Starting point is 00:01:14 and I remember asking her, please, Mom, just, like, squeeze my hand. Did your mom respond to you? No. Do you remember asking him, what happened? Not that night. At one point I remember him saying he was putting the gun away under the bed and she sat down and the gun went off. Did you know at the time that he had also been shot? I remember his hand being wrapped up.
Starting point is 00:01:43 I didn't know if he was just holding a towel or what he was holding. He had shot through his hand when he shot my mom. He just said it was like this freak accident. accident and we thought like well who's gonna who's gonna shoot themselves he never wavered from the story that it was an accident and trooper PJ McGurran we're here at the residence with the homeowner Bruno Rukuba why do you think your father was so open about talking with the police think he was trying to prove that he was innocent so we're both in bed and I reached over I grabbed it I was
Starting point is 00:02:24 My wife was sitting on the bed on that side. I was on this side, and I pulled the trigger by accident. My sister, Melissa, died Saturday morning. I'm worried about the girls. Their mother is gone. My dad, everyone felt horrible for him. That's his wife of 25 years. I just lost my mom, and I was probably going to lose my dad.
Starting point is 00:02:52 Did you expect that your father would be charged? charged with something? I thought maybe negligent homicide because he was negligent with a gun. I just went like this. He didn't spend a single way in jail. Not every shooting is a crime. You really do look at circumstances.
Starting point is 00:03:09 But apparently they did, and they were convinced that they couldn't prove a case. I was reviewing all of the open case homicides, and this one caught my attention, and we just went down that rabbit hole of putting all the pieces together. all the pieces together. And the alarm bells went off when I saw a surveillance system and evidence.
Starting point is 00:03:33 No one had looked at this. This is the last time she's ever seen. That time of year, their window was open so you could also pick up sound from inside of the bedroom as well. We were able to hear their last conversation together, and then a gunshot goes out. There's so many twists and turns. And this is the story for gentlemen. generations that we have to tell.
Starting point is 00:04:02 And that's pretty sad. And Marie Green reports Melissa Rookuba's final moments. On a steamy August night in 2013, Melissa Rukuba was airlifted to this hospital, still clinging to life, with a bullet wound to her head. Her then 22-year-old daughter, Chelsea, was already there when the helicopter arrived.
Starting point is 00:04:39 I had no idea how I got down there. I was just panicked and, brand ticket. Her sister Sabrina, who lives in Wisconsin, sped to the airport in tears. It was just a lot of me just praying to God that my mom was going to be okay. Melissa's sister, Joanne, and their father, then a police sergeant in another county, raced to Melissa's bedside. It's a few hours of driving. Not that night. We got there really fast. Bruno was being treated at a different hospital, where specialists operated on his hand.
Starting point is 00:05:13 He had a hole through the middle of his hand. Pennsylvania State Police detectives wanted to know how the bullet went through Bruno's palm and hit Melissa in the head. Got home from work at 3.30 in the afternoon. Less than 15 hours after the shooting, with Bruno's hand freshly bandaged and Melissa on life support. Detectives asked Bruno to walk them through his house and explain what happened after the couple arrived. after the couple arrived home from a night out with friends. And we came home just before 10, and after that we went downstairs, washed up,
Starting point is 00:05:54 came up to go to bed. Using a toy gun provided by police, Bruno demonstrated how he claims his 40 caliber pistol went off accidentally. My wife was home alone all last week, so I left him top drawer on the night stand for because of recent break-ins. He said their grandson was coming over the next day, and he wanted to safely store the gun.
Starting point is 00:06:20 I went to check them chamber to see if there was around in there. Sitting on the mattress still stained with his wife's blood, Bruno tried to show them what happened. I went like this, and she was sitting in the bed there, and I went like this, and she was watching TV. and it was, I just went like this, and she leaned back toward me, and I must have pulled it away and then shot through my hand. Earlier, investigators had gone through the house shooting video of the scene and collecting evidence
Starting point is 00:06:59 and didn't note any signs of a struggle. Hospital staff found no other injuries on Melissa, and Bruno said they had been getting along just fine. discussions or any arguments or anything before that happened? No. He looked me in my face and said, we walked in the householding hands. There was no arguments that night. Jack Wilczesky and his wife, Tanya, were out to dinner with Bruno and Melissa that evening.
Starting point is 00:07:26 And he says everything seemed fine. No arguing? No arguing? No, not that they were fine that night. The day after the shooting, Bruno agreed to a polygraph exam. According to police records, the results were inconclusive. Worried about her father, Chelsea says she suggested he speak with attorney, Joe DeAndria. Did you wonder why he was calling you?
Starting point is 00:07:52 Well, I'm fairly well-known criminal defense lawyer around, and police had talked to him without my participation or knowledge. I guess he was curious if there was anything he had to worry about. Melissa spent several days in intensive care. I remember talking to the neurologist, and I was like, there's got to be something you can do. And they were just trying to calm me down and tell me that there's no hope. Three days after the shooting, Melissa's family made the agonizing decision to take her off-life support. We knew she was suffering.
Starting point is 00:08:30 It was August 10, 2013, at 1.45 a.m., when Melissa was, Melissa passed away. Joanne says they were all in shock. And even though no one in the family wanted to believe Runo had deliberately shot Melissa, they were surprised when he was never arrested. My grandfather said, if that happened in Bucks County, where my grandfather was a police, he was like, your dad would have instantly been in cuffs. He was like he didn't spend a single night in jail, which is really weird.
Starting point is 00:09:00 Joe DeAndria says the district attorney's office felt they didn't have enough evidence to charge Bruno with murder and decided not to charge him at all. They were convinced that they couldn't prove a case. Melissa's death certificate listed her cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head. The manner of death was left pending. No one said to you, we've concluded it was an accident. No, it was just still an open, open case. But as the family began to catch their breath and process,
Starting point is 00:09:35 Melissa's death, they slowly started comparing notes about Bruno's version of what happened and his behavior before and after the shooting. And a case for murder began to unfold. I just couldn't justify any of his stories. Hi, this is Jill Schlesinger, CBS News, business analyst, certified financial planner, and the host of the Jill on Money podcast. With the new year upon us, There's no better time to take control of your financial life. And the Jill on Money podcast is here to help. It's your questions that make it possible for me to provide unconventional and I hope entertaining insights on your money, more importantly, on your life. Follow and listen to Jill on Money wherever you get your podcasts.
Starting point is 00:10:29 The daughters of Melissa and Bruno Recuba say they grew up believing they had the ideal family. So did all my friends. I remember my best friends were like, your family's so loving and happy and you guys do everything together. I always wanted my sister's life. She had the kids. She had the marriage, the good guy.
Starting point is 00:10:59 The couple met in the summer of 1988. Back then, Melissa, who was just 19 years old, was a police officer. Bruno 22 was enlisted in the Navy. And what did you think of Bruno when you met him? I loved him. He seemed to love my sister.
Starting point is 00:11:19 She loved being a wife and she loved being a mother. She was an amazing mom. And Bruno was a great dad, says Sabrina. My dad was wonderful. I mean, I can't complain about him as a dad. We went hunting together. We went fishing together. When I was really young, I wanted to cut my hair to be like my dad.
Starting point is 00:11:46 Like, that's how close we were. But as the girls grew older and became parents themselves, They say they began to see flaws in their parents' marriage. We had moved in there, me and my ex-husband with my parents when my daughter was about nine months old. And it was like all the time they were constantly arguing. The breaking point was when they got really drunk one night and my dad grabbed her by the back of the hair
Starting point is 00:12:10 and he whipped her into the wall. It made a really loud thud and she couldn't breathe. I was like, we can't stay here anymore. This isn't healthy. I tried talking to my mom and she was just like, well, everybody has like disagreements. And like, she downplayed. She never wanted to talk bad about our dad to us.
Starting point is 00:12:26 Two weeks before the shooting, Chelsea says her mother shared a startling secret about something Bruno had done to her. She took me for a ride in the car and told me, you know, that he had pulled a gun on her before. My mom told my sister that my mom didn't want to have sex with my dad one night. And my dad pulled a gun and my mother over this. Why would she tell me this now? she's never said a bad word about him before, and all of a sudden it was,
Starting point is 00:12:55 Chelsea, I just need you to know that your dad's not always what you think he is. Chelsea admits that she had a bad feeling about her mother's shooting from the start, but stayed silent for the sake of her father. I didn't want to just say something that would have put him in jail if he really didn't do it. Joanne says she also had her doubts about her sister's death Because just months before the shooting, Melissa told her she wanted out of her marriage.
Starting point is 00:13:26 She was questioning things and asked how she would be able to do it on her own. Was Bruno controlling? Very. My sister couldn't go anywhere without him knowing her every move. Joanne says it wasn't long after Melissa's death when her mind began to race. I started playing back everything, everything that I could remember. For starters, says Joanne, Bruno spent very little time by his wife's side as she lay dying. He would come there, maybe stay like an hour, and then leave.
Starting point is 00:14:08 When she died, he wasn't there. He was at the house. Chelsea says her father's behavior began to haunt her as well. For instance, just hours, hours. after the shooting, Chelsea says her father asked her to bring him her mother's cell phone, which had not been collected by police. She says her father wanted to erase a few text messages that he feared investigators might take the wrong way. It was like I don't want them to think anything because of like a little like argument
Starting point is 00:14:40 or something they had. Maybe it was that week or a day. Did that strike you as odd at the time? It did, but you don't want to believe it. With their mother still in intensive care, and with the police finished collecting evidence, the girls say their father had another strange request. He asked us to get rid of the mattress.
Starting point is 00:15:00 Bruno asked his girls to clean his house and get rid of the blood-stained mattress. He's like, I can't go home to that. I don't want to see all the blood. And here I am 21, 22. Now as an adult, I can't believe he asked us to do that. But I just kept going and I kept going. I kept wanting to make sure he was okay.
Starting point is 00:15:20 We were so concerned because he kept making comments that he was going to take his own life, that he couldn't deal with this. How did you get rid of that mattress? We took it in the back of a truck, and we burned it in the woods. Chelsea and Sabrina say that before their mother was even buried, their father asked for help purging all traces of her. He wanted us to get rid of everything. It's like he wanted her erased.
Starting point is 00:15:48 Oh, my sister's clothes. We had a good answer to the thrift store where they donated to close. And I had to get clothes for my sister to bury her in. Bruno even got rid of Melissa's dog, Zeus. My mom loved that dog, and my dad got rid of him right after my mom died. It wasn't long before Joanne says she began to suspect that Bruno had another motive for erasing the memory of Melissa. My sister's best friend said that Bruno contacted her not too long after my sister had passed away
Starting point is 00:16:25 and said, how long do you think it is before, you know, you can kind of like go public with dating someone? And she said, are you freaking kidding me? And he was dead serious. Bruno was talking about Tanya Wilczeski, Jack Wilchew's wife, the couple that Bruno and Melissa were out to dinner with on the night of the shooting. We were together 15 years at that time.
Starting point is 00:16:53 Jack says he has no idea when the relationship began, but says he started noticing a big difference in his wife's relationship with Bruno the day after the shooting when he walked into Melissa's hospital room and found Tanya and Bruno. I thought they were kissing. Of course, they said they were talking each other year, but they were embraced with each other.
Starting point is 00:17:15 Jack says in the weeks after the shooting, he would often come home from work and find Bruno's car in his driveway. After a couple times, I was like, why are you coming here? Can you wait until I get home at 5 o'clock or 4 o'clock? And how did Tanya explain it? Of course, they always made me out like I was a fool. I was seeing things I didn't see.
Starting point is 00:17:38 Within months of Melissa's death, Jack says his wife went missing from their home, and he knew exactly where to find her. I woke up 2 o'clock in the morning, and she wasn't there. So I'm thinking, go to Bruno's house. I went and pulled out in front and blew the horn, and she'd come walking out with her purse with barely any clothes on. Got in her car, drove to our house,
Starting point is 00:18:01 packed her bags, and moved in with him, right there. Chelsea now had a new neighbor. Tanya Wilchewski. I remember looking at my window and she was cooking Christmas dinner in my mom's kitchen. I wasn't invited. Chelsea says she forced herself to accept what was, because she didn't want her father to be alone. Then, about a year and a half later, she says her father casually revealed an alarming new detail about her mother's shooting. I kind of always knew and I didn't want to believe it, but when I heard it come from his own mouth, I couldn't get past it.
Starting point is 00:18:52 As the months ticked on, it was now 2015, about a year and a half since Bruno Ruccoop. had allegedly accidentally shot and killed his wife, Melissa. His daughter, Chelsea, says she was still struggling with her father's relationship with Tanya Walschewski. I had to live here. I had to see her. She cut her hair like my mom. She would go get her nails done like my mom. She sat on my mom's front porch in my mom's chair. With the passage of time, she says she finally had the courage to ask her father for an explanation about his actions on the night of the shooting.
Starting point is 00:19:27 and says she got an astonishing answer. He said, I didn't mean to kill her. I just tried to scare her. Chelsea says that Bruno changed his story and admitted that he and Melissa had been arguing the night of the shooting. The gun, he said, was just meant to frighten her. Then Chelsea says her father abruptly changed the subject.
Starting point is 00:19:50 He said he had groceries in the car, and he turned around and walked out like he hadn't just said what he said to me. That's when I knew he actually held a gun to my mom. on purpose, and I couldn't ever look at them the same. Chelsea says she spent months agonizing about what to do next, and then told her father she was going to share their conversation with investigators. And he was like, go ahead, anything you tell them, I'll ruin your credibility, and nobody will believe you.
Starting point is 00:20:17 Chelsea says she was now determined and went down to the state police barracks and filled out a report, which included information about the incident she says. her mother shared not long before her death. About that time, Bruno threatened her with a gun when she refused to be intimate with him. It took a lot for you to go down there. What were you hoping would have happened? I was hoping they would have reopened it.
Starting point is 00:20:44 And what actually happened? Nothing happened. Chelsea recalls being told that it was her word against her fathers. And she says an investigator suggested her coming forward could have been motivated by money. And at that point, I had no idea I was even entitled to my mom's inheritance. Melissa left behind a will and over $300,000 meant to be divided between her husband and daughters. But not long after Melissa's death, Bruno had his daughter signed paperwork that gave him complete control of their mother's estate.
Starting point is 00:21:22 He had sent me a paper in the mail, said, do not look at it. go with this notarized and sign and send it back to me, which I did. I didn't question it to my dad. Sabrina says she knew she was signing away her rights to the money, but felt pressured to do it. He was so good at manipulating me and making me feel guilty. Chelsea signed those same papers, but says she was in shock and didn't understand the consequences. That hurt that he would take from us, and especially from his grandson. The sisters say they began to wonder.
Starting point is 00:21:57 if money had been the motive for their mother's shooting. But without police action, they felt they had to move on. So I kind of started letting it go. Chelsea says she even let her son Greg build a bond with his grandfather. I hated him for taking my mom from me, but I loved how good he was to my son. Four years later, in 2020, Corporal Greg Allen was assigned to investigate open cases
Starting point is 00:22:28 for the Pennsylvania State Police and says this case caught his eye. What about this case stood out to you? To me, it was the original 911 call. On the 911 call, I hear three different accounts of what happened. We were fighting. He says, we were fighting. When questioned, Bruno quickly changed his story. The gun, when we were shooting it, we were going to go shooting, and I pulled the trigger and went through my hand.
Starting point is 00:23:15 He also offered this version. I was playing with the gun. I let it go off. Bruno knew his way around guns, says Corporal Allen. So why would he have his finger on the trigger of a gun that was loaded? This is the gun that was used. Crime Unit Supervisor, Corporal Dan Nylon, was asked by Corporal, Allen to examine all the evidence, beginning with Bruno's police interview. I grabbed it. My wife was sitting on the bed on that side. I was on this side. I went to check
Starting point is 00:23:47 the chamber to see if there was around in there. Okay. My wife leaned back toward me. Maybe she didn't know I was doing it, and I pulled the trigger by accident or else I let the slide go and it discharged. There were so many red flags that we knew he wasn't telling the truth. To begin with, says Corporal Nylon, if Bruno was really trying to clear the gun's chamber, he would have ejected the magazine. The first thing you're going to do when you unload the gun is drop the magazine out of it. There were also two safeties on the gun. Corporal nylon showed us just how hard it is to discharge the weapon accidentally. So your grip, your hand would have to be on the grip. Additionally, there is a trigger safety. There is a small piece of the
Starting point is 00:24:34 trigger that has to be depressed in order for the gun to fire. So both things need to occur. There were also questions about where Bruno and Melissa were sitting when the fatal shot was fired. I went like this and she was sitting in the bed there. So you see the way that he's holding the gun. He's pointing it to the opposite side of the bed. But nylon and Allen say there was blood and ballistics evidence on the wall behind Bruno. Directly behind him. So the evidence is here and here. Everything is behind him right now. But he says he shot this way.
Starting point is 00:25:11 Correct. They would need DNA testing and a forensic expert to confirm their suspicions that Bruno was lying. But in the meantime, Corporal Nylon found a key piece of evidence that he says no one had ever examined. Video and audio from the night of the shooting, recorded on a home security system. Turns out that a security camera
Starting point is 00:25:41 mounted on the front of the house had recorded Melissa Rooka's last words. These are the final images of Melissa Rukuba, recorded on this home security camera and this DVR. Dan Nylon says when he first discovered the recording, he could see Melissa and her husband Bruno arriving home from their night. out, but it was difficult to make out most of what they were saying.
Starting point is 00:26:24 I remember sitting in our office with the door closed, headphones on, the office refrigerator unplugged, trying to get as many words as I could. Greg Allen says that one thing was clear. There was definitely an argument that happened between them. Allen says the original investigators told him they had no way to review the recording because because they didn't have access to the necessary technology. But Allen's team did, and could now see that the recording begins in the driveway, where you can hear the couple arguing.
Starting point is 00:27:05 But it doesn't seem to end there. Once inside the house, it sounds like they're still arguing, says Alan. That time of year, their window was open, so you could also pick up sound audio from inside as well. The sound was just much harder to hear. With Bruno's changing stories and possible evidence of an argument, investigators were now treating Melissa Rukuba's death as a possible murder. This is the last time she's ever seen.
Starting point is 00:27:37 Dan and I have been doing this a long time, and we saw that, and the evidence speaks for itself. Then Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell agreed. My gut reaction was, this is probably a case that should have been charged, back in 2013, and I can only guess that they thought it didn't warrant charges because he shot himself through the hand. Because who would purposely shoot themselves in the hand?
Starting point is 00:28:04 Sure. Sure. With Powell's team now on board, Melissa's family was informed that the case was once again active. I was like, this is different. They are very, very sure about themselves. This was a crime. my dad did this on purpose.
Starting point is 00:28:25 Chelsea says she now had mixed feelings about her relationship with her father. I live next door, so my son's very close with him. It's not black and white. Investigators then sent a portion of the DVR recording to an FBI crime lab for enhancement. I remember thinking, the chances of this helping us are probably slim because this system is old. DNA testing was also ordered on some of the blood evidence, and a forensic expert was hired to help determine how the shooting took place. We retain the services of Dr. Wayne Ross,
Starting point is 00:29:06 who was highly respected forensic pathologist and a blood pattern expert. About a month later, the enhanced DVR audio was back, and Dan Nylon says it was clear the couple had been arguing right up until the moment the gun went off. What do you hear on that tape? Lots of curses back and forth, yelling, screaming. It's still hard to make out every word, but the official police transcript notes that Bruno and Melissa
Starting point is 00:29:39 can be heard cursing and calling each other names. The transcript also notes the sound of a dog barking. Then Melissa shouts, I didn't do anything. Listen closely. Nearly 30 minutes after they first pulled into the driveway, Melissa told Bruno that he had to leave. Because of something he'd previously done, hundreds of times, said Melissa.
Starting point is 00:30:17 A bit later, Melissa can be heard talking. Then it sounds like things are being thrown. Just seconds later, the gun goes off. It was not an accident. They were fighting the entire time, and then a gun shot goes out. Joanne says she hasn't been able to listen to the recording, but has read the transcript. I was horrified.
Starting point is 00:30:51 Of course I cried. And I can picture my sister yelling at him and screaming it and those very last few moments, realizing that this is it. All so horrifying is the sound of Chelsea screaming after her father called her over. and she first discovered her mother. She says she doesn't remember questioning her father that night, but she did. And Bruno's answer gave police yet another version of his story. He came home, she wanted to take the gun out and played, and I told her, no, we're not doing that.
Starting point is 00:31:44 He implied that Melissa had been the one holding the gun. A little over two weeks later, Mark Powell says forensic expert, Dr. Wayne Ross confirmed what Greg Allen and Dan Nylon had suspected about how all the blood got on the wall behind Bruno. It's very clear that he was on top of his wife, that he was using his hand to hold her and threaten her with a gun. And so where do you say Bruno was at that time? Almost in the middle of the bed turned around. Turned around facing the headboard. The theory is that Melissa tried to escape. Bruno's grip, and there was a struggle.
Starting point is 00:32:35 And through a struggle, his hand gets loose. He fires the gun at the same time. There's blood evidence that starts here and travels in a right-to-left pattern. And that is Bruno's blood. And the only way that that could be explained is if Bruno did a motion like this with his hand after the bullet struck it. I don't know how you have an accidental shooting when you're standing over your wife with a gun threatening to shoot her and you discharge a bullet by pulling the trigger. So in my world, that's not accidental.
Starting point is 00:33:10 That's murder with malice. What do you think your sister would say about all of this? If she was here, she would say lock his ass up and get away from my kids and my grandkids. On June 2nd, 2022, a warrant was issued. issued for Bruno's arrest. Chelsea says her father was well aware and well prepared. He had guns all over. His nightstand was all pictures of my mom.
Starting point is 00:33:43 They were never there. On the morning of June 3, 2022, two Pennsylvania State Police Troopers followed Bruno Rukuba on his way to work. Yeah, he's looking for a good spot to pull over. Corporal Greg Allen says they weren't taking any chances with Rukuba's arrest. Chelsea said he had a lot of guns, where you concerned something could go wrong.
Starting point is 00:34:18 Whenever you have an arrest warrant in your hand, you try to take every precaution that you can. Jefferson, Madrono just starts hitting north on 171. In the end, they pulled Recuba over in a traffic stop on his way to work. Who got your license plate out here? Where? Yeah. All right, hold up. Right here.
Starting point is 00:34:44 Hey, you have a gun at any guns on you? No, no, no. Put your hands down your back. It was June 3rd, 2022, nearly nine years after Melissa's death, and Rakuba was charged with her murder. There was also a charge of theft, for the money prosecutors say he took from his daughters. And he lowered up?
Starting point is 00:35:05 Blurred up right away. Within, within a few minutes. Chelsea, who was still feeling conflicted, decided to help her father pay his life. legal bills. I loved him. I still. I didn't want it to be worse.
Starting point is 00:35:21 Rukuba once again hired Joe DeAndria and pled not guilty. Is Bruno still telling you the same story? He never wavered from the story. That it was an accident. But DeAndria says he was now seeing and hearing the evidence for the first time
Starting point is 00:35:40 and says there was a lot to explain to a jury, like the various versions of Rukuba's stories. I went like this and she was sitting in the bed there. All captured on tape. Any discussions or any arguments or anything before that happened? No. The most challenging, says DeAndria, that police walked through. Now, if Bruno didn't make a statement, he probably would never have gotten charged.
Starting point is 00:36:09 Also concerning to DeAndria was how a jury would feel about Rakuba's relationship with Tanya Wilczeski and the question of when it began. Possible motive? No, clearly. It's not a motive. The jury sure wasn't going to like him for doing it. Tanya Wilczeski declined our request for an interview, but sent this text saying there was never an affair.
Starting point is 00:36:33 Bruno Recuba never responded to our requests for an interview. But Joe DeAndria says he was most concerned about how the jury would react to Melissa's final moments. When you hear screaming and somebody shot, a jury could conclude you shot her on purpose. I didn't want to take any chance of being found guilty of a first-degree murder and spend the rest of his life in jail. DeAndria says he spent the next two years building his case around his best evidence, that bloody wound to his client's hand.
Starting point is 00:37:13 Who would put a bullet through their hand to kill somebody? Do you have anything you'd like to say? No, nothing this time. But in May 2024, two years after this arrest, as Rukuba's trial approached, both sides agreed to a plea deal, third-degree murder, and no charge of theft. It wasn't that he intentionally killed Melissa. His actions were reckless. Having a gun, drinking, bullet in the chamber, safeties off, in a pretty, passionate argument. That's a prescription for some bad stuff to happen, which did.
Starting point is 00:37:55 It may very well be your sister's own voice that ultimately put him behind bars. I never really thought about it like that. Yeah. On January 8th, 2025, Joanne attended Rakuba's sentencing hearing and read him, her victim impact statement. I looked at him first and made him look at me because I know it's like seeing a ghost because I look like my sister.
Starting point is 00:38:28 Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom. Through all of this, you have never showed an ounce of remorse. So Joanne shared her statement during our interview. As far as what you did to your daughters, Bruno, you killed their mother. You tried to erase her existence,
Starting point is 00:38:47 but you cannot erase her memories. If there was a trial, would you have testified against him? Yes. You said that quickly. Yeah, I would have. You know, my mom deserves justice, and my mom, she should be here. Bruno Recuba was sentenced to 12 to 40 years behind bars. With time served, Rakuba could be up for parole starting in 2035.
Starting point is 00:39:18 Now that he's gone, we can breathe a little bit better, but it doesn't change the hurt or the pain or what we have to work through as a family. And we'll revisit this in 10 more years. Because every single time he comes up for parole, I will be there to protest it. Chelsea and Sabrina both say they have very mixed feelings about their father and what justice looks like. He took someone's life and it wasn't an accident. He doesn't deserve to get out. I want him to get out at the same time because I love him and I miss him. Everybody's like, oh, we finally get justice.
Starting point is 00:40:03 Good for you. I got justice for my mom, but now I just lost my father. My son lost his grandfather and it's hard on my son. That's who I have to protect. How are you keeping your mom's memory alive? I have all of her pictures all over my fridge. and I tell my daughter how wonderful her grandmother was and how much my mom loved being a grandmother.
Starting point is 00:40:33 She cared about my son more than anything. She loved that little boy. Where's Gammy? Show me. Right here. And I think she wouldn't want my son to hurt the way that this has hurt him. Can you come back. Me too. Just weeks after our interview on March,
Starting point is 00:40:55 10th, 2025, Chelsea says her son Greg was outriding his all-terrain vehicle when he collided with an SUV and died. He was just 13 years old. Another tragic loss for a family that had already lost so much. It's something that you read in a book or see on TV, not your own life. It just doesn't feel like this should be our story as a family.

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