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00:16at the end of the day I put my son to sleep and I went to bed and I remember
00:21my phone going off
00:22and it was my father there's been an accident your mom's okay the ambulance is on the way
00:27and I was like whoa and I just ran out the door
00:34I lived right next door I had no idea what happened until I got over there
00:47as soon as I walked in you could see right here she was laying on the bed the blood was
00:54just all
00:54over the floor the side of the bed where's your dad at this time he was on the phone somewhere
01:02maybe downstairs and I couldn't really see what he was doing and then I grabbed a towel off the floor
01:09and I held a towel on her head I just remember yelling to him to please help me and and
01:15I
01:15remember asking her please mom just like squeeze my hand did your mom respond to you no
01:25do you remember asking him what happened not that night at one point I remember him saying
01:31he was putting the gun away under the bed and she sat down and the gun went off
01:37did you know at the time that he had also been shot I remember his hand being wrapped up
01:43I didn't know if he was just holding a towel or what he was holding
01:48he had shot through his hand when he shot my mom he just said it was like this freak accident
01:54and we thought like well who's gonna who's gonna shoot themselves he never wavered from the story
02:01that it was an accident and trooper PJ McDermott we're here at the residence with the homeowner
02:07Bruno Rakuba why do you think your father was so open about talking with the police
02:14think he was trying to prove that he was innocent so we're both in bed and I reached over
02:22I grabbed it my wife was sitting on the bed on that side I was on this side and I
02:30pulled the trigger
02:30by accident my sister Melissa died Saturday morning I'm worried about the girls their mother
02:40is gone my dad everyone felt horrible for him that's his wife of 25 years I just lost my mom
02:49and I was
02:50probably gonna lose my dad did you expect that your father would be charged with something I thought
02:56maybe negligent homicide because he was negligent with a gun I just went like this he didn't spend
03:02a single night in jail and not every shooting is a crime you really do look at circumstances but
03:09apparently they did and they were convinced that they couldn't prove a case I was reviewing all of
03:20the open case homicides and this one caught my attention and we just went down that rabbit hole of
03:27putting all the pieces together and alarm bells went off when I saw a surveillance system and evidence no
03:33one had looked at this this is the last time she's ever seen that time of year their window was
03:40open so
03:41you could also pick up sound from inside of the bedroom as well we were able to hear their last
03:47conversation together and then a gunshot goes up there's so many twists and turns and this is the
03:58story for generations that we have to tell and that's pretty sad
04:25you
04:37you
04:39you
04:53On a steamy August night in 2013, Melissa Rakuba was airlifted to this hospital, still clinging
05:01to life with a bullet wound to her head. Her then 22-year-old daughter Chelsea was already
05:08there when the helicopter arrived. I had no idea how I got down there. I was just panicked
05:14and frantic. Her sister Sabrina, who lives in Wisconsin, sped to the airport in tears.
05:21It was just a lot of me just praying to God that my mom was going to be okay.
05:26Melissa's sister Joanne and their father, then a police sergeant in another county,
05:32raced to Melissa's bedside. It's a few hours of driving.
05:36Not that night. We got there really fast.
05:39Bruno was being treated at a different hospital, where specialists operated on his hand.
05:45He had a hole through the middle of his hand.
05:49Pennsylvania State Police detectives wanted to know how the bullet went through Bruno's palm
05:54and hit Melissa in the head.
05:56Got home from work at 3.30 in the afternoon.
06:01Less than 15 hours after the shooting, with Bruno's hand freshly bandaged and Melissa on life support.
06:08Detectives asked Bruno to walk them through his house and explain what happened after the couple
06:15arrived home from a night out with friends.
06:18When we came home just before 10, and after that, we went downstairs, washed up, and came up to go
06:26to bed.
06:28Using a toy gun provided by police, Bruno demonstrated how he claims his .40 caliber pistol went off accidentally.
06:37My wife was home alone all last week, so I left in the top drawer on the nightstand for him
06:42because of recent break-ins.
06:45He said their grandson was coming over the next day, and he wanted to safely store the gun.
06:52I went to check the chamber to see if there was a round in there.
06:57Okay.
06:57Sitting on the mattress, still stained with his wife's blood, Bruno tried to show them what happened.
07:04I went like this, and she was sitting in the bed there, and I went like this, and she was
07:10watching TV.
07:13And it was, I just went like this, and she leaned back toward me, and I must have pulled it
07:21away, and then shot through my hand.
07:25Earlier, investigators had gone through the house, shooting video of the scene and collecting evidence, and didn't note any signs
07:32of a struggle.
07:34Hospital staff found no other injuries on Melissa, and Bruno said they had been getting along just fine.
07:41Any discussions or any arguments or anything before that happened?
07:45No.
07:45Okay.
07:46He looked me in my face and said, we walked in the house holding hands.
07:49There was no arguments that night.
07:51Jack Wilczewski and his wife, Tanya, were out to dinner with Bruno and Melissa that evening, and he says everything
07:59seemed fine.
08:01No arguing?
08:02No arguing, no nothing. They were fine that night.
08:05The day after the shooting, Bruno agreed to a polygraph exam.
08:09According to police records, the results were inconclusive.
08:15Worried about her father, Chelsea says she suggested he speak with attorney, Joe D'Andrea.
08:21Did you wonder why he was calling you?
08:24Well, I'm a fairly well-known criminal defense lawyer around, and police had talked to him without my participation or
08:31knowledge.
08:32I guess he was curious if there was anything he had to worry about.
08:38Melissa spent several days in intensive care.
08:43I remember talking to the neurologist, and I was like, there's got to be something you can do.
08:47And they were just trying to calm me down and tell me that there's no hope.
08:51Three days after the shooting, Melissa's family made the agonizing decision to take her off life support.
08:59We knew she was suffering.
09:02It was August 10, 2013, at 1.45 a.m., when Melissa passed away.
09:10Joanne says they were all in shock.
09:13And even though no one in the family wanted to believe Bruno had deliberately shot Melissa,
09:19they were surprised when he was never arrested.
09:22My grandfather said, if that happened in Bucks County, where my grandfather was a police,
09:26he was like, your dad would have instantly been in cuffs.
09:28He was like, he didn't spend a single night in jail.
09:30Which is really weird.
09:32Joe D'Andrea says the district attorney's office felt they didn't have enough evidence to charge Bruno with murder,
09:39and decided not to charge him at all.
09:43They were convinced that they couldn't prove a case.
09:47Melissa's death certificate listed her cause of death as a gunshot wound to the head.
09:52The manner of death was left pending.
09:55No one said to you, we've concluded it was an accident.
09:59No, it was just still an open, open case.
10:03But as the family began to catch their breath and process Melissa's death,
10:08they slowly started comparing notes about Bruno's version of what happened and his behavior before and after the shooting.
10:17And a case for murder began to unfold.
10:21I just couldn't, I couldn't justify any of his stories.
10:38The daughters of Melissa and Bruno Recuba say they grew up believing they had the ideal family.
10:45So did all my friends.
10:47I remember my best friends were like, your family's so loving and happy and you guys do everything together.
10:53I always wanted my sister's life.
10:56She had the kids, she had the marriage, the good guy.
11:00The couple met in the summer of 1988.
11:04Back then, Melissa, who was just 19 years old, was a police officer.
11:09Bruno, 22, was enlisted in the Navy.
11:13And what did you think of Bruno when you met him?
11:16I loved him.
11:18He seemed to love my sister.
11:25She loved being a wife and she loved being a mother.
11:30She was an amazing mom.
11:32And Bruno was a great dad, says Sabrina.
11:36My dad was wonderful.
11:38I mean, I can't complain about him as a dad.
11:42And we went hunting together.
11:43We went fishing together.
11:44When I was really young, I wanted to cut my hair to be like my dad.
11:47Like, that's how close we were.
11:50But as the girls grew older and became parents themselves, they say they began to see flaws in their parents'
11:56marriage.
11:58We had moved in there, me and my ex-husband, with my parents when my daughter was about nine months
12:02old.
12:03And it was like all the time.
12:04They were constantly arguing.
12:06The breaking point was when they got really drunk one night and my dad grabbed her by the back of
12:11the hair and he whipped her into the wall.
12:13It made a really loud thud and she couldn't breathe.
12:16I was like, we can't stay here anymore.
12:17This isn't healthy.
12:18I tried talking to my mom and she was just like, well, everybody has, like, disagreements.
12:23And, like, she downplayed.
12:25She never wanted to talk bad about our dad to us.
12:27Two weeks before the shooting, Chelsea says her mother shared a startling secret about something Bruno had done to her.
12:35She took me for a ride in the car and told me, you know, that he had pulled a gun
12:39on her before.
12:40My mom told my sister that my mom didn't want to have sex with my dad one night and my
12:46dad pulled a gun on my mother over this.
12:50Why would she tell me this now?
12:52She's never said a bad word about him before and all of a sudden it was,
12:56Chelsea, I just need you to know that, like, your dad's not always who you think he is.
13:00Chelsea admits that she had a bad feeling about her mother's shooting from the start, but stayed silent for the
13:08sake of her father.
13:09I didn't want to just say something that would have put him in jail if he really didn't do it.
13:16Joanne says she also had her doubts about her sister's death, because just months before the shooting, Melissa told her
13:24she wanted out of her marriage.
13:27She was questioning things.
13:28And asked how she would be able to do it on her own.
13:34Was Bruno controlling?
13:36Very.
13:37My sister couldn't go anywhere without him knowing her every move.
13:44Joanne says it wasn't long after Melissa's death when her mind began to race.
13:50I started playing back everything.
13:54Everything that I could remember.
13:56For starters, says Joanne, Bruno spent very little time by his wife's side as she lay dying.
14:03He would come there, maybe stay like an hour, and then leave.
14:09And when she died, he wasn't there.
14:11He was at the house.
14:13Chelsea says her father's behavior began to haunt her as well.
14:18For instance, just hours after the shooting, Chelsea says her father asked her to bring him her mother's cell phone,
14:26which had not been collected by police.
14:28She says her father wanted to erase a few text messages that he feared investigators might take the wrong way.
14:36It was like, I don't want them to think anything because of a little argument or something they had.
14:42Maybe it was that week or a day.
14:44Did that strike you as odd at the time?
14:46It did, but you don't want to believe it.
14:49With their mother still in intensive care and with the police finished collecting evidence, the girls say their father had
14:56another strange request.
14:59He asked us to get rid of the mattress.
15:01Bruno asked his girls to clean his house and get rid of the blood-stained mattress.
15:08He's like, I can't go home to that.
15:10I don't want to see all the blood.
15:11And here I am, 21, 22.
15:15Now as an adult, I'm like, wow, I can't believe he asked us to do that.
15:17But I just kept going, and I kept wanting to make sure he was okay.
15:21We were so concerned because he kept making comments that he was going to take his own life, that he
15:25couldn't deal with this.
15:26How did you get rid of that mattress?
15:29We took it in the back of a truck, and we burned it in the woods.
15:36Chelsea and Sabrina say that before their mother was even buried, their father asked for help purging all traces of
15:43her.
15:45He wanted us to get rid of everything.
15:47It's like he wanted her erased.
15:49All my sisters' clothes.
15:51We had to go down to the thrift store where they donated the clothes, and I had to get clothes
15:55for my sister to bury her.
15:57Bruno even got rid of Melissa's dog, Zeus.
16:01My mom loved that dog, and my dad got rid of him right after my mom died.
16:08It wasn't long before Joanne says she began to suspect that Bruno had another motive for erasing the memory of
16:17Melissa.
16:19My sister's best friend said that Bruno contacted her not too long after my sister had passed away, and said,
16:28how long do you think it is before, you know, you can kind of, like, go public with dating someone?
16:33And she said, are you freaking kidding me?
16:36And he was dead serious.
16:39Bruno was talking about Tanya Wilczeski, Jack Wilczeski's wife, the couple that Bruno and Melissa were out to dinner with
16:48on the night of the shooting.
16:50We were together 15 years at that time.
16:54Jack says he has no idea when the relationship began, but says he started noticing a big difference in his
17:02wife's relationship with Bruno the day after the shooting, when he walked into Melissa's hospital room and found Tanya and
17:10Bruno.
17:12I thought they were kissing. Of course, they said they were talking to each other's ear, but they were embraced
17:16with each other.
17:18Jack says in the weeks after the shooting, he would often come home from work and find Bruno's car in
17:24his driveway.
17:26After a couple of times, I was like, why are you coming here? Can you wait till I get home
17:31at 5 o'clock or 4 o'clock?
17:32And how did Tanya explain it?
17:34Of course, they always made me out like I was a fool. I was seeing things I didn't see.
17:39Within months of Melissa's death, Jack says his wife went missing from their home, and he knew exactly where to
17:46find her.
17:48I woke up 2 o'clock in the morning, and she wasn't there. I'm thinking, go to Bruno's house.
17:53I went and pulled out in front, and blew the horn, and she'd come walking out with her purse with
17:57barely any clothes on.
17:58Got in her car, drove to our house, packed her bags, and moved in with them right there.
18:05Chelsea now had a new neighbor.
18:07I remember looking out my window, and she was cooking Christmas dinner in my mom's kitchen.
18:15I wasn't invited.
18:17Chelsea says she forced herself to accept what was, because she didn't want her father to be alone.
18:24Then, about a year and a half later, she says her father casually revealed an alarming new detail about her
18:32mother's shooting.
18:34I kind of always knew, and I didn't want to believe it, but when I heard it come from his
18:38own mouth, I couldn't get past it.
18:53As the months ticked on, it was now 2015, about a year and a half since Bruno Rokuba had allegedly
19:01accidentally shot and killed his wife, Melissa.
19:04His daughter, Chelsea, says she was still struggling with her father's relationship with Tanya Wolchewski.
19:11I had to live here. I had to see her.
19:13She cut her hair like my mom.
19:14She would go get her nails done like my mom.
19:16She sat on my mom's front porch in my mom's chair.
19:18With the passage of time, she says she finally had the courage to ask her father for an explanation about
19:26his actions on the night of the shooting, and says she got an astonishing answer.
19:32He said, I didn't mean to kill her. I just tried to scare her.
19:35Chelsea says that Bruno changed his story and admitted that he and Melissa had been arguing the night of the
19:43shooting.
19:44The gun, he said, was just meant to frighten her.
19:47Then Chelsea says her father abruptly changed the subject.
19:51He said he had groceries in the car, and he turned around and walked out like he hadn't just said
19:55what he said to me.
19:56That's when I knew he actually held a gun to my mom on purpose, and I couldn't ever look at
20:01him the same.
20:02Chelsea says she spent months agonizing about what to do next, and then told her father she was going to
20:09share their conversation with investigators.
20:12And he was like, go ahead, anything you tell them, I'll ruin your credibility, and nobody will believe you.
20:18Chelsea says she was now determined and went down to the state police barracks and filled out a report, which
20:25included information about the incident she says her mother shared not long before her death.
20:32About that time, Bruno threatened her with a gun when she refused to be intimate with him.
20:37It took a lot for you to go down there. What were you hoping would have happened?
20:43I was hoping they would have reopened it.
20:45And what actually happened?
20:48Nothing happened.
20:48Chelsea recalls being told that it was her word against her father's, and she says an investigator suggested her coming
20:57forward could have been motivated by money.
21:00And at that point, I had no idea I was even entitled to my mom's inheritance.
21:06Melissa left behind a will and over $300,000, meant to be divided between her husband and daughters.
21:13But not long after Melissa's death, Bruno had his daughter sign paperwork that gave him complete control of their mother's
21:22estate.
21:23He had sent me a paper in the mail, said, do not look at it.
21:26Go get this notarized and sign and send it back to me, which I did.
21:29I didn't question it. It's my dad.
21:32Sabrina says she knew she was signing away her rights to the money, but felt pressured to do it.
21:39He was so good at manipulating me and making me feel guilty.
21:42Chelsea signed those same papers, but says she was in shock and didn't understand the consequences.
21:49That hurt that he would take from us, and especially from his grandson.
21:56The sisters say they began to wonder if money had been the motive for their mother's shooting.
22:02But without police action, they felt they had to move on.
22:07So I kind of started letting it go.
22:09Chelsea says she even let her son, Greg, build a bond with his grandfather.
22:15I hated him for taking my mom from me, but I loved how good he was to my son.
22:22Four years later, in 2020, Corporal Greg Allen was assigned to investigate open cases for the Pennsylvania State Police,
22:31and says this case caught his eye.
22:33What about this case stood out to you?
22:36To me, it was the original 911 call.
22:41What's the problem there?
22:43A gunshot wound, my wife.
22:47On the 911 call, I hear three different accounts of what happened.
22:53Okay, was it self-inflicted?
22:55No, we were fighting.
22:58He says, we were fighting.
23:00When questioned, Bruno quickly changed his story.
23:04You said you guys were arguing?
23:06No, we were playing around with the gun.
23:08And we were shooting it.
23:10We were going to go shooting it, and I pulled the trigger and it went through my hand.
23:16He also offered this version.
23:19I was playing with the gun, and I let it go off.
23:23Bruno knew his way around guns, says Corporal Allen.
23:27So why would he have his finger on the trigger of a gun that was loaded?
23:32This is the gun that was used.
23:33Crime unit supervisor, Corporal Dan Nylon, was asked by Corporal Allen to examine all the evidence,
23:40beginning with Bruno's police interview.
23:42I grabbed it.
23:43My wife was sitting on the bed on that side.
23:46I was on this side.
23:47I went to check the chamber to see if there was a round in there.
23:52Okay.
23:53My wife leaned back toward me.
23:55Maybe she didn't know I was doing it.
23:57And I pulled the trigger by accident, or else I let the slide go and it discharged.
24:05There were so many red flags that we knew he wasn't telling the truth.
24:08To begin with, says Corporal Nylon, if Bruno was really trying to clear the gun's chamber,
24:14he would have ejected the magazine.
24:16The first thing you're going to do when you unload the gun is drop the magazine out of it.
24:20There were also two safeties on the gun.
24:23Corporal Nylon showed us just how hard it is to discharge the weapon accidentally.
24:28So your grip, your hand would have to be on the grip.
24:31Additionally, there is a trigger safety.
24:34There is a small piece of the trigger that has to be depressed in order for the gun to fire.
24:39So both things need to occur.
24:42There were also questions about where Bruno and Melissa were sitting when the fatal shot was fired.
24:48I went like this and she was sitting in the bed there.
24:52So you see the way that he's holding the gun.
24:55He is pointing it to the opposite side of the bed.
24:58But Nylon and Allen say there was blood and ballistics evidence on the wall behind Bruno.
25:05Directly behind him.
25:06So the evidence is here and here.
25:09Yes.
25:10Everything is behind him right now.
25:11But he says he shot this way.
25:13Correct.
25:13They would need DNA testing and a forensic expert to confirm their suspicions that Bruno was lying.
25:22I can't remember.
25:23I'm going to go downstairs first.
25:24But in the meantime, Corporal Nylon found a key piece of evidence that he says no one had ever examined.
25:32Video and audio from the night of the shooting recorded on a home security system.
25:40It turns out that a security camera mounted on the front of the house had recorded Melissa Rekuba's last words.
26:03These are the final images of Melissa Rekuba.
26:08Recorded on this home security camera and this DVR.
26:13Dan Nylon says when he first discovered the recording, he could see Melissa and her husband Bruno arriving home from
26:21their night out.
26:22But it was difficult to make out most of what they were saying.
26:26I remember sitting in our office with the door closed, headphones on, the office refrigerator unplugged.
26:33Trying to get as many words as I could.
26:36Greg Allen says that one thing was clear.
26:39There was definitely an argument that happened between them.
26:43Allen says the original investigators told him they had no way to review the recording because they didn't have access
26:50to the necessary technology.
26:52But Allen's team did, and could now see that the recording begins in the driveway, where you can hear the
26:59couple arguing.
27:05But it doesn't seem to end there.
27:08Once inside the house, it sounds like they're still arguing, says Allen.
27:12That time of year, their window was open, so you could also pick up sound, audio from inside as well.
27:21The sound was just much harder to hear.
27:23But with Bruno's changing stories and possible evidence of an argument, investigators were now treating Melissa Rekuba's death as a
27:34possible murder.
27:36This is the last time she's ever seen.
27:39Dana and I have been doing this a long time, and we saw that, and the evidence speaks for itself.
27:44Then Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell agreed.
27:50My gut reaction was, this is probably a case that should have been charged back in 2013, and I can
27:56only guess that they thought it didn't warrant charges because he shot himself through the hand.
28:02Because who would purposely shoot themselves in the hand?
28:05Sure, sure.
28:09With Powell's team now on board, Melissa's family was informed that the case was once again active.
28:18I was like, this is different.
28:19They are very, very sure about themselves, that this was a crime my dad did this on purpose.
28:26Chelsea says she now had mixed feelings about her relationship with her father.
28:31I live next door, so my son's very close with him.
28:36It's not black and white.
28:38Investigators then sent a portion of the DVR recording to an FBI crime lab for enhancement.
28:47I remember thinking, the chances of this helping us are probably slim because this system is old.
28:54DNA testing was also ordered on some of the blood evidence, and a forensic expert was hired to help determine
29:02how the shooting took place.
29:04We retained the services of Dr. Wayne Ross, who's a highly respected forensic pathologist and a blood pattern expert.
29:13About a month later, the enhanced DVR audio was back, and Dan Nylon says it was clear the couple had
29:20been arguing right up until the moment the gun went off.
29:34It's still hard to make out every word, but the official police transcript notes that Bruno and Melissa can be
29:42heard cursing and calling each other names.
29:46The transcript also notes the sound of a dog barking.
29:53Then Melissa shouts, I didn't do anything.
29:57Listen closely.
30:02Nearly 30 minutes after they first pulled into the driveway, Melissa told Bruno that he had to leave because of
30:10something he'd previously done hundreds of times, said Melissa.
30:17A bit later, Melissa can be heard talking.
30:23Then it sounds like things are being thrown.
30:32Just seconds later, the gun goes off.
30:38It was not an accident.
30:39They were fighting the entire time, and then a gunshot goes off.
30:44Joanne says she hasn't been able to listen to the recording, but has read the transcript.
31:13Also horrifying is the sound of Chelsea screaming after her father called her over.
31:19And she first discovered her mother.
31:28She says she doesn't remember questioning her father that night, but she did.
31:35And Bruno's answer gave police yet another version of his story.
31:41She came home, she wanted to take the gun out of the place, and I told her, no, we're not
31:45doing that.
31:46He implied that Melissa had been the one holding the gun.
31:50You want me to go to?
31:51No.
31:53She's all right.
31:54I know.
31:55No.
31:56A little over two weeks later, Mark Powell says forensic expert Dr. Wayne Ross confirmed what Greg Allen and Dan
32:05Nylon had suspected about how all the blood got on the wall behind Bruno.
32:11It was very clear that he was on top of his wife, that he was using his hand to hold
32:18her and threaten her with a gun.
32:20And so where do you say Bruno was at that time?
32:24Almost in the middle of the bed.
32:25Turned around.
32:26Turned around, facing the headboard.
32:29The theory is that Melissa tried to escape Bruno's grip, and there was a struggle.
32:36And through a struggle, his hand gets loose.
32:39He fires the gun at the same time.
32:44There's blood evidence that starts here and travels in a right-to-left pattern, and that is Bruno's blood.
32:53And the only way that that could be explained is if Bruno did a motion like this with his hand
32:59after the bullet struck it.
33:01I don't know how you have an accidental shooting when you're standing over your wife with a gun, threatening to
33:06shoot her, and you discharge a bullet by pulling the trigger.
33:09So in my world, that's not accidental.
33:12That's murder with malice.
33:13What do you think your sister would say about all of this?
33:17Who?
33:19If she was here, she would say, lock his ass up and get away from my kids and my grandkids.
33:28On June 2nd, 2022, a warrant was issued for Bruno's arrest.
33:35Chelsea says her father was well aware and well prepared.
33:39He had guns all over.
33:41His nightstand was all pictures of my mom.
33:44They were never there.
33:58On the morning of June 3rd, 2022, two Pennsylvania State Police troopers followed Bruno Recuba on his way to work.
34:07Yeah, he's looking for a good spot to pull over.
34:10Corporal Greg Allen says they weren't taking any chances with Recuba's arrest.
34:15Chelsea said he had a lot of guns.
34:17Were you concerned something could go wrong?
34:19Whenever you have an arrest warrant in your hand, you try to take every precaution that you can.
34:25Jefferson Medrano, just start hitting north on 171.
34:30In the end, they pulled Recuba over in a traffic stop on his way to work.
34:37Who got your license plate out here?
34:39Where?
34:39What?
34:40Yeah.
34:43All right, hold up.
34:44Right here.
34:45Hey, you have a gun?
34:46Any guns on you?
34:46No, no, no.
34:47All right, put your hands on your back.
34:48All right.
34:49It was June 3rd, 2022, nearly nine years after Melissa's death, and Recuba was charged with her murder.
34:58There was also a charge of theft for the money prosecutors say he took from his daughters.
35:04And he lawyered up.
35:06Lawyered up right away.
35:08Within a few minutes.
35:11Chelsea, who was still feeling conflicted, decided to help her father pay his legal bills.
35:18I loved him.
35:19I still, I didn't want it to be worse.
35:22Recuba once again hired Joe D'Andrea and pled not guilty.
35:28Is Bruno still telling you the same story?
35:30He never wavered from the story that it was an accident.
35:33But D'Andrea says he was now seeing and hearing the evidence for the first time, and says there was
35:43a lot to explain to a jury, like the various versions of Recuba's stories.
35:49I went like this, and she was sitting in the bed there.
35:51All captured on tape.
35:54Any discussions or any arguments or anything before that happened?
35:58No.
35:58The most challenging, says D'Andrea, that police walked through.
36:03Now, if Bruno didn't make a statement, he probably would never have gotten charged.
36:10Also concerning to D'Andrea was how a jury would feel about Recuba's relationship with Tanya Wilczeski and the question
36:18of when it began.
36:20Possible motive?
36:21Oh, clearly.
36:22If it's not a motive, the jury sure wasn't going to like him for doing it.
36:26Tanya Wilczeski declined our request for an interview, but sent this text saying there was never an affair.
36:34Bruno Recuba never responded to our request for an interview.
36:42But Joe D'Andrea says he was most concerned about how the jury would react to Melissa's final moments.
36:52When you hear screaming and somebody shot, the jury concluded, you shot her on purpose.
36:59I didn't want to take any chance of being found guilty of a first-degree murder and spend the rest
37:04of his life in jail.
37:04D'Andrea says he spent the next two years building his case around his best evidence, that bloody wound to
37:13his client's hand.
37:14Who would put a bullet through their hand to kill somebody?
37:18Do you have anything you'd like to say?
37:20No, nothing.
37:21But in May 2024, two years after this arrest, as Recuba's trial approached, both sides agreed to a plea deal.
37:31Third-degree murder and no charge of theft.
37:34It wasn't that he intentionally killed Melissa.
37:36His actions were reckless.
37:38Having a gun, drinking, bullet in the chamber, safeties off, in a pretty passionate argument.
37:49That's a prescription for some bad stuff to happen, which did.
37:56It may very well be your sister's own voice that ultimately put him behind bars.
38:05I never really thought about it like that.
38:08Yeah.
38:10On January 8th, 2025, Joanne attended Recuba's sentencing hearing and read him her victim impact statement.
38:21I looked at him first and made him look at me, because I know it's like seeing a ghost, because
38:27I look like my sister.
38:30Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom.
38:32Through all of this, you have never showed an ounce of remorse.
38:36So Joanne shared her statement during our interview.
38:40As far as what you did to your daughters, Bruno, you killed their mother.
38:47You tried to erase her existence, but you cannot erase her memories.
38:52If there was a trial, would you have testified against him?
38:55Yes.
38:56You said that quickly.
38:59Yeah, I would have.
39:02You know, my mom deserves justice, and my mom, she should be here.
39:09Bruno Recuba was sentenced to 12 to 40 years behind bars.
39:14With time served, Recuba could be up for parole starting in 2035.
39:21Now that he's gone, we can breathe a little bit better, but it doesn't change the hurt or the pain
39:28or what we have to work through as a family.
39:31And we'll revisit this in 10 more years, because every single time he comes up for parole, I will be
39:39there to protest it.
39:42Chelsea and Sabrina both say they have very mixed feelings about their father and what justice looks like.
39:50He took someone's life, and it wasn't an accident.
39:54He doesn't deserve to get out.
39:57I want him to get out at the same time, because I love him and I miss him.
40:01Everybody's like, oh, we finally get justice.
40:04Good for you.
40:06I got justice for my mom, but now I just lost my father.
40:09My son lost his grandfather, and it's hard on my son.
40:12That's who I have to protect.
40:15How are you keeping your mom's memory alive?
40:19I have all of her pictures all over my fridge, and I tell my daughter how wonderful her grandmother was
40:27and how much my mom loved being a grandmother.
40:34She cared about my son more than anything.
40:37She loved that little boy.
40:39Where's Gammie?
40:40Show me.
40:41Right here.
40:43And I think she wouldn't want my son to hurt the way that this has hurt him.
40:49I want him to come back.
40:51Me too.
40:53Just weeks after our interview, on March 10, 2025, Chelsea says her son Greg was out riding his all-terrain
41:02vehicle when he collided with an SUV and died.
41:06He was just 13 years old.
41:13Another tragic loss for a family that had already lost so much.
41:19It's something that you read in a book or see on TV, not your own life.
41:26It just doesn't feel like this should be our story as a family.
41:30It just doesn't feel like this should be our story.
42:00It just doesn't feel like this should be our story.
42:01It's a dream.
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