By Tori Richards
October 30, 2007
EL MONTE, Calif. (Crime Library) — El Monte is a small working class suburb of Los Angeles where someone like Maria Bruno can just disappear into the landscape while going about her daily life.
It's a low-income area where residents eke out a living in the shadow of their wealthy celebrity neighbors 15 miles west; a place that has been home to an influx of prostitution, drugs and gang crime over the past several decades. But there are pockets where people like Maria Bruno, 32 and single, live in safety and relative comfort. That is, until the night of Dec. 1, 2005 rolled around.
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| Mary Kelly |
That was when a Jack the Ripper-style killer struck inside her apartment in a frenzied attack that left the vivacious former model looking like she'd been drained of half her blood. Like the final Ripper victim, Mary Kelly 107 years before, the killer had the benefit of an enclosed place where he could spend a good amount of time systematically mutilating her body. And like his Victorian counterpart, this modern-day Jack the Ripper has yet to be caught and is likely a serial killer.
"I've been a homicide detective 17 years and this was one of the most gruesome crime scenes I've ever seen, it would turn anyone's stomach," said Los Angeles sheriff's Detective Mark Lillienfeld. "There was a massive amount of blood. It's amazing what type of damage one person could inflict on another."
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