By Tori Richards
(Continued)
When the marriage ended, Maria decided to move into a gated apartment building that was home to lower middle income professionals. The complex had three buildings totaling 180 units and Maria Bruno lived on the ground floor in the center, bordering a courtyard. The main entry was through a glassed-in lobby that was accessible with a key card, although anyone could slip in behind a resident's car once the security gate opened.
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| Maria Bruno |
Maria had just started dating the manager of a high-end restaurant in Pasadena when she died. He had an alibi for part of the evening because he was working. He had no key to her apartment, no motive and no criminal history. Lillienfeld looked at other crimes in the El Monte area, in Los Angeles County, in the state of California and across the nation. Nothing matched this crime. Lillienfeld put details of his case in a nationwide database, to be flagged in case something happened in the future.
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| Mark Lillienfeld |
In the meantime, Detective Lillienfeld had a pretty good idea of the type of person he was looking for. A veteran of hundreds of murder cases, the detective is best known for doggedly pursuing the business partner of slain racecar driver Mickey Thompson, ultimately winning a conviction 19 years after the murder. His success was due to nothing short of his raw determination in following thousands of leads, most of them dead ends.
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