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Found Guilty In DeathBy RUTH ANN McWHGRTERA Porter Superior Court jury took less than two hours Monday evening to return two guilty verdicts against a 26-year-old Michigan City man for the deaths of an elderly Beverly Shores couple 14 months ago.The jury of nine men and three women, who received the case Monday afternoon, reached verdicts of guilty at G: 15 Monday evening at the conclusion ol the trial of Sandy P. Bruce.The first degree murder counts each carry a life sentence. The jury also had the alternative of finding Bruce guilty of lesser included charges of second degree murder, voluntary manslaughter or involuntary manslaughter, but choose to find him guilty on the original firs! degree murder charges. Difference between first and second degree murder is that premeditation must be shown for firstdegree.In final instructions given by Special Judge Winfield Hauratv, the jurors .were told that there need not be an appreciable lapse of time between the formation of intent to kill and 1 he killing, for showing premeditationi that it may lit' as instantaneous as consecutive thoughts.Victims of the crime were Stanley Machin, 75, and Lilian Machin, 72. Their bodies were discoverer! Tuesday, Feb. 5, after their abandoned car was found about three blocks from Bruce’s Michigan City home.• A fingerprint identified as belonging to Bruce was found on the car. Fragments of gl.iss matching the lpe of glass from a door glass at the Machin residence, believed to have been broken near the time of the deaths, were also found in the ear, and in Bruce's clothing. Defense questioning of the glass expert witness brought outthat that type of glass is used for many purposes.Bruce became u suspect for the murders after a call to police by his wife. Alicefay, saying that her husband did it,Clothes worn by Bruce Hie eveningof the murders .was collected upon police request and turned over by Mrs. Bruce the day after the bodies were found. Also obtained from the Bruce home and garage were keys which matched the 3ocks of the Machins* car and a .12 gauge shotgun identified as (lie m urder weapon.Mrs. Bruce had purchased the shotgun as a Christmas present for her husband in 1973. Case believed to be the same one that went with the shotgun was found in bushes alongside a Beverly Shores road by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents the day after I he Machins’ bodies were discovered.
Newspaper Details
Valparaiso Vidette Messenger
Valparaiso, Indiana, US
Tue, Apr 15, 1975
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Porter C.
IN, USA 26 Jul 2023
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