STEVEN: April 23rd,
a family of five had been reported missing.
JEFF: It was big news.
How could a family just disappear?
THOMM: An individual discovered a vehicle
that had been burned.
RODNEY: I looked into the back and I recognize human bone.
THOMM: We were now investigating a homicide
of five members of the same family.
A witness felt that the stepbrother
would have information about the homicides.
RODNEY: Some spray painting showed up
that's possibly linked to a Satanic cult.
Did Satanic cult have anything to do with this crime?
JEFF: An entire family massacre
and the question on everyone's mind was,
"Who could do such a thing?"
[fire crackling]
[theme music playing]
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: Cushing, Wisconsin is located
in West Central Wisconsin
not too far from the, uh, Minnesota border.
STEVEN: Geographically-remote area
at least in terms of the rest of the county.
An area that's more known for its Jack pine forest.
THOMM: This is an area that has a very low crime rate.
Nearly any crimes that are committed in this area
are simple cabin break-ins.
And the county itself has a very, very low murder rate.
[tense music playing]
THOMM: On April 24th, 1991,
Alice Anderson called the Polk County Sherriff's Department
regarding her 15-year-old son, Bruce Brenizer.
STEVEN: Bruce reported to his mother on April 23rd,
the day prior, that his father, Rick,
and his father's girlfriend, Ruth Berentson,
and his two stepsisters
and his half-sister Mindy, and Heidi,
and Crystal, were missing.
THOMM: Alice Anderson, Bruce's mother,
stated during her phone call that Bruce said
that two days earlier on April 22nd,
his family left on a trip to a store in Minnesota
and did not return home.
Bruce awoke the next morning
and the family had not returned.
Bruce's mother instructed him
to come to her residence after school.
He did go to her house and she made phone calls
to the Brenizer residence and received no answer.
The next day, April 24th,
there was still no answer.
So she called the Polk County Sheriff's Department
and reported the family missing.
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: When this family was reported missing,
there's just an endless amount of possibilities
that the investigators have to consider.
I mean, did they drive away intentionally?
So we start doing interviews of all the contacts
that this family had, retracing their whereabouts,
trying to establish where they had gone,
what they had done, talking to family members,
neighbors, acquaintances.
THOMM: Family members said that Rick Brenizer
was a hardworking individual
who earned a living with a number of part-time jobs.
He worked for a turkey producer doing fencing
and he did some fencing on his own as a freelancer.
STEVEN: Rick's father had suggested
that when he on a fencing job,
he would occasionally leave the home for a job
that was too far away and occasionally
was known to bring his family with him.
That was one possible scenario.
THOMM: Rick would sell things
at a local flea market on weekends.
We talked to the owner of the flea market.
He said that Rick had reserved a unit
for April 27th but did not show up.
He said that that was very unusual for Rick
to not show up when he has a reservation.
We still had no leads as to what had happened
to the Brenizer family.
So it was decided that we would talk to Ricky's son, Bruce.
STEVEN: Investigators from the city of St. Croix Falls
went to the high school to speak with Bruce,
to try to obtain some more information
about the last time that he saw his family.
Bruce simply indicated that his family
had all went in the family station wagon
to Minnesota in the Twin Cities area
to go to Menards,
which is a builders supply type store.
They were to get supplies
and they were to come home late that evening.
THOMM: Bruce said his father Ricky
had asked him to come along to Minnesota
to buy these materials.
However, Bruce said that he had too much homework to do.
STEVEN: There was a bit of an argument
between Rick and Bruce
about whether or not Bruce was to go with them.
Rick relented and allowed Bruce to stay home.
And that's the last time that he saw his family.
After interviews with Bruce
and family members and relatives
and those people who worked with Rick Brenizer,
it is not likely that Rick would have taken his family
and suddenly disappeared from the area.
THOMM: There just is no explainable reason
for the family to leave
unless they had gone to the store in Minnesota
and something had happened to them en route
or while returning home.
While we were looking for information
on the Brenizer family,
we learned that Ricky Brenizer
had been married to Alice Anderson.
Ricky and Alice had one son, Bruce.
At some point, Ricky and Alice had broken up.
Alice married Ron Anderson.
And Ricky met Ruth Berentson.
STEVEN: Ruth had two daughters
from a previous relationship,
Mindy and Heidi.
And then together, Ruth and Rick Brenizer
had a daughter, Crystal.
THOMM: The Brenizer family lived together
in a mobile home in Sterling Township
which was 10 miles west of the community of Cushing.
RODNEY: When we look at the Brenizer family,
uh, they're a hardworking family without a lot of resources.
They're trying to make a go of it with four children at home,
Bruce and then the three daughters.
Financially, they're not wealthy people.
It's a difficult living arrangement
but it's a family unit.
After several days, we still know
about the Brenizer family members' whereabouts.
As time went by and no trace was showing up,
it just led to greater speculation
of different possibilities of what happened to them.
It seemed that Brenizer family just didn't pack up
and leave the area and start anew someplace.
Five people just don't vanish with no trace.
THOMM: Now, we have to shift our investigation
from a missing persons' investigation
to looking for evidence of foul play.
On April 27th,
we contacted that Fridley Menards store
where Bruce said that his father went to buy lumber supplies.
They said that they would go through their receipts
and their sales transactions to see
if there was any purchase by Ricky at their store
and report back.
At that time, members of the Polk County Sheriff's Department
were searching and trying to find the Brenizer vehicle.
STEVEN: Officers knew from Bruce Brenizer
that the Brenizer family were reported
to have left the home
in a 1980 Oldsmobile Station Wagon.
That vehicle was then entered into NCIC
as a vehicle that would hit
if any other law enforcement officer
would run that plate.
[suspenseful music playing]
THOMM: On May 3rd, 1991,
the Fridley Menards Store contacted us.
It was learned that no purchase had been made
by Ricky Brenizer on April 22nd.
STEVEN: There were neighborhood searches of roads,
of the trails, and driveways
that were common in the Sterling Township area.
Additionally, there was helicopter flights
with ground support attempting to find any evidence
that would lead to the whereabouts
of the Brenizer family.
THOMM: No one within the county
appeared to have seen the Brenizer family
or their Oldsmobile Station Wagon
after their disappearance.
STEVEN: This case quickly became the lead story.
It was on the top of the news.
It was in the front page of the newspapers.
It was a case that had everybody in suspense.
JEFF: In April of 1991, I was a crime reporter
mostly covering the Minneapolis Police Department
and St. Paul Police Department.
We first heard about it on The Associated Press wire
which means every news outlet in the Midwest
is getting alerted to this.
It was big news.
How could a family of five just disappear
and leave a fifteen-year-old boy behind?
THOMM: We still had no leads
as to what had happened to the Brenizer family.
On May 11th, an individual called
the Polk County Sheriff's Department.
That individual discovered a vehicle
that had been burned in a wooded area
three miles from the Brenizer residence.
This vehicle matched the description
of the Brenizer car.
[suspenseful music playing]
RODNEY: I looked into the back and I recognize
what I believe to be bone fragments.
THOMM: Shortly after the car was found,
we received a report that there was
Satanic graffiti painted on a Masonic lodge.
JEFF: Do we have some crazy Satanic worshippers
running loose in Polk County?
[fire crackling]
[tense music playing]
Bruce Brenizer reported his family missing.
On May 11th,
a local fisherman had reported
that he'd discovered a Station Wagon
that was burnt out.
The vehicle was discovered several miles
west of the Brenizer home
in an area that was quite heavily wooded.
THOMM: When I saw the vehicle,
this vehicle appeared to have matched
the description of the Brenizer car.
The scene was cordoned off, it was secured.
Officers arrived and recordings of photographs
were made of the vehicle.
The department contacted
the state Department of Criminal Investigation
and the crime lab was requested to come to the scene
to process the vehicle and surrounding area
for evidence.
The car was completely burned out.
The license plates of the vehicle were gone.
There was a shovel in the back of the car.
There were scrape marks on the bed
of the back of the car, which indicated
that possibly the shovel had been used
to scrape something inside the car
after it had burned.
[suspenseful music playing]
RODNEY: When I arrived on the scene
of the burned out vehicle, you know,
I felt that we were facing a difficult investigation.
You know, we're in a wooded area,
there was, uh, a forest road
that was going down to a stream,
there were no neighbors, no nothing in the area,
it was just a forested area.
The four tires were burned, uh, down to the pads
that were in contact with the soil.
Uh, the contents of the inside were burned.
No upholstery left.
All plastics and the dash were burned.
Uh, just about a total burn from bumper to bumper.
We're looking for anything and everything
when we process a fire scene.
Every part of that vehicle has a story to tell
and it may be something unique.
In the driver's compartment, I looked at the steering column
and I could make several interpretations
such as the vehicle was moved to the scene
using a key, rather than somebody
had peeled the dash and-- and took out
the steering-like mechanism.
On the rear bumper, there was a blood stain
that had survived the fire.
And on the driver's door rear side,
there was a footprint on the exterior of the door
that happened after the fire.
So after this car has been burned up,
somebody went there and kicked
that particular door leaving a footprint.
THOMM: We suspected that it was arson
because of the turned over upward motor gas can
inside the vehicle.
RODNEY: As part of that evaluation scene,
I looked into the back cargo area of the vehicle,
and I recognized a lot of--
what I believe to be bone fragments.
[ominous music playing]
RODNEY: I felt that some of the bone was human
although I didn't have the expertise
to be conclusive about that.
STEVEN: At that point,
we called in the assistance of anthropology experts
from the University of Wisconsin
to assist in the collection of the bone fragments
and the analysis of the bone fragments.
RODNEY: Well, once the forensic anthropologist
arrived at the scene,
he looked at the bone fragment that was in the vehicle.
And by visually observing
the different shapes and formations of the bone,
he was able to conclude that we were looking
at human bone versus animal bone.
THOMM: The anthropologist went even so far as to say
that the remains in the vehicle
appeared to be that of two adults
and at least two juveniles.
RODNEY: At that point in the investigation,
we don't have a positive identification
on any of the skeletal remains.
THOMM: Since Ricky and the family
left in the Oldsmobile Station Wagon,
it's suspected that the remains
in the vehicle are the Brenizers.
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: At that time, DNA technology wasn't that good.
Plus with the amount of fire damage
to the skeletal remains, DNA is difficult.
So we were probably looking at dental remains
being our best method for identification.
So part of our investigative process
is to recover as many dental remains,
fragments of teeth, whole teeth
that we could find there so that we could send them
to the odontologist for identification.
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: When we examined the front seat area,
we didn't find any human remains up in the front seat.
So we felt that we had a driver
who transported these bodies
to the scene and that the bodies were burned
at that location after they were driven them.
So it's logical to assume that we're dealing
with a homicide and destruction of the bodies by far.
The investigators were left with questions,
is this really the Brenizer family?
We needed to identify the skeletal remains
so that we can find out what happened and solve this crime.
[dramatic music playing]ar
that was burnt to a crisp.
We now know that there were remains in the car.
The question was, whose remains are they?
STEVEN: At that point,
we sought the assistance of a dental expert
to analyze tooth fragments that were found in the vehicle.
DON: The anthropologist had determined
that there was five individuals
that were burned and commingled or mixed together.
The thinking was is that it could be the Brenizer family.
My role was to obtain dental records
and review those records,
compare them to post-mortem X-rays,
and hopefully to identify individuals
that were in this burned-out vehicle.
There were 97 different Dental fragments
that I examined.
And there were fragments
that I was able to identify
as having come from Rick.
There were fragments that I was able to identify
as having come from Ruth.
There were no fragments that I was able to identify
positively as having come from the children.
But I was able to state that there were remains
that were recovered in this vehicle
that were consistent with a five to a six-year-old,
a seven to eight-year-old,
and approximately a ten to eleven-year-old individual.
During the course of this examination,
there were few fragments that struck me
as being odd or unique.
Some of Rick's fragments showed presence of lead.
There's no lead in the silver filling.
So, I think that Rick was shot in the head.
And as that shell is coming through,
it left trace of evidence on that particular tooth.
Now, we have credible evidence to say
that these remains are those of Ricky Brenizer,
Ruth Berentson, Heidi, Mindy, and Crystal.
And that at least Ricky was shot in the head.
We were now investigating the homicide
of five members of the same family.
The deaths of the Brenizer family
whereas horrific a crime
as had ever happened in Cushing before.
RODNEY: It caused so much hardship in the community
and especially with the murders
of a couple of young children.
JEFF: This was a absolute bombshell for this community.
Suddenly, the family's been found,
but they were incinerated.
Whoever did this, one of this family
wiped off the face of the Earth.
It was so shocking.
Who could possibly want them dead?
How could this happen to an entire family?
The entire town,
their heart was breaking for Bruce Brenizer.
He was the lone survivor.
[dramatic music playing]
THOMM: Social workers offered their services
to Alice's family and specifically Bruce,
but she stated that Bruce wasn't in need of it.
Bruce didn't seem to be having any issues at that time.
Typically in homicides,
the guilty parties are individuals
that are either known or related to the victims.
STEVEN: Bruce was interviewed a number of times.
He was cooperative with law enforcement.
He provided a consistent story
with how his family disappeared
or the last time that he saw them.
He made himself available to law enforcement
when they needed more information.
THOMM: When we interviewed Bruce,
he stated that one of the times when he was home alone,
a male individual had come to the residence
looking for his father,
and that he had indicated that his father Ricky,
may have owed the individual money.
Bruce did indicate
that after his family disappeared,
someone had entered the house
and apparently searched the premises
after he had left for school on April 23rd.
And maybe that individual had come on the property
looking for something of value.
He didn't tell us that any property was missing,
but Bruce offered the theory that maybe that individual
was the reason that Ricky and his family had been killed.
STEVEN: Bruce reported to law enforcement
the suspicion that perhaps his father
was in trouble financially,
and that somewhere in that was a motive
for somebody to do harm to them.
This was a lead that was investigated.
RODNEY: We looked at Rick's financial records
to see where expenditures were made,
if there is indebtedness to somebody.
And we talked to people who knew the Brenizer family.
THOMM: There never was any individual
discovered by law enforcement that Ricky owed money to.
And there were no other indications
of financial distress for Rick Brenizer.
[dramatic music playing]
THOMM: Shortly after the car was found,
we received a report that there was Satanic graffiti
painted on a Masonic lodge in St. Croix Falls.
RODNEY: Some spray painting showed up
in a neighboring community
that possibly linked to a Satanic cult.
The speculation went wild.
Did a Satanic cult have anything to do with this crime?
JEFF: There had been rumors surrounding this case
from the very beginning, but when the remains were found
and they were so badly incinerated,
we, as the media,
were all convinced it was Satanic worship
because often, there's Satanic rituals involving fires.
But the idea that Satanic graffiti was found
on a nearby temple really pushed that narrative
that this could have been Satan worship.
The question everybody was asking is,
do we have some crazy Satanic worshippers
running loose in Polk County?
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: We interviewed Katie Han,
friend of Bruce Brenizer.
She was also the girlfriend of Jesse Anderson,
the stepbrother to Bruce Brenizer.
It was obvious from talking to Katie
that there was a lot of tension amongst Jesse and Bruce.
THOMM: Jesse Anderson was asked what he knew
about the disappearance of the Brenizer family.
Did he have any involvement in this?
[dramat that were burnedive peop
and now the discovery of some spray painting
possibly linked to a Satanic cult.
The idea that a Satanic cult could kill five people
including three children and then burned the bodies,
that's a pretty scary thing to live with in your small town.
[dramatic music playing]
THOMM: While interviewing one of Bruce's friends,
we learned that Bruce had purchased marijuana
from a person who might have some sort of Satanic background.
He also said that Bruce might owe that person money.
STEVEN: In this interview, there was a lot of discussion
about an organized Satanic worship
or cult related drug enterprise
that may play into the death of this family.
Officers investigated these reports
and simply found no credible information
to suggest that that was true.
THOMM: At this point in the investigation,
we've dismissed the fact that any Satanic involvement
could be linked to the homicides.
RODNEY: As this investigation is unfolding,
the investigative team is out there doing interviews
of all the contacts that this family had.
Six days after that vehicle
was found burned up in the woods,
myself and an investigator from Polk County
interviewed Katie Han, friend of Bruce Brenizer.
She was also the girlfriend of Jesse Anderson,
the stepbrother to Bruce Brenizer.
Bruce and Jesse were fairly close.
Even though they were stepbrothers,
they were close to the same age and they were confidants.
We wanted to interview Katie to learn
what she knows from conversations
and just the physical actions of these individuals,
Jesse and Bruce.
It was obvious from talking to Katie
that there was a lot of tension amongst Jesse and Bruce
about the aggressive police interviewing that was going on.
She said Jesse and Bruce were making comments
as if they knew more about the murder
of the Brenizer family.
We know that Bruce Brenizer was the only one left alive.
Did he have any involvement in this?
As this information came out,
we began to focus on Bruce and Jesse.
THOMM: We interviewed another friend
who knew of Bruce's activities
since the family disappeared.
This person had knowledge that Bruce was removing items
from the residence and selling them
and he was also spending coins
that were his father's
that were collector type coins at a local arcade.
According to this witness,
shortly after the family disappeared,
Bruce was giving TVs and stereos away to his friends.
He was telling his friends that he now
had three vehicles of his own which is somewhat strange
considering his family was just reported missing.
So now we were starting to see a side of Bruce
that might indicate that he knew
that his family wasn't coming home.
This witness felt that Jesse Anderson,
Bruce's step brother,
would probably have some knowledge
or some information about this crime,
because he said that Jesse was a person
who likes to know what's going on,
and he was always hanging out
with his stepbrother, Bruce.
RODNEY: Upon talking to Bruce's family members and friends,
it's my understanding that Bruce and Jesse were extremely close,
that there--there were no secrets between them.
[suspenseful music playing]
THOMM: At that point, we set up to conduct
an interview with Jesse Anderson.
Jesse was living with his father, Ron Anderson,
and Bruce's mother Alice Anderson
in a house just outside of the city of St. Croix Falls.
[suspenseful music playing]
THOMM: It was determined that officers would interview
Jesse Anderson with his father present.
Jesse was asked what he knew about
the murders of the Brenizer family.
Jesse related a story similar to that
which Bruce had given officers
that this family left their house hurriedly
on a trip to Menards in Minnesota.
During questioning about
the murders of the Brenizer family,
Jesse became very agitated and defensive.
At that point, Jesse and his father
went to talk amongst themselves for approximately 15 minutes.
After the 15 minutes, Ron Anderson stated that
he wished to consult with an attorney
before making further statements,
because Jesse wanted to tell the truth
about the murder of the Brenizer family.
It was apparent that Jesse knew
more about the murder of the Brenizer family
than he initially had said.
[suspenseful music playing]
THOMM: Jesse Anderson, Bruce's stepbrother,
said that he wants to cooperate
with the investigation
into the murder of the Brenizer family.
On May 18th, we met with Jesse,
his attorney, and his father
at the Amery Police Department in Amery, Wisconsin.
Jesse said that Bruce told him on April 21st
that he was going to shoot his entire family.
Jesse didn't believe that he was serious.
Bruce had expressed to Jesse a strong dislike
for his father and Ruth Berentson.
Bruce expressed a strong dislike
for living in the conditions
that he was living in with his father.
Jesse told us that both boys
went to school on the 22nd.
Later that evening,
Jesse received a phone call from Bruce.
Bruce said, "I did it. I killed them all."
Jesse said that Bruce then
related in detail over the phone
how he had tied up two of the girls.
Then he shot them outside the back of their mobile home.
Bruce then went back into the trailer to his bedroom,
stood by an open window
and waited until his dad arrived home.
RODNEY: Jesse said some time later,
Bruce's father, and Ruth,
and Crystal, the five-year-old,
drive into the Brenizer property,
and Bruce's dad is walking up to the trailer.
THOMM: Ricky asked Bruce
what he was doing with the rifle.
Bruce shot Ricky two times, killing him.
Bruce then went toward the living room
and saw Ruth on the phone
trying to call the sheriff's department.
He terminated the call by cutting the phone lines,
and ordered Ruth at gunpoint to go outside.
RODNEY: She runs out the front door of the trailer,
and then he shoots her in the back of the head.
THOMM: Jesse said that Bruce went back into the house
and observed Crystal, age five,
standing at the back door of the trailer
where she could see her two dead sisters.
Bruce ordered her out of the house
and shot Crystal in the head, killing her.
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: Jesse's story was that he had
gotten a phone call from Bruce
that he wanted Jesse to come out there
and he needed to clean up the crime scene.
THOMM: When Jesse arrived at the Brenizer residents,
the scene upset Jesse so much that he threw up.
Jesse said that they then decided
they were going to transport the bodies
using the Oldsmobile Station Wagon.
Jesse and Bruce then dragged the bodies
and put them in the back of the Station Wagon.
Jesse told us that they went around
to each location where there had been a body
and disposed of the bloody sand.
RODNEY: Jesse said they used a snow shovel
to scoop up some of the physical remains
that were present there.
THOMM: After that was done, they agreed that
they would drive somewhere nearby
and burn the vehicle.
Jesse told us that he refused to drive
the Station Wagon with the bodies in it,
so he drove a Hyundai behind Bruce.
The Hyundai was another one of
Bruce's father's vehicles.
They went three miles to an area near a river
where they found a logging type road.
RODNEY: They took the license plates off
and took those with them.
THOMM: They had an outboard motor tank of gasoline,
they doused the car.
Jesse watched Bruce light a piece of paper
and throw it into the car.
[suspenseful music playing]
RODNEY: Jesse told us that the rifle
that was used as he tossed into
a small pond by Bruce near one of the county highways.
THOMM: They did not see or speak to each other
until the following morning.
Jesse told Bruce that he was unable to sleep
very well that night.
Bruce said that he slept like a baby
because there was no one at his house
making any noise.
According to Jesse, on May 8th, 9th, or 10th,
Jesse and Bruce drove to the burned up car.
Bruce wanted to make sure
that the remains of the family members
were totally burned up.
RODNEY: They look at the car and there's some large
skeletal remains, large bones still left in the car.
THOMM: Jesse said that Bruce got a duffel bag
he had with him.
He reached into the burned out car,
grabbing several pieces of bone fragments
and put them inside the duffel bag.
They also found a head which they suspected was
that of one of the girls that was put in the duffel bag.
The duffel bag was put in the trunk
and they went back to Jesse's house.
[dramatic music playing]
RODNEY: Bruce and Jesse buried the license plates
in back of the barn
and out in a cornfield near the farm.
There was a burn pit area
and they'd buried the blue duffel bag
with the human remains there.
THOMM: We have believed that the information
received from Jesse Anderson
was truthful and reliable
because the testimony that he gave
matched the crime scene.
Much of this information had not previously been
released to the media.
After Jesse's statement,
a search warrant was obtained for the Alice and Ron Anderson
residence in St. Croix Falls.
RODNEY: When we arrived at the home,
Bruce was there and so was his mother.
During the search warrant at that property,
I'd found a composition notebook from Bruce Brenizer.
In that notebook, he had written about
his unhappiness with his father
and the family situation.
There were some notes to the effect that
he hated his father.
And that hate was to the level that
he wished his father was dead.
[suspenseful music playing]
RODNEY: So there was sufficient probable cause
to arrest Bruce.
We told Bruce that he was under the arrest
for the murder of his five family members.
We secured him and then transported him
to the Polk County Sheriff's Department.
All during the time, he really held no reaction,
he was rather stone-face, didn't question anything.
JEFF: This was such a horrific case,
an entire family massacred
and the thought that a teenage boy
could be responsible was almost unimaginable.
Everybody knew the name Bruce Brenizer,
and everybody had spent a month
sympathizing for this young man.
When they arrested Bruce,
most people just couldn't imagine
how could a teenage boy do something like this?
[suspenseful music playing]
POLICE OFFICER: On Saturday night,
a juvenile was taken into custody
as a result of this investigation.
THOMM: After Bruce was arrested,
Jesse was informed that if he assisted officers in
recovering evidence,
then he would not be taken into custody.
RODNEY: Jesse was offered immunity
if he was not involved in the murder itself.
It's a horrific crime
to be associated with the murder of five people.
And Jesse made the choice
to become a state's witness in this.
The next day, after Bruce was arrested,
we're doing continuation of the search warrant
at the Anderson property.
Jesse takes us out and gives us the general location
where the license plates are.
The license plates were buried in back of the barn
near a junk pile.
And out in a cornfield near the farm,
there was a burn pit area,
and they dug up the blue duffel bag
with the human remains there.
[suspenseful music playing]
RODNEY: With Jesse's help, we identified the pond
where the rifle had been tossed into.
We went to the pond with a metal detector
and we're able to wade into the pond
and actually recovered the rifle.
It was a 30-30 Marlin lever-action,
and there were some identifying initials
on the rifle that go back to Bruce Brenizer.
During the examination of the Brenizer trailer,
I found a. 30-caliber bullet
that was mushroomed and partially into the ground.
That bullet was sent to the lab
and eventually matched up
to the rifle that was recovered in the pond.
And directly adjacent to that was an adult tooth.
There were some small pieces of white bone
that eventually were identified as skull material
that was found just in that proximity
where we believe Mr. Brenizer had been shot and killed.
When we went to the back far corner of
the Brenizer trailer, there was an area that
started to notice a lot of real bleached
white fragments on the ground.
One of the things that was learned
from the interview of Jesse is that Bruce had taken Crystal,
the five-year-old, to that back corner
of the trailer and had executed her,
which causes a spray away pattern of
the skull fragments that we recovered
during that search warrant.
During this investigative process,
we gained a lot of physical and interview evidence.
Human remains that were in the blue duffel bag
are sent down to the state crime laboratory,
and they are matched to the Brenizer family members.
At the conclusion of this investigation,
it left no doubt whatsoever
that Bruce Brenizer is the individual
who killed his family members
and then facilitated the destruction of their bodies.
NEWS REPORTER: Two years to the day that Bruce Brenizer
took a deer rifle
and killed five members of his family,
he walked into court and admitted it,
pleading guilty to all five counts of murder,
three of them by reason of insanity.
RODNEY: Eventually, there is a plea arrangement
that struck with Bruce's attorney
and the District Attorney's Office.
And Bruce is found guilty of killing the two adults,
and is found insane at the time that he kills the children.
RODNEY: Bruce is sentenced to life with confinement
in the criminal mental health system
of the state of Wisconsin.
Certainly one would have to think
that you're not mentally right
in order to do a crime like this,
you know, whether justice was served in his sentence,
I don't know. But I know he--
at least he's not in the position
to do that again.
And that's the most important thing.
THOMM: The Brenizer family killing
was truly horrific.
It was a crime that was senseless.
STEVEN: It was hard for me to understand then
and it's hard for me to understand now,
how a person can kill their entire family
and burn their remains.
JEFF: I think about those little girls
and their last moments on the planet
were being murdered by their brother.
There--there are-- there are no words.