The Cold Case of Judy Bruce

Liz Jin
5 min readJul 2, 2024

The mother of two was killed after discovering a horrifying secret about her husband

Judy Bruce (far left) was a shy stay-at-home mom before cleft palate surgery opened up her world; photo source.

All Judy wanted was to be seen and heard. Judy was born in 1941 with a cleft palate, which made it difficult for people to understand what she was saying. As a result, she tended to stay at home and blend into the background.

Judy’s debilitating shyness didn’t stop her from getting married and having children. In the 1960s, she met Larry Bruce, a truck driver. She and Larry had one child together, a son named LeRoy. Judy also had a daughter, Melody, from another relationship.

But the Ohio housewife longed for more. She wanted friends and a social life.

Judy’s prayers were answered when she underwent corrective surgery to fix her cleft palate. Suddenly, her world opened up. First, Judy got her driver’s license. She then found a housekeeping job at a hospital and, with it, the friends she longed for.

Judy’s newfound happiness is short-lived.

On November 2, 1978, Judy was too sick to go to work.

LeRoy and Melody recall looking into the bedroom that morning and seeing their mother lying on the bed, not moving. Larry told them that their mother had been ill the night before.

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Liz Jin
Liz Jin

Written by Liz Jin

“I wake up in the morning with a desire to both save the world and savor the world. That makes it hard to plan my day.”

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