On the evening of August 28, 1996, Carlos Nuno, a 31-year-old man, was finishing his workday as a butcher at La Placita Meat Market in Bellflower, California. It was a Wednesday like any other until a wave of brutal violence shattered the peace of the local market and ended the lives of three men, including Carlos. His death was part of a terrifying and bloody crime spree that haunted Southern California for over a year.
The man responsible for the carnage was Bruce "Loco" Millsap, the
leader of a Carson-area Crips gang. Between 1995 and 1996, Millsap and his accomplices engaged in a series of violent robberies that spread fear across Los Angeles, Orange, and San Bernardino counties. Their primary targets were often armored cars, but their thirst for money and violence led them to other businesses as well. Millsap's method was ruthless and direct: he shot his victims, often without giving them a chance to comply with his demands.
On that late August day, Millsap entered La Placita Meat Market with the intent to rob it. Inside, Carlos Nuno was working alongside the store's owner, Francisco Parocua, and another man, Patrick Barnett. All three men were shot and killed in the course of the robbery. The incident was not an isolated act but a part of a larger, more sinister pattern of violence that had already claimed multiple lives and would claim more before it was over.
The investigation into the string of murders was a massive undertaking, with law enforcement agencies working tirelessly to connect the dots between the seemingly random, yet brutally similar, crimes. Homicide detectives described the perpetrators as "super predators" and their crime spree as "so broad in scope, so unrepentant, so murderous, that investigators worked around the clock, seven days a week, months on end, to bring their reign of terror to an end." The trail of evidence and the testimony of former accomplices eventually led them to Bruce Millsap and his crew.
In January 2000, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found Bruce Millsap guilty on 23 felony counts, including eight counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for the deaths of Carlos Nuno, Francisco Parocua, Patrick Barnett, and five other victims: Ramone McKissick, Fernando Herrera, Manuel Garibay, James Moon, and Lamont Smith. Garibay was murdered because he was a witness against Millsap in another case. Millsap's accomplice, Kendrick Loot, was also convicted on multiple counts, including three of murder.
The sentencing phase of the trial brought a measure of justice for the victims and their families. The judge, citing the cruelty and callousness of the crimes, sentenced Bruce Millsap to eight death sentences, one for each life he had taken, in addition to 200 years in prison. Deputy District Attorney Anthony Myers commented after the sentencing, "These are super predators, whose actions were completely bereft of any understanding or compassion for human life."
Today, Bruce Millsap remains on death row in California. The case of Carlos Nuno is officially closed, but the loss of a hardworking man in the prime of his life remains a tragic chapter in the history of his community. His death, and the deaths of the seven other victims, serve as a stark reminder of the devastating impact of a serial killer's violent rampage.
