BRECKENRIDGE — After less than one day of deliberations, a jury found former Silverthorne photographer Dale Bruner guilty of second-degree murder in the 2010 death of his wife, Stephanie Roller Bruner.
Defense attorney Robert Bernhardt had rested his case Friday morning after calling a handful of witnesses to testify on Bruner’s behalf.
Closing arguments followed in the afternoon.
The defense called two of Bruner’s former neighbors to tell the jury they hadn’t heard any kind of an argument or a commotion at the couple’s house the night Roller Bruner disappeared.
One of the neighbors, who lived in the adjoining unit in the Bruners’ duplex, said she could occasionally hear the kids playing outside when the windows were open in the summer and on rare occasions heard Bruner yelling at his children.
A husband and wife who were close to the Bruner family before Roller Bruner’s death also testified.
They told the court they never saw any sign of violence or trouble between the couple and that Bruner seemed “distraught” after his wife’s body was discovered.
Roller Bruner’s body was discovered in the Blue River three days after Bruner reported her missing from their home in Silverthorne. She had died of a combination of strangulation, blunt-force trauma, hypothermia and drowning.
Seven months later, a grand jury indicted Bruner on charges of second-degree murder, first-degree assault and tampering with evidence.
Testimony in court over the past week indicated the Bruners’ marriage was falling apart in 2010. Roller Bruner, a dance instructor and mother of three, had taken out a restraining order against her husband, filed for divorce and was seeing another man.
Prosecutors rested their case Thursday after calling more than 30 witnesses to the stand, including a domestic-violence expert who testified that the most dangerous time for a victim is when she’s trying to leave an abusive relationship.
Two of Bruner’s ex-girlfriends testified that he had put his hands on their throats and choked them when they were dating.
