New Light on a Distant Verdict

An idiot simpleton who jumped to conclusions;

Unable to reason, "If not the boy, who then?"

When he turned 25, Bruce was transferred to adult prison -- first San Quentin, then Mule Creek, a concrete fortress about an hour's drive south of Sacramento where he has spent the last 15 years.

Early on, he hoped higher courts would overturn his conviction. But his appeals were dismissed. Then he hoped to gain his freedom through parole.

In 1992, when he first became eligible, he admitted killing his mother and expressed remorse before the parole board.

"I was addicted to drugs and alcohol heavily. I stole money from my parents and I had no qualms about doing so. I was on a downward path, heading down a dead-end street, and it culminated in my murdering my mother," Bruce said.

"A spoiled brat," interjected one parole commissioner.

"Yes," Bruce agreed. "I was."

Lisker now says he told board members what he thought they wanted to hear. He was denied parole.

After that, Lisker said, he decided he would never again accept blame for a crime he didn't commit. He said he declined to appear at his parole hearings in 1993, 1996 and 1998. In 1999, he attended and read a statement proclaiming his innocence.

With a $150,000 inheritance from his father, who died in 1995, he hired new attorneys and private investigators and set out to clear his name. He established a website --www.freebruce.org -- to drum up support and donations.

Lisker, now 39, said during an interview at Mule Creek that he understands why Monsue suspected him at first. But Monsue and, later, Rabichow developed tunnel vision, he said, closing their minds to evidence that contradicted their theory.

"It's a Chinese proverb that everybody pushes a falling fence," he said. "I wasn't an angel. But I'm not a killer."

Curious About a Call

During Bruce's years in prison, Monsue was on a journey of his own -- a slow rise through the ranks of the LAPD. There was a stubborn persistence to his career arc. He took the oral exam for supervising detective 54 times before he was selected for the position.

A self-described "dinosaur," he occasionally bruised feelings with his bristly demeanor. In 1999, a citizen complained that Monsue jabbed a finger in his face. His supervisor counseled him to tone down his "mannerisms." Later that year, he was reprimanded for displaying a coffee mug with a profanity on it.