GUILTY CA - John Bruner, 50, shot to death, Santa Clara, 12 Dec 2005

A 15-year-old boy allegedly killed his father then set the house on fire because he was afraid his father would find out he was failing some classes, prosecutors said.

The teen, Ryan Watts, was charged as an adult Friday in the murder of his father, 50-year-old John E. Bruner, who was initially believed to have died in the fire that engulfed the home he shared with his son earlier this week.

The Santa Clara High School sophomore was arrested Wednesday after an autopsy determined that Bruner, whose body was badly burned in the blaze, died from multiple gunshot wounds and not from the fire, Santa Clara police said.
http://www.deserttelevision.com/Global/story.asp?S=4257006

It makes you wonder how crappy a relationship this kid had with his family that he would rather burn down the house than show him a bad report card?

A 15-year-old boy charged with murdering his father told Santa Clara police that he had shot him to death so he wouldn't find out how poorly he was doing in school, according to court documents filed Friday.

Ryan Alain Watts, a sophomore at Santa Clara High School, said he had shot his father twice in the head and neck and then -- unable to move the 350-plus-pound man to the backyard, where he planned to bury him -- set his body on fire Monday morning.

Watts then walked to a Taco Bell, where he ate a few tacos before returning home, hoping to find the house fully engulfed in flames, the records show.

It was not, so Watts called 911 himself.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/12/17/DADKILL.TMP

The 15-year-old boy who told authorities that he killed his father to avoid having to show him bad grades had endured longtime bullying and verbal abuse from the man, the teen's mother said.
That treatment finally caused Ryan Watts to snap last week, Leoni Watts told the San Jose Mercury News for its Monday editions. "He said, 'Mom, I just couldn't please him. I couldn't do enough. I couldn't do anything right,'" she said, recalling her first conversation with her son since his Wednesday arrest.
Ryan Watts was charged as an adult Friday with murdering his father, 50-year-old John E. Bruner, then setting their Santa Clara house on fire to cover up the crime. He later told investigators that he did it because he was afraid Bruner would find out he was failing some classes, police said.
Leoni Watts, 51, who gave up custody of Ryan years ago because of her own drug problems, told the Mercury News that she's since been dealing with guilt for not intervening or even realizing what had been going on in her son's life.
"I sound like such an out-of-touch mom, I know. But I didn't see that other side of John," she said, adding that Ryan often bragged that his father knew all about computers and cars and "acted like he adored his father."
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/merc...s/california/northern_california/13440580.htm

From November 2007:

http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/ci_7419163

A Santa Clara teen who shot his father and then set fire to their house pleaded guilty to manslaughter today...

Prosecutors charged the teenager with first degree murder in adult court, but Assistant District Attorney David Tompkins said his office agreed to accept the plea on a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter after learning more about how Bruner had treated his son...

Under his plea agreement, Tomkins said he faces a 10-year term, which he will likely serve in a youth correctional facility run by the state's Division of Juvenile Justice, formerly known as the California Youth Authority.

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