Joseph S. Ortega, known as Joe, was 80 when he was killed on December 24, 2008, at his home on Knollcrest Drive in Covina, California. The attack occurred during his annual Christmas Eve party and claimed nine lives; his wife Alicia was among those killed and three other guests were injured.

Per the account, the attacker was Bruce Jeffrey Pardo, the ex-husband of Ortega’s daughter Sylvia. Pardo arrived uninvited in a Santa Claus suit carrying four semi-automatic handguns and a homemade flamethrower hidden in a gift-wrapped package. An 8-year-old girl who opened the door was shot in the face and wounded; Pardo then shot indiscriminately inside the house and set the home on fire after dousing it with racing fuel.

Pardo later drove to his brother’s home in Sylmar and was found there dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Reports say he had rented multiple vehicles, had bought a plane ticket to Moline, Illinois, and carried cash on his person, and that his recent divorce from Sylvia had been finalized about a week before the killings.

Does anyone have memories of the neighborhood, the annual party, or other details that could add context to what happened that night?