Bruce M. Gardner was 33 when he was murdered on August 10, 1982, in Fort Worth, Texas. Gardner was one of four people found shot and stabbed in a house on the southern shore of Lake Worth; the other victims were Georgia Ann Reed, her mother Earline Barker, and her son Scott. The house where the bodies were found was destroyed by a fire on August 22, 1982. Investigators did not believe the fire was deliberately set, but it destroyed potential evidence and hindered the inquiry.

Larry Keith Robison, a 25-year-old former roommate of another victim, Rickey Lee Bryant, confessed to the killings. Robison was charged in Bryant’s death and with capital murder in Gardner’s death. Records indicate he had a history of mental illness and a prior diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia; he was found competent to stand trial and convicted. The case drew attention locally to issues involving mentally ill offenders and the impact of the crimes on the Fort Worth community.

If anyone knew Bruce Gardner or has information about the events around Lake Worth in August 1982, please share what you remember.