Widow of 1991 homicide victim speaks out against the convicted killer's possible parole

SALT LAKE CITY — The widow of a 1991 homicide victim is speaking out after she recently learned her late husband's killer was booked for a parole hearing in April.

Dale Bradley Jr., now 56, pleaded guilty in 2007 to second-degree felony charges of manslaughter and kidnapping in the 1991 killing of Kennecott Copper security guard Bryan Ruff.

Ruff never returned home from work, and prosecutors said Bradley forced Ruff into the trunk of his car and then drove to a remote area in western Utah County, where he shot Ruff five times in the back and left in a shallow grave.

According to investigators, Bradley said Ruff had been having an affair with his wife at the time.

"It is definitely not something I like to relive," Ruff's widow, Jennifer Campbell, said during an interview with KSL-TV Monday afternoon. "(Bradley) is not safe to be out in society when he feels that he's been betrayed."

Bradley made Alford pleas, Campbell said, which meant that he did not admit guilt while acknowledging there was enough evidence to be convicted.

"He never took responsibility or has had any remorse for what happened to Bryan," Campbell said.

Carbon County sheriff detective Dale Maxfield said Monday that Bradley remained a person of interest in the unsolved 2005 murder of his second wife, Crystal Bradley. According to investigators, she was found stabbed to death near her home in Wellington in Carbon County.

It was evidence uncovered during that investigation that ultimately linked Bradley back to the 1991 killing of Bryan Ruff.

Detectives said a scuff of red paint on Ruff's boot matched the paint on Bradley's car.

"Crystal's family and Crystal deserve justice," Campbell said.

While Bradley's sentence could potentially keep him in prison until 2045, state records show that the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole granted Bradley's request for a redetermination hearing, which is scheduled for April 15.

"The board notes Mr. Bradley's excellent institutional conduct, program completion and current risk assessment," the records stated.

A spokesperson said the board would essentially have three options at the hearing: to grant parole, not grant parole and review Bradley's case in the future, or not grant parole but decide on a program or treatment plan and then review Bradley's case again at a later date.

Campbell said she received a letter in the mail over the weekend about the parole hearing.

She said she believes Bradley could be dangerous if released and she hopes the board would keep him incarcerated.

"Clearly, he is revengeful," Campbell said. "I just feel strongly about him not being out in society."

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