In Maine, Kirby Bradford is accused of killing Robert Bruso, then posing as him and inventing explanations for his silence.
PALERMO, Maine — Kirby G. Bradford told detectives Robert Bruso was one of his closest friends, but police now say Bradford killed him, posed as him and tried to explain away his absence for weeks.
The case stands out not only for the charge of murder, but for the relationship behind it. Court documents describe two men who had known each other for more than 20 years, a victim who trusted Bradford around his trucks and property, and an investigation that began only after Bruso’s silence became impossible to ignore.
Bruso, 56, lived on Boots and Saddle Road in Palermo and worked as a concrete contractor. Friends told investigators he was practical, private and known to keep cash at home during the slower winter months. Bradford, from nearby Liberty, did auto-body work and often worked on Bruso’s trucks. Tiffany Paradis, described in local coverage as a close friend of Bruso, said Bradford had been working on Bruso’s vehicles as recently as January 2025. That familiarity now forms part of the state’s theory that Bradford knew the property, knew Bruso’s routines and could use the friendship to lower suspicion.
Police say the killing happened on or about Feb. 8, 2025. That same day, Bruso’s cellphone sent an automatic crash alert. A Kennebec County sheriff’s deputy responded and found the phone on the roadside, but no crash. The phone was a clue before anyone knew a homicide case was forming. When the deputy went to Bruso’s home to return it, he met a man later described in court papers as scraggly. The man told the deputy to leave the phone and said he would make sure Bruso got it back. The affidavit does not identify the man in that moment as Bruso.
The next day, the deputy received a voicemail from someone claiming to be Bruso. The caller said he was ice fishing in Greenville. Friends and family later told police that did not fit Bruso’s habits. Detectives played the recording for two of Bradford’s former co-workers, who identified the voice as Bradford’s, according to the affidavit. That alleged impersonation became one of the strongest narrative pieces in the state’s account because it placed a voice, a false explanation and Bruso’s phone in the same narrow period when police believe Bruso had already been killed.
As weeks passed, people close to Bruso kept trying to reach him. About a month after the alleged killing, one of Bruso’s childhood friends messaged Bradford on Facebook to ask whether he had seen him. Bradford did not say Bruso was missing or unreachable. Instead, police say, he wrote that Bruso had a girlfriend. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him actually into a chick like this,” Bradford wrote, according to the affidavit. When the friend said he hoped it worked out for Bruso, Bradford answered, “I know right he deserves a good one lol.” Investigators say the exchange was meant to divert worry.
The concern finally reached police on April 19, 2025. Maine State Police went to 128 Boots and Saddle Road at about 10:30 a.m. for a welfare check. Troopers found Bruso’s body outside the residence. Detectives with the Major Crimes Unit Central called the circumstances suspicious, and the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta later ruled the death a homicide. Police say Bruso’s body was found on top of a snowbank near the tree line by his driveway, making the length of time between the suspected death and discovery a central fact in the case.
Bruso’s dog, a golden retriever named Lenny, also disappeared around the same time. State police noted Lenny’s disappearance when they announced Bradford’s arrest and said the dog had not been located. The missing dog became one more detail in a case marked by absence: Bruso absent from calls, absent from messages, absent from normal life and, according to police, hidden in plain sight outside his own home. Investigators have not publicly said what they believe happened to Lenny.
Once the affidavit was unsealed, a fuller picture emerged of what police say they found while examining Bradford’s spaces and vehicle. Detectives said they recovered a note from a workspace linked to Bradford that contained a diagram of Bruso’s property and a list of items or actions. The list included “stun gun,” “zip ties,” “covid masks,” “take phone,” “bring him somewhere out of sight,” “duct tape over mouth” and “bag over his head,” according to court filings. Prosecutors say the note suggests planning. The defense has not had a jury trial to challenge that claim.
Investigators also said they found a loaded sawed-off shotgun in Bradford’s truck, with the serial number ground off and the gun wrapped in clothing. Gloves with what appeared to be light-colored hair on the fingers were also found, according to the affidavit. Bruso’s clothing had small holes consistent with bullet damage, court filings say. The indictment listed the alleged murder weapon as a firearm. Police have not publicly laid out every lab result, and the court has not ruled on all evidence expected at trial.
The alleged motive described in the affidavit ties the friendship to money and addiction. Bradford’s girlfriend told police Bradford was addicted to crack cocaine. Friends told police Bruso kept large amounts of cash in the house, sometimes about $50,000 to help him through winter. The affidavit does not say in public detail whether any specific amount was missing. It does, however, show investigators viewed Bruso’s cash habits and Bradford’s alleged drug use as relevant to understanding why Bruso may have been targeted.
Bradford’s legal problems grew through 2025. In July, months after Bruso was found dead, Bradford was arrested and charged with possession of more than 2 grams of cocaine base and illegal possession of a firearm, according to court coverage. In August, he was arrested again after an alleged Waterville shoe-store robbery. He was still in jail when Maine State Police charged him on Sept. 18 with Bruso’s murder. A Waldo County grand jury indicted him in November for knowing and intentional murder.
In March 2026, Bradford was indicted on a separate charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. At an April hearing, Justice Patrick Larson ruled that the murder and firearm-possession counts will be tried separately. Defense lawyer Jeremy Pratt argued that jurors might unfairly connect the prohibited-person charge to a violent act if the cases were tried together. Larson also granted prosecutors permission to collect a handwriting sample from Bradford to compare with the alleged planning note, while leaving admissibility issues for later.
The prosecution’s case is built around a chain of trust and deception: a longtime friend with access, a phone found beside a road, a voicemail that friends said did not sound right, messages about a girlfriend and a note police say mapped out a plan. Bradford remains presumed innocent unless proved guilty. The case now moves toward evidence rulings and separate trials, with no public trial date confirmed.
Author note: Last updated May 24, 2026.