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Summit County Man Sentenced 100+ Years For Wife's Murder

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. (CBS4)- A Summit County man convicted of murdering his wife has been sentenced to the maximum 112 years in prison.

Dale Bruner was convicted in July of beating and strangling his wife Stephanie Roller Bruner and then leaving her to die in the Blue River just before Thanksgiving of 2010.

There was no sign of a crime scene where Roller Bruner was beaten in the head or strangled. There was also no object that's ever been found with her blood on it. There was no direct evidence linking Bruner to the murder, but prosecutors said they did't need it.

Jurors believed the prosecution's case that Bruner had a past of domestic violence, and even threatened his wife a few years ago while choking her, saying he'd kill her if she ever left him.

Three weeks before Roller Bruner disappeared she filed for divorce.

Stephanie Roller-Bruner
Stephanie Roller-Bruner (credit: CBS)

"He had the opportunity, the motive, and the ability to do what he did to kill her by hitting her in the head, strangling the life out of her and dumping her body in the Blue River," Deputy District Attorney Kristine Word said after his conviction was announced.

Bruner was also convicted on two counts of assault and three counts of tampering with evidence.

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