CBS News Bruce and Monica Beresford-Redman in a family photo given to 48 Hours.
In 2010, the body of Monica Beresford-Redman was found strangled in Mexico while she vacationed there with her family. Her husband Bruce Beresford-Redman, a producer for Survivor and co-creator of Pimp My Ride, was questioned and eventually convicted in her murder. Here’s what you need to know about where he is today.
Bruce Beresford-Redman Has Been Released From Prison
In March 2015, Bruce Beresford-Redman was convicted of murdering his wife Monica and sentenced to 12 years in prison by Just Victor Manuel Echeverria Tun in Mexico because that is where the crime took place.
He received credit for time served and therefore by September 2019, he had served about seven and a half years of his 12-year sentence. According to NBC Los Angeles, Beresford-Redman’s attorney Jaime Cancino said that under Mexican law, prisoners are eligible to be released after serving 60 percent of their sentence, so Beresford-Redman was let out due to good behavior on June 20, 2019.
NBC Los Angeles spoke to one of Beresford-Redman’s neighbors, Maria Doll, at the time, who said that she was “surprised and disappointed” that he was released.
“In the old days, people got executed for doing stuff like that. I guess nowadays you get a second chance,” Doll said, adding, “Most people don’t think [he served enough time]. [He] should be old and gray by the time he gets out.”
After being released from prison, Bruce Beresford-Redman requested to end his mother Juanita’s guardianship of his two children, Camila, 15, and Alec, 13, who were 5 and 3 at the time of their mother’s death. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Small ruled that he received no opposition to Beresford-Redman’s petition, according to NBC Los Angeles. His mother told the judge that she supported her son; she remains the guardian of the children’s estates. Juanita and her late husband David had been the children’s guardians since their father’s arrest.
Beresford-Redman told the judge he intended to live in Las Vegas with his children, who were currently taking online school classes supervised by his girlfriend’s sister. He also said he is still trying to clear his name in Mexico.
Bruce Beresford-Redman Has Always Maintained His Innocence
The family had been vacationing together in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010 when Monica Beresford-Redman’s naked body was found in a sewage cistern near the hotel where they were staying on what would have been her 42nd birthday. The cause of death was asphyxiation; she had also been badly beaten.
In a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Bruce Beresford-Redman maintained his innocence, telling them that the lack of physical evidence proves he did not kill her and that the corrupt Mexican justice system railroaded his conviction because authorities don’t want to damage the Cancun tourism industry by exposing the random violence that is prevalent there.
Monica Beresford-Redman’s sisters, Jeane and Carla Burgos, are adamant about Bruce Beresford-Redman’s guilt. In fact, Jeane Burgos testified during his trial as to the affair he had been having with a co-worker, saying she knew her sister Monica had confronted him about the affair prior to the vacation and had told him she wanted a divorce. Burgos also said that the fight hotel workers heard the Beresford-Redmans having on the night before Monica’s death was about Bruce’s continued contact with his lover.
The case was built around a lot of circumstantial evidence, like Burgos’ testimony and the fact that on April 5, the day of Monica’s death, the key card was using in their hotel room was used 15 times between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. on April 6, with five of those coming between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.
But Bruce Beresford-Redman told The Hollywood Reporter that he didn’t kill Monica and he misses her “every day of [his] life.”
A Survivor Contestant Could Not Believe Bruce Beresford-Redman Was Under Suspicion
In 2010, when the news first broke about Bruce Beresford-Redman being questioned in his wife’s death, Survivor: Amazon contestant Daniel Lue sat down with The Early Show to talk about the producer, whom Lue knew from his time on the show.
“I was shocked. I mean, we’re a Survivor family. We just had our 10th-anniversary party celebration in January. When I knew him, he was just a cool, even-tempered kind of guy — you have to be, to be a producer on Survivor. You’re dealing with a lot of hungry and cranky Survivor contestants. When I got voted off, he was very encouraging to me … he’s just not that type of person,” said Lue.
Survivor hopes to film season 41 in the spring of 2021 for a fall 2021 premiere.
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