Medical Examiner Concludes Murder Victim's Cause of Death

The Rhode Island State Medical Examiner's office in Providence has concluded that , 35, of East Haven, CT, died Tuesday of multiple sharp-force injuries.

Rhode Island Department of Health spokesperson Annemarie Beardsworth said the official cause of death was determined on Thursday. No further information was released with the announcement.

Details including the estimated time of death, number of times Bruce had been stabbed, and the type of weapon used in the fatal attack against Bruce so far have not been released to the public, pending the ongoing joint investigation by the Middletown Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and state Attorney General's office.

Middletown police allege that on Tuesday night around 4:37 p.m., murder suspect Zachary J. Lepelusa, 24, of Milford, CT, allegedly stabbed Bruce multiple times in the parking lot outside the on West Main Road, forced her into her own car, then drove six miles across town where he left her body in a ditch alongside Hanging Rocks Road. He was later after attempting to run from a police detective in the rear yard of a randomly selected private residence at 464 Third Beach Road.

Bruce and Lepelusa previously worked together in Connecticut at a Christmas Tree Shops store, but further details about their interactions in and out of work remained under investigation, according to Middletown police. Lepelusa no longer works for the company and Bruce, who was married, was in Middletown for two weeks to assist in a temporary retail reconfiguration project at the local Christmas Tree Shops store.

It was not known how long Lepelusa was in town before his fatal meeting with Bruce, but the first-degree murder charge alleges that Lepelusa had intended, or premeditated, the attack on Bruce when he met with her in the hotel parking lot and stabbed her to death.

Having been charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, resisting arrest and evading police at his on Wednesday, Lepelusa is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) in Cranston.

More details from the investigation can be read about in a previous article