Man Who Saw Desert Killing Ends 5 Days of Testimony

A witness concluded nearly five days of court testimony Thursday during which he described watching defendant Brad Millward shoot another man in the desert two years ago.

Millward, 30, of Palmdale, is on trial for the execution-style slayings of Bruce Gruber, 28, of Yucca Valley and Albert Dulyea, 37, of Norwalk. Both were shot in the desert east of Palmdale on July 5, 1987.

The dying Gruber was brought to authorities by witness Daniel Lucero, 22, who said he watched from his car window as Millward shot Gruber in the head.

Bullet-Riddled Body

While searching the area later, authorities found Dulyea’s bullet-riddled body in Millward’s garage at the corner of 240th Street and Avenue P, said Deputy Dist. Atty. John Portillo.

Lucero testified in San Fernando Superior Court that he and his wife and two children were driving on Avenue P in the late afternoon when they saw a man who appeared to be unconscious lying next to 240th Street just north of the Avenue P intersection.

Then, a brown car drove up and a passenger pulled the man, believed by prosecutors to be Gruber, into the vehicle, Lucero said. The man appeared to struggle as he was pulled into the car, which sped up 240th Street and turned onto a dirt road, Lucero said.

Lucero said he drove to the dirt road and saw the brown car parked. Two men, whom he later identified as Gruber and Millward, were walking nearby, he said. Millward, who had a gun, was holding Gruber by the back of the neck and appeared to be controlling him, Lucero testified.

Lucero said he made a U-turn and as he drove past the dirt road a second time, he saw Millward hold the gun several inches from the victim’s head. He heard gunshots, he said, then saw the victim fall and Millward run into the desert.

Car Left in Desert

The brown car, which authorities said belonged to Dulyea, was left in the desert and later impounded by police.

Portillo said he believes the man Lucero saw lying next to the road was Gruber, who he said had already been beaten. Millward and a second suspect, Wade Minton, 25, of Palmdale, were inside the brown car, Portillo said. Minton has never been found or arrested.

Lucero said he had never seen the victims or the defendant before the incident. But he identified Millward as the man who fired the shots.

After witnessing the shooting, Lucero said, he and his wife and two other passers-by picked up the victim and drove to the Antelope Valley sheriff’s station. Authorities arrested Millward after searching the desert with police dogs and a helicopter.

Millward faces the death penalty if convicted. Prosecutors have not revealed a motive for the crime.