Man Charged in 1985 Slaying of His Wife

Nine years after his wife died, a 39-year-old Lake Elsinore man has been charged with murdering her by forcing her to consume soap and then strangling her.

Bruce Cohn was arrested at the time of his wife’s death in 1985, but was not charged because investigators could not prove that he forced his wife to eat the soap, said Riverside County Deputy Dist. Atty. Eileen Hunt. Prosecutors at the time believed she died of toxic asphyxiation, she said.

But Cohn’s son, now 11, told authorities several months ago that his father has beaten him and made him eat soap and dog feces as punishment since the death of his mother, Hunt said. The boy came forward after school officials noticed signs of possible abuse.

Based on the youngster’s tip, the body of Carla Cohn was exhumed in September and a second autopsy detected that the 29-year-old woman had sustained a broken bone in her neck, apparently from being strangled, Hunt said.

Bruce Cohn was arraigned Tuesday in Riverside Consolidated Court and held without bail. Because he allegedly forced his wife to eat two pounds of soap before he killed her, he was charged with the special circumstance of torture, Hunt said.

In addition to facing charges of torture and murder, Cohn also was charged with child abuse.

At the time of his first arrest, Cohn said bruises on his wife’s body were self-inflicted and that she had eaten the soap on her own. According to court papers, investigators were told at the time that Cohn beat his wife, burned her with cigarettes and stuck pins in her.

After the boy was taken into protective custody in June by authorities, Cohn was arrested after threatening to burn down a Department of Public Social Services facility, then showing up there with gasoline.