An unsealed court affidavit offers new details in the circumstances surrounding the killing of a Palermo man last year.
Kirby Bradford, of Liberty, has been charged with murder in the death of Robert Bruso at Bruso’s home in Palermo in February 2025.
Bradford told detectives that he was one of Bruso’s best friends, according to the affidavit that describes information gathered about the case by Maine State Police. The affidavit was filed last September, but remained sealed — and therefore off-limits to the public — until this week.
The two men had known each other for more than 20 years and Bradford often did work on Bruso’s trucks.
Bradford’s girlfriend told police that Bradford was addicted to crack cocaine, according to the affidavit.
Bruso, a concrete contractor, often kept large sums of cash on hand, his friends told police. One friend said it wasn’t uncommon for him to have $50,000 in cash in his house to “get him through the winter”.
Investigators found evidence that police believe shows that Bradford meticulously planned the alleged killing. Police say in court documents that they found a detailed diagram of Bruso’s property in a garage where Bradford worked. It also had a list of items that read in part: “stun gun, zip ties, covid masks, take phone, bring him somewhere out of sight, duct tape over mouth, bag over his head,” according to court filings.
In Bradford’s truck, police found a loaded sawed off shotgun with a ground off serial number, according to the affidavit. They also found gloves with what appeared to be light colored hair on the fingers and noted in the document that Bruso’s golden retriever, Lennie, was also missing.
Bradford was indicted in November on a charge of murder in Bruso’s death. In March, Bradford was indicted on a second charge of possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.
Bradford apparently tried to mislead Bruso’s loved ones who grew worried when they couldn’t reach him starting in early February, police said. He also impersonated Bruso to the police, according to the affidavit..
Police say Bruso was killed on or around Feb. 8, 2025, but his body was not discovered until more than two months later, on top of a snowbank on his property.
On Feb. 8, police responded to a 911 crash notification call sent automatically from Bruso’s phone. Police saw no signs of a crash, but found Bruso’s phone on the side of the road. The police officer later received a voicemail from someone identifying himself as Bruso who said he was ice fishing in Greenville, which friends and family told police was not the type of thing he would do. Police later played the voicemail to two of Bradford’s former coworkers who identified it as his voice, according to the affidavit.
About a month after the alleged killing, a childhood friend of Bruso messaged Bradford on Facebook asking if he’d seen Bruso. Bradford wrote back that Bruso had a girlfriend, according to the affidavit.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen him actually into a chick like this,” Bradford told the friend. When the friend wrote that he hoped it worked out for Bruso, Bradford wrote, “I know right he deserves a good one lol.”
Bradford has a lengthy criminal record that dates back to when he was 18 years old, according to his state criminal history report.
In July 2025, months after Bruso was found dead, Bradford was arrested and charged with possession of more than 2 grams of cocaine base. He also was charged with illegally possessing a firearm.
A month later he was arrested again for allegedly robbing a Waterville shoe store, according to his criminal history report and news reports.
He was still in jail on those charges when he was charged in September with Bruso’s killing.
