Roy Dale Ensey, a homeless man from Empire, California, was killed on October 22, 2019, following a violent escalation in a longrunning feud with fellow Empire resident Michael Roger Bruce. During that incident Ensey allegedly fired a gun and set fire to Bruce’s truck with a Molotov cocktail; the ticket was later found to be worthless.

Bruce is said to have tracked Ensey to a hiding place under the Santa Fe Bridge and shot him at close range five times with a shotgun. Ensey’s body was discovered the next morning on the north side of the Tuolumne River; fatal wounds were to the face, with additional birdshot injuries to the side and back.

Bruce was arrested and charged with murder, an initial filing was dropped for lack of evidence, and he was re-arrested after further investigation and witness testimony. The first trial ended in a 2020 mistrial for a hung jury; during jury selection for a second trial Bruce pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received an 11-year sentence. He was also convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm and has prior convictions for evading law enforcement, vehicle theft, and a felony hit-and-run, and was previously a suspect in a 2011 kidnapping.

Does anyone have further details about the feud between Ensey and Bruce or witnessed the events around October 22, 2019?