- Jesse Joel Bruce was sentenced to zero to five years for retaliating against a witness.
- Bruce threatened the victim's family while out on bail for a murder charge.
- His sentence will run concurrently with his 16-years-to-life murder sentence.
SALT LAKE CITY — A man convicted of stabbing his friend to death in 2019 and currently serving time for the murder charge was sentenced to zero to five years in prison for threatening the victim's family while out on bail.
In March 2019, Jesse Joel Bruce, 47, was charged in 3rd District Court with murder, a first-degree felony, in the death of his housemate Cory Haney, 40. Bruce and Haney got into a fight, and Bruce stabbed Haney to death.
"I just killed someone. I killed my best friend for 25 years," he said, according to the charges.
He was convicted of the murder in 2022 after the trial was delayed due to claims of self-defense. He was sentenced to 16 years to life in prison. He filed an appeal shortly after claiming "ineffective assistance of counsel," but the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction in June this year.
However, two years prior to that conviction, Bruce was released from jail after posting a reduced bail amount on June 29, 2020. The judge said he needed to balance public safety with Bruce's right to a speedy trial — at that time, no criminal trials were being held or scheduled because of the pandemic. He was released and ordered to wear an ankle monitor and have no contact with the victim's family during his release.
In November 2021, however, Bruce was arrested and later charged with two counts of retaliation against a witness, third-degree felonies, for sending threats to Haney's mother and brother.
Bruce threatened the family members by saying he had documented evidence Haney had been raping women and he would release that evidence if the two didn't "stop your endless assault against me," charges state.
"You keep attacking me and my family in public, you know not the truth or what happened. Your guilt is driving you," another message said, according to the charges.
On Sept. 8, Bruce pleaded guilty to one count of retaliation against a witness. As part of the plea agreement, the court agreed to dismiss the other charge and have his sentence run concurrently with the murder prison term. He was sentenced this month to a term of zero to five years in prison for the charge.
