Fake $20,000 lottery ticket may have led to shooting death, court records show

Just hours before he was shot to death under the Santa Fe Avenue bridge last month, Roy Dale Ensey allegedly set an Empire man’s truck on fire over a $20,000 lottery ticket that ended up being a fake, according to court records.

That Empire man, 56-year-old Michael Roger Bruce, was arrested and charged with Ensey’s murder on Friday.

It was the second time Bruce was arrested on suspicion of killing Ensey, but the District Attorney’s Office declined to file charges following his initial arrest last month because of lack of sufficient evidence at the time.

Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detective Cory Brown interviewed more witnesses and Bruce was arrested again.

According to an arrest affidavit authored by Brown, Ensey was shot at least four times with birdshot ammunition from a shotgun. He was hit in the side and back, and the fatal shots were to his face.

Several people told authorities Bruce had been bragging he had a $20,000 winning lottery ticket. They said Ensey and another man were outside Bruce’s Empire home on Oct. 21 with guns demanding the ticket, according to the complaint.

Bruce refused to come out so Ensey set Bruce’s truck on fire, according to the affidavit.

Around 11 the following morning, construction workers found Ensey’s body on the north side of the Tuolumne River.

One witness reported seeing Ensey there early that morning and another witness said she saw Bruce, according to the affidavit. Both told Brown they heard gunshots but neither witnessed the shooting or saw Ensey and Bruce together under the bridge, which is just outside of Modesto.

Another witness told authorities she helped Bruce dump tires in an orchard the same day Ensey’s body was found. Detectives recovered those tires and found they had tread consistent with tracks found in the dirt at the crime scene.

During a search of Bruce’s home detectives found an empty box for birdshot 12-gauge shells. They also found a lottery ticket that had three $20,000 prizes on it but it was not a winning ticket, according to the affidavit.

Bruce was arrested again at his Empire home on Friday.

During his arraignment Monday he pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and being a felon is possession of a firearm and denied an enhancement for using a gun.

He is scheduled to return to court Dec. 9.