Bruce Jeffrey Pardo Santa suit melted onto his body before he fled.

The gunman who killed nine people in a Christmas Eve bloodbath at his ex-in-laws' home intended to flee to Canada but was severely burned before he killed himself, law enforcement officials said Friday. Police said that after the shooting, 45-year-old Bruce Jeffrey Pardo used a homemade device to spray racing fuel around the home and that the vapor was ignited by a pilot light or candle. He suffered third-degree burns on both arms when it exploded. Authorities say Pardo's Santa suit melted onto his body before he fled. After Pardo shot himself to death at his brother's home, authorities found $17,000 on him and a plane ticket for a flight from Los Angeles to Canada. A ninth body was found Friday morning at the charred site of the massacre where Pardo arrived dressed as Santa.Pardo reached a Dec. 18 settlement with his ex-wife, who along with her parents was believed to be among the dead. His lawyer and a fellow church usher were among those who said they had never seen anything to indicate he was capable of such a brutal crime. Pardo's attorney, Stanley Silver, said his client seemed cheerful when he left a message two days before the shooting and was trying to pay $10,000 to finalize the divorce proceedings. "All of my dealings with him were always pleasant and cheerful," Silver said. "I'd never encountered him when he was ... angry or unpleasant at all." Pardo left the scene of the killings and was found dead Thursday, of a single bullet to the head, at his brother's house. The body of his ninth victim was found Friday morning when investigators resumed searching what was left of the two-story home in Covina, 25 miles east of Los Angeles. Eight bodies were recovered Thursday from the destroyed house; it was not yet known where the gunfire or the flames killed them. None of the dead or missing has been identified. The bloodbath began about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when an 8-year-old girl attending a Christmas Eve party answered a knock at the door. A man dressed as Santa and carrying what appeared to a present pulled out a handgun and shot her in the face, then began shooting indiscriminately as partygoers tried to flee. The gift-wrapped box Pardo was carrying actually contained a pressurized homemade device he used to spray a liquid that quickly sent the house up in flames. Police said Pardo had recently worked in the aerospace industry.

Pardo had no criminal record and no history of violence, according to police, but he was angry following last week's settlement of his divorce after a short marriage.

A court summary of the divorce case shows that Sylvia Pardo filed for a dissolution of marriage on March 24, 2008. The summary indicates she and Bruce Pardo reached a settlement on Dec. 18 and were separated after about two years of marriage. Court documents show Sylvia Pardo got the couple's dog, the wedding ring and $10,000 in the settlement agreement, while he got the house. In June, the court ordered Bruce Pardo to pay $1,785 a month in spousal support and put him on a payment plan of $450 a month for $3,570 that was unpaid. Pardo's attorney said the man had trouble making the payments after he lost his job in July, but spousal support was waived in the settlement signed earlier this month.Late Thursday, a rented car parked outside the property was discovered to be loaded with 300 rounds of ammunition and a pipe bomb. The car burst into flames as bomb disposal experts moved in, Raney said.Pardo had rigged a sophisticated booby trap inside the car which would be triggered when officers attempted to move his discarded Santa Claus suit.

"He basically wired the Santa Claus suit with a device to explode," Raney said. "When it was lifted from the car it would pull a trip wire or switch, ignite a flare inside the car igniting black powder and several hundred rounds of ammunition was inside the car."While the squad was rendering the device it did activate and the car did burst into flames and was destroyed."Authorities have yet to publicly identify those killed by Pardo

, but local media reported the victim's ex-wife and in-laws were among the dead.Los Angeles County Coroner's Office assistant chief Ed Winter said none of the nine bodies recovered from the crime scene were identifiable."The bodies were burned and are charred to the point that are not recognizable," Winter said. "We're going to need both medical X-rays and dental X-rays before we can make positive identification."