Venditti Bruce Cause of Death: Multiple Sharp-Force Injuries

of East Haven died March 29 of multiple sharp-force injuries, according to the Rhode Island State Medical Examiner's office. No further information was released with the announcement.

Details including the estimated time of death, number of times Bruce had been stabbed and the type of weapon used in the fatal attack have not been released, pending the ongoing joint investigation by the , Rhode Island State Police and state Attorney General's Office.

Middletown police allege that on March 29 around 4:37 p.m., murder suspect Zachary J. Lepelusa, 24, of Milford, allegedly stabbed Bruce in the parking lot outside the in Middletown, forced her into her own car, then drove six miles across town where he left her body in a ditch. Lepelusa was later after attempting to run from a police detective in the rear yard of a randomly selected private residence.

Bruce and Lepelusa previously worked together at a Connecticut Christmas Tree Shops, but further details about their interactions in and out of work remained under investigation, according to Middletown police. Lepelusa no longer works for the company and Bruce, who was married, was in Middletown for two weeks to assist in a temporary retail reconfiguration project.

It was not known how long Lepelusa was in town before his fatal meeting with Bruce, but the first-degree murder charge alleges that Lepelusa had intended, or premeditated, the attack on Bruce when he met with her in the hotel parking lot.

Lepelusa was charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, resisting arrest and evading police at his on March 30. He is being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) in Cranston, R.I.