Voting status of Palm Bay candidate convicted of murder is under review, Bobanic says
The Brevard County Supervisor of Elections is looking into the voter registration status of a Palm Bay City Council candidate who was once convicted of murder.
Michael Bruyette pleaded guilty in 1986 to second-degree murder in Massachusetts, after state prosecutors said he was involved in a murder-for-hire plot that led to the killing of a 30-year-old Chicopee, Mass. man, according to state parole records. He served 23 years of a life sentence for the crimes, records show.
Bruyette, who announced his candidacy in February, is one of six challengers running for Palm Bay Council Seat 3, currently held by Councilman Randy Foster. Foster is running for reelection.
Bruyette has lived in Palm Bay off-and-on since his first release in 2009, parole records show. He did not respond to requests for comment by the time of this article's publication.
Brevard Elections Supervisor Tim Bobanic's office began investigating Bruyette's registration status following recent media reports about his criminal history.
The news of Bruyette's prior conviction and prison time raised questions about his ability to vote in Florida, Bobanic said. A 2018 state constitutional amendment allowing people convicted of felonies to regain their voting rights excludes convictions for murder or felony sexual offenses, even if the crime was committed in another state.
However, Bobanic noted, Florida officials are required to abide decisions about voting rights restoration made in other states, even if the criteria are different than Florida's. His office was working with state agencies to confirm an initial review showing that Bruyette had regained his voting rights under Massachusetts law, he said.
"He is on the voter roll, so currently he is an eligible voter right now," Bobanic said. "We're in touch with the Florida Division of Elections and the Office of Election Crimes and Security to verify that is correct."
Bobanic said the inquiry was not directly related to Bruyette's qualifications for office, which he said are up to the city, but noted the Palm Bay charter requires elected officials to be registered voters.
According to state records, Bruyette was only 19 years old in 1985 when he and two alleged co-conspirators were hired to kill 30-year-old Thomas Grimshaw in Chicopee, outside of Springfield, by Grimshaw's estranged wife in exchange for part of a $300,000 life insurance payout. Lisa Grimshaw told the court that her husband was physically abusive toward her, records show.
Bruyette and another man later ambushed Thomas Grimshaw, striking him in the head and face with baseball bats, according to parole records.
In a recent interview, Bruyette told FLORIDA TODAY news partner News 6 that he never intended to kill Grimshaw, only to put him in the hospital. Much of the public information surrounding the case had been misrepresented by prosecutors, he said.
“A woman being repeatedly raped, beaten, and I intervened...” Bruyette told News 6. “I’m not one that’s gonna stand around and watch someone be victimized like that.”
Bruyette has repeatedly expressed remorse for his role in the incident, according to his parole records.
Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Brevard elections office reviews status of candidate convicted of murder