By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Steve Herman Bronson Jr., who confessed last week to murdering Norma Page, a reverend’s wife, in 1979, is no stranger to the court system.

Also known as Nancy Sue Bronson – the name he was booked under due to his transvestite preferences – Bronson, 62, has a 29-page rap sheet with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

For 25 years, Bronson became well known to Florida law enforcement for crimes that ran the gamut from speeding to attempted murder to trespassing with a deadly weapon. He was arrested 11 times from 1967 to 1992 by officers in Orange, Lake and Osceola counties.

While any juvenile record Bronson may have had was unknown, his adult criminal record began at the age of 19, when he was charged with attempted murder, trespassing in fruit groves with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering a dwelling and malicious injury to a dog in Osceola County.

He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years and four years of probation.

In September 1980, Bronson was sentenced to 18 years in Lake County for grand larceny and escape. However, based on his criminal records, he was back on the streets of Kissimmee by January 1990, when he was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon and aggravated assault with a weapon.

St. Cloud Police Chief Pete Gauntlett, during the Dec. 30 press conference announcing Bronson had been arrested for Page’s murder, said Bronson had been in jail most of his adult life.

“When he was out, he was definitely a bad guy,” Gauntlett said. “That’s why we have our sights set dead on him.”

Gauntlett said his agency and others in Osceola County are working to make certain Bronson is not responsible for any other unsolved cases in the area.

Gauntlett said his office has sent information to the Kissimmee Police Department, Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI in reference to criminal cases Bronson may have been involved in.

For example, Bronson is a person of interest in at least two other murder cases in Osceola County.

Bronson was a roommate of Maria Ferreira at a Kissimmee boarding house. Ferreira was found dead in August of 1995 near the train tracks in downtown Kissimmee.

Stacie Miller, Kissimmee Police Department’s public information officer, said Bronson sat down with detectives at the time of the murder and after his recent arrest to discuss Ferreira’s murder, but his story had not changed.

Bronson also is a person of interest, along with at least seven others, in the October 1989 murder of Bertha Hemminghaus, a 79-year-old homemaker killed at Good Samaritan Village in Kissimmee.

Twis Lizasuain, public information officer for the Sheriff’s Office, said the case was reopened with Bronson’s arrest and deputies sat in on the interview to gather possible information on the Hemminghaus case.

Bronson is now in poor health after suffering a series of strokes in recent years. He uses a wheelchair to get around.

He has lived and sought treatment for his illnesses at Avante at St. Cloud nursing home for the past five years.  The nursing home is less than a mile from the Page home, which still stands and has since been converted into a daycare, on 10th Street and Tennessee Avenue.

“When you think about how long this case has been around and we finally found the suspect living within a mile of the scene, it is surprising and frustrating,” St. Cloud Police Department Capt. Bret Dunn said. “On our end, (his health) doesn’t work any differently. I think the question will be, as determined by his lawyers and doctors, is he fit to stand trial?”

State Attorney Lawson Lamar, who serves Osceola and Orange counties, said Jan. 3 he plans to present the case to a grand jury this month.

Although Bronson is a name synonymous with Osceola County history, Gauntlett said the family is large and this Bronson is not part of the branch that is known for selling land to Disney to develop or famous for agriculture or ranching.

Bronson has been married at least twice and has one biological daughter and a stepdaughter, according to St. Cloud Police Department Sgt. Denise Roberts. Bronson has several tattoos including one on his finger and on each arm.

He had a Kissimmee address listed on Cypress Street, which is now an auto parts store, in his FDLE criminal history and listed “painter” as his occupation.