A woman contacted me just over a month ago, telling me she had started to read The Snow Killings and was surprised to learn that Chris Busch lived half a mile from her family when she was growing up in Bloomfield Village. She was around my brother Tim’s age in 1977. She then found the Busch “suicide” report in the FOIA documents posted on my blog.
The documents include an Incident Report handwritten by Corporal McNamee, who received a radio run to “check on the welfare of a Mr. Busch” at 8:37 a.m. on November 20, 1978.
Incident Report, McNamee author.
The Busch’s maid, Christine Bracken, could not get into the home at 3310 Morningview Terrace to clean on Monday morning and saw the Friday newspaper in the door and thought something might be wrong. She went to a neighbor, who called Chris Busch’s brother Charles. Charles then called Bloomfield Township P.D. McNamee met the maid at the home and Charles showed up at about 9:00 a.m. McNamee eventually forced the front door open, breaking the chain lock from the inside wall. Both men went up to Chris Busch’s bedroom, opened the door and found Chris Busch in bed “with a 22 cal rifle by his side lying on his back obviously dead & for some time (3-4 days).” [Note that McNamee did a better job of pinpointing the time of death than Oakland County ME Robert Sillery, who just used the date of discovery of the body–11-20-78.]
As described in McNamee’s handwritten Incident Report, I.D. Technician Paul Brabant, Officer Speicher, Detective Quarles and Officer Uhrig were notified to come to the scene of a suspected suicide. McNamee notes that he then made a check of the home inside and out before they arrived.
The typewritten Narrative Report by Officer Uhrig confirms that he and Det. Quarles met Cpl McNamee at the scene. As you will recall, at 10:45 a.m. two members of the OCCK Task Force, John Davis and Ron Pierce, also came to the scene.
Narrative Report, Officer Uhrig
The woman who contacted me was really surprised to learn that Corporal McNamee (known to her as Officer McNamee) was in the room when Chris Busch was discovered. She told me it had taken her some time to get the nerve up to contact me. This is why:
Officer McNamee sexually molested me when I was eight to about 11 or 12. I didn’t know what he was doing. He was our police officer in our village and we loved him. He enticed us with Fruit Stripe gum and Juicy Fruit gum and let us get into his car and run in front of his speed radar. But when I would run up to his car door he would put his fingers between my legs and twiddle them around. Also he did this when I was in the front seat of his car [and other kids] were in the backseat. . . . It happened quite a few times but I was very young and we were not taught any of this behavior to look out for. I was uncomfortable, felt sick inside and I would back away but something told me it was wrong but I just loved this guy. We would run out of the house we would run down the street when we saw his car because he would park outside of our homes.
. . .
In 1982 or 1983, my father called me when I was [at college] and reported to me that Officer McNamee had been arrested for being a pedophile and was going to prison. Someone’s parents reported him. This happened in Michigan, too, I believe. I couldn’t believe it and went silent. My Dad [asked] what was wrong and I told this happened to me! I never realized it was molestation until then! Talk about being naive.
I remember seeing the news articles about it and I do remember googling McNamee sometime since the web’s been around and seeing that he had died.”
This woman said that prior to contacting me she scoured the web to look for the articles about this arrest, and could find next to nothing–and no news articles whatsoever.
I asked her if she would be ok with me forwarding her information to police. She had no problem with it and I provided the state police with the full email and her contact information. She was eager to help in any way she could. On August 14 I contacted the state police again and included pages from the “suicide” report and urged them to contact this woman. As of tonight, no one has contacted her. I’m guessing no one ever will.
In the intervening month, here’s what little she and another researcher have learned about this man online.
–Born December 21, 1929
–Served AIC US Air Force Korea
–Worked at Bloomfield Township P.D.; as of 1978 was a corporal
–Believed to have left B.T.P.D. in 1979
–Arrested on April 14, 1982 in Mt. Clemens for sexual assault. Records show no charging information/details, just one count of “1100 sexual assault,” “charged by prosecutor.” McNamee was found guilty and sentenced to 2 years probation, a $200 fine and ordered to complete a Macomb substance abuse program.
–Died at age 66 in New Jersey on June 19, 1996.
–According to a cryptic death notice (no obituary), he was cremated in Newark. His remains were interred at the National Military Cemetery in Bushnell, Florida. It seems he has relatives in Florida (nieces and nephews and maybe a sibling or two). It appears he never married and has no children.
A past address of 423 S. Cranbrook Cross Road comes up for Richard McNamee.
Pretty close to the Busch home and that of John Hastings. I know, I know–just a coincidence.
I think police should have gotten back to her to ask her about her information and she is waiting. In the meantime, is there anyone else from Bloomfield Village who remembers Officer McNamee? The world needs more people like this woman who came forward. If you had a similarly horrific experience with “Officer Friendly,” or have more information that would shed light on his involvement in investigating the Chris Busch “suicide,” email me at catherine.broad@yahoo.com. Don’t bother with the tip line. It’s pretty obvious what’s going on there now that the behavior of the MSP has been exposed in The Snow Killings.
Marney Keenan’s book has rattled the branches of a very old, sick tree. The truth needs to come out here. It is so fucking obvious what went on and that the cover up continues to this very minute. Maybe this cop was just another free-range pedophile from the 1970s and 1980s and it was just his luck he got called to the Busch diorama suicide scene. If you were a kid in Bloomfield Village back in the 1970’s, you were lucky if all you got from him was a stick of gum.
Oh my God…it just never stops. There really needs to be an outside party investigating all of this, (besides family of the victims) Praying that this might lead to more answers
A friend of mine said The Birmingham Cops Confessed at a party one night to killing the serial child killer in Birmingham. I informed Tims Attorney and Jeff Feiger. No response.
Thanks Olivia. I have heard similar stories over the past decade-plus. If it is true, I commend their efforts. Seriously. Chris Busch was no better than a rabid animal. Even now, I would hate to see anyone charged with or prosecuted for his murder. I suspect John McKinney received the same treatment in September 1977 and also suspect he may have deserved it.
Here’s where it goes sideways–whoever shot Busch made sure the scene screamed “I am the child killer.” The drawing of the screaming boy who looked like Mark Stebbins had been on the bedroom wall for some time, according to Busch’s nephews. But the rest of the scene was staged. Who ever killed him was giving the task force–and the communities–an easy answer. But it was never looked into further because it got shut down right then and there. Why? There are three possible reasons. 1. H. Lee Busch does whatever he can to make sure his family name is not tarnished by their predator/killer son; 2. L. Brooks Patterson had already said numerous times in the press that pedophile Chris Busch had been cleared of all child murders in O.C. His career would have been over; 3. If the MSP tried to get any traction here, all LBP had to do was point out that those assholes polygraphed Busch and Greene and cleared them in January 1977 BEFORE Tim King was abducted. Or it’s some combination of all three.
I think they could have easily kept the murder of Busch angle out of it and the cops who killed him could have been protected even if the rest of the information about Busch came out. I doubt this man’s family would have pressed any charges. They liked the suicide angle, too. Especially if nothing else came out about it.
From a reader: The lack of follow up by the MSP seems to be the norm with the MSP. Maybe that is why AG Dana Nessel now has her own Criminal Investigation Division. This just makes victims feel more victimized, especially with her many years of processing it, and building up the confidence to go public with her story.
The gap that exists from the recent high profile child predator cases has meant no one has addressed the issue of the lack of follow up reports. The predators and some of the enablers are being addressed but not the system; a system that lacks any accountability.
Maybe with the release of the Inspector Generals report of the FBI and their mishandling of the Larry Nassar evidence, if it is in favor of the plaintiffs, will open the floodgates. When LE is charged as being enablers in child predator cases, that is going to be monumental. It is all about money. It seems that quite often this is the only way to get laws enacted and enforced.
Okay. So I think it wasn’t more than three weeks ago that I left a comment on here that one of the only reasons I could think of for LE to shelve the OCCK cases, was that cops or a cop was involved. So this is starting to smell like that. Maybe the “need” to play dumb was a lot closer to home for LE than Busch’s exec dad.
Look at this
https://www.foxnews.com/us/21-alleged-child-sexual-predators-arrested
What the heck was this cop doing spending all his time around little kids anyway? I grew up in Oakland County in the 70s and never saw such a friendly cop. (Guess I should be grateful).
I have always suspected Timmy had to be tricked because posters of the sketch of the suspected OCCK were all over the place and we were warned constantly to not ever be out alone. (Although I lived by Mark Stebbins so maybe I was more aware due to proximity?) I do remember even back then they said the person may disguise themselves as a priest or police officer.
Could they get DNA from one of his siblings I wonder?
As an aside, I also remember a couple other kids had been kidnapped and killed around the same time, but they were not tied to the OCCK? Or am I not remembering correctly? Anyway, it was a very dark time.
KP, the composite sketch circulated after Tim’s abduction. A witness saw a boy (it was Tim–red hockey jacket) talking to a man. But I agree with you, he had to have been tricked by someone with a badge or a pretty convincing story. On the other hand, someone familiar with the way Greene worked said they would have a teen lure talk to a kid, Greene or another one of these monsters comes up, punches the kid in the throat and tosses him or her into the trunk. Three seconds. Jane Allen and Kimberly King (no relation to Tim) were both abducted and murdered but never directly tied to the OCCK crimes. But consider who was making those determinations. Such a dark time. And the L. Brooks Patterson script was always like the Mayor in Jaws: It’s safe to go in the water! Safest county on earth!
the sibling refused to give a DNA sample
A Bham cop confessed to a friend of mine. That they killed the serial child killer. He was an artist in Birmingham. I told all authorities. Never got a response
Olivia, my email is catherine.broad@yahoo.com. As I said in response to your first comment, I have no interest in seeing anyone even questioned about Busch’s murder. It’s no surprise you got no response. I am interested in any details, however. Not because I want to buy the person a case of whiskey (although I would have), but because at this point I would like to know. The other part of this scenario that is so disturbing is that if cops killed Busch, it is because they felt like he would never be arrested and prosecuted. THAT is the important part of the story.
I forget the killers name. I do know he was found dead in his art studio in B’ham
That would be John McKinney, Olivia. He had an art gallery in Birmingham. He was murdered in September 1977. They must have thought they had the OCCK until the situation grew another head after Busch tells a private polygrapher that he was involved. That must have happened in October or November 1977. Busch is found dead on 11-20-77.
McKinney plays a very prominent part in a book by M.F. Cribari, Portraits in the Snow: The Oakland County Child Killings…Scandals and Small Conspiracies (2011). You should check it out.
I’ve also written about him a number of times here. I guess this is how crimes got “solved” in Birmingham back in the day. While I certainly understand the impulse, and you can make the argument, “Get over it; no other kids got killed,” it certainly caused another set of problems. Det. Cory Williams was finally allowed to read the McKinney file at the B’ham PD, and like a lot of men circulating in Oakland County in the 1970s, he had a list of people who could be candidates for murdering him. Good riddance.
When a group of Oakland County detectives first met to look over the murders of the children, the count appeared to be 7 to those of us at the Tribune. I created a chart of the 7, with names, dates, photos, locations, etc.. As I recall, it was printed on the Saturday of that meeting. I’m sure it didn’t tell detectives anything they didn’t know, but I dropped off copies at Ferndale PD the morning of that meeting. And of course the investigators pretty quickly dropped three of those murders from those they attributed to the OCCK.
Yes, Bob. Oakland County touted itself as such a safe community. I don’t think Jane Allan, Cynthia Cadiuex, Sheila Srock, Mark Stebbins, Jill Robinson, Kristine Mihelich, Tim King or Kim King (no relation), felt very safe once they realized what was going to happen to them. And no one should have felt safe, except the pedophiles and murderers who, with the exception of Sheila’s killer, were never caught.
The artist who was found dead killed the kids. A Bham cop confessed to killing him
Olivia do you have any details about the cop? Age, appearance, did he stick around Birmingham? Any specifics about the confession?
No details on the confession. My friend ( an Attorney) was at a party and the cops said there won’t be anymore killings. We killed the killer. I told J Feiger. And Tim Kings Attorney about this theory and no response
I assume you included the information about the killer being an art dealer. Even so, that’s not a lot of information to work with. And I’m sure the police would deny it. I will post about McKinney and ask people to come forward. I do know his name was turned in to the task force multiple times, including after his murder. If this is what happened to him–and it is entirely possible, given the murder scene reflects a beating (probably as part of demanding a confession and for him to give up any photos or films) and an attempt by him to bolt, police would have every interest in dismissing him as a suspect or working hard to solve his murder. M.F. Cribari’s book Portraits in the Snow does a really good job treating the circumstances surrounding McKinney. I will reread it and give this more thought. I don’t even know if the cops got DNA from one of his kids or not.
Yes my friend said the Bham cops confessed to killing John McKinney the artist found dead the cops know the truth but they buried it
Oh my gosh you are right- the posters didn’t come out till after Tim! Would love to see a picture of that scumbag police office mentioned in this post.
That’s up next.
Catherine, thanks for all the background of McNamee. He may well have been a significant figure in the Detroit area pedophile network.
I am curious about one other matter you, your father, and Marney Keenan have raised a number of times: the inexplicably low bail ($1000) set for Christopher Busch when he and Greene were charged in Flint. I have always been under the impression that it is the presiding judge who sets bail and not the prosecutor or county executive. The name “Newblatt” appears clearly in the photo in Marney Keenan’s book (page 141 of the Kindle version).
That is evidently a reference to the late Harry P. Newblatt (1926-2002), a Genesee County district judge at the time. His family seems to have been prominent in the legal field. His brother, Stewart Newblatt, was appointed a federal judge for Eastern Michigan by Jimmy Carter and Harry’s nephew (Stewart’s son) David Newblatt has recently been made a probate judge in Genesee County.
Stewart has retired from the federal bench but appears to still be alive and living in Leelanau County.
Have any of the Newblatts come up your radar screen during your investigations?
I have memories of officer McNamee as well. Read a post by a friend on FB in a B’ham site and saw the name and started crying. If you would like to contact me feel free.
Jennifer, please email me at catherine.broad@yahoo.com if you want to reach out.
Hey Jennifer, I remember a bunch of us hanging around with officer McNamee and playing in the police/fire department. Officer Mcnamee used to give me rides home from BVS and park in our driveway to speed check traffic on Covington.
I attended a child trafficking/abduction fundraiser many years ago and the key note speaker spoke about his father whom he suspected of being the OCCK. I don’t remember much of his comments but I remember how much sense it made at the time. I also remember him mentioning the Busch name.
I was in the same year as Cathy and had Timmy in a class I taught at Cranbrook science center. He was a very handsome kid and I had to warn him twice about being disruptive in class. (Typical boy stuff, nothing bad) I mention this because he was a very confident kid and there is no way he would have gotten in a car he didn’t want to get into. Always thought the killer dressed up as a cop or priest.
Send this case to CeCe Moore of DNA detectives! She works wonders!
I contacted her through facebook. I sent a link to this blog.
Yes, you did. Thank you Kat.
So do you think it was also assumed suicide because the house was all locked from the inside? Did they check all the windows to see if they were locked? Any garage door openers missing? (I know the door to the garage was open, person easily could have come and gone using an opener.)
Wait, what am I doing? I am using logic and acting like someone that would actually want the truth. My mistake…
Any relation to William A.Mcnamee husband of Ruth Braden Mcnamee politician?
It looks like her husband Bill was from New York…
https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/magazine/in_memory/1943/WilliamA.McNamee
FWIW – I think that South Cranbrook Cross address associated with McNamee was part of Birmingham at the time(70’s) ,as was Busch and Hastings addresses.
Despicable, it took a web of people to squash Busch’s file…..McNamee lived less than a mile from Busch and he was a first responder???? Hoping more people from the neighborhood come forward! This stinks to high heaven!
Busch was not the killer. The artist that was found dead in Bham was the killer
More people coming forward about this officer where he lived please check out you know you’re from Birmingham Michigan group
I got off social media and FB at the end of 2019. I will ask a friend to screen shot. Thanks again.