Thanks to a reader for seeing something I never saw in spite of many readings and recitations concerning the documentation (such as it is) of the arrest of Greg Greene on January 25, 1977 and the arrest of Chris Busch on January 28, 1977.
Here is the Genesee County Jail Inmate Record for Chris Busch after his arrest on January 28 for criminal sexual conduct of a minor in Flint:
When Busch is finally charged for violating the same victim in Oakland County (offense on or about May 29, 1976) on February 25, 1977, Richard Thompson, writes the following on the criminal complaint:
This was pretty hard to miss, but I did:
I’m not a handwriting expert, but I don’t think that is necessary in this case. Recall that OCP chief deputy Dick Thompson and OCP investigator Gary Hawkins were present for an interrogation of Greg Greene on January 26, the day Greene was polygraphed for the first two times. https://catherinebroad.blog/2021/10/28/7947/. Thompson was back in Flint after Busch was arrested, having driven to Flint in a blinding snow storm on January 28, 1977 (50 mph winds, blowing snow and a 17-car pile up on I-75), before Busch took the polygraph on the Stebbins murder at 8 pm that evening.
Flint PD Det./Sgt. Tom Waldron explains the participation of the Oakland County task force in the interrogation of Greene, and the arrest and interrogation of Busch, and by extension (presumably) the participation of Richard Thompson in the entire deal:
On January 27, 1977, the Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office issued a warrant against Christopher Busch . . . on the basis of information received on Flint Police Department Complaint #2197 made by one [redacted victim’s name]. Due to the fact that the suspect in this matter, Christopher Busch, had numerous contacts and had lived in the Birmingham-Detroit area, the Oakland County Task Force that was involved in the investigation of the kidnap and murder of 5 juveniles, became involved in this matter.
Special Report regarding arrest of Christopher Brian Busch, by Tom Waldron, dated January 31, 1977
I’d say that was a pretty sanitized version of how the name Chris Busch got tossed by Greene on January 25, 1977, as the killer of Mark Stebbins. But I digress.
At a minimum, the document showing the bail reduction is relevant because it shows that Thompson, and therefore his boss Patterson, were aware that Busch, an admitted serial rapist of boys and owner of reels of child pornography and ropes, was free to be on the prowl in their jurisdiction and they did nothing about it before or after my brother was abducted less than seven weeks later, less than three miles from the Busch home in Bloomfield Village.
“Rel” clearly means “released. The fact that an Oakland County prosecuting attorney wrote this on a Genesee County inmate card is not only remarkable, it means somebody in Robert F. Leonard’s office must have been aware of such an anomaly as well. Maybe it was just the chief deputy from another county helping out with paperwork–that must be it.
You might not take this as far as I do–as further evidence that there was never any line–legal, ethical or moral–that the alleged anti-smut, “no deals” duo of L. Brooks Patterson and Richard Thompson would not cross. In the Snow Killings, author Marney Keenan describes a discussion with Jessica Cooper’s bag man, Paul Walton, who explains that he diligently drove to Ann Arbor to ask Richard Thompson why he would write “no deals,” and then have Busch walk with two year’s probation. (Snow Killings, pages 212-213). Sadly, Thompson would have no recollection. “There is no rhyme. There is no reason.”
Oh, I think there is both Rhyme and Reason. But you and I know no agency in Michigan will ever call for the accountability that would be required to keep something like this from ever happening again.
Court records from Oakland County criminal case 77-32312 against Busch indicate the case was handled by OCAP Leonard Gilman. Gilman became US attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1981 and died in 1985 at the age of 43.
Despite Patterson’s theatrical announcement in December 1976 that he would “no longer allow those charged with breaking and entering and those charged with using guns to commit crimes to plead guilty to a lesser offense,” having previously precluded any plea agreements in narcotics offenses, armed robberies and concealed weapons cases, apparently a plea bargain in the case of a confessed child rapist was A-ok. “Plea bargaining denies a victim his day in court, demoralizes the law enforcement community and unnecessarily rewards the defendant,” said Mr. Law and Order.
The Oakland County court file on Busch’s CSC case contains a final note on June 1, 1977: “Spoke with Sgt. Dyer & he agrees with plea and will explain it to victim.”
Explain to the 14-year-old victim that got drug into Flint PD after Greg Greene tossed his name and police and then Busch’s counsel Jane Burgess put him through the wringer, that the legal system would again be unnecessarily rewarding this defendant. Again.