MO - 27-year-old woman found dead at home of August Busch IV

[Blondie in Spokane]

http://www.fox2now.com/news/ktvi-woman-found-dead-august-busch-home-122310,0,3532198.story

snip

FOX 2 began calling Frontenac Police days earlier, with a promise from the department that we'd get something in writing.

The first response we did hear was from Busch's long time family attorney, Art Margulis, who said "there is nothing to suggest anything suspicious. It was a tragic and untimely death."

Finally, Thursday afternoon, Frontenac Police sent a brief statement confirming the death. The police chief said it took days to send it because they needed an attorney to review the two paragraph release.

Martin's ex-husband, a doctor of osteopathy, is out of town and was unavailable for comment.

******************

I think this is what is so alarming, that the police had to wait for the attorney to give approval of the statement before it was released to the news.

Just a little note: The husband now has full custody of the little boy and if there is a settlement, I'm sure he will be in charge of that....

Hi and welcome to Websleuths UdbCrzy2...

That jumped out at me too! LE is treading very carefully on this, I would say. I sure hope that the truth comes out on this but I wonder now after reading that sentence. And regarding the 4-day delay in reporting, that sure makes it look to me like this story was purposely delayed until right before the Christmas holiday in order to downplay it.

That poor child lost his mother the week before Christmas....how terribly sad.

 

[Tuffy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_QT_syndrome#Diagnosis

Any medical folks around?
Could this be dxed without seeing a cardiologist?
And it is genetic in source, how much DNA do they need to test at this point?
She has been cremated but would there be enough tissue samples available for this test? Not sure it matters but curious nonetheless.

Used to be an EMT. I think a dx could be made from an EKG. I would think an initial dx would want to be followed up with a cardiologist though. Long QT can lead to sudden cardiac arrest. I would think that anyone with this condition would take all the preventative steps available, such as meds, surgery, etc.

Just me, but I would wear some type of medical alert jewelry.

 

[Betty P]

Tape of 911 call released:

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_01749250-1137-11e0-b13c-00127992bc8b.htmlarticle_01749250-1137-11e0-b13c-00127992bc8b.html

Apparently, an employee was the one who called 911. When asked if the woman was breathing, he said he couldn't tell because "its dark back there". He said he would have to get a light and check. Rather odd.

Police have also said that The Fourth was at home at the time.

Why would you need to get a light to check on someone in a room? Seems you should be able to turn on a light switch.

 

[wfgodot]

While Busch family woes have been well-documented in MSM articles - IV's fatal car crash plus the tête-à-tête with narcotics officers, his half-uncle's shooting a friend to death - St. Louisans of a certain age will recall the wealth of rumors which combined these two stories, from the late baseball broadcaster Harry Caray's Wiki entry:

In November 1968 Caray was nearly killed after being struck by an automobile while crossing a street in St. Louis; he received two broken legs in the accident, but recuperated in time to return to the broadcast booth for the start of the 1969 season.

After the 1969 season, Caray was unexpectedly fired as the Cardinals' lead broadcaster (his broadcast partner Jack Buck replaced him). Golenbock, other Cardinal historians, and Caray's former wife have suggested the cause was a purported affair Caray had with the daughter-in-law of Cardinals owner August A. Busch, Jr. (who also owned Anheuser-Busch brewery, the club's broadcast sponsor); Caray first called it a business grudge while never necessarily denying or affirming the rumors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Caray


Rumor - I stress the word - had it, at the time, that the first incident above was directly related to the second. Another dark entry in the Busch family record then, though never confirmed.

 

[wfgodot]

And speaking of Busch family history, here's a whole Post-Dispatch.com article devoted to it:

For Busch family, woman's death is latest in tragic history

 

[Betty P]

While Busch family woes have been well-documented in MSM articles - IV's fatal car crash plus the tête-à-tête with narcotics officers, his half-uncle's shooting a friend to death - St. Louisans of a certain age will recall the wealth of rumors which combined these two stories, from the late baseball broadcaster Harry Caray's Wiki entry:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Caray


Rumor - I stress the word - had it, at the time, that the first incident above was directly related to the second. Another dark entry in the Busch family record then, though never confirmed.

I remember when that happened to Harry Caray; he was badly injured, nearly killed. When the rumor came out about Harry and his affair with Busch Jr.'s wife, I was shocked. Harry Carey was no real prize in the looks department, wasn't wealthy and it seemed such an unlikely match. We really missed him, though, when he left his job as the Card's broadcaster.

 

[wfgodot]

I remember when that happened to Harry Caray; he was badly injured, nearly killed. When the rumor came out about Harry and his affair with Busch Jr.'s wife, I was shocked. Harry Carey was no real prize in the looks department, wasn't wealthy and it seemed such an unlikely match. We really missed him, though, when he left his job as the Card's broadcaster.

I'll say! My lifelong love of the Cardinals was predicated on listening to Harry calling Cards games on my transistor radio when I was a little kid, with my lights out and under the covers late at night.

 

[colette]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_QT_syndrome#Diagnosis

Any medical folks around?
Could this be dxed without seeing a cardiologist?
And it is genetic in source, how much DNA do they need to test at this point?
She has been cremated but would there be enough tissue samples available for this test? Not sure it matters but curious nonetheless.

A long QT can be seen on even a simple 2 lead ekg, she could have had minor surgery and it might have been seen then. It sounds like she did not want to see a cardiolgist, some people just don't want to know bad news.

 

[Betty P]

Transcript of 911 call. Its difficult to hear the man's voice on the call, so the transcript helps.

CALLER: Ahh, uhhh, she, this girl is just not waking up. We can't get her to ...

OPERATOR: (Interrupting) Is she, is she breathing?

CALLER: Yeah, we don't know. It's dark back there. I'm going to get a light and try and see.


http://www.stltoday.com/article_e4bf04ca-113f-11e0-be5e-0017a4a78c22.html

 

[AlwaysShocked]

The ex-husband administered an EKG to her shortly after their marriage which was years ago. He diagnosed what is classified as a "cardiac dysrhythmia". This type of cardiac disorder would not show up on an autopsy. Nor would it show in DNA testing.

Sometimes these disorders are intermittent. The next test after a basic EKG would be a Holter Monitor test, where you are hooked up to a small, portable EKG machine that you "wear" for a 24 hour period.

Oh, and the interrupted cardiac rhythm can cause ventricular fibrillation, not "defibrillation". Defibrillation is the process of using either electricity or chemicals to put the heart back into a normal rhythm.

 

[Tuffy]

OPERATOR: Emergency, 911.

CALLER: Yeah, we need an ambulance at 2032 South Lindbergh.

OPERATOR: Okay, is that a residence or business?

CALLER: Residence.

OPERATOR: Okay, what's the problem?

CALLER: Ahh, uhhh, she, this girl is just not waking up. We can't get her to ...

OPERATOR: (Interrupting) Is she, is she breathing?

CALLER: Yeah, we don't know. It's dark back there. I'm going to get a light and try and see.

OPERATOR: Okay, all right, I'll get them going right away.

CALLER: Okay, thanks.

This 911 call begs more questions than it answers. Is this the shortest 911 call you've seen? Call, give address, say "don't know if she's breathing," hang up?

Where was she that they couldn't tell if she was breathing? It's dark, and they can't turn on a light? They have to go get one?

 

[Daisyjane]

This 911 call begs more questions than it answers. Is this the shortest 911 call you've seen? Call, give address, say "don't know if she's breathing," hang up?

Where was she that they couldn't tell if she was breathing? It's dark, and they can't turn on a light? They have to go get one?

RE the 911 tape: Wouldn't the dispatcher instruct the caller to stay on the line until help arrives? Methinks the tape has been sliced, diced, and spliced.

RE why would it be "dark back there" at 1 in the afternoon? Sounds an awful like a certain "windowless room" where a body was found at this very time of year back in 1996.

 

[Tuffy]

RE the 911 tape: Wouldn't the dispatcher instruct the caller to stay on the line until help arrives? Methinks the tape has been sliced, diced, and spliced.

RE why would it be "dark back there" at 1 in the afternoon? Sounds an awful like a certain "windowless room" where a body was found at this very time of year back in 1996.

oh...I was thinking that was the whole tape. :blush:

Point #2, I think you're on to something!

 

[colette]

Women have this condition and are 2-3 times more likely to die from it than men.




•Women have more QT prolongation secondary to drug therapy.
•Congenital long QT syndrome is autosomal dominant but shows greater frequency of expression and a greater lengthening of the QT interval in women than in men.

The highest frequency is in patients aged 35-50 years.

 

[Betty P]

Interesting to note that IV is being represented by famed attorney Art Margulis, known for his skills in defending high profile murder suspects. He's known for his expert defense of clients accused of murdering wives and trying to cover up the crimes by implicating strangers.

Margulis is currently defending Chris Coleman, charged with killing his wife and 2 small children in their home in Columbia, IL in 2009. Coleman tried to cover up the crime by spray painting bizarre messages on the walls of the family home.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30841214/

Margulis was also successful in getting murder charges reduced to manslaughter for Dennis Bullock, who was accused of the bizarre murder of his wife, Julie Miller. Bullock tried to cover his tracks by traveling home during an out of town conference to murder his wife. He put her body in the garage and set it on fire, then hopped a plane back to the conference. He later tried to stage his suicide by leaving his car parked with the engine running on a bridge, escaping to California. Margulies was able to convince the jury that Miller suffocated accidentally during sex games involving Bulloch wrapping her entire body and head in athletic tape. He only served 4 years in prison.

http://www.amazon.com/Dying-Get-Married-Courtship-Bulloch/dp/1559720913

He's definitely the attorney you want if you're trying to cover your tracks after the death of a wife/SO.

 

[Jack]

Its ironic that people immediately suspect foul play because of who is involved and the delay in public reporting. There is not one shred of evidence that this man is involved in any way in the death of this woman yet I suspect there will be those who accuse him publicly for no other reason than his name.

Television stations and other news organizations have a wide bank of scanners and folks monitoring them 24/7. Its how they find out about stuff going on (one way anyhow) and report it. I'm guessing but I'd say its reasonable to think that the press knew what was going on (at least they had to know 'something' was going on) and had to work on an angle prior to reporting on it since they would risk defaming a very well known person in the area. Perhaps they had their own attornies working on it too.

Margulis is a long time family attorney, not someone who was recently retained to represent ABIV in this case. IMO, that fact makes it not as 'hinky'.

Some other things that make this not as 'hinky' to me is the fact that this woman's ex (a doctor) had reason to perform tests that showed a possible problem with her heart function. Wonder why he would do that? One thing that comes to mind is that perhaps as an 'aspiring model' she had a tendancy to not eat correctly so she'd stay thin. Isn't cardiac arrest one of the things that can happen to an anorexic? Just a guess, not saying she was but can't think of any other reason offhand why a physician husband would run cardiac tests on his wife and the wife would refuse to see a cardiologist, then eventually die for no apparent reason. Just speculating.

 

[wfgodot]

* The press had a built-in angle - dead woman found at well-known individual's house - and thus the story was probably originally supressed by LE, at least to the extent that it was handled via cell phone and thus not scanner-accessible. This is a courtesy wealth enjoys. The death occurred on Sunday, 19 December; it was not reported in the press until Thursday, 23 December, and thus was unavailable to being objectively investigated by journalists representing the public's right to know for a time.

* The fact that an attorney - no matter his relationship to the family - has been chosen spokesperson for August Busch IV, and that attorney does specialize in cases such as this, is telling.

* The body was found at 12:30 p.m. The 911 call was not made until 1:12 p.m.

* Busch IV has a history which cannot be overlooked - the death of a young woman killed in the crash of his car; he was located later at his apartment, yet claimed "amnesia." There were no living witnesses. He escaped judgement for the incident.

The investigation took seven months, after which authorities declined to press criminal charges, saying there wasn't adequate evidence to do so. They said the investigation took so long because of the "high profile" of the Busch family and because family lawyers had fought the taking of hair and fiber samples from Busch.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/metro/article_019710b6-8543-52c7-bd11-c25ff5537b47.html

* The ex-husband has told the press that Busch IV is "a good man"; his "diagnosis" and its release to the press therefore might seem both contrived and very, very handy and, being an ex-husband, somewhat suspect.

* Those with the means to purchase "justice," frequently have done so.

It would be ironic if no one on this thread thought to suspect that certain strings might be pulled, and that the case may be being handled differently than if it had occurred at a non-wealthy person's home.

 

[Nancy2441]

Audio of 911 call:

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...l-found-dead-beer-mogul-august-buschs-mansion

 

[Tuffy]

Audio of 911 call:

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusiv...l-found-dead-beer-mogul-august-buschs-mansion

So that is all to that call!

OPERATOR: Emergency, 911.

CALLER: Yeah, we need an ambulance at 2032 South Lindbergh.

OPERATOR: Okay, is that a residence or business?

CALLER: Residence.

OPERATOR: Okay, what's the problem?

CALLER: Ahh, uhhh, she, this girl is just not waking up. We can't get her to ...

OPERATOR: (Interrupting) Is she, is she breathing?

CALLER: Yeah, we don't know. It's dark back there. I'm going to get a light and try and see.

OPERATOR: Okay, all right, I'll get them going right away.

CALLER: Okay, thanks.

Bizarre!!!

ETA - Also:

The call was made by Michael Jung, an employee at the estate, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is reporting.

 

[jjenny]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_QT_syndrome#Diagnosis

Any medical folks around?
Could this be dxed without seeing a cardiologist?
And it is genetic in source, how much DNA do they need to test at this point?
She has been cremated but would there be enough tissue samples available for this test? Not sure it matters but curious nonetheless.

I am curious if the medical record of that EKG exists.