GUILTY WA - Lisa Bonney, 45, shot to death, Long Beach, 11 Sept 2009

Missizzy

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I had assumed that Brian Brush had a thread. I don't see one. If not, he needs one. Brush is a former Medford, OR police officer and owner of a large boat company. He killed his former girlfriend in front of many witnesses on a busy beach in WA. I'll pull together some background.


http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20100905/NEWS/100909849/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055

Brian Brush found competent to stand trial


"A judge in Washington ruled Friday that Douglas County businessman Brian K. Brush is competent to stand trial for murdering his on-again, off-again girlfriend [Lisa Bonney] in Long Beach, Wash., last year...."

and

"...An owner of North River Boats Inc. in Green, Brush is accused of shooting Lisa Bonney in broad daylight on Sept. 11, 2009.

He is being held in lieu of $50 million bail at the Pacific County Jail in South Bend...."

and

"...At a hearing in August, Dr. Ray Hendrickson, a state psychologist, testified that Brush has shown signs of being traumatized by his experiences as a Medford [OR] police officer and that he may have tried to commit suicide by banging his head against a wall...."

more at link
 
Some background:

http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/long_beach_wash_shooting_victi.html

Long Beach, Wash., shooting victim had filed restraining order

September 15, 2009


"A woman gunned down in a Washington beach city last week [Sept. 11, 2009] had filed a restraining order this summer against the ex-boyfriend accused of killing her. According to documents filed with South Pacific District Court in Long Beach, Wash., Lisa Bonney said Brian Brush broke a wine bottle on a counter during a violent outburst and then smashed a wooden chair into the back of the sofa on which she was sitting.

"I was thinking, 'Oh my God, he's going to kill me,'" Bonney wrote in the July 29 [2009] petition.

Prosecutors will decide this week what charge to file against Brush, a former policeman who owns an Oregon-based boat company that's being investigated by the FBI...."

and

"....Police told The Daily News in Longview, Wash., that Brush and the 45-year-old Bonney were seen arguing at a beach-access point late Friday afternoon during a classic car rally that draws thousands of people and hot rods to the Long Beach Peninsula.

Brush allegedly walked to his truck, retrieved a shotgun and fired three times, with the shots heard and seen by Long Beach police about 150 yards away, authorities said.
Brush was a patrol officer in Medford from 1988 until July 1994, when he left the force because of an unspecified medical problem, Deputy Chief Tim George said.

He bought North River Boats Inc. in 1997. In April, the FBI served a search warrant at the Green, Ore., production plant and accused Brush and his company of inflating inventory and invoices to gain additional financing from a bank...."

more at link

Note: Green is a small town just south of Roseburg, OR in the central part of the state. FWIW, we have a current thread on a recent murder there.
 
So, an ex LE agent, shot his estranged girlfriend, who had a restraining order, on a beach access area, in front of other LE agencies?! They are trying to decide what to charge him on because of ???????????? Sheesh!
 
(Snipped and bolded by TGIR)

"...At a hearing in August, Dr. Ray Hendrickson, a state psychologist, testified that Brush has shown signs of being traumatized by his experiences as a Medford [OR] police officer and that he may have tried to commit suicide by banging his head against a wall...."

more at link

Oh c'mon! He is a former cop and he has a gun, yet the best way he can think of to kill himself is headbanging? That's called a temper-tantrum!

If he wanted to die, he would have shot himself or staged a suicide by cop. Apparently, his lawyer hasn't read the "burned-out/fired/psycho-cop" handbook, or he wouldn't be making such a silly claim!

I need a crazy-smiley! Why aren't my smileys working?
 
I've often wondered what "undisclosed health issue" caused Brush to retire from the Medford PD. He was certainly able to go on to operate a busy boat manufacturing plant.
 
Mr. Brush has long been known to have some "problems" in our area. I knew the trial was on hold awaiting competency confirmation but I was still shocked this didn't have a thread. I'm going to post a few links to previous articles concerning Brush:

http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2009/04/roseburg_boat_maker_accused_of.html

Roseburg boat maker accused of wire fraud

April 7, 2009

"The FBI has accused a Roseburg-based fishing boat manufacturer of fraudulently swelling its inventory figures in an attempt to squeeze millions out of a Wells Fargo credit line.

According to an FBI affidavit and search warrant, North River Boats Inc. and its affiliated retail outlets have been accused of wire fraud...."

more at link





http://behindthebluewall.blogspot.com/2009/09/or-slain-lisa-bonney-feared-her-former.html

Slain Lisa Bonney feared her former-cop, businessman ex-boyfriend

"A former Medford police officer and Southern Oregon businessman is accused of murder. 47-year-old Brian Brush is charged with gunning down his girlfriend in the coastal town of Long Beach, Washington Friday in broad daylight with tourists nearby and police watching. Investigators say Brush shot his girlfriend 45-year-old Lisa Bonney with a shotgun three times in the back. They say the two were arguing near the beach. When the victim tried to walk away, police say Brush grabbed a shotgun from his truck and shot her. Police say he immediately surrendered as nearby officers ran to the scene...."

and

"....In one incident in September 2008, Brush allegedly beat Bonney's car with a hammer and threatened to harm her with the tool, according to court documents. In an e-mail written by Brush and submitted to the court in support of the protection order, Brush tells members of his family, Bonney and her children that he feels like he is out of control. “I am scared, lonely, and I need help,” he wrote in the July 26 e-mail. “I can't control myself and my feelings of anger. I am out of control, and I have no idea why... I have crash landed... Why do I lie. Why do I hate myself. I know what I am doing is wrong but I can't stop... I want to change myself but I can't and this scares me...."

more at link

Note: This link contains a lovely photo of Lisa. There are also comments by Brush's former wife and a timeline. Lisa Bonney left behind two teenaged daughters.
 
Descriptions of Brush's violent outbursts which precipitated the restraining order:

http://www.dailyastorian.com/Main.asp?SectionID=2&ArticleID=64113

'His rage is uncontrollable'
Court papers expose Brian Brush’s pattern of domestic violence


From Sept. 2009

"....Bonney noted that there were earlier incidents involving Brush, who stands 6-1 tall and weighs 260 pounds; she was 5-3.

"Brian changes his attitudes within hours and becomes remorseful and apologetic," she wrote. He had threatened to kill her and previously threatened to burn down her house. "He has stated, 'I have no reasons to live.'"

Two days after the July blowup, according to court documents, Brush sent a seven-paragraph e-mail to Bonney, which he copied to several friends and family members, including his ex-wife. In it he pleaded for "help, love and forgiveness...."

more at link
 
A state appeals court threw out Brush's 88-year sentence in 2014, and the decision was upheld in 2015 by the Washington state Supreme Court. The sentence was overturned on a technicality, a procedural error.

http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/l...-court-tosses-out-exceptional-murder-sentence


Brush was re-sentenced in November, 2016 to the same amount of time, 1,060 months (88 years and four months).

excerpt: Though Judge Michael Sullivan is well-known for his thoughtful approach, he needed only 10 minutes to decide on a verdict for Brush, and even less time to impose the same roughly 88-year sentence that Brush first received in 2012.

“[Brush] deserves to spend the rest of his life knowing that he will never get out of prison, and also knowing he will not receive any sympathy from this court,” Sullivan said. “I’ve said enough.”

http://www.chinookobserver.com/co/l...details-brushs-terror-campaign-vs-lisa-bonney
 

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