It is an irrevocable fact that on January 26, 1977, evidence implicating Chris Busch as a suspect in the OCCK case was deliberately destroyed and fraudulent polygraph evidence was knowingly manufactured to protect him from suspicion.
The inept effort to control Chris Busch’s arrest record in Flint had consequences. Recall that the initial plan was that Busch would not be arrested at all because Patterson and Thompson were convinced that they had exclusive jurisdiction over his crimes. Recall that the only reason Busch was being investigated was because of Greg Greene. After Greene was arrested in Flint, he told Waldron that Busch murdered the first OCCK victim, Mark Stebbins. That tip introduced Chris Busch’s name for the first time in the case and triggered the involvement of the OCTF. Waldron was ordered to include none of that information in his report. There was to be absolutely no connection between Chris Busch and the OCCK case.
This initial plan quickly fell apart after Waldron pumped Greene for information about crimes in Genesee County over which Patterson did not have exclusive authority. This led to the introduction of Kenneth Bowman, which led to increased OCTF involvement and the eventual arrest of Chris Busch on CSC charges in Genesee County. Thus, in the arrest record, the OCTF team goes from being invisible to translucent to driving Chris Busch from Alma to Flint with Det. Waldron in the passenger seat. This did not look good and the record needed to be fixed.
Thus, on January 31, 1977, the same day Judge Newblatt reduced Chris Busch’s bail by 98.6%, Waldron was required to submit a “Special Report regarding the arrest of Christopher Brian Busch.”91
This report was mentioned previously in the chapter titled, “A Tale of Two Polygraphs,” but now we will put it in the proper context. This “Special Report” does not begin with describing how Waldron got Busch’s name from Greg Greene on January 25th. It does not begin with Greene telling Waldron about Busch molesting Kenneth Bowman on January 26th or with Bowman’s interview that same day. It does not begin with Bowman being re‐interviewed on January 27th because the molestation incident he described the previous day took place in Oakland County. It begins later on January 27th when the GCP authorized the warrant for Chris Busch’s arrest. It begins on January 27th because that is the first time in Waldron’s original report that he mentions the presence of an OCTF officer, Sgt. Roger L. Rivard. The presence of the OCTF in Flint for what—based on the Flint record—appears to be a completely unrelated molestation incident in GC had to be explained. The “Special Report” adds no substantive information to what was already in Waldron’s original report. The only reason it exists is to provide the explanation that is included in the opening paragraph. We saw this before, but now let’s look at it in context:
Granted, the original Flint record of Chris Busch’s arrest was a complete mess due to the short‐ sighted stupidity of those who dedicated themselves to protecting him. The only thing that could make matters worse and underscore the inept strategy was this “Special Report.” The language used to explain the OCTF’s presence and participation in this Flint molestation case is based on the absolute assumption that no one would ever find out about the tips that were called in on January 25, 1977.92
So, whoever gave the order that Waldron must prepare this “Special Report” that serves as absolute confirmation of a strategy to keep Chis Busch insulated from any connection as a suspect in the OCCK case, thank you! Also, we previously established that the original January 26th polygraphs of Greg Greene mentioned in the above tips were discarded and the January 28th polygraph of Chris Busch was a sham. But Waldron’s “Special Report” provides some additional color to the Busch’s polygraph for which Dick Thompson was present.
A “second exam?” The first exam where Busch, an admitted child molester, was not asked a single question about whether he was ever in the same room as Mark Stebbins or if he ever had sexual contact with Stebbins was not enough? A second exam was necessary? Perhaps it had something to do with Busch asking whether there was “someone wrong with the machine” after he said he had nothing to do with killing Stebbins.
Speaking of second exams, that was an additional loose thread that required mending. During Kenneth Bowman’s interview with the OCTF on January 26, 1977, he painted a target on Greg Greene’s back describing how Greene brutally raped him, choked him until he passed out, tied up other boys, and asked him to serve as bait so that Greene could kidnap a young boy. That triggered the OCP to hit the panic button by tossing out both of Greene’s original, legitimate January 26, 1977 polygraphs and replacing them with a haphazardly arranged fraudulent test. Greene’s phony January 27th test had to be rushed to undo the damage caused by Bowman’s statement. Once the OCP got his desired result he could tell the OCTF that Greene was cleared and there was nothing more anyone could do. The OCTF would not question the sham test result and Greene would no longer be regarded as an OCCK suspect. The operative term here is “haphazardly.” Two tests were thrown out and only one had been taken to replace them. Recall that there was a record that Greene was given two tests in Tip No. 370 and the two tests were clearly described in Doan’s January 26, 1977 report.
Thus, on February 1, 1977, the same day that H. Lee Busch posted the $1,000 bond for his son’s release from jail in Genesee County, Greg Greene was given that second polygraph to make the record look right. True to form, the questions asked during Greene’s second fraudulent polygraph were identical in substance to the first fake one he took on January 27th. Neither Patterson nor Thompson paused for a moment to ask each other if it made any sense to retest a subject who was conclusive passed, albeit falsely, on by asking the same questions five days later. This thoughtless inattention to detail only serves to further prove the depraved strategy of these nitwits. Gentlemen, thank you again for making this easy to figure out. All anyone had to do was look. Fortunately for you, it took 44 years to figure this out due to the lack of an investigative authority to whom this type of behavior can be reported. It was no one’s job to look.
We have spent the past chapters discussing a week in the life of Brooks Patterson and Richard Thompson. While it is undeniable that they had some assistance from their fellow prosecutors and pliable judge, the strategy was driven by the OCP’s office. This will become
increasingly evident in the subsequent chapters. As an endnote, let’s briefly revisit Chris Busch’s GC inmate record.
I draw your attention to the circled “Rel” in the above document indicating that Busch was released. The fact that Chris Busch was released is not as significant as the identity of the person who wrote that note. For reasons that will be described in due course, the OCP was finally forced to arrest Chris Busch one month after he was released from Genesee County. The document below is part of the OCP’s record of that arrest.93
For the moment, let us look past the sophistry and misdirection of the substance of the “No Deals” note written by Richard Thompson and concentrate simply on the letter “R” and compare it to the one on Chris Busch’s Genesee County Inmate Record.
You do not have to be a graphologist94 to see that the same person wrote both notes. For a person trying to cover his tracks, Dick Thompson should probably have thought twice about how it would look for the Chief Assistant OCP to write this note on a Genesee County document. Then there is what he wrote. For a moment, forget all the OCP’s crimes that were exposed in the previous chapters. Demonstrating knowledge that Chris Busch was released in Flint makes it impossible for the OCP to later claim that he felt no need to go after Busch in Oakland County because he thought that Busch was arrested and being held in Flint. Sure, this argument makes no legal sense because a prosecutor should follow up on crimes—particularly serious crimes like those involving sexual abuse of children—that happen in their jurisdiction. It should not matter that if the criminal was arrested elsewhere. Also, we are talking about Patterson and Thompson who advocated for bringing additional charges against suspects who were already incarcerated in their own jurisdiction. This note is proof that the OCP office was aware that admitted child rapist, Chris Busch, had his bond reduced on January 31, 1977, was released from Genesee the next day and ready to resume hunting at his favorite spots in Oakland County.
Now go back to remembering the crimes of the OCP described in the last chapters. Thomson’s note declaring Chris Busch was released was not a warning. Dick Thompson was boasting his achievement. Thompson: who was in Flint pretending to represent the people of Oakland County when he was really protecting the reputation of the wealthy father of a child rapist. That is “Rapist” with a capital:
Footnotes:
91 MK 500‐503.
92 These tips were previously presented in the chapter titled, “A Tale of Two Polygraphs.” We do not have an unredacted copy of Tip No. 370. Due to the trail of breadcrumbs left by the OCP in the limited number of documents that were produced pursuant to the FOIA requests, we do not need it.
93 OCP 7.
94 A handwriting expert, and yes, I had to look up that term.
Guarded By Jackals 