Eagle Point police chief reflects on murder case

Last week we told you about a 22-year cold case solved when a man walked into a Utah police station and confessed to murder.

The victim’s family joined together to show forgiveness and faith asking for leniency for the killer.

The police captain who worked on the investigation tells us what it was like to finally see it solved.

Eagle Point Police Chief Vern Thompson worked on the Bushey Investigation for 10 years on and off.

He was the Commander of the Detective Division in Kelso, Washington when they picked up the case in 1994.

Bob Bushey was brutally murdered 22 years ago when he was stabbed 53 times at his home in Kelso, Washington.

After a thorough investigation and DNA profile, the suspect was still unknown.

Eagle Point Police Chief Vern Thompson was the Detective Commander in Kelso at the time.

He believed from the start it was a stranger crime.

“Some of the theories were that it was one of his friends and they came in, but it made sense that if they broke into the window, and he came home and caught it was whoever there… his friends knew what time he works,” Chief Thompson said.

Thompson’s team did interviews with persons of interest and eliminated Bob’s sons, Trevor and Terry, immediately.

They submitted DNA to the state crime lab, but didn’t find a match.

“We didn’t realize until later when he came in and confessed to the crime that Utah didn’t take DNA samples for felons until later on. Back in ’94 they did not, so that’s why it didn’t show up in CODIS [Combined DNA Index System],” Chief Thompson said.

The murderer, Brandon Wright, was never on the radar.

It wasn’t until he came forward this spring that investigators were able to match him with the DNA profile.

“His behaviors–what he had said had happened 24 years ago–actually had matched what was going on at the crime scene which tells us it was him,” Chief Thompson said.

Homicide cases like this are always on Thompson’s mind, so a conclusion to this murder mystery brought him satisfaction.

“I said ‘tell me about it. Was I right? Was it a stranger crime?’ And he said ‘yeah it was.’ And I said ‘I knew it!’ And that felt good knowing I was on the right track,” Chief Thompson said.

NBC5 News spoke exclusively with Trevor Bushey who is a local realtor now.

He met with Wright and has forgiven him.

Wright was sentenced yesterday to 17 years in prison.

 

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