17 Replies to "Checking on the Steve Bushaw murder investigation, 1 month later"

• Glocson March 1, 2009 (4:33 pm)

  I can’t believe there wasn’t some security camera that did’nt catch a glimpse of this. Either in the minutes before or after. It just doesn’t make sense to me. Did they walk by an ATM or something? Something doesn’t add up in my mind….

• Mike March 1, 2009 (9:10 pm)

  I agree, seems like there should be a few businesses in that area that would have security cameras. I also don’t understand how the make and model of the car has not been reported on, it’s always “white sedan”, really does not do much since there’s millions of those to pick from just in make and then cut that into a few less million model. Can we even get a range of years the car “might” have been made?

• outraged March 1, 2009 (10:17 pm)

  Why is there no outrage regarding this? A month later and no one in the city seems to care. On the other hand our mayor was quick to attend an gathering for someone killed in the central district. You are a public voice WSB why are you not out in front on this lack of response from the city?

• WSB March 1, 2009 (10:48 pm)

  Voices of the community are heard here; our role is to gather and pursue information, to present it, and to facilitate community sharing of information and opinions.
  As a journalist, I called the police department in search of new information. I watch the jail register and the police reports. And though I wish there had been something new to say, I wrote this short story to at least note that we were continuing to check on the case, as it now marks its one-month “anniversary.”
  What more do you think, as a journalist, I should do? A month without an arrest does not necessarily mean no one cares. Some cases are closed quickly; some are not – TR

• GenHillOne March 2, 2009 (7:34 am)

  Unless the release of those details will somehow jeopardize the case, I’m still wondering how random this was. A family member is the only one who has said, once, that it didn’t start somehow inside the restaurant. But no one who was actually there has backed that up in their comments. If I were Talaricos, and that was accurate, I’d have been shouting it from he roof a long time ago. In my mind, the exclusion leads me to believe otherwise. Doesn’t anyone want to know if the men said something to Steven inside/outside, if they had met/not, or if these guys just randomly fired for the hell of it? No scenario makes this kind of violence justified, of course, but especially if it’s the latter, I’d like to know.

• cjboffoli March 2, 2009 (8:34 am)

  Detective GenHillOne: You’re asking the right questions. As the very first journalist on the scene I was privy to something that I have not seen reported here in the WSB coverage (unless I somehow missed it) or in the broader coverage by local media: During the first 30 minutes after the incident, the police officers on the scene told members of the media repeatedly that the victim was awake and lucid but that he was being decidedly uncooperative with investigating officers.
  .
  THE best witness to the event, who saw the shooters, was allegedly being evasive about who they were and what they looked like. Did he know them somehow? Or did he simply fear retribution? Or maybe he had his own reasons. I expect these are some of the questions that the SPD continues to pursue.
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  I suspect this point has been avoided out of respect for the victim, which is totally understandable. And my intention here is not to criticize him in any way. I think it is important to us all to see his killers brought to justice.

• WSB March 2, 2009 (8:44 am)

  I don’t think it’s been avoided so much as perhaps discounted. As you reported, the first info was that not much blood was seen and his wounds weren’t life-threatening … then we got a 4 am note from his sister that he’d died, also reported by police in their early-morning update. What they might have described as uncooperative, or lucid for that matter, had to be looked at later through a different prism given that it turned out he had been shot through the vitals and was in fact bleeding to death at the time. There also have been multiple, differing reports on exactly who was standing or walking where. That happens in these cases. When they finally make arrest(s), they have to have the case nailed or else you run the risk of losing it … look at the case of the Fauntleroy/Dawson murder, where they arrested the grandson but didn’t have the evidence to charge him within the three-day window, and if it hadn’t happened that they had another assault case they COULD charge him in, they would have had to have let him go – it took several more days for the DNA evidence that enabled them finally to file charges – TR

• cjboffoli March 2, 2009 (9:15 am)

  Admittedly, I’ve never been shot so I don’t know what it feels like. But with the benefit of seeing the sly smirk on the officer’s face and hearing the tone of his voice and the way he said it, the overall impression I perceived was not “he’s in too much pain to do any talking” it was “Oh, he’s awake and talking to us…he’s just not saying anything.” And the officers repeatedly pushed this point in the hour that I was on the scene.
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  Not that this kind of violence ever makes any sense, especially with the caliber of thugs who’d pull out guns in a busy place and kill an unarmed man, but it WAS an excessive amount of force in an area that was crowded with Superbowl fans. And that fact that both assailants apparently shot at the victim also seems an interesting detail.
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  I know SPD recovered multiple bullet shells from the scene. Fingerprints can be recovered from those shells even after they’ve been fired. But that might be something the SPD would have to outsource if they don’t have the technology in their own forensics labs.
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  It may seem a bit disconcerting to hear that the police have “no new information” about the case. But I agree that investigations take time and they may know a lot more than they are willing to reveal to the public at this point.

• Text Tipsters March 2, 2009 (11:43 am)

  If there is anyone reading who has information about this murder, but is reluctant to come forward, there is a way to get that information to the authorities and remain completely anonymous.

  Use your phone/SMS to “Text Tips” (274637).

  All messages sent are encrypted through the CrimeStoppers mediating program so that you are given an alias – any communications you initiate or receive cannot be intercepted by third parties, nor can the agencies receiving the tips from CrimeStoppers access or trace the original source/phone. The information you provide is relayed to the agencies through Crime Stoppers. All phone carriers are on aboard with this anonymous tip program. Every phone which as a text feature will work.

  If you have information about this murder, or any other crimes which have occurred or are in process, but are reluctant to come forward publicly, this is the means for you to communicate that information and remain anonymous.

  Rest assured that the Text-Tip number (274637) will allow you to do the right thing and possibly help solve a murder and do so with the protection of complete encryption: no one can intercept communications with CrimeStoppers Text Tips.

  Check out the following link:

  http://www.crimestoppers-ps.com/pages.php/1092

• stan March 3, 2009 (1:00 am)

  I see the lack of information coming from SPD as a positive. Detectives only talk to the media if there is something to gain from it. They know who they are looking for, they just need to put a case together.

• deckard March 3, 2009 (10:47 am)

  There is so much crime creeping into our little corner of the city, it’s starting to worry me. Is there any thing we can do to keep this from falling into the “Cold Case Files?” I’m wondering if we can help with some public display of outrage or a demand for more info. Maybe all of this California Ave area needs to be a “Block Watch” area. Drug dealing and other ileagal activity in our area is on the rise. It’s my conclusion that gangs are moving in. We need more eyes and ears and communication. Would it be possible to have a “Crime Tip Tab” on WSB to just report assumed illeage activity seen?

• Tikay March 3, 2009 (6:06 pm)

  We should all be outraged that this happened in the middle of West Seattle.
  If you want to do something, e-mail or call the Mayor’s office, tell him that you want this case solved. Our Mayor is a West Seattlelite, I cannot believe that he wants criminal activity (especially a murder) happening on the streets of West Seattle.
  I have done what I am recommending, I care about our community and I don’t want murderers running around on the streets of West Seattle.
  It’s so sad that Steve’s life was taken from him right in the middle of California Ave. SW on Superbowl Sunday. Really, how sad is that.

• Erin March 3, 2009 (6:26 pm)

  This is in response to an earlier comment from GenHillOne. I was present at Talarico’s the night that Steve was shot (I was the nurse, who attempted to provide him assistance). I am certain that NO altercation, between anyone, initiated inside Talarico’s! The night was full of happy, karaoke singing W.Seattlelites! The age range was from 21-80+ (literally) and it was an incredibly friendly group!

• deckard March 4, 2009 (10:30 am)

  Somehow, I don’t believe that my little e-mail or voice on an answering machine will do any good. I wonder if the Mayor needs an encampment on his doorstep. I’m troubled at how fast the story went away. At least “King 5 Snooze” is keeping up on the important stories like the realization that our dogs would be better off eating organic dog food, or the tittlizing imaginitive issue of breast feeding in public. (obviously a very natural thing to do) I guess what I am saying is that if we need a public out-cry of some sort to bring this to the attention of the city and the media, then what would be the best thing to do?

• deckard March 5, 2009 (11:08 am)

  WSB-Please keep posting/up-dating this story. Don’t let it die. We can’t let this kind of crime go un-solved.

• WSB March 5, 2009 (12:24 pm)

  I will continue to follow up on it. If anyone from the family reads this, I can tell you from my TV days that if at any point you feel you need to get it into a wide limelight, having a family member offer interviews would be very helpful. I totally understand why they declined interviews in the early going – that is a terrible time to have to compose yourself and speak for the cameras, and of course, no one is ever under any obligation to tell their personal story for public consumption. Now that time has elapsed, perhaps they will reconsider. I can pretty much guarantee that an offer of an interview with a family member in an unsolved murder would bring in every TV station in town (not to mention us and other non-TV types) unless the timing was bad and some gigantic new news story broke.
  But we’ll keep up with the simple checking regardless … TR

• Tikay March 6, 2009 (8:28 pm)

  Just a little tidbit about the Mayor’s office…if a lot of people call or e-mail his office about Steve’s murder and the need to have this case solved, it will put pressure on him to put pressure on the SPD to continue to work hard to solve this crime and, not put it on the back burner.
  After I e-mailed his office, I got a response and then I got a response from the SPD…look at this point anything we can do may help.
  Another couple of ideas, write a letter to the editor of the Seattle Times, attend a WS crime prevention meeting and ask what is being done about solving this crime.
  I have a friend in law enforcement and, he says not to really worry about this case until it’s been six months without an arrest.
  The SPD detectives have a lot of info that they will not release to us (of course) they want to make the arrests stick.
  Change and resolution comes with many people working for the same goal in this case to achieve justice for Steve and his family.

Sorry, comment time is over.