August Busch IV back in the headlines
Damn those Brits and their sarcasm. What did the Sunday Times call Mr Busch? “Unlucky in love”. If he’s unlucky, what about the women he has been courting? Most unfortunate?
In 1983, Busch IV, then a 20-year-old University of Arizona student, left a bar near Tucson, Ariz., with a 22-year-old woman. His black Corvette crashed, and the woman, Michele Frederick, was killed. Mr Busch was found hours later at his home. He suffered a fractured skull and claimed he had amnesia.
A St. Louis newspaper reported that 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.
Two years later, Busch IV was acquitted by a jury in St. Louis on assault charges resulting from a police chase that ended with an officer shooting out a tyre on his car. Undercover narcotics officers began a chase after Busch’s car nearly struck them, police said at the time. Mr Busch was also accused of trying to run down two detectives. He said he was fleeing because he thought the unmarked police car carried would-be kidnappers.
Now Missouri police are investigating the death of Adrienne Nicole Martin, whose body was found at the home of August Busch IV. Frontenac, Missouri, police officers got a 911 call just after midday on Sunday, 19 December 2010 about an unresponsive woman at a residence later identified as belonging to Mr Busch.
Art Margulis, an attorney for Busch, was reported as saying said Ms Martin was visiting the home, and added that there was “absolutely nothing suspicious” about Ms Martin’s death.
An autopsy and toxicology report has been conducted but results could take four to six weeks.
Surprisingly, not a single U.S. media source commented on the fact that news of the death was not announced until four days later or why Ms Martin has already been cremated although toxicology tests could take several weeks.
Trust British journalists to raise these pertinent questions.
What are we to conclude? That in the U.S., at least, the Busches are still a tad untouchable?
The Sunday Times quoted Mary MacIntosh, the author of the recently published “Dethroning the King” (reviewed by BRAUWELT International in December 2010) which covers the takeover of Anheuser-Busch. She said that Mr Busch’s fortunes may be decided by his new masters in Brussels and Rio de Janeiro. “If, over the next few weeks, Anheuser-Busch announces that he [Mr Busch] is resigning his seat on the board, then we know he has more trouble ahead.” Ms MacIntosh added: “It will not be personal, but a global corporation avoiding embarrassment.”
Should this happen it will be about time too.
