Ian Bush faces 3 first-degree murder charges, court records show
Shaamini Yogaretnam, Ottawa Citizen , Published on: February 20, 2015Last Updated: February 20, 2015 1:49 PM EST, Source - Ottawa Citizen
Court records show that Ian Bush, 59, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder.
The Ottawa resident, who operates a consulting business, is expected to appear Saturday morning.
Ottawa police are expected to provide more details Friday afternoon in the unsolved 2007 killing of a retired tax court judge, his wife and neighbour after homicide detectives arrested Ian Bush following a court appearance Friday morning.
Bush was arrested immediately following his brief court appearance to hear the results of a court-ordered psychiatric assessment. He appeared wearing a leather jacket, spoke to his lawyer but refused to look out into the gallery of a packed courtroom. A pair of homicide detectives escorted him in an unmarked police vehicle from the courthouse to the Elgin Street police headquarters where he was to be questioned.
Major crime detectives were also present in the courtroom during the appearance, which was related to charges laid by the robbery unit in December 2014. Among them, the current lead detective on the 2007 unsolved case, the former lead detective and the staff sergeant that oversees the homicide unit.
Police plan to hold a 2 p.m. press conference to update the media.
Bush’s court appearance Friday morning was held to hear the results of a psychiatric evaluation on charges associated with the attempted murder of a 101-year-old Second World War veteran in December.
In the case of the war veteran Ernest CÔtÉ, who was tied up during a home invasion that drew condemnation from around the country, court was told Bush was fit to stand trial and had no issues affecting whether he could be held criminally responsible for those alleged offences.
He was also charged with 11 counts of weapons offences after police found a hunting rifle and a sawed-off shot gun during a search warrant at his Orleans townhome. He elected trial by judge and jury.
While police probed the CÔtÉ attack, they alleged discovered DNA linked Bush to the 2007 slaying of a tax judge, his wife and their neighbour — crimes that stunned this city but had remained unsolved for years.
Alban Garon, 77, his wife Raymonde, 73, and Marie-Claire Beniskos, 78, were found dead eight years ago in the Garons’ highrise condominium on Riverside Drive.
Despite intense police efforts, the case remained a mystery. Then, following the attack on CÔtÉ, DNA evidence offered a new lead.
Police found that samples found on duct tape inside CÔtÉ’s condo matched samples from the scene of the Riverside killings.
In exclusive documents obtained by the Citizen uncovered, it’s clear that six years before Garon was killed, Bush contacted him. In a bizarre fax, Bush summoned the judge to appear before a fake court at Bush’s OrlÉans home.
Police are also retesting evidence in the unsolved homicide of commissionaire Paul-AndrÉ Simard, who was found dead in his home just three months before the Garons and Beniskos were killed.
— More to come.
With files from Andrew Seymour