Man Hiding From Police Found Dead In Freezer (2023)

That's A Crime
Episode 61: Man Hiding From Police Found Dead In Freezer (2023)

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down the true crime story of the Man Hiding From Police Found Dead In Freezer in 2023. On June 26, 2023, 34-year-old Brandon Lee Buschman of Babbitt, MN was found dead inside a chest freezer in the basement of an unoccupied home. At the time Buschman had an outstanding arrest warrant and was attempting to evade the police in the area.

Recorded: 07-26-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:10

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 0:12

All right, Sal, we are back with another crime

Sal Rodriguez: 0:18

and crime

Jason Connell: 0:19

assemblies.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:21

A sounds like I say it's a sad but like, this is what you bring us back to.

Jason Connell: 0:25

I bring us right back to the somber crime. But the reason we're doing it is a to honor the victim in this crime. But I thought of you, Sal. As soon as I read the headline, I said, Oh, my gosh, Sal will not like this, but we should talk about it.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:45

Yeah. Okay. I'm willing to.

Jason Connell: 0:49

Because today, we're breaking down the true crime story of the man hiding from police found dead in freezer in 2023. And so why would that resonate within me to think of you?

Sal Rodriguez: 1:03

Uh, well, I'm gonna imagine because you're well aware of my, my claustrophobia I do. I do have, I would say a fairly decent case of claustrophobia. And it's only gotten worse. As I've gotten older, I would imagine that if left untreated, any phobia will only get worse throughout your last year. So I recommend people to seek help.

Jason Connell: 1:22

So I'm not laughing at you. We all have phobias, I have a great fear of sharks, thanks to jaws, and I can't stop watching that movie. So I don't swim in the ocean, per se, or at least not past all people. And so that's a big one. And I now I've always lived, you know, since like, my 30s on in a coastal town. But it's okay, I can live with this phobia. I've accepted it. But so I know you've spoken to this before. And so before we dive in, do you know where this phobia began?

Sal Rodriguez: 1:55

Actually, I don't. And now that you asked me, I've never been asked that before. But I'm wondering if maybe just maybe there's some relationship to how I was born. You see, I was born in a car in the backseat of a car. On the way to the hospital, they were on the way to the hospitals born in the backseat. I may be something there my first glimpses of life was sort of an enclosed space. It wasn't a cat convertible cat. It was some neighbor, I, my mother never gave me the full story. But I was born in the car, the way to the hospital neighbor was driving us, I'd love to find that car. I'd love to drive that car, that wondering if that has something to do with it. I'd love to own that car. And I'd love to do everything I live in that car is what I do. But what I would love to do is, is know a little more about that. But no, I don't know how it all started. I only know that I've been very aware of it about the last 20 years. And I've noticed how it's kind of grown and been more amplified with each passing year.

Jason Connell: 2:50

Yeah. Well, you've definitely mentioned it to me a few times. So as we go through this while I'm here for you,

Sal Rodriguez: 2:57

thank you. So appreciate that. You know, I just took a flight and even even a flight even on a plane. Yeah, I feel enclosed. Stan, gotta breathe. Almost was this close. I just flew from Burbank to Seattle, Seattle to Burbank. And right before we left Burbank, I was seconds away from saying I gotta get out of here, seconds away. But then I was able to breathe and talk myself through it.

Jason Connell: 3:19

Very good. Well, we're glad you're home. And we're glad to have recording that. So let's jump in to the crime. And I should be clear, this episode is not really about the crime. It's someone who got themselves in a bad situation running from a crime but let's dive in. Yes, on June 26 2023 34 year old Brandon Lee Bushman of Babbit, Minnesota, was found dead inside a chest freezer in the basement of an unoccupied home. A couple of things to unpack there. So first off Brandon Lee. Not randomly Buschmann was Bruce Lee's son. And he was killed while filming The Crow accidentally shot by a gun that was supposed to not have real bullets and had real bullets and killed him chest wound and they still released the movie and I was a huge fan of Brandon Lee. So that might be a crime for another day.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:15

Well, because didn't we cover that randomly story? Didn't we cover the Alec Baldwin into no rust?

Jason Connell: 4:22

We talked about it while it was still unfolding. So no, yeah, this has happened before. So anyway, just a coincidence there. And when I read chest freezer, I was like chest freezer. I didn't know they were called that. We actually have one here. It's those bigger freezers that you open up in you could get into not like a freezer and a refrigerator. Right? Maybe you are familiar with the term. I had not known that term. I just call them freezer.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:48

No. A couple years ago, I found myself in a ranch in Montana. And there was a secondary home that had a large freezer vertical. No, I'm sorry, horizontal freezer. And believe me, I thought to myself I could Got a couple of people in here. A couple of people could fit inside of this thing. Great to have but as we will soon learn incredibly dangerous.

Jason Connell: 5:08

Yes. So now at the time Bushman had an outstanding arrest warrant and was attempting to evade the police in the area. I actually read he was on the first floor, and then just started going down in the house to the basement to get away from said police. Now according to the medical examiner's office, there was no evidence of trauma or injury to Bushmans body. So so it would appear that this was an accidental death. That's on that leader shaking your head. You're just in disbelief. Alright.

Sal Rodriguez: 5:40

I am because I'm wondering. I mean, it says that there was no evidence of trauma or injury, but wouldn't there be? I mean, was he trying to cause way out? I mean, such a terrific way to go.

Jason Connell: 5:51

I think that mean, there's not like trauma and those areas where it's like, yeah, knocked out thrown in, like the one in the chest freezer, you saw, and Montana dead body or hurt body throw in freezer. It wasn't one of those situations.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:06

Yeah. But then I wonder, well, how does the death actually occur? What's the official cause of death? Would it be suffocation? What would it actually be?

Jason Connell: 6:15

Well, we're getting to that, or getting to that. So the examiner also shared that they found a metal lawn ornament rod inserted in the freezer towards the latching mechanism, which they say indicated that Bushman had entered on his own accord. So I was trying to think about this like so we had this device going in, did he pry it open? Did he try to open it from the inside later, but whatever they were convinced that this was Bushmans doing hiding in this closing door, and sealing his own fate, essentially,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:51

it's just horrible, because I don't even think we even learn what his warrant was for we don't know much about this guy.

Jason Connell: 6:57

I looked all over for that information, nothing. It could have been a misdemeanor, who knows but he was obviously trespassing through a property and police lights, whatever, runs down and hides. Now, I was also curious to what you just talked about, were there scratches inside the freezer with this lash or on his hands or, you know, as Bushman fought to escape? You know, once you're in there, you're like, oh, and it's dark, and you're scared and your heart's pounding, and you're trying to hide from someone? No, it's tragic. I mean, we're making light of it a little, or at least I am, because it's horrific. It's scary. I'm terrified of being boxed into places too. And as we talk about it, you just start to feel like you're right there with Bush. But as he's going through this, and you're right, it's terrifying. And I can already tell you're putting this on and seeing how it feels. And it's, it's frightening.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:52

No, because I think one of the things that makes it so terrifying is not only the thought of what happened in the claustrophobia, but how long does something like this take to occur? How long could you were I jump in a freezer? Close the door? No one's around how many hours how many days? If it wasn't suffocation if it wasn't suffocation, it was days, days and days.

Jason Connell: 8:14

So as for the chest freezer itself, it was an older model that could not be opened from the inside, which is crazy that those models exist. Well, first of all, yeah. And additionally, the house that it resided in, and that Bushman broke into, had not been occupied since February 2023, and had no electricity. So the freezer was not even operational. So that starts to answer some of your questions. Bushman did not freeze to death. So he must have eventually just run out of air. I mean, we're not totally sure. Or like you said, it took days and days and it was just, it could have been other things. Dehydration, we don't know, but not a good death. Not that there isn't a thing, but a very horrific death.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:15

Do they know? Okay, he was found on June 26. Do they know when he got in there?

Jason Connell: 9:20

No, but no, I don't think it's that long because witnesses spotted him and one flow into the other than they finally found him. So I think we're talking hours, not days.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:31

Okay. And who are these police? I mean, if somebody's evading you, and you know generally where they are in a house or whatever, Oh, you don't go into the house. You don't look around. You don't see your freezer. I mean, it's not like the guy who we've covered who hid himself in a giant teddy bear. Yeah, right.

Jason Connell: 9:47

Police went ahead and found him right away. The teddy bear was breathing

Sal Rodriguez: 9:50

okay, and they found but police are more likely to find you if you're hiding as a teddy bear than if you're in a giant freezer right in front of their face.

Jason Connell: 9:58

In the movies are the police go through windows And they, you know, have their flashlights and there's no sign of life. And he's in a freezer. And they're like, Well, okay, so that's probably one of those things they probably scanned, kept moving, circle back around, talk to witnesses look again. And by now it's hours, could be days, but I'm assuming it's not that long of a timeline. They eventually go in to see what was taken or what was damaged in an unoccupied home, which there's less, no one saying, hey, get in there, this guy tried to rob me, you know, there's a lot of that going on. So I'm sure that didn't help. Bushman and so we don't know some of those answers. But we do know the facts that evading for whatever crime it was, went to hide. And it's like, oh, this is not opening. And this is that scary thing, which I've seen in movies and TV where someone is in a coffin. Right, like, Hey, we're gonna bury you, and then we'll dig you up later. And they don't come and get them or I've seen this played out so many times. And they're just like, doing the flashlight. Oh, yeah. It was like an amazing story. years ago. It was like, one of those shows, you know, I

Sal Rodriguez: 11:16

was thinking about amazing stories. Only recently. Steven Spielberg has amazing stories. Yeah, that was

Jason Connell: 11:20

a scary one on there that dealt with that there was a movie with Ryan Reynolds, where same thing he's in a coffin has like a flash, not a flashlight. I'm sorry, a lighter, and it's waiting. It's on a cell phone, and they're not coming for him. And it plays out the whole movie. Yeah, you shouldn't watch. No, no,

Sal Rodriguez: 11:38

no, wait a lighter. You know, when I imagine somebody in a coffin, using a lighter as a light source? Well, what does a flame require? Oxygen? Oh, you're burning up your oxygen to like this flame of horrific, horrific. You know, Jason, I remember it was about I don't know, maybe sometime in the late 80s When certain carmakers that have trunks, let's say a four door sedan with a trunk. They made that little escape through the back seats. Yeah, by Volvo had that. Oh, when I started seeing those. I was like, Oh, thank you. Like, I never been trapped in a trance in case. Yeah. But but but thank you automakers. Thank you for thinking of such things. Because obviously, the reason why they made an escape hatch to the trunk is because people weren't getting stuck in the trunk,

Jason Connell: 12:22

because they needed to. Yeah, they needed to have escape hatch. We need this. So that movie I was just talking about it was Ryan Reynolds 2010. It was called buried a survival thriller film. It was it was riveting. And it was a lot like this. Now, this is real life. This is tragic. So please rest in peace. Bradley Bushman says friends and family, whatever the crime was, this was not worthy of a death. And it was a sad situation. I don't know why they made freezers that could melt from the inside. God forbid, for whatever reason, just you know, anything happens. I'm assuming they have changed this. And now you can open from the inside.

Sal Rodriguez: 13:07

Yeah, I should hope so. I should hope so. But unfortunately, there probably are these old freezers hanging out there. Right. Yeah. Like, like, for example, that freezer in Montana. I don't know if I could have gotten out of there. Somehow I wound up inside of it. I don't know if I could have escaped.

Jason Connell: 13:21

The one in our basement I literally looked at today. And yeah, one person could probably fit in there. I'm not testing it. Even if Sofia was waiting for me. I'm just not but I don't I don't think there's a latch. I think it's more of a seal like a suction. And he's pushed it open. But what?

Sal Rodriguez: 13:38

So no, but Jason, when he first brought this up to me, I'm thinking, okay, you know, the word freezer. All of a sudden, we're thinking he froze to death, frozen. I'm thinking actually, if a person were to be trapped in a freezer, it would be a gentler death for lack of a better term. If he did freeze to death. That would have been a little easier, right? less suffering. Would it have been?

Jason Connell: 13:59

Yeah, it could have been. I mean, he might lose sensation to things faster. I don't know. I mean, none of its good sell. None of its good. And when I first read it freezer that does come to mind. Like, here's a person that got in there and froze to death, but it's not even that it is more horrific. I think, like oh crap, they're in there. And they have all their wits and they're slowly losing air and oxygen, it's dark, they're scared, and they're probably just going crazy. And they're probably like this to you. He probably had no room to move and operate, cramped to even like swing properly or think properly. But anyway, not a huge crime on the crime meter because we don't know what Bushman did, but this is also a cautionary tale,

Sal Rodriguez: 14:44

while evading police is officially a crime. So there's the crime. The crime is officially evading police. Yes, there's that right. Yeah, but fortunately Yeah, breaking. You know, okay, there you go. All that to say of all the vacant house,

Jason Connell: 14:57

it will turn out to be vacant since February. Yes, that's correct. But still Well, not his, but a cautionary tale in the sense. Don't put yourself in the situation. The crime is probably not that big. And also, if you're running from cops, guess what? They may shoot you. So it's probably not worth that. So anybody else out there? This is something to learn from. If you put yourself in a bad situation, bad things can happen.

Sal Rodriguez: 15:25

Well, you have to consider the consequence. And the lesson one of those ROI things return on investment, like is this worth it? Is this worth the risk to do this, like, for example, they were stealing batteries in our neighborhood car batteries, they were stealing cars, stealing the battery, dumping the car. Stealing a battery is not a felony, stealing a battery is a misdemeanor stealing a car is a felony. So these people are committing felonies to commit a misdemeanor. That's a good point. It doesn't make any sense. So this gentleman of Brandon Lee Bushman, running from the police, who knows what he had a warrant for, it could have been as simple as missing a court date. It could have been as simple as that. Exactly. When you got a warrant, you're running from the police, and you get trapped and you have a horrific death like this. It would have been better to just surrender to the police. And say, go ahead and take me away and you know, throw yourself on the mercy of the court. Rest in peace, Brandon Stimpy. And, yeah, please, anyone out there. Just throw your hands up and let the police take your way. Do it. Yeah.

Jason Connell: 16:23

And so stay out of tight, small places. Okay.

Sal Rodriguez: 16:27

Jason, I made a miniature recording studio to do some voiceover recently. And I started having clubs. You couldn't get in there? No, it was I felt so. Um, let me tell you something. I sometimes think about you and that sounds with you got a pro sound but

Jason Connell: 16:39

I can stand up and it's a glass. I have an accent. Okay, I have an accent I wanted

Sal Rodriguez: 16:47

I want to ask you since you mentioned to Jason, the sharks so you like no no snorkeling or scuba for you.

Jason Connell: 16:53

I snuck it in Hawaii one time. And I was the big island and this bay that was Hanoi Bay. Anyway, we're out there snorkeling mat and I remember Matt and friend of ours, friend of mine, and you know him. And we're snorkeling The only time I ever did it besides the pool. And no sharks, but like very clear water very deep. That already is making me feel like I understand now that we're out of our element in the ocean. It's not us walking on land, I can accept it. And then he I turned around and here's this humongous tortoise. Now innocent wasn't even messing with us. But just that going through my mind, like wait a second. I've seen this in movies. And here's this guy a foot from me. And you realize what else could be out there? Sure. And it just made me very uncomfortable slowly went back into show him was like, I think those days are done. I couldn't imagine doing it off on a boat somewhere or going in a cage. I'm just not interested. There's zero interest in that. So that was it. My snorkeling days are in the rear view.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:02

Jason I learned that my two older siblings have both engaged in nighttime scuba. They are insane. i They're crazy. They are crazy. They're

Jason Connell: 18:12

crazy. All right, so that's all we got. That covers the true crime story of the man hiding from police found dead in freezer in 2023. I assure you we'll be back with lighter crime Sal, but sprinkled in with these darker, sadder crimes because it's the business of crime.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:33

Please because Jason, I miss a good heist. I would I'd love to talk about a good heist

Jason Connell: 18:37

is gone wrong are a successful heist. Yeah. So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to the that's a crime podcast and the that's a crime YouTube life channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:53

And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on any that's a crime social media platform.

Jason Connell: 19:02

We also highly recommend checking out our other podcast and visiting just curious media.com