John Busby's Twilight Ambush: A Badge's Burden and the Quest for Justice

As the sun dipped below the horizon on the fateful night of August 31, 1979, police officer John Busby's life changed forever—a tale of crime and courage we unpack over a round of Mimosas. Joined by my co-host Shannon, we chart the trajectory of betrayal that led to bullets flying and a family thrown into turmoil. The details of that night, scribbled by a gravely wounded John, kick off a saga of suspense and the stark reality faced by those who bear the badge.

Venturing into the heart of darkness, we unravel the web of a small town's untouchable elite, with the imposing figure of Melvin Reine at its center. Corruption, fear, and power struggles paint a portrait of a place where justice is a game played behind closed doors. The Busby family's tale intertwines with cold cases and sinister suspicions, revealing the high stakes of upholding the law against those who deem themselves above it. Our insights shine a light on these shadowy corners, offering a raw glimpse into the relentless fight for justice amidst small-town secrets.

We'll leave you haunted by the echoes of the Busby family's journey along the precipice of despair and determination. Their story culminates in a frustrating dance with the legal system, where the scales of justice teeter perilously. As we close this chapter, raise your glass with us in honor of those who chase the truth, often at great personal cost. Here's to the unsung heroes and the power of their stories to ignite a flame of hope—even when the darkness seeks to snuff it out. Cheers to truth, tenacity, and the unwavering spirit of the brave.

Sources:
https://johnbusby.weebly.com/john-busby.html

https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/news/2013/11/12/murder-suspect-melvin-reine-falmouth/41920478007/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/live-to-tell-the-year-we-disappeared-16-07-2010/

John and Cybil Busby. The year we disappeared. 

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Darkcast Network. Welcome to the dark side of podcasting.

Speaker 2: 0:05

Welcome to Murder and Mimosas, a true crime podcast brought to you by a mother and daughter duo.

Speaker 3: 0:13

Bringing you murder stories with Mimosas in hand.

Speaker 2: 0:18

Just a quick disclaimer before we get started. Our show is Murder and Mimosas. It's a true crime podcast. This means that we do discuss crimes including, but not limited to, disappearances, murder and sexual assault. All our episodes are told with the respect of the victims and the victims' families in mind. We strive to ensure that we provide factual information, with some information that is more verifiable than others. With that, grab your Mimosas and let's dive in. Hey, murder readers, Welcome back to Murder and Mimosas. I'm Danica and I'm Shannon. Today we are going to cover the story of John Busbee and the injustice he and his family face. Grab your Mimosas. You sit while we share.

Speaker 2: 1:13

It was Friday August 31, 1979, Labor Day weekend. John worked as a police officer and he had the 11 pm at 8 am shift, so the great yard shift. He'd worked the night before and then spent the day in court. Once he got home, he only had a few hours to sleep before his shift started all over again. He'd asked his wife, Polly, to wake him up at about 9.45 so he could get ready. John was up and really zing about calling in because he was exhausted. His three kids would be returning to school soon and he, you know, is a father and really wanted to spend time with them. But he chose to do the responsible thing and headed into work.

Speaker 2: 1:59

As John was headed down his street, you notice this blue sedan up ahead and it was talking to someone in a white VW bug. Then a car raced up behind him with their high beams on and he thought at first that the car was going to pass him, but it didn't. John then hears what he described as a roar and then felt basically what felt like a punch to the face. So he was thrown to the passenger seat and he heard another roaring type of noise. As he began to sit up, you notice the pull of blood in the passenger seat, as well as bone, teeth and hair. It only took him a minute to realize that this was obviously his blood, hair and teeth because he was the only one in the car. So he set up and he slammed on the brakes and his car came to a stop. Blue sedan was still there and a third round was fired into the passenger window of John's car.

Speaker 2: 3:02

John wished for a change, but he had his service gun with him so he could fire back. But since you know he had the three kids at home. He always thought it was safer to leave it at work. So John put the car in reverse and takes off. He ended up taking down a fence and ran right up on the driveway of the house and he went to the door of the house. He knocked on the door and a little girl answered and of course, seeing him, she begins to scream. So our mother comes quickly to the door and she got John inside, she called 911 and she started to get towels for John to try and like help stop the bleeding. So was this a case of mistaken identity or did someone actually mean to shoot a police officer? And if so, why?

Speaker 3: 3:52

I know you mentioned that John didn't have a service revolver. Was he in a police car at the time or was he in his own personal vehicle?

Speaker 2: 3:59

So he was in his own personal vehicle, which was a VW bug as well.

Speaker 3: 4:04

So the person or people that shot him probably didn't know he was a police officer, then I'm assuming.

Speaker 2: 4:10

Well, that's something we will have to find out as we go in further. So a fellow police officer heard about the shooting on the radio and got there pretty quickly for John. The EMT, though, would not enter an area unless the scene was secure. So Tony, the other officer, secured the scene and began pacing as he's waiting on help to arrive, and he's got his gun drawn just in case. John saw the amount of blood and he knew that, because of how much had come out, he was either going to pass out soon or bleed out soon. He wanted them to know who had done this to him in the chance that he didn't make it. So he got out of his notebook, out of his shirt pocket, and he wrote down Melvin Reign. Then he wrote Pauly and the kid not safe.

Speaker 3: 5:02

Oh my gosh. So he thinks someone actually had a hit on him. I can only assume this is someone he helped put away, probably.

Speaker 2: 5:11

Actually no, he hadn't put him away. But we will get into that and like why, john, they were targeted. So of course one of the officers went to get Pauly at the house so she could be at the hospital with your husband. The kids could hear her crying and they woke up. Kelly, who is their 18 year old niece, was staying with him that summer and Pauly had called Kelly to stay with the kids and she would call as soon as she knew anything. So Kelly tried to settle the kids down by putting on a record in the living room.

Speaker 2: 5:42

Then they see lights going to the driveway. They peek out through the shutters and they see this red sports car pulled up. A man gets out, pulls a rifle from the back seat and he is like stalking towards the door. Kelly is rushing the kids into the dark kitchen, going them to buy it. Then she sent the kids to their parents' room and into the closet. Then they begin to hear some knocking at the back door. They sit silently in fear and then knock them again. The knocks end up stopping for a little bit and then the phone rings. They didn't answer that either. Kelly ordered the kids upstairs to the cross-space and told them not to come out until she or their mother came and got them. Kelly bravely went to the door. It turned out to be a police officer. He just was in his uniform or in his patrol car, but he informed Kelly that he would be sitting outside all night guarding the house.

Speaker 3: 6:45

He couldn't at least come in the patrol car. They're already on alert. This girl is brave for 18, though I would have probably been up in Attic 2 and no way would I have answered the door. No one is even after me now, but I still usually don't answer the door.

Speaker 2: 7:04

Too much crime has made me cautious or maybe paranoid, which this day and age. I've got a ring doorbell. I can see who's there and if I feel like answering.

Speaker 3: 7:16

You're just talking about the ring doorbell. Go away, I'm not coming.

Speaker 2: 7:19

What do you want? I don't want to know that girl's got cookies. Bye. Polly's at the hospital with John and they have guards stationed outside his room. Their children were picked up by Polly's brother, joe, who lived in Boston. He took the kids to his house until all of this could be sorted out If it could be sorted out. Polly didn't tell John that his lower jaw was literally blown off and he may never be able to speak or breathe through his mouth or nose again.

Speaker 3: 7:56

Oh my gosh, I cannot imagine. For one pain he must be in. But what is going through his mind, as well as his wife's? I'm sure she's grateful he's alive, but what does that even look like now for them?

Speaker 2: 8:09

The pain, according to him, was horrendous, which I cannot even imagine. He was given pain medicine every four hours, but it would really start to wear off about every three, so that last like hour to 45 minutes was just a spurs. Yes, so there were doctors there that said he thought he could reconstruct John's face with the help of a Harvard medical team, but of course this isn't going to be a quick fix. This would be over a matter of many years and many surgeries. Until then they kept his face bandaged up and of course he has no jaw, so he has to have a feeding tube and it goes down to his stomach so that he can eat.

Speaker 2: 8:52

So let's talk a little bit about how John ended up on the police force. He had been previously in the military, but then he wasn't sure if he wanted to go into law enforcement or be a firefighter. I'm not really sure how he leaned towards law enforcement in the end, but he did. He went through the academy and was offered several jobs that he turned down. He was offered a job with Falmouth, right on the tip of Kate Codd, and he and Polly fell in love with this area. So they bought a house and they settled in the area about nine years before all of this happened. John learned quickly that no one cared what you did to the tourists that came in. But there were some locals that, no matter what they did, you kind of just had to look the other way.

Speaker 3: 9:45

No, that would not work for me. I get like letting someone go with a warning for speeding or something, but what do they have up there at the mall?

Speaker 2: 9:54

Well, let me give you an example of an officer that was a state trooper in North Carolina and he came there. This officer was doing things that An officer would do. He got assigned to permanent desk duty. He was allowed to only drive a police car home for his dinner break Before he was changed to the desk. He had trained an officer and apparently didn't tell him like the unwritten rules of the untouchables. And this rookie arrested one of the untouchables for a DUI. The following day this woman's ticket was cleared completely from the logbook and the officer was no longer allowed to drive the patrol car, even get dinner. In that, this officer eventually resigned.

Speaker 3: 10:41

So if you want following the so-called rules, you're blacklisted pretty much there.

Speaker 2: 10:47

Yeah, pretty much. So let's kind of dial back a little bit and go back to Melvin Rain and how John seemed to get on his bad side. So Melvin had been in prison for burglary and arson. Evidently would burglarize a place and then burn it to the ground, thinking they can't tell what was stolen if it's burned.

Speaker 3: 11:08

I mean, I don't think so. Yeah, it makes sense.

Speaker 2: 11:12

Except for this was a small town and he's selling off people's stuff, and wouldn't you know it? People start to recognize their own things. If anyone said anything, you usually found your house burned down or maybe your car in like right in your driveway burned down. This is basically like his way of intimidating people not to talk and giving them a warning. He was reefing havoc all over town and in a three-week span burned down 12 buildings and a car. A car happened to be the police chief right in his own driveway. Now Melvin also had like a legitimate business. He had a trash truck business. We had the 17-year-old kid that worked for him testified against him. Melvin got five to eight years and was out in a year and a half. The kid that testified against Melvin was was car was burned out in his yard and the kid got the heck out of dodge.

Speaker 3: 12:14

Clearly prison really turned Melvin around.

Speaker 2: 12:17

Yeah, not only that, but Melvin's wife Wanda. She came up missing. He told the police that they had had an argument because she had taken $300 and left, but then he changed his story saying he dropped her off at the bus station to go visit her cousin in Warram. Probably her family said she didn't even have a cousin there, so that doesn't have. The babysitter told police that Wanda went to visit her mother. Her mother said there was no way she would leave without her two boys. To this day her body's never been found and no word or sightings of or from her.

Speaker 3: 12:57

Just think about what this did to these boys. Eventually they have to relug that their dad is probably responsible for their mother's disappearance.

Speaker 2: 13:06

Maybe or maybe they were in the dark so long and told stories that they may think she ran off on them.

Speaker 3: 13:13

True, but either way, it had to really screw with your head.

Speaker 4: 13:17

On February 4th, the Minds of Madness is set to release an investigative four-part series centered on a cold case from nearly four decades ago.

Speaker 1: 13:27

At first it was just my mom's gone, and then it became. You know, your mom was taken by a bad man.

Speaker 3: 13:34

They found video of him killing women.

Speaker 2: 13:37

If you'd ever watched any episodes of Breaking Bad, that's exactly what you would see.

Speaker 4: 13:41

He buried these eleven women and kept going out there.

Speaker 3: 13:45

He made a road going out there.

Speaker 1: 13:47

You got this dude saying hey, I'm gonna show your family these pictures, and like he's secretly taping her.

Speaker 3: 13:54

The cops don't care. We're nothing to them.

Speaker 1: 13:56

They dumped her like a piece of garbage. You know, I don't see anything that screams. There's two people doing this. I never thought anything was gonna come of this case.

Speaker 4: 14:06

Ever Listen to the Minds of Madness series who Killed Jennifer, starting February 4th? Wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 2: 14:15

So the babysitter Shirley the one who had told police that Wanda had left and like went to her mom. She ended up moving in with Melvin and then, once she turned 18, she officially became his girlfriend.

Speaker 3: 14:30

So that's probably the motive of why the waft disappeared. He found a much younger model.

Speaker 2: 14:37

I mean that's most people's theory. Yes, there's also a young boy 16, and his name was Charles Flanagan. He had been picked up by the police one night and when they were passing Melvin, this kid jumped to the floorboard. The officer asked what was wrong and he said he didn't like Melvin or Melvin didn't like him. What he didn't tell them was that he had been seeing the babysitter Shirley, and not long after this the kid was found dead across from Melvin's house and then the cranberry bog. Now, while it was, of course, highly suspected that it was Melvin, there was zero evidence to tie him to this crime, because that case is sadly still sitting unsolved and nobody's really done anything with it. That's crazy.

Speaker 2: 15:30

I know so in 1972, John was hired when a store owner wanted to hire this like an off-duty police officer to just patrol the parking lot on Friday and Saturday nights because he didn't want the teens out there like messing his parking lot up or messing with customers.

Speaker 3: 15:49

I definitely remember those times in my life sitting at parking lots just talking, and none of the owners liked to be in their parking lot.

Speaker 2: 15:57

Well, john starts patrolling it and giving out citations, mostly to teen boys not wanting to follow the rules. One night there was a teen boy in the parking lot and John told him to go park somewhere else. The boy did, I mean he pulled out burning rubber. Well, john noted his plates in case he saw him again, so that he could talk to him about it. But not much later, here comes Melvin and his huge garbage truck pulling in with this zit-faced kid in his sports car right behind him. John, not wanting to back down, goes over to the car and asks to get for his license and registration. Yes, why? And John tells him he's writing him a citation. Melvin there just revving up his trash truck, letting John know he's there because apparently he thinks he can't see a giant trash truck. I guess this kid says you may want to talk to my uncle before you do that. John doesn't care, he's ignoring this warning, hands the kid the citation and told him to come on back if he wanted more.

Speaker 3: 17:02

I ain't got someone around there, had some courage, even if it's something so minor as a citation.

Speaker 2: 17:09

Well, melvin was ticked off. He yelled at John, asking why he did that. When the kid didn't do anything, john jumped up on the running board of the driver's side window and said what did you say? Melvin said I smell smoke, which is what Melvin said as a threat to people because he likes to burn things down, and that's what he meant. He was going to burn something down or someone that they loved, something of their. By saying I smell smoke, though he can't be arrested as threatening them because it's not like an outright threat.

Speaker 3: 17:43

Yeah, he's not wrong.

Speaker 2: 17:44

Dude's good at finding loopholes, that's true. John, still not willing to back down though, sniffs the air and said you're right. Kind of smells like the candles at somebody's funeral, right Handles at a funeral, what?

Speaker 3: 17:59

I guess it's not what he said, but more of a do you don't scare me?

Speaker 2: 18:05

Exactly, and maybe it was like his way of giving a threat back. Loki was like yep, smells like your funeral bro. Yeah, but without saying it's your funeral bro. So although I like his wit, he is clever.

Speaker 2: 18:20

There's another incident when John had just got new work that night and they have a call from another patrol car that they are in pursuit of a vehicle, but this car won't go over, john and his partner set out to help. They heard the driver pulled into a yard and stopped, but he wouldn't get out of this car. The other men were standing around saying they don't know how to arrest him if you won't come out. Josh said the windows are made of glass, aren't they? And he was told that it was Melvin's son and they weren't doing that. So guess who did? I'm assuming John. Yeah, and John said the engine was off and he knew he could hear them.

Speaker 2: 18:58

Then John knocked the driver's side window out, reached around to unlock the door. When he put it in gear, john tried to get the keys out of the ignition button and he decided to let go of the car. Of course the kid took off and this time pulled into Melvin's driveway and Melvin was outside when John pulled in. Melvin is yelling at the other police. But John goes to the passenger side plus that window out jumps into the car, gets the keys out of the ignition. John pulls the kid out of the car and starts cuffing him. Melvin's just yelling there. Better not be one mark on him. When John said he was interfering with an arrest, john could arrest him too. Melvin just turned and he walked in the house.

Speaker 2: 19:43

He came back with a baseball bat Of course not a good plan. Officers advised him to drop it, as they surround him with guns. Not long before John was shot, he was working an accident where there had been a fatality, so due to this there had to be an investigation and he had stopped traffic. One of the people who were waiting to get through was Melvin's brother, john Reign. He was in this huge semi and he just continued to ride this truck, letting John know he wasn't happy about sitting there.

Speaker 3: 20:18

But that's what these dudes driving their trucks I don't know Like another big truck that's not like.

Speaker 2: 20:25

like, we see you. I mean, let's be honest, no one likes to sit in traffic. But I mean, no, no, john wasn't having it though. He told the guy, if you're in such a hurry you can turn around and go the other way. Dude puts the truck in gear and takes off, hating John on the side lying through the traffic stop. Once John was done with the accident, he sat in straight to John Reign's rain towels. He arrests him, charges him with assault and battery on a police officer. John was going to have to be in court to testify against him but was gunned down just two weeks before the court hearing.

Speaker 3: 21:04

So these three things that Melvin's family brought on themselves is what caused him to be gunned down.

Speaker 2: 21:10

John feels certain it was him, but the police aren't really doing anything about it, or at least the police it was assigned to. Are In fact other departments or other police departments even reach out to the chief saying they were willing to help, but the chief declines their offers. John knew that one of the officers on the floors was friends with Melvin and he thought that Melvin was pretty chumming with the chief too.

Speaker 3: 21:42

I don't know, because he burned I could have been a different police chief.

Speaker 2: 21:46

Yeah, that's true, or that chief is scared of him now.

Speaker 3: 21:49

That's true. One of the two.

Speaker 2: 21:52

So he took note of the guys that came to see him in the hospital, and when he got home, the chief never came, nor did the other two cops that he thought were buddies with Melvin. It was then John realized that it also had to be someone on the floors who told Melvin about his work schedule and where he would be. Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3: 22:14

Yeah, you're right, that doesn't even dawn on me, but he's so bright though.

Speaker 2: 22:18

So police have to guard John and his family 24-7. They have police at their house day and night. They have officers that follow the kids to school and literally just sit there all day like watching them. Pauly is in nursing school, so they have to follow her. This is Gosden the city attorney. I mean they don't have a lot of officers as it is and they're having to pay these guys time and a half because they're working when they should be off.

Speaker 3: 22:47

What about the ones John doesn't trust? Are they guarding his house or his family?

Speaker 2: 22:52

No, this was voluntary. If they wanted the extra money, which of course most of them did. It's not like you make a ton of a police officer and time and a half to just kind of sit there and babysit is not a bad thing. Plus, you usually got fed well at the house too. So it was a pretty easy gig, pretty easy money. Oddly enough, though, the chief did resign not too long after John was shot. No one is really loving this arrangement, other than the officers, because you know, easy money.

Speaker 2: 23:24

But even then you want to spend time with your own. The kids hate the officers following around because how embarrassing and they're getting made fun of. The boys are getting into fist fights at school because, well, we know how mean kids can be. Their daughter has some friends tell her like they can't play with her anymore, and not to mention, these kids were outside playing all the time and now they can't go anywhere or do anything because they have this on draw if you're police behind them.

Speaker 3: 23:57

I never really thought about what it would be like, but they are essentially prisoners in their own home.

Speaker 2: 24:03

That's exactly how they described it. So the city is going broke with all the extra pay. So what is the city going to do now? Well, they're going to build them an eight foot fence, get them a security system and a guard dog. Mind you, police officers had to sign a contract with the city consisting to the around the clock security detail if they are ever targeted. This city is taking that away now that it's costing.

Speaker 3: 24:31

Doesn't sound like the city really wants to take care of their officers anyway, or they wouldn't be letting these fugs run around and run the city.

Speaker 2: 24:41

True. So John's having one surgery after the next, but he and his wife Polly decide that once she's done with nurse nursing school they're moving. Once she did finish, she found different places that offered her jobs and they had to be okay with her name being, like, not being listed because safety issues, all right. They ended up moving to Tennessee. They didn't tell their friends where they were going, but they didn't change their names either. They just kind of went into hiding.

Speaker 3: 25:14

So was Melvin ever convicted of attempted murder or anything?

Speaker 2: 25:19

No. So Melvin and his brother John had this big solving out in 2002. John at that time turned on his brother and said that Melvin was the gunman that shot John, and he drove the car and Melvin's wife was also in the other car.

Speaker 3: 25:36

Was Melvin dead then, or why was he not convicted?

Speaker 2: 25:41

So he was alive. But by the time that John came forward and flipped on his brother, the statute of limitations had run out on attempted murder.

Speaker 3: 25:50

I didn't realize there was one for attempted murder. I just thought it was like the same statute of limitations as murder.

Speaker 2: 25:58

Well, you learned something new. So he was put in a mental institution after being questioned, but, to be honest, he was suffering from dementia and I don't know if he fully knew what was going on by then. He ended up dying in 2013.

Speaker 3: 26:16

Well, like John and his family ever got justice, did John at least recover?

Speaker 2: 26:21

So he had a lot of surgeries over his lifetime. They were actually able to reconstruct a jaw for him so he is able to eat and talk, but it can be very hard to understand him when he talks. I do agree with you wholeheartedly. It did not get justice, at least not justice they deserve. Honestly, my mind is kind of blown that there are crops out there that let this happen to one of their own and not seek justice.

Speaker 3: 26:50

I guess you could say that good guys don't always win. But at the same time he did live through it and he still has his family. I just hate that nothing happened to the guy that did all this to him. We always recommend more bubbly and less OJ Cheers.

Speaker 2: 27:19

If you'd like to see pictures from today's episode, you can find us at murdermamosas on Instagram. You can also find us at murdermamosas on TikTok, twitter, and if you have a case you'd like us to do, you can send that to murdermamosas at ginocom. And, lastly, we are on Facebook at Murder and Mamosas Podcast, where you can interact with us there. We love any type of feedback you can give us, so please write your views on Spotify, itunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts.