Part 4: The Third Man
By December 28, 1981, Don Jail escapees Terry Musgrave and Randy Garrison were both safely behind bars. On January 3, 1982, by pure accident, the next fugitive was ushered back into the fold.
That Sunday, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) detachment at Lindsay received a tip from a sharp-eyed cottager in Kenrei Park, a small community some 5 kilometres north of Lindsay, that someone appeared to be occupying a cottage that should, rightly, have been unoccupied. Three officers paid a visit to the community to check things out; there was indeed a trespasser. After surrounding the cottage, they took the intruder into custody. The man was alone and unarmed, and he offered no resistance.
It was only after the arrest that the OPP established his identity — Brian William Bush, who had been charged with robbery and possessing restricted weapons. Metro Toronto Police had earlier described Bush as “very dangerous”; their Lindsay counterparts must have thanked their lucky stars that he had none of those lethal weapons on his person at the time.
On February 9, Bush was convicted for his part in the bungled Leaside bank robbery in March 1981 that left one of his fellow bandits dead and two others wounded in a shootout with police. This was his third robbery conviction. As reported in the Toronto Star, a stern Judge Hugh Locke told the court that Bush regarded “jail as an occupational hazard. He knew there were weapons being used. He is a very dangerous man with dire prospects for rehabilitation.” He sentenced Bush to 11 years in prison.
