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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA northern Indiana man has been convicted in the 2015 killing of his uncle, who authorities believe was shot and then burned along with the mattress to his bed.
An Elkhart County jury found Charles David Bussard of Elkhart guilty of murder Wednesday in the January 2015 shooting of his uncle, Byron Bussard, The Elkhart Truth reported.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 9, and faces up to 65 years in prison.
Bussard, 31, had taken the stand earlier Wednesday, telling jurors an earlier account of the shooting he gave to police was fabricated.
Authorities believe Bussard shot his 45-year-old uncle in the remote house they shared near Bristol, then burned his body along with the mattress to his bed.
Byron Bussard’s disappearance was initially a missing person case, but Charles Bussard contacted authorities in January 2020 saying he had information. He told detectives he was the only person on the planet who could shed light on his uncle’s disappearance, Lt. Mike Carich with the Elkhart County Homicide Unit testified Wednesday.
But the account he gave investigators was only a “fantastical” version of events, Bussard said when he took the stand Wednesday afternoon. He also claimed that he had accidentally shot his uncle.
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