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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 convicted in his uncle’s fatal 2015 shooting insulted a judge with profanity before he sentenced him to 63 years in prison.
A jury found Charles David Bussard, 31, guilty of murder in August in the January 2015 slaying of his uncle, Byron Bussard. He was sentenced Thursday, The Elkhart Truth reported.
Authorities believe Byron Bussard, 45, was shot in the remote house he and his nephew shared near Bristol, and that his body was then burned along with the mattress to his bed.
Elkhart Circuit Judge Michael Christofeno said Thursday that Bussard not only burned his uncle’s body, but he also ground up the remaining bones and flushed them down the toilet.
Byron Bussard’s disappearance went unsolved until Charles Bussard contacted authorities in 2020 and told detectives he was the only person on the planet who could shed light on his uncle’s disappearance.
During Thursday’s sentencing, Bussard insulted the judge while recounting what he said were his uncle’s last remarks to him before he shot him to death.
“I’m gonna say to you what my uncle said to me right before he got shot,” Bussard said before using an expletive.
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