A man accused of gunning down three family members at his Point Loma home had been fighting with his sister after she moved in, his nephew testified Tuesday.
William Bushey, 60, allegedly killed his sister and her son and seriously injured his elderly mother on the afternoon of Aug. 21, at the house he shared with his mother and sister in the 3600 block of Zola Street.
Laurie Robinson, 61, and son Brett Robinson, 33, died. June Bushey, 86, survived a gunshot to her chest and lost three fingers on her right hand. The preliminary hearing in Bushey’s case will determine whether he goes to trial on charges of murder and attempted murder.
The defendant’s mother testified Tuesday morning that she was on her patio speaking with her daughter when Bushey emerged from the house and without saying anything, shot her daughter. She said she then ran and was shot in the front yard of the home.
Ryan Robinson, son and brother of the two dead victims, told the court that his mother moved back into her childhood home not long before the deadly shooting.
He testified that he had a good childhood relationship with his uncle “Billy,” but said that in the last several years, Bushey had grown distant from his family and became “like a ghost.”
Bushey had been living at the Zola Street home for several years when his sister moved in and not long afterward, his nephew testified that he learned the defendant had repeatedly gotten into arguments with his sister, who feared for her safety, he said.
The conflicts led to discussions of obtaining a restraining order against Bushey and evicting him from the home, according to testimony.
At one point, Ryan Robinson said his mother asked him to lend her a gun, which he said was shocking because his mother “absolutely hates guns.”
San Diego police were called twice to the home in the days leading up to the shooting, but neither incident resulted in an arrest or emergency psychiatric hold.
The testimony touched on one of those occasions, in which her son recommended that Laurie Robinson and June Bushey hide all the knives in the home due to the escalating altercations, which angered Bushey.
He testified that he pleaded with his mother to move out, but she declined.
Concerning his uncle at that time, Ryan said, “He seemed scared that he was going to be pushed out of the house.”
Bushey remains in custody without bail. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole due to special circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders.
The preliminary hearing was set to resume Tuesday afternoon.
