Standoff Suspect Wore Black Satin Bikini Underwear, Detective Testifies

The man alleged to have engaged in an armed standoff with Middletown Township police late last month wore black satin bikini underwear and took them off and asked for something else to wear following his arrest, Detective Andrew Amoroso testified Wednesday at a preliminary hearing for suspect John Bush.

Bush, 66, of Aster Lane in Bristol Township’s Levittown section, is charged with attempted murder, attempted rape, burglary, aggravated assault and persons not to possess, use, manufacture, control, sell or transfer firearms.

Amoroso said Bush had told him he planned to “strip [his wife] naked and knock off one last piece” upon her entry into the Walsh Road home she moved to last year. The detective also said Bush planned to kill his wife after.

Bush’s public defender, Peter Hall, claimed the prosecution’s testimony from the detective did not prove the 66-year-old planned to rape his wife. He questioned the meaning of “knock off one last piece.”

Amoroso testified that Bush asked him how he could be charged with attempted rape if the target was his wife. Amoroso said he told him it was illegal.

Bush’s wife, who is currently in the process of getting divorced from him, testified that she arrived home to the 800 block of Walsh Road on May 29 from work and a neighbor told her he thought someone had broken into her home, she said. In the rear of the home, she said she noticed a broken window and then called 911.

Officer Derek Leonhauser testified he and Officer Paul Runner arrived to the house and were let in by Bush’s wife.

Inside the kitchen, as police with guns drawn entered, Bush’s wife said she noticed her estranged husband’s hat and sunglasses on the table. Bush then called his wife’s nickname and she went outside.

Leonhauser said Bush was sitting on a chair about three and four and holding a black handgun, held between both hands and pointing toward a wall. The 10-year police officer identified himself and asked the 66-year-old to drop the gun multiple times. He refused, Leonhauser said.

The officer then testified that Bush pivoted in the chair and pointed the .45 caliber handgun towards him. He said he backed through the kitchen and to the front door where he once again asked Bush to drop the gun.

“How about I just kill myself?” Bush allegedly responded.

According reports following the incident, local and state police arrived on the scene and began a nearly hour-long standoff in the quiet middle-class neighborhood. Sgt. Matthew Kroiss was able to make contact with Bush and the armed man agreed to surrender peacefully, police said.

The black .45 caliber Derringer style handgun Busch had on him during the standoff was obtained last year at a yard sale in Virginia, Bush told police at the time of his arrest. Busch also told investigators  he had fired shots from the weapon in the past, a fact that Amoroso reiterated in court.

A protection for abuse order was active against Bush and he was to have no contact with his wife, according to police.

Bush’s wife said aside from some ashes on a footstool and a broken toilet seat, which she believes was done by her estranged husband accidentally, her home suffered little damage.

All charges were held against Bush, who used a cane in court, for trial by District Judge Daniel Baranoski.

Bush remains in county jail on 10 percent of $5 million bail.

Related:

• Standoff Suspect Charged with Planning to Kill Wife
• Source: Man In Custody After Standoff