Arizona murder suspect accused of 1997 Douglas Co. killing

A murder unsolved for 12 years in Douglas County may be linked to a man charged in a high-profile Arizona murder linked to a rogue border defense group.

Jason “Gunny” Eugene Bush, Jr., 34, faces a murder charge for the killing Jonathan Bumstead, 18, in the Douglas Creek area on Sept. 21, 1997.

Bush is in the Pima County Jail in Arizona, accused with two others of murdering a man and his 9-year-old daughter on May 30.

One of the suspects, Shawna Forde of Everett, was a one-time member of the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, a citizen border patrol group, before she started her own border enforcement organization.

Bush was also a member of that group. Read a story on that here.

Confidential informants led detectives to Bush, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

Bush is also charged with killing a transient, Hector Manuel Lopez Partida, on July 24, 1997, in Wenatchee.

Read a story on that here.