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Not one, but two TV shows about a 43-year-old murder

By Chuck Hunt - Editor | Feb 26, 2023

Former Faribault County Sheriff Roger Fletcher found himself in the hot seat being interrogated, actually interviewed, about the death of Michele Busha in Blue Earth. TV producer David Lewis is at left asking the questions.

You might recall that last week in this space I wrote about being interviewed, and talking a bit about Blue Earth and Faribault County.

Perhaps you wondered why I was being interviewed – in front of video cameras, no less.

Well, it had to do with the famous Jane Doe case in Blue Earth a long time ago. You probably remember some of the details of the case. A woman was discovered dead in a drainage ditch off of Interstate 90.

It was back in 1980. She was unclothed, had been tortured and raped.

Her killer, a Minnesota Highway patrolman, confessed to her murder about nine years later.

But, her identity remained a mystery until 2015 when her body was exhumed from her grave in Blue Earth and a new kind of DNA matching was used to identify her as Michelle Busha, from Texas.

I wasn’t around Blue Earth in 1980, but I had written about the case several times in the past 15 years, especially in 2015 when she was finally identified and her family came here to take Michelle’s remains home to Texas.

A company called Jupiter Entertainment out of Nashville, Tennessee, is creating a TV show all about the Michelle Busha/Jane Doe case. It will be shown on the Weather Channel’s series called “Storm of Suspicion’ sometime in the future.

The producer and film crew were in Blue Earth the week before last and filmed me and, more importantly, law enforcement officers and others with a detailed knowledge of the case. Those included Faribault County Chief Deputy Scott Adams, former County Sheriff Roger Fletcher, and Deb Anderson, who had fought for years to get Jane Doe to be identified, and not be forgotten.

Ironically, this Weather Channel show is not the only one in production with a focus on Blue Earth’s famous Jane Doe.

I was also contacted by a Canadian television documentary company called Refugee 31. They, too, are planning to make a documentary about the mysterious case of Jane Doe/Michelle Busha.

Their film is planned to be shown in Canada on Super Channel Entertainment Network. But it is also planned to be shown on the True Crime Network in the United States.

The title of the series is called “Almost Unsolved” and this is going to be its very first season.

R31 (as it is called) describes the show this way:

“In each TV hour, we examine the journey to justice and closure, following homicide cold cases that almost went unsolved. Justice that is almost imperfect, but vital for the dignity of the victims, their families and communities. The series will combine archival materials/footage, interviews with those who were part of the story, as well as journalists and crime experts along with reenactments.

“R31 has already crossed the continent, from California to New York City, interviewing some of the remarkable cold … case officers, prosecutors and DNA experts that were instrumental in solving some of the oldest cold cases in North America. Stories of resilience, determination and hope that will take you through fascinating and intriguing loops.”

You may wonder why this 43-year-old murder case is all of a sudden getting attention again – I know I do. And the truth is, I really don’t know why. My guess is just that it was, and still is, a very tragic, yet fascinating case.

One that has haunted all of us who had anything to do with solving the case or reporting on it over the many years.

We will let you know when we learn the exact dates these shows will be hitting the airwaves. It could be much later this year, or longer, we are told.

So, stay tuned…