Tales from the Morgue: Tucson's Dead-Man's Curve

A death on River Road

Anyone who has lived and driven in Tucson for a while probably knows the stretch of River Road between Swan and Craycroft.

It was smoothed out somewhat in 1990, but it is still a curvy, winding road, meant to be taken at a reasonable speed.

In 1983, the stretch ─ known as Dead Man's Curve ─ ensnared a rather famous driver and claimed a life.

The incident also generated quite a bit of controversy.

The articles that follow ran in the Arizona Daily Star at the time of the accident and in the days and months following. Many of these article are repetitive, but one must remember that they were read one at a time with at least a day between, and later much more time.

Woman found dead at crash site; Busch heir in intensive-care unit

Monday, Nov. 14, 1983

By Roderick Gary

The Arizona Daily Star

A Tucson woman was killed yesterday morning, apparently in the wreck of a car registered to a young member of the Busch brewing family who was found several miles away with what deputies suspect is a fractured skull suffered in the same accident.

Michele C. Frederick, 22, of the 2800 block of North Sparkman Boulevard, may have been killed when she was thrown from a Chevrolet Corvette on East River Road, between North Swan and North Craycroft roads, said officials of the Pima County Sheriff's Department. The car had apparently been westbound on River Road when it ran off the road, rolling over on its roof.

Frederick was found a few feet from the car, and investigators suspect she was ejected from it. She was pronounced dead at the scene, possibly from massive blunt force trauma to the head and chest, a sheriff's spokesman said.

Sheriff's Deputy Ron Benson, an accident investigator, said a jacket and wallet found in the car identified the owner as August A. Busch IV. The car was also registered to Busch, Benson said.

The wreckage and Frederick's body were found by sheriff's deputies at about 8:30 a.m. Deputies suspect the accident happened between 1:30 and 2 a.m.

When deputies arrived at Busch's home in the 1900 block of East Campbell Terrace, Benson said, no one answered the door. They forced their way into the house and found lights on, music on and Busch "in a dazed condition and bleeding from head injuries."

Busch, 19, was admitted to Tucson General Hospital. A hospital spokesman said Busch was taken to the intensive-care unit late last night after surgery. The hospital, acceding to a request from Busch's physician, was releasing no other information on his condition, the spokesman said.

The sheriff's spokesman said Busch, who is listed in the University of Arizona guide as a freshman engineering student, was believed to have suffered a fractured skull.

Deputies said they didn't know how Busch had reached his residence in that condition, and weren't even sure if he had been involved in the accident, which occurred about 4 miles from his home. However, Benson said investigators "strongly suspect" he was at the scene of the accident.

No charges had been filed in the case as of last night, and the accident is still being investigated, officials said.

Busch is the oldest son of August Adolphus Busch III, 46, who has been chairman of the board of St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. since 1977 and has held the combined post of chairman and president since 1979. The elder Busch attended the University of Arizona in 1957 and 1958, according to "Who's Who in America."

The younger Busch's grandfather, August A. Busch Jr., who at age 84 retains the title of honorary board chairman of the giant brewing company, was listed in a recent Forbes magazine as among the 400 wealthiest people in America. The magazine estimated his minimum net worth, based on holdings including 6.2 million shares of Anheuser-Busch stock, at $400 million.

Frederick was a full-time employee of Dirtbag's nightclub at 1800 E. Speedway, according to the sheriff's office.

Officials untangling Busch heir accident

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 1983

By Jay Gonzales

The Arizona Daily Star

Sheriff's deputies were still trying yesterday to piece together the events surrounding the death of a 22-year-old woman who was thrown from the car of brewery heir August A. Busch IV, who was found seriously injured at his home later.

Busch, 19, the son of Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc. president and chairman August A. Busch III, was listed in satisfactory condition last night at Tucson General Hospital, where he was being treated for injuries possibly suffered in the accident.

Michele C. Frederick, 22, of the 2800 block of North Sparkman Boulevard, was dead at the scene of the one-car accident, which occurred when Busch's Corvette ran off the road and rolled onto its roof on a curve of East River Road near Camino Del Celador, just west of North Craycroft Road.

Sheriff's spokesman Asa Bushnell said that should deputies determine that Busch was driving, he could be charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident.

Deputies have located four witnesses in the case, three of whom said Busch left an eastside nightclub with Frederick at about 1 a.m. Sunday and was driving the sports car involved in the crash, said Bushnell.

The fourth witness is a man whose identity was not available but who told investigators that he gave Busch a ride home at about 7 a.m. Sunday.

The man told deputies that he was driving along East River Road at about 6:45 a.m. when he saw a woman apparently trying to help Busch, who was lying on the side of the road, about a mile west of the accident site, Bushnell said.

The woman is believed to be a nurse at Tucson Medical Center who was on her way home from work, but deputies have not been able to locate her.

The man said he offered to take Busch to a hospital, but Busch declined and asked to be taken home because he had to get his wallet, Bushnell said.

Deputies said that in the wreckage, they found Busch's wallet and some other belongings, including a .44-caliber Magnum handgun and two Missouri driver's licenses. One of the licenses gave his age as 19 and the other as 23. Bushnell said the drinking age is 21 in Missouri, Busch's home state.

It was the wallet and car registration that led deputies to Busch's home in the 1900 block of East Campbell Terrace, where they forced their way inside and found him dazed and bleeding, hours after the accident.

Bushnell said deputies were able to interview Busch yesterday but he could not remember the events leading up to the accident, including whether he was driving.

Busch told deputies he thought he became injured when he lay down on the road to sleep and was run over by a car, Bushnell said.

Deputies have placed the time of the accident at about 2 a.m., and they have not been able to account for the time between then and the time Busch was found.

The three witnesses at the bar, one of whom was Frederick's roommate, told deputies that Busch and Frederick left together at about closing time and that Busch was driving, Bushnell said.

Deputies still had not determined who was driving at the time of the accident, and their investigation into that fact includes checking for hair fibers in the car and the way in which Frederick was ejected from the vehicle.

Deputies said Sunday that they thought Busch had suffered a fractured skull. Sunday night the hospital confirmed that Busch was put in the intensive-care unit after surgery, but the hospital was releasing no information on the extent or nature of his injuries.

Yesterday the hospital spokesman declined to say whether Busch was still in intensive care, saying only that he was in satisfactory condition.

Busch is listed in the University of Arizona guide as a freshman engineering student.

Busch heir in intensive care as probe goes on

Wednesday, Nov. 16, 1983

By Jay Gonzales

The Arizona Daily Star

It will be at least until the end of this week before sheriff's officials and prosecutors can consider pressing charges against brewery heir August A. Busch IV in the auto accident that killed a 22-year-old acquaintance, officials said yesterday.

Investigators were still interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence yesterday in an effort to piece together a chain of events leading up to the crash, estimated to have occurred at about 2 a.m. Sunday, said sheriff's spokesman Asa Bushnell.

Michele C. Frederick, of the 2800 block of North Sparkman Boulevard, was killed in the accident on East River Road near North Camino Del Celador. Her body was found at the scene by deputies at about 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

Busch, 19, who was located at his home after deputies found his wallet in the wreckage, remained in intensive care at Tucson General Hospital yesterday and was listed in satisfactory condition. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. August A. Busch III, are in Tucson, hospital officials said, but the couple could not be reached for comment. The elder Busch is president and chairman of the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc.

Bushnell said the family has hired Tucson attorney Carmine A. Brogna to represent the younger Busch.

Officials have said Busch could be charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident if they determine he was driving the car at the time of the accident.

Deputies investigating the crash yesterday interviewed Frederick's roommate, Debbie Harold, who has been staying with her sister since the crash, Bushnell said. Harold was at Voila's, an eastside nightclub, with Busch and Frederick when the two reportedly left together in Busch's sports car at about closing time.

Deputies have been told by witnesses that Busch was driving when they left, Bushnell said.

Busch reportedly told deputies Monday that he remembers nothing about the accident, and he believes he was injured when he lay down on the road and was run over by a car.

He was later picked up by a passing motorist who gave him a ride home after offering to take him to the hospital, deputies said. When the wreckage was found, deputies went to Busch's home in the 1900 block of East Campbell Terrace and had to force their way inside when no one answered the door.

Bushnell said the investigators' efforts have been hampered by the fact that evidence on the scene, including footprints around the wreckage, was wiped out by Rural Metro Fire Department firefighters who responded when the body was found.

Deputies are going to have to rely on a search of the wreckage to determine who was driving. Bushnell said they were trying yesterday to obtain a warrant to search the vehicle, a Chevrolet Corvette.

Deputy Fred Bair, one of the investigators in the case, said the .44-caliber Magnum handgun that was found in the car did not appear to be something Busch was carrying for protection.

He said the weapon was in a case and was not loaded, although there was a small amount of ammunition with it.

"Maybe he just enjoys guns," Bair said. "I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Michael Perry Ladin, co-owner of Dirtbag's nightclub where Frederick was a bartender, said she and Busch were good friends who were apparently out having a good time with some other friends the night of the accident.

"There was no great love affair," Ladin said. "They were just friends."

Ladin said Busch was a regular customer at the university-area bar and that Frederick had worked there as the day bartender since September.

Ladin described Busch's demeanor as being somewhat conservative despite his family's wealth and position in society.

"If anything, he played down who he was," Ladin said. "He is not flamboyant. He doesn't throw around a lot of cash."

Busch is listed in the University of Arizona student directory as a freshman majoring in engineering. Frederick, who is originally from Iowa, graduated from Sahuarita High School, and her parents live in Nogales, Ariz., Ladin said. Her job at Dirtbag's was full-time.

"She didn't have a super-dynamic personality; she had a nice personality," said Ladin. "She was young girl that died before her time. She was very nice."

Busch heir released by hospital over weekend

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 1983

By Roderick Gary

The Arizona Daily Star

Brewery heir August A. Busch IV was released from a local hospital over the weekend, while sheriff's deputies continued to investigate the wreck of Busch's car in which a 22-year-old woman died nine days ago.

A spokesman for Tucson General Hospital said Busch, 19, was released to family members Sunday afternoon in satisfactory condition. The spokesman said she did not know whether Busch had left Tucson or was taken to another hospital.

Pima County sheriff's deputies said they believed Busch was taken back to the family's home in St. Louis. Busch's father, August A. Busch III, is president and chairman of the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., brewers of Budweiser, Michelob and other beers.

Sheriff's Lt. Edward Beumler said, the Sheriff's Department was informed of plans to move Busch and had no objections.

"He hasn't been charged with anything," Beumler said. "The case is still under investigation; that's why it's no problem for us."

Busch's Tucson attorney, Carmine A. Brogna, declined comment on Busch's whereabouts, because "the police are still investigating the case and I don't feel it is proper."

A Chevrolet Corvette registered to Busch was found Nov. 13 along East River Road near North Camino del Celador. It had left the roadway and rolled, deputies said, and the body of Michele C. Frederick, 22, was found near the car. She had apparently been thrown from the vehicle, deputies said.

Busch was located at his home after deputies found his wallet in the wrecked car. He was suffering from what sheriff's deputies thought to be a fractured skull, and was placed in intensive care after surgery at the hospital.

Traffic investigators said at the time of the accident that they believed Busch to be the driver of the car.

Busch reportedly told deputies that he remembers nothing of the accident.

If Busch is found to have been driving, he could be charged with manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident, sheriff's officials have said.

Busch heir submits samples in connection with fatal crash

Friday, March 16, 1984

From staff and wire reports

Test results on hair and blood samples taken from St. Louis brewery heir August A. Busch IV in connection with a fatal auto crash aren't expected until next week, a Pima County sheriff's spokesman said yesterday.

Asa Bushnell said Deputy Ronald E. Benson took fingerprints, hair and blood samples from Busch Wednesday in St. Louis.

Bushnell said the samples will be compared with fingerprints, blood and hair found on the driver's side of a car owned by Busch. The body of Michelle Frederick, 22, was found near the wreckage of the 1984 Chevrolet Corvette early Nov. 13.

Busch, 19, son of August A. Busch III, president and chairman of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., has not been charged. He was a University of Arizona student at the time of the crash.

Deputies found Busch's wallet and coat at the accident scene on East River Road. They also found witnesses who said they saw Busch driving as he and Frederick left a northeast-side nightclub before the crash.

Frederick worked at another nightclub near the UA campus.

Sheriff's deputies found Busch, bloody and dazed, at his home a few hours after the crash. He told authorities he could not recall any accident, and thought he had been struck by a car after falling asleep near the road.

Bushnell said Busch, accompanied by attorney Norman S. London, gave the hair and blood samples at a St. Louis hospital, and the fingerprints were taken at St. Louis County police headquarters.

Within two hours of his arrival in St. Louis, Benson was on his way back to Tucson, Bushnell said.

Sheriff's Lt. Edward Beumler of the Special Operations Section said hair samples, three vials of blood and finger and palm prints were turned over to the state Department of Public Safety laboratory in Tucson for analysis.

Bushnell said it probably will be next week before lab technicians finish their work.

Busch returned to St. Louis shortly after the accident and underwent surgery for a head injury. His lawyers indicated earlier this year that he needs further operations.

Sgt. Donald Ricker said if the samples and fingerprints are found to be Busch's, the results would be forwarded to the County Attorney's Office to determine whether to seek a grand jury indictment.

Depending on lab findings, Busch could be charged with felony manslaughter, which on conviction carries a six-year prison sentence with no parole for the first three years, said Chief Deputy James Howard.

Attorneys for Busch had tried to prevent the investigators from taking the samples, contending that to take them would be an invasion of Busch's privacy. But after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled against Busch last month, he voluntarily submitted to the tests.

Busch also volunteered to pay the expenses of Benson's travel to St. Louis so that Busch would not have to come to Tucson.

Busch heir won't be charged in Nov. 13 death of woman passenger

Saturday, July 7, 1984

By Beverly Medlyn

The Arizona Daily Star

Brewery heir August Adolphus Busch IV won't be prosecuted in connection with the Nov. 13 car wreck in which a 22-year-old woman died, the Pima County Attorney's Office announced yesterday.

In a news release, the office said the investigation into the wreck had produced "adequate circumstantial evidence" that Busch was driving the 1984 Chevrolet Corvette involved in the single-car accident.

But prosecution was declined because there was no evidence that Busch was under the influence of alcohol or other drugs and because reconstruction tests showed he was traveling at about 45 mph, "which is in excess of the posted speed limit but is insufficient alone to support any homicide charges," the release said.

Jim Howard, chief deputy, said in an interview that the posted speed limit was 25 mph along East River Road near North Camino del Celador.

Tests done with a similar vehicle showed a Corvette could be driven at speeds in excess of 50 mph without losing traction along that roadway, Howard said. The 45 mph speed Busch reached therefore didn't meet the standard of "gross negligence" necessary for criminal charges, Howard said.

Busch's father, August A. Busch III, is president and chairman of the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., brewers of Budweiser, Michelob and other beers.

On Nov. 13, the Corvette registered to Busch, then 19, was found lying on its left side on the road. The body of Michele Frederick was found near the car.

Busch was located at his home after deputies found his wallet at the accident scene. Busch's face and upper body were covered with dried blood. He told deputies that he didn't remember any accident and thought he had fallen asleep near the road and had been hit by a car, according to court records.

Busch was taken to the hospital, where he underwent surgery and remained for a week before being released to family members.

Although blood and urine samples were taken, Howard said, they either were destroyed or were insufficient to use to test for blood-alcohol content. But by that time, more than eight hours already had lapsed since the accident, which authorities said occurred at about 2 a.m.

The news release said "the highest blood alcohol level provable at the estimated time of the accident is 0.04 percent by weight. At any blood alcohol level below 0.05 percent, Arizona law presumes that a driver is not under the influence of intoxicating liquor. A driver is presumed to be under the influence of intoxicating liquor only if his blood alcohol level is 0.10 percent or higher."

Howard said the level of 0.04 percent was reached by reconstructing the number of drinks Busch had that night at the eastside bar from which he departed with Frederick. Witnesses and friends said he had seven vodka Collinses between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m., Howard said.

An autopsy report showed the presence of cocaine in Frederick's nose and urine, according to court records.

Howard said investigators were able to establish that the probable source of the cocaine was at a place and time when Frederick wasn't with Busch.

The news release also said "medical reports concerning his head injuries, including a depressed skull fracture, support his claim of amnesia for events immediately preceding and including the accident."

In January, Busch was ordered by a Superior Court judge to provide authorities with a blood sample and fingerprints in an effort to determine who was driving the car. Busch's lawyers appealed the action all the way to the Arizona Supreme Court, which affirmed the trial court's order.

Busch case ─ one year later

Sunday, Nov. 18, 1984

On Nov. 13, 1983, a Corvette owned by the Busch family of St. Louis hurtled off the pavement and went airborne on River Road, tossing a young Tucson woman to her death. A bloodied August A. Busch IV remembers driving that night ─ he'd grown tired, gotten out of his car and gone to sleep by the side of the road, and possibly he'd been run over, he said. A year later, lawmen who handled the investigation discuss the case ─ months after it was closed with no charges brought against the young Busch heir. Prosecutors insist that the right decision was made. The Busch family declines to comment. Uncertainties linger.

By R.H. Ring

The Arizona Daily Star

The case, as one prosecutor reflects, "had a lot of juice." A teenager from one of the nation's prominent families. His new Corvette. Disco drinking. A wreck after midnight, and a dead Tucson woman.

No doubt, many Tucsonans were cynical when it was announced that no charges would be pressed against August A. Busch IV after Michelle Frederick died.

Months after the case was closed, The Arizona Daily Star met with lawmen who handled what they characterized as the most intensive traffic-fatality investigation in the history of Pima County.

Prosecutors insisted the right decision was made. The Busch family declined to comment. A year after the wreck, uncertainties linger.

• • •

In the foothills above the city lights, the Corvette sped through the twists and turns of River Road sometime after 1 a.m. last Nov. 13.

At a tight, dipping S-curve ─ nicknamed Dead Man's Curve ─ the Corvette hurtled off the pavement and went airborne, crashed into a dirt bank and came to rest teetering on the driver's side.

A young woman was thrown from the car as it rolled. She hit a palo verde tree, snapping some branches, and died of head and chest injuries shortly after landing.

The wreck, in the desert 70 feet off the pavement, did not draw much attention at first.

About 6:30 a.m., in the early morning light, a man walked along River Road about a mile away. There was blood on his head, his shoulders, his clothes.

At least three drivers stopped and talked to the bloody pedestrian.

The man appeared dazed. He said he didn't know what happened. He declined a ride to a hospital, and instead accepted a ride home.

Despite the strange hour and circumstances, none of the passers-by reported the bloody pedestrian to officials until hours later.

The wrecked Corvette was reported to the Pima County Sheriff's Department about 8:30 a.m. Deputies responded, as did the Rural Metro Fire Department.

Deputy Ronald Benson, one of the county's top accident investigators, arrived half an hour later and was not pleased with what he found.

Firefighters had been tromping all over. The Corvette had been rocked, so that a bloody tarp and a jacket underneath could be removed. Other items had also been disturbed.

Benson ordered photographs made of various footprints, and examined the body.

The woman had been dead at least a couple of hours. An expired driver's license identified her as Michelle C. Frederick, 22, of Tucson.

Benson continued his survey. He found one empty beer can ─ a Budweiser Light ─ up by the road, and several more under the car. I

In front of the smashed Corvette, a radar detector was lying in the dirt. Benson also found a .44 Magnum pistol.

A check was run on the Corvette's Missouri license plates. They were registered to August A. Busch III, of a St. Louis suburb.

Benson also looked through a wallet found at the scene. It contained two Missouri driver's licenses for August A. Busch IV. One was a sophisticated fake, with a phony birth date that added four years to Busch's age, then 19.

• • • 

Two deputies were sent to a local address listed on one ID. It was a townhouse on a bluff over the Rillito River. They got no response at the door. But they could see a light inside, and hear music.

The deputies went in and called for Mr. Busch. "Yes?" came the reply from a back bedroom.

Busch IV was lying on a bed with a sheet draped across his middle. Blood had dried on his forehead and shoulders and on the pillow. His bloody clothes were piled nearby.

He was all right, he offered, though he wasn't sure what had happened. He appeared somewhat dazed and his eyes were glassy, but he was responding. To one deputy, he appeared lucid.

The deputies read Busch his rights. He said he understood. He remembered driving the night before he'd grown tired and gotten out of his car, gone to sleep by the side of the road, and possibly he'd been run over.

Waiting for the ambulance, one deputy noticed a mirror that carried the Anheuser-Busch brewing company logo, and asked: Are you related to the Busch family?

Busch said he was. His father, August A. Busch III, is the company's president and chairman of the board.

On the way to the hospital, Busch IV talked to two medics. He wasn't sure how his injuries had occurred. He did say he'd had "quite a bit" to drink the night before one or two vodkas and some light beers.

Both medics thought their patient was alert and oriented to reality.

At Tucson General Hospital, an osteopathic hospital, Busch was treated for loss of blood and a depressed skull fracture; 50 cc of blood was drained from the area of the fracture.

Two traffic deputies arrived and talked to Busch briefly. He repeated his earlier account: He'd fallen asleep, perhaps he'd been run over. He couldn't recall.

A crucial legal question had arisen: Was there justification for taking blood and urine samples? The samples could be checked against traces at the wreck, and they could also indicate any alcohol or drug use by Busch.

Normally, in a possible DUI (driving under the influence) case, samples are drawn as quickly as possible, at the request of the law officer.

This time, legal advice was sought from Ed Nesbitt, a deputy county attorney who had been called out on a Sunday to assist with the case. Nesbitt was aware of the connection to the Busch family, the resources that could be brought to bear, and he was worried.

If samples were taken, a good lawyer could argue there had been no reason to suspect Busch at that point. Any results could be ruled inadmissible in court.

Nesbitt did not handle many DUIs. He decided to stress caution. Blood and urine samples were drawn. They would be held at the hospital until lawmen obtained a search warrant against Busch.

• • •

The investigation of the wreck at Dead Man's Curve consumed more than 400 man-hours. Deputy Benson was the spearhead, backed by seven other deputies.

Twenty-nine people gave detailed, tape-recorded statements. Another 40 were interviewed. Still more were contacted briefly.

From the interviews, Benson pieced together this history:

The day before the wreck, Busch went jogging, worked out at his gym, and dined out with a close friend. It was a Saturday, so the University of Arizona freshman had no classes.

After dinner, Busch visited his friend's place in the foothills. Coming back into town, Busch drove his Corvette. His friend drove a Camaro Z28.

The Camaro was pulled over on Craycroft Road south of River Road and Busch's friend was ticketed for doing 65 mph in a 45-mph zone.

The men drove on to Voila's, an upscale discotheque on the eastside commercial strip. They arrived about 9 p.m.

In the loud frenzy of the crowded disco, the men were socializing with a loose group of friends. Others in the group, and waitresses and bartenders, gave varying reports of Busch's drinking.

One waitress said she'd served Busch five or six vodka Collinses. The close friend said Busch had consumed six or seven. Other reports were vague, or of lesser amounts.

One of the partyers at Voila's was Michelle Frederick, a Sahuarita High School graduate who was out with three girlfriends. She had met Busch at a campus burger bar where she worked as a waitress.

At closing time, the group made plans to continue the party at a mid-town residence. In the parking lot, Frederick got into the passenger seat of Busch's Corvette.

Busch drove east away from the planned party. One witness said she tried to follow, but the Corvette pulled away too rapidly. Busch was driving 65 mph and passing cars on Tanque Verde Road (where the limit is 45 mph), the witness said.

Busch and Frederick never made it to the party. Deputy Benson tried to reconstruct their probable route east on Tanque Verde to Sabino Canyon Road, north on Sabino to . . .

Benson was never able to conclusively fill in the gap. He drove at high speeds from Voila's up Sabino and west on River Road to Dead Man's Curve, to determine the earliest time the wreck could have occurred. It took half an hour. The wreck could not have occurred before before 1:30 a.m.

The next evidence linked to the wreck is the sighting of Busch, walking on River Road at dawn.

All the medical examiner could say was that Frederick had died closer to 1:30 a.m. than to 6:30 a.m.

Benson checked the log sheets of patrolling deputies, looking for a contact with the Corvette and its occupants in the intervening period. He thought the couple could have parked in the desert for a while. The check turned up nothing.

Through many long Saturday nights, Benson waited along River Road near Dead Man's Curve, writing down license plate numbers of cars. He traced down the drivers, but no one had noticed anything unusual the night of the wreck.

Benson also checked Busch's driving record here. Three months before the wreck, Busch had pleaded no contest to a speeding ticket and paid a $65 fine.

• • •

Benson and other sheriff's experts reconstructed the wreck itself, using complex calculations based on observations of the roadway and the desert, the weight distribution of the Corvette, the damage to the car and its occupants.

"It's not so much a science as an art," Benson says.

In the end, the deputy concluded:

• Busch was driving the Corvette when it ran off the road.
• The car was doing 42 to 52 mph in a curve where the limit drops suddenly from 35 to 25.
• No brakes had been applied before the car became airborne.

That was about all Benson was able to say, despite his legwork.

The skull injuries suffered by Busch were consistent with amnesia, and Busch provided no further information about the accident.

The photographs of footprints around the wreck which might have shown Busch's movements turned into another dead end. All the prints belonged to firemen or others who arrived at the scene before Benson.

The big frustration was trying to determine Busch's blood-alcohol level the night of the wreck.

A search warrant was eventually obtained for an analysis of the blood and urine samples taken at Tucson General Hospital nearly a week after the samples were drawn. It took that long, says the Pima County-Attorney's Office, to establish a "probable cause" that Busch had been drinking and driving.

But when it came time to analyze the samples, they were found to be no longer usable. The urine sample had been lost. The blood sample had been "spun down" to its basic components, a procedure used for some analyses but which makes alcohol and drug testing impossible.

Despite intensive questioning of the staff at Tucson General, Benson was never able to determine who was responsible for handling the samples. He fumes at the telling.

Jim Howard and Thomas Zawada, the deputy county attorneys who handled the case, say the loss of samples is "not that unusual."

"It happens more often than the public would stand for," Howard says.

Gilbert Contreras, head of the hospital blood lab, admits "there might have been a problem with communication." But Contreras points back to the County Attorney's Office for not ordering tests as soon as Busch entered the hospital.

"Usually we do our alcohol tests immediately. I would question why they didn't do that," Contreras says.

Busch's blood-alcohol level could only be estimated. He weighed about 155 pounds, and drank seven vodka Collinses in four hours at Voila's, according to the most damaging report. Prosecutors used that report to theorize what they call the worst possible case against Busch.

The light beers found at the wreck or mentioned by Busch could not be positively linked to the case. Fingerprint tests on the beer cans showed nothing conclusive.

Putting the accident time at 2 a.m. ─ fairly close to the reported drinking ─ Busch's blood-alcohol level was only 0.04 to 0.05 percent. That was the professional opinion of Walter Tannert, the head chemist at the Tucson Police Department-Pima County Sheriff's Department crime lab, and Thomas E. Henry, the county medical examiner. A person is legally drunk in Arizona with a blood-alcohol level of 0.10 percent ─ about twice the theorized "worst case" against Busch.

• • •

There is little doubt that any defense of Busch would have been thorough and competent.

A few weeks after the accident, Busch's legal representation included attorneys from two prominent local firms ─ Carmine Brogna of Kimble, Gothreau, Ryan, Nelson & Cannon PC; and John W. McDonald of Chandler, Tullar, Udall & Redhair ─ and Norman London of St. Louis.

London is known as a top criminal defense attorney. In 1977, he handled a defense of August Busch IV's uncle, Peter W. Busch.

Peter Busch pleaded guilty to manslaughter after he shot and killed a friend when a revolver discharged accidentally on a Busch country estate outside St. Louis. He was given five years' probation.

In addition to London and the other attorneys representing August Busch IV, at least one private detective agency had been hired, along with highway-safety and accident experts from St. Louis, Texas, California, Illinois and Colorado.

On Nov. 28, the experts assembled at Dead Man's Curve. The road was blocked off. Numbered signs had been placed along it, as reference points. A new Corvette, rented in Phoenix, was repeatedly driven through the curve. Its travel was recorded by cameras. A second test was held that night.

Deputy Benson believes it was preparation for a counterattack ─ a challenge of the county's road design at Dead Man's Curve.

• • •

From the first, the Busch wreck landed smack in the public eye. The story was featured in newspapers and broadcast news for weeks. Reporters bothered Frederick's family in Nogales. Her mother was said to be crying every night for a month.

A controversy erupted over a request for additional samples of blood, urine and hair from Busch. In January, Benson filed for a search warrant, claiming "probable cause to believe that the crimes of manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident involving death" had occurred.

Attorney London filed a response saying the facts were insufficient to support the allegations.

He cited Arizona law, which says that to be guilty, a person must know an accident and death have occurred. Benson's petition described "a seriously injured, disoriented young man who does not recall any accident," London contended.

The Arizona Supreme Court found enough reason to take the samples, and in March, Benson flew to St. Louis, where Busch had been taken shortly after the accident.

Benson was met and chauffeured around St. Louis by a Busch company security guard. He obtained the samples and left that evening. The Busch family paid for his trip first class on the way to St. Louis, and coach fare going home.

The samples were given to the Arizona Department of Public Safety crime lab in Tucson, and a new controversy brewed as the lab gave the case a low priority. The preliminary report was not released until July 11. Benson thought it had taken "a damn long time."

The tests established that Busch's blood type showed up on the driver's door, the driver's visor and other portions of the wrecked Corvette. That indicated Busch had been the driver, Benson says.

The analysis, and all the controversy, did not seem relevant in the end. Prosecutors had decided there wasn't enough evidence to make a criminal case.

Recklessness or negligence could not be proved because there was "every indication that speed was not the cause of the accident," prosecutor Howard says.

Tests showed a Corvette could navigate Dead Man's Curve at the speeds estimated by Benson, Howard said recently.

The case was not taken to a grand jury. Within the County Attorney's Office, there was "some disagreement" over that decision, Howard said. "Everybody looked at it like a close decision."

Howard acknowledged he might have been able to secure an indictment against Busch, but "that would have been a cop-out," he said ─ the indictment would have collapsed in court, where "proof beyond a reasonable doubt is a high standard."

Prosecutors insist they handled this case no differently from any other. They view the matters of breaking the speed limit and the phony driver's license as too minor to press as crimes.

Deputy Benson filled three 4-inch-thick file folders in the months he lived with the Busch wreck. "It's frustrating, no matter which way it went," he told the Star.

Benson lost a lot of sleep, waking up in the middle of the night to jot down some thoughts or go over some testimony. His cautious "informed opinion" on the case?

August A. Busch IV ran off the road, speeding, and a young woman died. Busch was enjoying the thrill of his sports car, and he lost it.

River Road curves may be county's most lethal

Sunday, Nov. 18, 1984

On River Road between North Craycroft and North Swan roads, just west of Camino del Celador, the bottom falls out of the highway and the killer curves begin.

It could be the most lethal 785 feet of pavement in Pima County. In that short stretch, the pavement dives and snakes through two back-to-back compound curves. It sneaks up on you, the turns getting tighter and tighter the deeper you go.

Understandable, then, that Dead Man's Curve is the most dangerous stretch of well-traveled highway in Pima County.

Since 1981, 66 drivers have crashed on Dead Man's Curve. Fifty-three people have been injured. Two people have died in the past year.

Michelle Frederick, 22, died last Nov. 13 when a Corvette allegedly driven by August A. Busch IV vaulted off the road and rolled.

Nine months later, Michael A. Ortiz, 26, died when his car rolled and was struck by another car.

Dead Man's Curve also claimed John F. Brixen, 27, when his car rolled, ejected him and crushed him on April 7, 1974.

"I've been out there too many times," says Paul Steiner, head of county traffic engineering, who visits the scene of every fatal accident in the county.

Dead Man's Curve has endured an accident rate 43 times higher than the county average for all paved roads since 1981, according to a county analysis done for The Arizona Daily Star.

Some of the statistics are deceiving. The accident rate on River Road from Swan to Craycroft is listed 14th highest among all county roadways. Yet none of the 13 more dangerous stretches of road is traveled by more than 900 cars a day. More than 3,500 cars attempt Dead Man's Curve every day.

The county has drawn up three alternative designs to smooth out the dipping curves. The cheapest would cost more than $125,000. All would bring traffic and pavement much closer to homes, and degrade the rural atmosphere.

"The basic problem is, it impacts on people and property," says Charles Huckelberry, head of transportation for the county.

Huckelberry acknowledges the county may someday face a charge of negligence for the design of Dead Man's Curve. "Unfortunately," he says, "the courts have chosen the position that the government is responsible for everything. "