Trial Date Set for Lanny Bush after Not Guilty Plea in Online Impersonation Case

April 3, 2013 at 12:02 am brownwoodnewsstaff

Local News

bush_lanny2 Lanny Bush appeared in the 35th District County District Court Tuesday making a not guilty plea to an online impersonation charge he faces in connection with the Michele Reiter case.

Bush is represented by Perry Sims who asked the court for an investigator to be appointed for the defense, which was granted by District Judge Stephen Ellis. Sims also asked for a motion to suppress some evidence in the case.

The case was reset for pretrial matters and a hearing on this motion to suppress is scheduled for Friday, May 3rd, 2013 at 9:00 a.m. Jury trial has been set for Monday, September 30th, 2013 at 9:00 a.m.

Bush, 53, was indicted on the charge in Brown County last November. He faces the same charge in Tom Green County.

According to court documents, Lanny Marvin Bush admitted to authorities that he set up a fake Facebook account under the name “Rocky Switzer” in order to communicate with his ex-girlfriend Michele Reiter, “with intent to do her harm.” It further states that Bush admitted to investigators that he met with Reiter on two separate occasions on September 10th, 2012.

Reiter was last seen on September 10th, 2012 around 6:30 p.m. when she left for a dinner date that evening, according to her roommate. According to police reports, Reiter’s roommate reported her missing on September 11th, 2012 after Reiter did not come home for the night. She also did not report for work that morning at Home Depot, where she had worked for approximately 4 years. The Brownwood woman’s vehicle was found abandoned Wednesday, September 13th, 2012 at the Bert Massey Sports Complex. Reiter’s body was found by Texas Ranger Danny Crawford at 10:30 a.m. on September 24 in a “shallow, clandestine type grave,” in Coleman County, according to court documents.

Court documents also note that Bush denies being responsible for Reiter’s disappearance.

Bush was arrested in Tom Green County on the charge of online impersonation and a parole violation on Thursday, September 20, 2012. He is now being held in Brown County Jail with bonds totaling $275,000.