Jamie Busch received a sentence of 25 years to life in prison for strangling her sister Penny Busch to death in October 2024. At the sentencing, Busch maintained her innocence, claiming she was framed and accusing the victim's daughter of the crime. The judge noted her lack of remorse.
Jamie Busch, 53 at the time of the crime, was convicted in February of second-degree murder and tampering with evidence. On Thursday, Judge Stephen Miller sentenced her to 25 years to life during a hearing in Monroe County, New York. Miller stated that Busch showed no remorse whatsoever in her prepared statement, where she insisted she had been framed and declared the real killer still at large. She specifically pointed to Penny Busch's daughter, though prosecutors noted the daughter was in South Carolina at the time of the murder on October 8, 2024, at the victim's home on Ontario Street in Honeoye Falls, a village 18 miles south of Rochester. Busch strangled her 62-year-old sister during a physical altercation after 4:49 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. The next day, she discarded three of Penny's cellphones in a trash bin behind a Dunkin' Donuts in the village. Days later, she transported the body to the Genesee River and dumped it there. The Monroe County Sheriff's Office conducted a welfare check on October 11 at Penny Busch's eight-acre property, deeming her disappearance suspicious. A search involving K-9 units and drones led to the body being found three days later in the Genesee River in the Town of Rush. Family members expressed relief at the verdict. Cousin Mary Shadders told WHAM that it was not the first time Busch had tried to strangle a family member, adding that the jury made the right decision despite not hearing her full history.