Judge Orders Ex-Husband Accused In Oak Lawn Woman's Shooting Death Detained

OAK LAWN, IL—An 81-year-old Missouri man accused of shooting his former wife to death walked into a Bridgeview courtroom Friday laughing, where he appeared before Cook County Judge Linzey Jones.

Charles Buss, a retired Oak Lawn firefighter, is facing a first-degree murder charge in the slaying of his former wife, Maryanne Buss-Kincaid, 76, in her Oak Lawn home in April.

The prosecutor said that Buss and his former wife had been divorced for 40 years but remained amicable. Together they shared an adult daughter. Although Buss has resided in Missouri for the past 20 years, he would stay at Christine’s home while visiting in the area. Christine suffers from dementia and needs round-the-clock care. She was unable to walk without assistance after an injury that happened a year ago when she fell down a flight of stairs. Her daughter was paying for her mother’s live-in caretaker.

On April 5, around 1:10 p.m., Oak Lawn police were dispatched for a well-being check at a home across the street in the 9400 block of 53rd Court. When they arrived, officers said when they entered the kitchen, they found Christine sitting at the kitchen table unresponsive, bleeding from the back of her head with lividity present. Officers pronounced her deceased at 1:26 p.m.

The Cook County Medical Examiner determined the cause of death to be two gunshot wounds to the back of the head and declared the death to be homicide.

The caretaker told police that Buss arrived midweek, after traveling from Missouri. Early Thursday morning, before the alleged slaying a few days later, the prosecutor said Buss took his former wife’s vehicle and drove to Wisconsin, which upset Christine. Buss returned Friday around 2 p.m. and spent some time in the garage. Later that evening, around 8 p.m., the prosecutor said the caretaker noticed Buss coming in from the garage intoxicated.

Buss apparently said something to Christine, who responded by giving him the finger, saying something to the effect of, “Now you know why I divorced you,” according to the prosecutor. Buss allegedly replied, “Oh, you're going to show me the finger? I clean my hands of everything.” The prosecutor said Buss then did a handwashing motion before retreating upstairs, according to the caretaker who was present during the argument.

The caretaker told police that Buss would regularly spend time in the garage, where she observed a bottle of alcohol. The prosecutor said Christine's caretaker had served as Christine’s and had been present in the home on Saturday, April 4. Buss insisted she leave the residence for the rest of the weekend, the prosecutor said, despite Christine requiring continuous care.

The prosecutor said that around 9 a.m. that Saturday, Christine’s ex-husband told the caretaker to leave, tried to change her work schedule, and told her to return the following Monday. Buss allegedly informed the caretaker that he would be paying her from now on, not his daughter. The caretaker objected, stating she would prepare Christine’s lunch and that her patient required round-the-clock care.

As the caretaker began gathering some belongings, Buss is alleged to have suggested that the caretaker would no longer be staying at the house. The caretaker told Buss she was only taking items to wash and left around 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

Throughout the evening, the caretaker tried calling Christine multiple times but was unsuccessful. The next day, around noon Sunday, April 5, the prosecutor said the caretaker returned to the house. She entered through the back door, which the caretaker said is usually left unlocked, especially when Buss was staying there.

When the caretaker entered the house, she noticed Christine slumped over in a chair in the kitchen. She stated she did not have her phone, became shocked, and immediately left the home and walked across the street to the Oak Lawn police station for help.

FLOCK license plate readers captured a silver Hyundai sedan bearing Missouri registration, traveling west away from the Oak Lawn area around 1 p.m. April 4, the prosecutor said. The vehicle was also later reportedly captured in Jasper County, MO, on the same day.

Oak Lawn police executed a search warrant at the home, where prosecutors said evidence technicians recovered .22 caliber ammunition, including live rounds and spent shell casings, as well as a notebook containing written instructions regarding the home and personal affairs, signed “love, dad.”

The former couple’s daughter stated she personally covered her mother’s expenses, such as medicine, diapers and groceries. The prosecutor said the daughter also described disagreements over the caretaker’s salary and role. When the daughter told her father that her mother was out of money, the prosecutor said Buss offered to help in making payments. The daughter also informed Oak Lawn police that she knew her father owned a gun and that she helped him complete the online FOID application. Buss had also apparently expressed concerns about the cost of Christine’s care, the prosecutor said.

Oak Lawn police later learned that Buss’s cellphone data showed the device was located in Missouri during the overnight hours of April 4 into April 5.

On Sunday morning, around 9 a.m., Buss is said to have been involved in a single-car crash where he drove off the road into a ravine in Branson West, MO. Buss was airlifted to a hospital. Police there found Buss’s cellphone in the vehicle.

A pair of live rounds and two fired rounds were sent to a lab for DNA testing. The live rounds recovered on the kitchen floor within a few feet away from Christine, contained Buss’s DNA and another unknown person. The spent rounds did not contain Buss’s DNA, the prosecutor said. She told the judge that Buss had the time and motive to shoot his wife and was known to have a gun.

“The defendant left 1.5 hours after the caretaker left,” the prosecutor said. “His DNA matched the two live rounds found on the floor. He agreed to help pay his ex-wife’s expenses. He left a notebook in the home with instructions and drove off the road into a ravine.”

The prosecutor further stated Buss posed a threat and was a flight risk.

Buss’s private attorney said his client, at 81, lived a life of “remarkable impact to the community and country.” He grew up in the Oak Lawn area and served during the Vietnam War as a medic. He was an Oak Lawn firefighter for 20 years, until his retirement. Buss was also a union carpenter. After his retirement, Buss received a medal of valor when he intervened in an attack on a woman by her boyfriend.

“That is his legacy,” the attorney said.

Buss would also stay at his wife’s place and fix stuff around the house, his daughter corroborated to police. The defense attorney said the caretaker had found his client’s gun in the garage, cleaning and touching it.

“The back door was left open. Neither the [caretaker] nor the [daughter] saw the gun. There had been a disagreement about pay. The other DNA doesn’t tell us a thing and did not have Mr. Buss’s DNA.”

The prosecutor said somebody else could have loaded the live rounds in the gun. She was unaware if the caretaker's or daughter's DNA was taken.

“The defendant left that Saturday knowing the victim needed round-the-clock care,” the prosecutor said. “He tells the caretaker to leave and not come back until Monday.”

Judge Jones said the defense attorney’s speculation that the caretaker had the “motive and opportunity” to keep her job made no sense.

“If the caretaker had shot her, her job would end,” Jones said. “The daughter had no motive.”

The judge said the “court believes the defendant had the motive and opportunity” and ordered Buss to be detained.

Buss's next court appearance is Aug. 14 in the Bridgeview Courthouse.