In the sprawling city of Los Angeles, Margaret Briggs, a 53-year-old woman, lived a quiet life. She was a trusted figure in her family, a confidante to her nephew, a young man named Henry Adolph Busch. He regarded her as his favorite aunt, someone whose advice he often sought. This close bond, however, would be tragically and violently betrayed, making Margaret the final victim of a man who would come to be known as "The Psycho Strangler."
The evening of September 5, 1960, began like
many others. Busch, then 29, went to visit Margaret in her apartment. He arrived not just for a social call, but with a knife and a pair of handcuffs concealed on his person. Despite the weapons he carried, the hours that followed were peaceful. The aunt and nephew sat together, watching television, a quiet domestic scene that belied the horrific violence to come. For reasons that would remain locked within his own disturbed mind, after the television was turned off, Busch attacked the woman who had offered him counsel and kindness. He grabbed her from behind and began to strangle her. Margaret fought back, her struggle for life evident in the overturned furniture found later, but she was ultimately overpowered.
Margaret’s murder was the culmination of a brief but brutal killing spree by Busch. Four months earlier, in May 1960, he had strangled Elmyra Miller, 74, a woman he had known since childhood. Just the day before he killed Margaret, on September 4, he had murdered 65-year-old Shirley Payne after taking her to see the movie *Psycho*. His attack on Margaret, however, was different in the eyes of the law. The fact that he had brought weapons with him to her apartment demonstrated premeditation.
The day after he killed his aunt, Busch took her car keys and drove her vehicle to the factory where he worked as an optical lens polisher. His spree of violence was not yet over. He asked a female colleague to join him for coffee, and once she was in the car, he attacked her. This time, the victim fought him off and escaped, her screams attracting the attention of two truck drivers who chased Busch down and held him until police arrived. When he was apprehended, officers found a knife and handcuffs in his possession.
During questioning, Busch’s composure crumbled. He confessed to killing two women in the past week and offered to lead officers to their bodies. He then admitted to the earlier murder of Elmyra Miller. He told investigators he was subject to an irresistible urge to kill. The discovery of Margaret Briggs in her disordered apartment marked the end of his deadly rampage.
Henry Adolph Busch was charged with three counts of murder and one count of assault with intent to commit murder. He pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His defense attorneys and even his adoptive mother, who was Margaret’s half-sister, argued that he was mentally ill and had never been normal. The jury, however, found him sane.
Busch was convicted of second-degree murder for the deaths of Elmyra Miller and Shirley Payne. But for the killing of his aunt, Margaret Briggs, the jury returned a verdict of first-degree murder, a decision based on the evidence that he had come to her home prepared to kill. With the jury recommending no mercy, Henry Adolph Busch was sentenced to death. After his appeals were exhausted, he was executed in the gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison on June 6, 1962. The man who had betrayed his family's trust and taken three innocent lives was gone, but the pain and loss he caused, particularly for the family of the woman who had treated him as a beloved nephew, would endure.
