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Top inset: Kimberly Ann Robinson (KAAL). Bottom inset: Mustafa Bush (Olmsted County). Background: The location where Robinson’s body was found (KAAL).
A convicted murderer from Minnesota will spend the rest of his life in prison for killing his girlfriend, a mother of three children, whose body was found in a snowy ditch.
Mustafa Bush, 41, learned his fate on Friday in the death of Kimberly Ann Robinson, 41. He was convicted of first-degree murder while committing domestic abuse and second-degree murder with intent, not premeditated.
Friends and family reacted to the outcome, local ABC affiliate KAAL reported.
“He gets to sit behind an 8 x 10 or 10 x 10 jail cell, and he is somebody else’s,” said Jacklyn Bedtke, a friend of Robinson’s family. “His life is over, the way he took hers.”
In court, Bush apologized to his parents, the Post-Bulletin reported.
Robinson had been in a relationship with Bush and was last seen at a holiday party on Christmas Eve, 2022. Her body was found on Dec. 26, 2022, when Olmsted County Deputies were dispatched that afternoon to a call about a dead person in the area of River Bluffs Lane NW and West River Road in Cascade Township, more than 80 miles south of Minneapolis.
A woman walking her dog called the police, saying her dog started pulling her toward a ditch in the snow, and as she got closer, she saw what appeared to be a person’s arm about 20 to 25 feet off the roadway on the embankment of the ditch, officials said in a press release.
Deputies arrived a short time later and uncovered the body of a woman, later identified as Robinson’s. Police quickly identified Bush as a suspect and booked him into custody on a murder charge.
Bush was arrested days later, and a grand jury later found probable cause that Bush intentionally and with premeditation was responsible for her death. The grand jury also found probable cause that Bush caused her death while committing domestic abuse and had engaged in a pattern of domestic abuse toward Robinson.
One of the victim’s sons testified at trial that his mother sent him photos of bruising on her body and said that if anything happened to her, it was because of Bush. A witness also told jurors she saw Bush using a burn pit on the property she was staying at the day before Robinson’s body was found, KAAL reported.
Robinson leaves behind three children.
“Tuesday 12/27/22 our family got the worst news we could ever imagine. That Kimberly Robinson was no longer with us,” her GoFundMe said. “This has been heartbreaking for the entire family and because she didn’t have life insurance we are not able to afford a proper memorial service.”
“My mom Kim was a great person who had the right intentions in all she did,” the page added. “She did not deserve what happened to her. We will fight for Justice for her and make sure it’s given.”
Bush was previously convicted of murder in 2006, online court records show. He served 14 years in prison before being released in March 2020 and was on supervised release when he killed Robinson, local affiliate KTTC reported.
The Post-Bulletin reported that Bush filed in that case a preliminary application for post-conviction relief, possibly granting him a new trial.
He claimed that he qualifies for relief because “he did not cause the death of a human being, he claims he was not a major participant in the felony underlying the crime for which he was convicted, and he claims he did not act with extreme indifference to human life,” according to an order by Chief Judge Joseph Bueltel granting Bush’s preliminary application, the newspaper reported.
