Prelim Exam for Ishpeming Murder Suspect

There’s enough evidence against an Ishpeming man for him to go to trial for second-degree murder.

46-year-old Leslie Bushong had his preliminary exam in Marquette this morning.

Bushong is accused of killing 51-year-old Wayne Perry about 6 weeks ago.

Judge Roger Kangas has bound Bushong over to Circuit Court.

Ishpeming Police Sgt. Ron Schultz testified that the crime scene was chaotic, with Bushong and Ron Hudson, another man at the scene, pointing the finger at one another.

Dr. Jeffrey Conklin, who performed the autopsy, took the stand next.

He’s a pathologist at Marquette General and also serves as Marquette County’s deputy medical examiner.

He says Perry had bleeding in his brain that most likely came from a blow, or blows, to the head.

Perry didn’t have any food or drug residue in his stomach, but he did have green fluid in there that never got tested.

Defense attorney George Hyde jumped on that in cross-examination, asking if that was something Dr. Conklin would want to know about in a suspicious death.

Conklin claimed he didn’t test it because it’s common to have some fluid in the stomach at any given time and that it wasn’t likely to have anything to do with the death.

Bushong is still being held in the Marquette County Jail on $500,000 bond.

His Circuit Court arraignment will be next Thursday morning.