MA MA - Shirley Reine, 51, Falmouth, 31 Aug 1979

[mysteriew]

John and Polly Busby were busy parents raising a family and trying to get ahead in 1979 when their world fell apart.

The late-night ambush that changed Busby's life was brought back into the spotlight after Shirley Reine, 51, was found shot to death in her Falmouth garage Tuesday morning. She apparently had pulled her into her garage and was shot in the head and chest, police sources said. Investigators are trying to determine whether someone had fixed the outside lights so they would not come on.

In the splash of information that surfaced after Reine's murder, was the fact that two years ago, local investigators uncovered information that implicated her, her husband Melvin Reine and her brother-in-law John Reine in the Busby shooting, according to Busby and sources close to the investigation.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe would not comment on the Busby case and has instructed state and Falmouth police officials not to talk about it.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/attackleaves16.htm

 

[Jenn]

WOW! That is an incredible story! Did Reine ever give a motive for the shooting?

 

[mysteriew]

Melvin Reine Sr. didn't kill his wife Shirley last week. That much is clear. But locked up with him in Taunton State Hospital, where he is being treated for a form of dementia, may be the key to other murder mysteries.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/elderreine19.htm

 

[mysteriew]

But in the months that followed, Reine was arrested and convicted in connection with seven of the fires. It was those convictions and hard time in state prison at Walpole that seared his image as a local bad guy in the hearts and minds of all who knew or knew of him, said police and town officials who were around back then. He was influential and was feared by many around him - including town officials and some police officers - in what was then a small town, they said.

That fear was heightened in the 1970s when Reine was suspected in the disappearance of his first wife and later a teenager who worked for him, the murder of another teenager and the attempted murder of a Falmouth police officer. No one was ever charged with any of the crimes.

Despite this, his construction and trash-hauling business held garbage-removal contracts with Falmouth and other Cape towns. But as Falmouth's population doubled, his influence and visibility waned. Among those who knew him, however, the fear he instilled never faded.

In early May, Reine's name once again grabbed headlines after his second wife, Shirley Souza Reine, 51, was found shot to death in the garage of their 657 East Falmouth Highway home. The murder rekindled interest in the four unsolved cases. Police have released few details about their investigation of Mrs. Reine's murder and are unwilling to talk about the cold cases that still haunt the families of the dead and missing.

http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/townxsxchronic10.htm

 

[Mullins]

This story is amazing---I have a feeling there's much to uncover with this, and it has good potential IMO to be uncovered. Do you happen to know if the Reines family had any relatives living in Hyannis?

 

[mysteriew]

The mystery shrouding the May slaying of Shirley Reine has deepened in recent weeks, as police have focused on the link between the unsolved homicide of the woman who ran a local trash-hauling business with a shooting almost 26 years ago that left a Falmouth police officer wounded in the face.

Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said that Melvin Reine, the husband of the slaying victim, is the connection between the two Falmouth cases. Reine, hospitalized the past four years with dementia, had long been suspected in the 1979 shooting of Falmouth police Officer John Busby.

''All of the Reines are interlinked," O'Keefe said.

Shirley Reine, 51, was in the midst of a heated property dispute with her two stepsons when she was shot in the head in the garage of her East Falmouth home. The sons, Melvin Jr. and Todd Reine, contended that Shirley Reine had fraudulently transferred her assets, the Falmouth house and the trash-hauling business, after her husband became ill.

The brothers had been identified as ''persons of interest" in the murder investigation, but they are innocent of the slaying, said their lawyer, Drew Segadelli. ''As I've said from the beginning, her demise was a hardship to my clients, because it slowed the progress of that civil case."

The elder Melvin Reine has long been a controversial figure in Falmouth. He served state prison time for arson decades ago, and his first wife, Wanda, disappeared in March 1971, after he dropped her off at the Falmouth bus station. At the time, Shirley was a baby sitter for the Reines, when Melvin Jr. was 7 and Todd was 4.

On Aug. 31, 1979, Officer Busby was driving to work at 11 p.m. for his midnight shift when he stopped at a traffic light. An assailant driving a sedan ''with a lot of chrome" then ambushed him, said Barnstable County Sheriff James M. Cummings, who was then a state trooper assigned to the district attorney's office.

Busby never saw his shooter, but he always suspected it was Reine, with whom he had recent run-ins, Cummings said. ''There was never really any doubt as to who was behind it," he said. ''Not necessarily that he did it, that he pulled the trigger. It was always felt that if he didn't do it himself, he had somebody else do it."

Segadelli said he has been conducting an investigation into Shirley Reine's slaying on behalf of his clients. The connection between Busby's shooting and Reine's death is clear, he said.

''Of course there is a link," he said. ''Shirley was in the car when [Busby] got his face blown off."

Segadelli said that based on what he has learned, Shirley Reine was in the front seat of the sedan when Busby was shot. John Reine, the elder Melvin Reine's brother, was driving the car, and Melvin Reine fired the gun.

Segadelli would not disclose how he knew that information, which leads back to the Busby shooting report, requested recently by local newspapers.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...ng_in_may_linked_to_1979_shooting_of_officer/

 

[mysteriew]

A former police officer who's been in hiding since he was shot in the face during an ambush 26 years ago returned to town to confront selectmen about keeping concealed a police report that details his attack.

Busby, who showed up at the selectmen's meeting unannounced with several friends on Monday, has difficult speaking because of his injuries, so former Falmouth police officer James Fagan spoke for him. Fagan urged the board to release the report, noting that crime victims are entitled to police reports 48 hours after an incident. He said Busby has been waiting 26 years.

"What if the Shirley Reine murder is never solved?" Fagan said. "How long does (Busby) have to wait?" http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/4798555/detail.html

 

[mysteriew]

John Busby had taken two shots to his face. What was left of his jaw lay resting on his chest and he had lost a lot of blood. But the Falmouth police officer still managed to scrawl a note to his wife and the officers surrounding his Falmouth Hospital bed.

''Melvin Reine is responsible,'' he wrote Aug. 31, 1979. ''This is not an accident. Where are the children?''

Although Busby did not see the face of his shotgun-wielding attacker, his suspicions were fueled by run-ins he had with the Reine family prior to the shooting. Other police officers were equally suspicious - including two who heard Reine threaten Busby.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/zxofficerdown25.htm

 

[mysteriew]

Melvin Reine
Shirley Souza Reine
John Reine
John Busby
John Ferreira
Wanda Medeiros Reine
Charles ''Jeff'' Flanagan
Paul R. Alward
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/whoswho25.htm

A complete list of people who are involved in this case in some manner.

 

[mysteriew]

But despite his criminal record, several members of the Falmouth Police Department - some of them high-ranking officials - continued to protect Reine when he broke the law. They fixed tickets, negated an arrest and made sure his driving record stayed clean after he rear-ended a Falmouth police cruiser. And there's evidence a law-enforcement official gave Reine a heads-up when Falmouth environmental officials investigated his illegal dump on Old Barnstable Road in the 1990s.

But Reine wasn't the only one to get favors from pals or relatives in the police department.

During a three-month investigation, the Cape Cod Times spoke to more than 100 people, 23 of whom are former Falmouth officers who worked in the 1970s and 1980s. They describe a department plagued by selective enforcement and favoritism. People with connections in the department could break the law and get away with it.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/melvinreine26.htm

 

[mysteriew]

When former Falmouth police officer John Busby testifies today before a legislative committee, he still won't get what has evaded him for 26 years - justice.

Busby, who was shot twice in the face in 1979 while driving to work the midnight shift, wants to make sure no other police officer is robbed of justice because of a legal deadline.

Busby will testify before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for assault on a police officer from 10 to 30 years.

Meanwhile, a state official familiar with the police department's treatment of a main suspect in the shooting and its failure to solve the case has asked U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan to review stories published in the Cape Cod Times to see if a federal investigation is warranted.

Legal experts say a federal probe of Busby's shooting could ''clear the cloud of suspicion'' surrounding the Falmouth Police Department's failure to prosecute anyone.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/federalprobe1.htm

 

[docwho3]

Personally I think there should be no statute of limitations for assault on a police pfficer. It should be the same as a murder case, open until solved.

When former Falmouth police officer John Busby testifies today before a legislative committee, he still won't get what has evaded him for 26 years - justice.

Busby, who was shot twice in the face in 1979 while driving to work the midnight shift, wants to make sure no other police officer is robbed of justice because of a legal deadline.

Busby will testify before the Legislature's Judiciary Committee in support of a bill that would extend the statute of limitations for assault on a police officer from 10 to 30 years.

Meanwhile, a state official familiar with the police department's treatment of a main suspect in the shooting and its failure to solve the case has asked U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan to review stories published in the Cape Cod Times to see if a federal investigation is warranted.

Legal experts say a federal probe of Busby's shooting could ''clear the cloud of suspicion'' surrounding the Falmouth Police Department's failure to prosecute anyone.
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/federalprobe1.htm

 

[mysteriew]

Investigators say a body found in a cornfield in LaGrange County, Indiana is that of a Sturgis woman who was missing since September.

Around 5 p.m. Tuesday, police say a farmer working his fields came across the body.

Investigators held a news conference Thursday morning and said the body is that of 79-year-old Rosemary Reinel, who has been missing since mid-September.

Investigators came to the conclusion of the identification after working with a forensics team in the cornfield all day Wednesday. Investigators said the body was partially buried and it is too early to tell how Reinel died or if she was killed at the scene.
http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=4060553

 

[Boyz_Mum]

Melvin Reine
Shirley Souza Reine
John Reine
John Busby
John Ferreira
Wanda Medeiros Reine
Charles ''Jeff'' Flanagan
Paul R. Alward
http://www.capecodonline.com/cctimes/whoswho25.htm

A complete list of people who are involved in this case in some manner.

Bumping this thread up because on 48 hours news show this case was the theme. Titled "Live to Tell"- http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/48hours/main3410.shtml

John Busby and his family told their account of all that happened.

 

[PattyCake]

Ummm at the end of the 48 Hours show it stated that the Busby's are still in 'hiding' at an undisclosed location. It took me 2 minutes to find them. That bothers me tremendously. Either they are no longer in hiding, the man they once feared is not of sound mind any longer or they don't know how to hide in the true sense of the form.

 

[Hope4Lost]

This is one wacko story. Seriously messed up family.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

Ummm at the end of the 48 Hours show it stated that the Busby's are still in 'hiding' at an undisclosed location. It took me 2 minutes to find them. That bothers me tremendously. Either they are no longer in hiding, the man they once feared is not of sound mind any longer or they don't know how to hide in the true sense of the form.

They did say that Mel Reine was in a mental hospital with Pick(s) disease and I thought they mentioned a book was/is written? When you mentioned the undisclosed location and after reading the comments left at 48 hours, being able to "find" them so quickly is a little frightening.

There are a couple of links for Mel on google- he really sounded pretty scary.

 

[PattyCake]

I tried to find an email to 48 hours to let them know how easy it was to locate these poor people. With the ease of internet & people searches, do a couple other links to cross verify info... they should realize more steps need to be taken if they want to feel more secure & safe.

 

[Cracka*Jaxx]

Falmouth’s ‘Inconvenient Legend’: Melvin Reine Dies

"Melvin Reine Sr. died at age 74 after being incarcerated for 12 years at facilities for the criminally insane, first Bridgewater State Hospital then Taunton State Hospital. Shortly before he died, he was moved to Emeritus at Tewksbury, a senior care facility that includes an Alzheimer’s unit."

"He had been diagnosed in 2002 with Pick’s disease, a form of dementia."

http://capecodwave.com/falmouths-inconvenient-legend-melvin-reine-dies/

 

[BuckeyeBarbie]

Shirley Souza Reine was involved in most if not all of Melvin's Criminal activities including the death of my Cousin, Jeff! They both escaped Prosecution!